Update a Linux AMI - AWS Systems Manager

Update a Linux AMI

This Systems Manager Automation walkthrough shows you how to use the console or AWS CLI and the AWS-UpdateLinuxAmi runbook to update a Linux AMI with the latest patches of packages that you specify. Automation is a capability of AWS Systems Manager. The AWS-UpdateLinuxAmi runbook also automates the installation of additional site-specific packages and configurations. You can update a variety of Linux distributions using this walkthrough, including Ubuntu Server, CentOS, RHEL, SLES, or Amazon Linux AMIs. For a full list of supported Linux versions, see Patch Manager prerequisites.

The AWS-UpdateLinuxAmi runbook allows you to automate image maintenance tasks without having to author the runbook in JSON or YAML. You can use the AWS-UpdateLinuxAmi runbook to perform the following types of tasks.

  • Upgrade all distribution packages and Amazon software on an Amazon Linux, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Ubuntu Server, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, or CentOS Amazon Machine Image (AMI). This is the default runbook behavior.

  • Install AWS Systems Manager SSM Agent on an existing image to enable Systems Manager capabilities, such as running remote commands using AWS Systems Manager Run Command or software inventory collection using Inventory.

  • Install additional software packages.

Before you begin

Before you begin working with runbooks, configure roles and, optionally, EventBridge for Automation. For more information, see Setting up Automation. This walkthrough also requires that you specify the name of an AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) instance profile. For more information about creating an IAM instance profile, see Configure instance permissions for Systems Manager.

The AWS-UpdateLinuxAmi runbook accepts the following input parameters.

Parameter Type Description

SourceAmiId

String

(Required) The source AMI ID.

IamInstanceProfileName

String

(Required) The name of the IAM instance profile role you created in Configure instance permissions for Systems Manager. The instance profile role gives Automation permission to perform actions on your instances, such as running commands or starting and stopping services. The runbook uses only the name of the instance profile role. If you specify the Amazon Resource Name (ARN), the automation fails.

AutomationAssumeRole

String

(Required) The name of the IAM service role you created in Setting up Automation. The service role (also called an assume role) gives Automation permission to assume your IAM role and perform actions on your behalf. For example, the service role allows Automation to create a new AMI when running the aws:createImage action in a runbook. For this parameter, the complete ARN must be specified.

TargetAmiName

String

(Optional) The name of the new AMI after it is created. The default name is a system-generated string that includes the source AMI ID, and the creation time and date.

InstanceType

String

(Optional) The type of instance to launch as the workspace host. Instance types vary by region. The default type is t2.micro.

PreUpdateScript

String

(Optional) URL of a script to run before updates are applied. Default (\"none\") is to not run a script.

PostUpdateScript

String

(Optional) URL of a script to run after package updates are applied. Default (\"none\") is to not run a script.

IncludePackages

String

(Optional) Only update these named packages. By default (\"all\"), all available updates are applied.

ExcludePackages

String

(Optional) Names of packages to hold back from updates, under all conditions. By default (\"none\"), no package is excluded.
Automation Steps

The AWS-UpdateLinuxAmi runbook includes the following automation actions, by default.

Step 1: launchInstance (aws:runInstances action)

This step launches an instance using Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) userdata and an IAM instance profile role. Userdata installs the appropriate SSM Agent, based on the operating system. Installing SSM Agent enables you to utilize Systems Manager capabilities such as Run Command, State Manager, and Inventory.

Step 2: updateOSSoftware (aws:runCommand action)

This step runs the following commands on the launched instance:

  • Downloads an update script from Amazon S3.

  • Runs an optional pre-update script.

  • Updates distribution packages and Amazon software.

  • Runs an optional post-update script.

The execution log is stored in the /tmp folder for the user to view later.

If you want to upgrade a specific set of packages, you can supply the list using the IncludePackages parameter. When provided, the system attempts to update only these packages and their dependencies. No other updates are performed. By default, when no include packages are specified, the program updates all available packages.

If you want to exclude upgrading a specific set of packages, you can supply the list to the ExcludePackages parameter. If provided, these packages remain at their current version, independent of any other options specified. By default, when no exclude packages are specified, no packages are excluded.

Step 3: stopInstance (aws:changeInstanceState action)

This step stops the updated instance.

Step 4: createImage (aws:createImage action)

This step creates a new AMI with a descriptive name that links it to the source ID and creation time. For example: “AMI Generated by EC2 Automation on {{global:DATE_TIME}} from {{SourceAmiId}}” where DATE_TIME and SourceID represent Automation variables.

Step 5: terminateInstance (aws:changeInstanceState action)

This step cleans up the automation by terminating the running instance.

Output

The automation returns the new AMI ID as output.

Note

By default, when Automation runs the AWS-UpdateLinuxAmi runbook, the system creates a temporary instance in the default VPC (172.30.0.0/16). If you deleted the default VPC, you will receive the following error:

VPC not defined 400

To solve this problem, you must make a copy of the AWS-UpdateLinuxAmi runbook and specify a subnet ID. For more information, see VPC not defined 400.

To create a patched AMI using Automation (AWS Systems Manager)

  1. Open the AWS Systems Manager console at https://console.aws.amazon.com/systems-manager/.

  2. In the navigation pane, choose Automation.

    -or-

    If the AWS Systems Manager home page opens first, choose the menu icon ( The menu icon ) to open the navigation pane, and then choose Automation.

  3. Choose Execute automation.

  4. In the Automation document list, choose AWS-UpdateLinuxAmi.

  5. In the Document details section, verify that Document version is set to Default version at runtime.

  6. Choose Next.

  7. In the Execution mode section, choose Simple Execution.

  8. In the Input parameters section, enter the information you collected in the Before you begin section.

  9. Choose Execute. The console displays the status of the Automation execution.

After the automation finishes, launch a test instance from the updated AMI to verify changes.

Note

If any step in the automation fails, information about the failure is listed on the Automation Executions page. The automation is designed to terminate the temporary instance after successfully completing all tasks. If a step fails, the system might not terminate the instance. So if a step fails, manually terminate the temporary instance.