Amazon Machine Images In Amazon EC2

By Ashwin Venugopal -

 AWS AMI- Amazon Machine Image. Amazon Machine Image provides the… | by Gaurav Gupta | Medium





Introduction

Amazon Machine Images (AMIs) are images that deliver the necessary software to set up and initiate an Amazon EC2 instance. Each AMI includes a block device mapping that outlines the block devices to be connected to the instances you launch. When launching an instance, you must provide an AMI. The AMI needs to be compatible with the instance type you selected for your instance. You can utilize an AMI offered by AWS, a public AMI, one that has been shared with you by someone else, or an AMI purchased from the AWS Marketplace.

An AMI is specific to the following: 

  1. Region
  2. Operating System
  3. Processor Architecture
  4. Root Device Type
  5. Virtualization Type

You can initiate several instances from a single AMI when you need multiple instances with identical settings. Different AMIs can be utilized to launch instances when you need instances with varying configurations. You can generate an AMI from your Amazon EC2 instances and subsequently use it to launch instances that have the same settings. It is possible to duplicate an AMI to another AWS Region and then utilize it to launch instances within that Region. You can also provide access to an AMI you created to other accounts, enabling them to launch instances with the same settings. Additionally, you can offer your AMI for sale through the AWS Marketplace.

Launch Permissions

The owner of an AMI determines its availability by specifying launch permissions. Launch permissions fall into the following categories-

  • Public: The owner grants launch permissions to all AWS accounts.
  • Explicit: The owner grants launch permissions to specific AWS accounts, organizations, or organizational units (OUs).
  • Implicit: The owner has implicit launch permissions for an AMI.

Amazon and the Amazon EC2 community provide a large selection of public AMIs.

Root Device Type

All AMIs are categorized as either backed by Amazon EBS or backed by instance store.

  • Amazon EBS-backed AMI- The primary storage device for an instance initiated from the AMI is an Amazon Elastic Block Store (Amazon EBS) volume established from an Amazon EBS snapshot. This is compatible with both Linux and Windows AMIs.

  • Amazon instance store-backed AMI- The primary storage device for an instance that is launched from the AMI is a volume from instance store that is generated from a template located in Amazon S3. This is only applicable for Linux AMIs. Instance store is not compatible with Windows AMIs for the root device.

Virtualization types

Amazon Machine Images utilize either paravirtual (PV) or hardware virtual machine (HVM) virtualization types. The primary distinctions between PV and HVM AMIs lie in their booting processes and their capability to leverage specific hardware enhancements (CPU, network, and storage) for improved performance. AMIs designed for Windows are classified as HVM AMIs.

Find An AMI That Meets The Requirements For Your EC2 Instance

An AMI comprises the necessary components and applications, including the operating system and root volume type, needed to start an instance. To start an instance, you need to locate an AMI that satisfies your requirements.

When selecting an AMI, consider the following requirements you might have for the instances that you want to launch:

• The AWS Region of the AMI as AMI IDs are unique to each Region. 
• The operating system (for example, Linux or Windows). 
• The architecture (for example, 32-bit, 64-bit, or 64-bit ARM). 
• The root device type (for example, Amazon EBS or instance store). • The provider (for example,            Amazon Web Services). 
• Additional software (for example, SQL Server).

You can select from the list of AMIs when you use the launch instance wizard, or you can search all available AMIs using the Images page. 

To find a Quick Start AMI using the launch instance wizard 

1. Open the Amazon EC2 console at https://console.aws.amazon.com/ec2/. 

2. From the navigation bar, select the Region in which to launch your instances. You can select any            Region that's available to you, regardless of your location. AMI IDs are unique to each AWS Region. 

3. From the console dashboard, choose Launch instance. 

4. Under Application and OS Images (Amazon Machine Image), choose Quick Start, choose the operating system (OS) for your instance, and then, from Amazon Machine Image (AMI), select from one of the commonly used AMIs in the list. If you don't see the AMI that you want to use, choose Browse more AMIs to browse the full AMI catalog. 

To find an AMI using the AMIs page 

1. Open the Amazon EC2 console at https://console.aws.amazon.com/ec2/. 

2. From the navigation bar, select the Region in which to launch your instances. You can select any            Region that's available to you, regardless of your location. AMI IDs are unique to each AWS Region. 

3. In the navigation pane, choose AMIs. 

4. (Optional) Use the filter and search options to scope the list of displayed AMIs to see only the AMIs      that match your criteria.

5. (Optional) Choose the Preferences icon to select which image attributes to display, such as the root         device type. Alternatively, you can select an AMI from the list and view its properties on the Details       tab. 

6. Before you select an AMI, it's important that you check whether it's backed by instance store or by          Amazon EBS and that you are aware of the effects of this difference.  

7. To launch an instance from this AMI, select it and then choose Launch instance from image. If you're      not ready to launch the instance now, make note of the AMI ID for later.

Conclusion

The specific features of Amazon Machine Images in Amazon EC2 are discussed. 













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