Configure the EC2Launch v1 agent on your Windows instance

After your instance has been initialized the first time, you can configure EC2Launch to run again and perform different start-up tasks.

Configure initialization tasks

Specify settings in the LaunchConfig.json file to enable or disable the following initialization tasks:

• Set the computer name to the instance private IPv4 address.

• Set the monitor to always stay on.

• Set up new wallpaper.

• Add DNS suffix list.

  Note

  This adds a DNS suffix lookup for the following domain and configures other standard suffixes. For more information about how launch agents set DNS suffixes, see Configure DNS Suffix for EC2 Windows launch agents.

  region.ec2-utilities.amazonaws.com

• Extend the boot volume size.

• Set the administrator password.

To configure initialization settings

1. On the instance to configure, open the following file in a text editor: C:\ProgramData\Amazon\EC2-Windows\Launch\Config\LaunchConfig.json.

2. Update the following settings as needed and save your changes. Provide a password in adminPassword only if adminPasswordtype is Specify.

   {
   	"setComputerName": false,
   	"setMonitorAlwaysOn": true,
   	"setWallpaper": true,
   	"addDnsSuffixList": true,
   	"extendBootVolumeSize": true,
   	"handleUserData": true,					  
   	"adminPasswordType": "Random | Specify | DoNothing",
   	"adminPassword": "password that adheres to your security policy (optional)"
   }

   The password types are defined as follows:

   Random

   EC2Launch generates a password and encrypts it using the user's key. The system disables this setting after the instance is launched so that this password persists if the instance is rebooted or stopped and started.

   Specify

   EC2Launch uses the password you specify in adminPassword. If the password does not meet the system requirements, EC2Launch generates a random password instead. The password is stored in LaunchConfig.json as clear text and is deleted after Sysprep sets the administrator password. EC2Launch encrypts the password using the user's key.

   DoNothing

   EC2Launch uses the password you specify in the unattend.xml file. If you don't specify a password in unattend.xml, the administrator account is disabled.

3. In Windows PowerShell, run the following command to schedule the script to run as a Windows Scheduled Task. The script runs one time during the next boot and then disables these tasks from running again.

   C:\ProgramData\Amazon\EC2-Windows\Launch\Scripts\InitializeInstance.ps1 -Schedule

Schedule EC2Launch to run on every boot

You can schedule EC2Launch to run on every boot instead of only the initial boot.

To enable EC2Launch to run on every boot:

1. Open Windows PowerShell and run the following command:

   C:\ProgramData\Amazon\EC2-Windows\Launch\Scripts\InitializeInstance.ps1 -SchedulePerBoot

2. Or, run the executable with the following command:

   C:\ProgramData\Amazon\EC2-Windows\Launch\Settings\Ec2LaunchSettings.exe

   Then select Run EC2Launch on every boot. You can specify that your EC2 instance Shutdown without Sysprep or Shutdown with Sysprep.

Note

When you enable EC2Launch to run on every boot, the following happens the next time EC2Launch runs:

• If AdminPasswordType is still set to Random, EC2Launch will generate a new password at the next boot. After that boot, AdminPasswordType is automatically set to DoNothing to prevent EC2Launch from generating new passwords on subsequent boots. To prevent EC2Launch from generating a new password on the first boot, manually set AdminPasswordType to DoNothing before you reboot.

• HandleUserData will be set back to false unless the user data has persist set to true. For more information, see User data scripts.

Initialize drives and map drive letters

Specify settings in the DriveLetterMappingConfig.json file to map drive letters to volumes on your EC2 instance. The script initializes drives that are not already initialized and partitioned. For more information about getting volume details in Windows, see Get-Volume in the Microsoft documentation.

To map drive letters to volumes

1. Open the C:\ProgramData\Amazon\EC2-Windows\Launch\Config\DriveLetterMappingConfig.json file in a text editor.

2. Specify the following volume settings and save your changes:

   {
   	"driveLetterMapping": [
   		{
   			"volumeName": "sample volume",
   			"driveLetter": "H"
   		}
   	]
   }

3. Open Windows PowerShell and use the following command to run the EC2Launch script that initializes the disks:

   C:\ProgramData\Amazon\EC2-Windows\Launch\Scripts\InitializeDisks.ps1

   To initialize the disks each time the instance boots, add the -Schedule flag as follows:

   C:\ProgramData\Amazon\EC2-Windows\Launch\Scripts\InitializeDisks.ps1 -Schedule

Send Windows event logs to the EC2 console

Specify settings in the EventLogConfig.json file to send Windows Event logs to EC2 console logs.

To configure settings to send Windows Event logs

1. On the instance, open the C:\ProgramData\Amazon\EC2-Windows\Launch\Config\EventLogConfig.json file in a text editor.

2. Configure the following log settings and save your changes:

   {
   	"events": [
   		{
   			"logName": "System",
   			"source": "An event source (optional)",
   			"level": "Error | Warning | Information",
   			"numEntries": 3
   		}
   	]
   }

3. In Windows PowerShell, run the following command so that the system schedules the script to run as a Windows Scheduled Task each time the instance boots.

   C:\ProgramData\Amazon\EC2-Windows\Launch\Scripts\SendEventLogs.ps1 -Schedule

   The logs can take three minutes or more to appear in the EC2 console logs.

Send Windows is ready message after a successful boot

The EC2Config service sent the "Windows is ready" message to the EC2 console after every boot. EC2Launch sends this message only after the initial boot. For backwards compatibility with the EC2Config service, you can schedule EC2Launch to send this message after every boot. On the instance, open Windows PowerShell and run the following command. The system schedules the script to run as a Windows Scheduled Task.

C:\ProgramData\Amazon\EC2-Windows\Launch\Scripts\SendWindowsIsReady.ps1 -Schedule