[AWS] EC2 – AMIs – Scriptorium

AMIs (Amazon Machine Images) are containers that are used to build instances (OS + SW packages + settings).

Snapshots of EBS volumes are created automatically and used to create an AMI.
AMI stores a snapshot of EBS volumes, permissions, and a block device mapping.
AMIs need to have appropriate launch permissions (private, a specific account, or public).
AMIs can be copied to other AWS regions.
AMI is used with Auto Scaling to launch new servers on demand.
AMIs are only available in the region they are created.
You can select the AMI based on: Region, OS, Architecture (32, 64, Arm), Launch Permissions, Root Storage Types (EBS or Instance store volume).
EBS is from the snapshot, and an Instance store volume is from the template.

EC2 Image builder allows you to create AMIs and container images simply through a graphical interface.

It validates and tests images.
- Security compliance, AWS-provided tests, or custom tests
Use case:
- You can automate image update processes such as software updates. Image Builder creates a new image, runs validation tests, and makes it available in AWS regions of your choice.

Image Pipeline

Image Recipe:
- Image builder uses a recipe for each image.
- An image can be AMI (Amazon Machine Image) or Docker Image.

A pipeline defines the configuration and end-to-end process.
- Base OS (Source Image) -> Software (Build Components) -> Tests -> Distribution

Create an IAM Role: add permissions for EC2 Image Builder
Create an Image Pipeline:
- Define a recipe – configuration settings
  - Image (Output) Type: AMI or Docker Image
  - Base Image
  - Add Components
Execute the Pipeline: Image Builder launches a temporary build and tests the instance.
The image can be seen in the EC2 console AMIs section.

Role

[AWS] EC2 – AMIs