Crafting a Custom Amazon Machine Image (AMI) for EC2: A Comprehensive Guide

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Crafting a Custom Amazon Machine Image (AMI) for EC2: A Comprehensive Guide

Day 30 : 📌📌

Venkatasai Kadamati's photo
Venkatasai Kadamati
·

3 min read

Table of contents

1. Introduction

The cornerstone of an Amazon EC2 instance is the Amazon Machine Image (AMI), a master image for the creation of virtual servers. This guide provides a step-by-step process for creating a custom AMI optimized for your applications.

2. Understanding an Amazon Machine Image (AMI)

An AMI functions as a template for launching EC2 instances. It includes:

  • Operating system configuration

  • Application server and applications

  • Launch permissions

  • Block device mapping

The block device mapping specifies the volumes to attach to the instance when launched.

3. Types of Amazon Machine Image (AMI)

The two common types of AMI are:

  • EBS-backed AMI: Allows stopping and restarting instances without data loss.

  • Instance store-backed AMI: Can only be rebooted as the root volume is ephemeral.

4. AMI Lifecycle

The key stages in an AMI's lifecycle are:

  1. AMI creation and registration

  2. Launching instances using the AMI

  3. AMI copying across regions

  4. AMI deregistration

5. Custom AMI

A custom AMI allows launching EC2 instances with specific customizations like:

  • Pre-installed applications

  • Custom scripts or configurations

  • Specific operating system versions

  • Security controls

6. Creating a Custom AMI

To create a custom AMI:

  1. Configure an EC2 instance exactly as required

  2. Create and register a custom AMI from the instance

  3. Launch new instances using the custom AMI

bashCopy code# Start EC2 instance from baseline AMI
aws ec2 run-instances --image-id ami-base1234 --count 1 --instance-type t2.micro

# Configure instance as required 

# Create and register custom AMI
aws ec2 create-image --instance-id i-04432f1g3h --name custom-ami-web-app --description "Web App AMI"

7. Custom AMI Creation Steps

Follow these steps to create a custom AMI:

  1. Right-click the instance in the EC2 console and select Create Image

  2. Specify a unique name and description

  3. By default, EC2 will:

    • Shut down the instance

    • Take snapshots of attached volumes

    • Create and register the custom AMI

    • Reboot the original instance

  4. The AMI creation process may take a few minutes. The new AMI will appear in the AMIs section.

8. Using the Custom AMI

To use the custom AMI:

  • Go to AMIs in the EC2 console

  • Click on My AMIs

  • Select the custom AMI

  • Configure instance details and launch

9. AMI Management

You can manage AMIs by:

  • Adding custom tags

  • Making the AMI private or public

  • Copying AMIs across regions

  • Sharing AMIs with other AWS accounts

10. Deregistering your AMI

When an AMI is no longer required, deregister it using:

Copy codeaws ec2 deregister-image --image-id ami-abcd1234

After deregistration, the AMI cannot be used to launch new instances.

11. Best Practices

When creating a custom AMI:

  • Remove sensitive information from the EC2 instance

  • Test the custom AMI thoroughly before use

  • Follow naming conventions for easy organization

12. Conclusion

Creating custom AMIs enables the launching of EC2 instances tailored to your application's specific requirements. This guide provided a comprehensive overview of the process involved in crafting and managing custom AMIs.

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