Build a custom Windows AMI with Image Builder - Amazon EKS
Using an Amazon EKS optimized Windows AMI as a baseUsing the Amazon-managed build componentRetrieving information about eks-optimized-ami-windows component versions

Build a custom Windows AMI with Image Builder

You can use EC2 Image Builder to create custom Amazon EKS optimized Windows AMIs with one of the following options:

With both methods, you must create your own Image Builder recipe. For more information, see Create a new version of an image recipe in the Image Builder User Guide.

Important

The following Amazon-managed components for eks include patches for CVE-2024-5321.

  • 1.24.5 and higher

  • 1.25.4 and higher

  • 1.26.4 and higher

  • 1.27.2 and higher

  • 1.28.2 and higher

  • 1.29.2 and higher

  • 1.30.1 and higher

Using an Amazon EKS optimized Windows AMI as a base

This option is the recommended way to build your custom Windows AMIs. The Amazon EKS optimized Windows AMIs we provide are more frequently updated than the Amazon-managed build component.

  1. Start a new Image Builder recipe.

    1. Open the EC2 Image Builder console at https://console.aws.amazon.com/imagebuilder.

    2. In the left navigation pane, choose Image recipes.

    3. Choose Create image recipe.

  2. In the Recipe details section, enter a Name and Version.

  3. Specify the ID of the Amazon EKS optimized Windows AMI in the Base image section.

    1. Choose Enter custom AMI ID.

    2. Retrieve the AMI ID for the Windows OS version that you require. For more information, see Retrieve recommended Microsoft Windows AMI IDs.

    3. Enter the custom AMI ID. If the AMI ID isn’t found, make sure that the AWS Region for the AMI ID matches the AWS Region shown in the upper right of your console.

  4. (Optional) To get the latest security updates, add the update-windows component in the Build components - section.

    1. From the dropdown list to the right of the Find components by name search box, choose Amazon-managed.

    2. In the Find components by name search box, enter update-windows.

    3. Select the check box of the update-windows search result. This component includes the latest Windows patches for the operating system.

  5. Complete the remaining image recipe inputs with your required configurations. For more information, see Create a new image recipe version (console) in the Image Builder User Guide.

  6. Choose Create recipe.

  7. Use the new image recipe in a new or existing image pipeline. Once your image pipeline runs successfully, your custom AMI will be listed as an output image and is ready for use. For more information, see Create an image pipeline using the EC2 Image Builder console wizard.

Using the Amazon-managed build component

When using an Amazon EKS optimized Windows AMI as a base isn’t viable, you can use the Amazon-managed build component instead. This option may lag behind the most recent supported Kubernetes versions.

  1. Start a new Image Builder recipe.

    1. Open the EC2 Image Builder console at https://console.aws.amazon.com/imagebuilder.

    2. In the left navigation pane, choose Image recipes.

    3. Choose Create image recipe.

  2. In the Recipe details section, enter a Name and Version.

  3. Determine which option you will be using to create your custom AMI in the Base image section:

    • Select managed images – Choose Windows for your Image Operating System (OS). Then choose one of the following options for Image origin.

      • Quick start (Amazon-managed) – In the Image name dropdown, choose an Amazon EKS supported Windows Server version. For more information, see Create nodes with optimized Windows AMIs.

      • Images owned by me – For Image name, choose the ARN of your own image with your own license. The image that you provide can’t already have Amazon EKS components installed.

    • Enter custom AMI ID – For AMI ID, enter the ID for your AMI with your own license. The image that you provide can’t already have Amazon EKS components installed.

  4. In the Build components - Windows section, do the following:

    1. From the dropdown list to the right of the Find components by name search box, choose Amazon-managed.

    2. In the Find components by name search box, enter eks.

    3. Select the check box of the eks-optimized-ami-windows search result, even though the result returned may not be the version that you want.

    4. In the Find components by name search box, enter update-windows .

    5. Select the check box of the update-windows search result. This component includes the latest Windows patches for the operating system.

  5. In the Selected components section, do the following:

    1. Choose Versioning options for eks-optimized-ami-windows .

    2. Choose Specify component version.

    3. In the Component Version field, enter version.x, replacing version with a supported Kubernetes version. Entering an x for part of the version number indicates to use the latest component version that also aligns with the part of the version you explicitly define. Pay attention to the console output as it will advise you on whether your desired version is available as a managed component. Keep in mind that the most recent Kubernetes versions may not be available for the build component. For more information about available versions, see Retrieving information about eks-optimized-ami-windows component versions.

      Note

      The following eks-optimized-ami-windows build component versions require eksctl version 0.129 or lower:

      • 1.24.0

  6. Complete the remaining image recipe inputs with your required configurations. For more information, see Create a new image recipe version (console) in the Image Builder User Guide.

  7. Choose Create recipe.

  8. Use the new image recipe in a new or existing image pipeline. Once your image pipeline runs successfully, your custom AMI will be listed as an output image and is ready for use. For more information, see Create an image pipeline using the EC2 Image Builder console wizard.

Retrieving information about eks-optimized-ami-windows component versions

You can retrieve specific information regarding what is installed with each component. For example, you can verify what kubelet version is installed. The components go through functional testing on the Amazon EKS supported Windows operating systems versions. For more information, see Release calendar. Any other Windows OS versions that aren’t listed as supported or have reached end of support might not be compatible with the component.

  1. Open the EC2 Image Builder console at https://console.aws.amazon.com/imagebuilder.

  2. In the left navigation pane, choose Components.

  3. From the dropdown list to the right of the Find components by name search box, change Owned by me to Quick start (Amazon-managed).

  4. In the Find components by name box, enter eks.

  5. (Optional) If you are using a recent version, sort the Version column in descending order by choosing it twice.

  6. Choose the eks-optimized-ami-windows link with a desired version.

The Description in the resulting page shows the specific information.