Windows launch agents on Amazon EC2 Windows instances
Each AWS Windows AMI includes a Windows launch agent that's pre-configured with default settings. Launch agents perform tasks during instance startup and run if an instance is stopped and later started, or restarted. For information about a specific agent, see the detail pages in the following list.
For more information about AWS Windows AMIs, see the AWS Windows AMI reference.
Content
Compare Amazon EC2 launch agents
The following table shows the major functional differences between EC2Config, EC2Launch v1, and EC2Launch v2.
| Feature | EC2Config | EC2Launch v1 | EC2Launch v2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Run as | Windows Service | PowerShell Scripts | Windows Service |
| Supports | Legacy OS only |
Windows Server 2016 Windows Server 2019 (LTSC and SAC) |
Windows Server 2016 Windows Server 2019 (LTSC and SAC) Windows Server 2022 Windows Server 2025 |
|
Configuration file |
XML | JSON | JSON/YAML |
|
Set Administrator username |
No | No |
Yes |
|
User data size |
16 KB | 16 KB |
60 KB (compressed) |
|
Local user data baked on AMI |
No | No | Yes, configurable |
| Task configuration in user data | No | No | Yes |
|
Configurable wallpaper |
No | No |
Yes |
|
Customize task run order |
No | No |
Yes |
|
Configurable tasks |
15 |
9 |
20 at launch |
|
Supports Windows Event Viewer |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
|
Number of Event Viewer event types |
2 |
0 |
30 |
Note
EC2Config documentation is provided for historical reference only. The operating system versions it runs on are no longer supported by Microsoft. We strongly recommend that you upgrade to the latest launch service.
