Amazon EBS encryption examples

When you create an encrypted EBS resource, it is encrypted by your account's default KMS key for EBS encryption unless you specify a different customer managed key in the volume creation parameters or the block device mapping for the AMI or instance. For more information, see Select a KMS key for EBS encryption.

The following examples illustrate how you can manage the encryption state of your volumes and snapshots. For a full list of encryption cases, see the encryption outcomes table.

Restore an unencrypted volume (encryption by default not enabled)

Without encryption by default enabled, a volume restored from an unencrypted snapshot is unencrypted by default. However, you can encrypt the resulting volume by setting the Encrypted parameter and, optionally, the KmsKeyId parameter. The following diagram illustrates the process.

If you leave out the KmsKeyId parameter, the resulting volume is encrypted using your default KMS key for EBS encryption. You must specify a KMS key ID to encrypt the volume to a different KMS key.

For more information, see Create a volume from a snapshot.

Restore an unencrypted volume (encryption by default enabled)

When you have enabled encryption by default, encryption is mandatory for volumes restored from unencrypted snapshots, and no encryption parameters are required for your default KMS key to be used. The following diagram shows this simple default case:

If you want to encrypt the restored volume to a symmetric customer managed encryption key, you must supply both the Encrypted and KmsKeyId parameters as shown in Restore an unencrypted volume (encryption by default not enabled).

Copy an unencrypted snapshot (encryption by default not enabled)

Without encryption by default enabled, a copy of an unencrypted snapshot is unencrypted by default. However, you can encrypt the resulting snapshot by setting the Encrypted parameter and, optionally, the KmsKeyId parameter. If you omit KmsKeyId, the resulting snapshot is encrypted by your default KMS key. You must specify a KMS key ID to encrypt the volume to a different symmetric encryption KMS key.

The following diagram illustrates the process.

You can encrypt an EBS volume by copying an unencrypted snapshot to an encrypted snapshot and then creating a volume from the encrypted snapshot. For more information, see Copy an Amazon EBS snapshot.

Copy an unencrypted snapshot (encryption by default enabled)

When you have enabled encryption by default, encryption is mandatory for copies of unencrypted snapshots, and no encryption parameters are required if your default KMS key is used. The following diagram illustrates this default case:

Re-encrypt an encrypted volume

When the CreateVolume action operates on an encrypted snapshot, you have the option of re-encrypting it with a different KMS key. The following diagram illustrates the process. In this example, you own two KMS keys, KMS key A and KMS key B. The source snapshot is encrypted by KMS key A. During volume creation, with the KMS key ID of KMS key B specified as a parameter, the source data is automatically decrypted, then re-encrypted by KMS key B.

For more information, see Create a volume from a snapshot.

Re-encrypt an encrypted snapshot

The ability to encrypt a snapshot during copying allows you to apply a new symmetric encryption KMS key to an already-encrypted snapshot that you own. Volumes restored from the resulting copy are only accessible using the new KMS key. The following diagram illustrates the process. In this example, you own two KMS keys, KMS key A and KMS key B. The source snapshot is encrypted by KMS key A. During copy, with the KMS key ID of KMS key B specified as a parameter, the source data is automatically re-encrypted by KMS key B.

In a related scenario, you can choose to apply new encryption parameters to a copy of a snapshot that has been shared with you. By default, the copy is encrypted with a KMS key shared by the snapshot's owner. However, we recommend that you create a copy of the shared snapshot using a different KMS key that you control. This protects your access to the volume if the original KMS key is compromised, or if the owner revokes the KMS key for any reason. For more information, see Encryption and snapshot copying.

Migrate data between encrypted and unencrypted volumes

When you have access to both an encrypted and unencrypted volume, you can freely transfer data between them. EC2 carries out the encryption and decryption operations transparently.

Linux instances

For example, use the rsync command to copy the data. In the following command, the source data is located in /mnt/source and the destination volume is mounted at /mnt/destination.

[ec2-user ~]$ sudo rsync -avh --progress /mnt/source/ /mnt/destination/

Windows instances

For example, use the robocopy command to copy the data. In the following command, the source data is located in D:\ and the destination volume is mounted at E:\.

PS C:\> robocopy D:\sourcefolder E:\destinationfolder /e /copyall /eta

We recommend using folders rather than copying an entire volume, as this avoids potential problems with hidden folders.

Encryption outcomes

The following table describes the encryption outcome for each possible combination of settings.

Is encryption enabled?	Is encryption by default enabled?	Source of volume	Default (no customer managed key specified)	Custom (customer managed key specified)
No	No	New (empty) volume	Unencrypted	N/A
No	No	Unencrypted snapshot that you own	Unencrypted
No	No	Encrypted snapshot that you own	Encrypted by same key
No	No	Unencrypted snapshot that is shared with you	Unencrypted
No	No	Encrypted snapshot that is shared with you	Encrypted by default customer managed key*
Yes	No	New volume	Encrypted by default customer managed key	Encrypted by a specified customer managed key**
Yes	No	Unencrypted snapshot that you own	Encrypted by default customer managed key
Yes	No	Encrypted snapshot that you own	Encrypted by same key
Yes	No	Unencrypted snapshot that is shared with you	Encrypted by default customer managed key
Yes	No	Encrypted snapshot that is shared with you	Encrypted by default customer managed key
No	Yes	New (empty) volume	Encrypted by default customer managed key	N/A
No	Yes	Unencrypted snapshot that you own	Encrypted by default customer managed key
No	Yes	Encrypted snapshot that you own	Encrypted by same key
No	Yes	Unencrypted snapshot that is shared with you	Encrypted by default customer managed key
No	Yes	Encrypted snapshot that is shared with you	Encrypted by default customer managed key
Yes	Yes	New volume	Encrypted by default customer managed key	Encrypted by a specified customer managed key
Yes	Yes	Unencrypted snapshot that you own	Encrypted by default customer managed key
Yes	Yes	Encrypted snapshot that you own	Encrypted by same key
Yes	Yes	Unencrypted snapshot that is shared with you	Encrypted by default customer managed key
Yes	Yes	Encrypted snapshot that is shared with you	Encrypted by default customer managed key

* This is the default customer managed key used for EBS encryption for the AWS account and Region. By default this is a unique AWS managed key for EBS, or you can specify a customer managed key. For more information, see Select a KMS key for EBS encryption.

** This is a customer managed key specified for the volume at launch time. This customer managed key is used instead of the default customer managed key for the AWS account and Region.