Amazon EC2 AMI Lifecycle (Part 4)

By Ashwin Venugopal -

 





Create an Amazon EC2 AMI using Windows Sysprep

The Microsoft System Preparation (Windows Sysprep) tool produces a generalized version of the operating system by removing instance-specific system configurations before capturing a new image. It is advisable to utilize EC2 Image Builder to automate the processes of creating, managing, and deploying customized, secure, and current "golden" server images that have software and settings pre-installed and configured. Additionally, you can use Windows Sysprep to generate a standardized AMI by employing the Windows launch agents.

Windows Sysprep phases

Windows Sysprep runs through the following phases:

Generalize: The Sysprep utility eliminates information and configurations that are specific to an image. For instance, Windows Sysprep eliminates the security identifier (SID), the device name, the event logs, and certain drivers, among others. Once this process is finished, the operating system (OS) is prepared to generate an AMI.

Specialize: The Plug and Play feature analyzes the computer and sets up drivers for any identified devices. The Sysprep utility produces the operating system specifications, such as the machine name and SID. You may also execute commands during this stage if desired.

Out-of-Box Experience (OOBE): The system performs a simplified version of Windows Setup, prompting you to provide details like system language, time zone, and registered organization. When executing Windows Sysprep with Windows launch agents, the answer file streamlines this stage.

Post Sysprep

After Windows Sysprep completes, EC2Launch v2 sends the following message to the console output:

Windows sysprep configuration complete.

EC2Launch v2 then performs the following actions:

  1. Reads the content of the agent-config.yml file and runs configured tasks.
  2. Executes all tasks in the preReady stage.
  3. After it is finished, sends a Windows is ready message to the instance system logs.
  4. Executes all tasks in the PostReady stage.

Conclusion

Amazon EC2 AMI is created using Windows Sysprep.









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