AWS Systems Manager Hybrid Activations
To configure non-EC2 machines for use with AWS Systems Manager in a hybrid and multicloud environment, you create a hybrid activation. Non-EC2 machine types supported as managed nodes include the following:
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Servers on your own premises (on-premises servers)
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AWS IoT Greengrass core devices
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AWS IoT and non-AWS edge devices
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Virtual machines (VMs), including VMs in other cloud environments
When you run the create-activation command to start a hybrid activation process, you receive an activation code and ID in the command response. You then include the activation code and ID with the command to install SSM Agent on the machine, as described in step 3 of Managing servers in hybrid and multicloud environments with Systems Manager. This activation process applies to all non-EC2 machine types except AWS IoT Greengrass core devices. For information about configuring AWS IoT Greengrass core devices for Systems Manager, see Managing edge devices with Systems Manager.
Note
Support isn't currently provided for non-EC2 macOS machines.
About Systems Manager instances tiers
AWS Systems Manager offers a standard-instances tier and an advanced-instances tier. Both support
managed nodes in your hybrid and multicloud environment. The standard-instances tier allows you to register a
maximum of 1,000 machines per AWS account per AWS Region. If you need to register
more than 1,000 machines in a single account and Region, then use the
advanced-instances tier. You can create as many managed nodes as you like in the
advanced-instances tier. All managed nodes configured for Systems Manager are priced on a pay-per-use
basis. For more information about enabling the advanced instances tier, see Turning on the
advanced-instances tier.
For more information about pricing, see AWS Systems Manager Pricing
Note the following additional information about the standard-instances tier and advanced-instances tier:
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Advanced instances also allow you to connect to your non-EC2 nodes in a hybrid and multicloud environment by using AWS Systems Manager Session Manager. Session Manager provides interactive shell access to your instances. For more information, see AWS Systems Manager Session Manager.
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The standard-instances quota also applies to EC2 instances that use a Systems Manager on-premises activation (which isn't a common scenario).
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To patch applications released by Microsoft on virtual machines (VMs) on-premises instances, activate the advanced-instances tier. There is a charge to use the advanced-instances tier. There is no additional charge to patch applications released by Microsoft on Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) instances. For more information, see Patching applications released by Microsoft on Windows Server.