Keep an Amazon EBS root volume after an Amazon EC2 instance terminates - Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud
Configure the root volume to persist during instance launchConfigure the root volume to persist for an existing instanceConfirm that a root volume is configured to persist

Keep an Amazon EBS root volume after an Amazon EC2 instance terminates

By default, the Amazon EBS root volume for an instance is deleted when the instance terminates. You can change the default behavior to ensure that an Amazon EBS root volume persists after the instance terminates. To change the default behavior, set the DeleteOnTermination attribute to false. You can do so either at instance launch or later on.

Configure the root volume to persist during instance launch

You can configure the root volume to persist when you launch an instance.

Console
To configure the root volume to persist when you launch an instance

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

  2. In the navigation pane, choose Instances and then choose Launch instances.

  3. Choose an Amazon Machine Image (AMI), choose and instance type, choose a key pair, and configure your network settings.

  4. For Configure storage, choose Advanced.

  5. Expand the root volume.

  6. For Delete on termination, choose No.

  7. When you are finished configuring your instance, choose Launch instance.

AWS CLI
To configure the root volume to persist when you launch an instance

Use the run-instances command and include the following option.

--block-device-mappings file://mapping.json

In mapping.json, specify a block device mapping that sets the DeleteOnTermination attribute to false.

[
    {
        "DeviceName": "/dev/sda1",
        "Ebs": {
            "DeleteOnTermination": false
        }
    }
]
PowerShell
To configure the root volume to persist when you launch an instance

Use the New-EC2Instance cmdlet and include the following parameter.

-BlockDeviceMapping $bdm

Create a block device mapping that sets the DeleteOnTermination attribute to $false.

$ebs = New-Object Amazon.EC2.Model.EbsBlockDevice
$ebs.DeleteOnTermination = $false
$bdm = New-Object Amazon.EC2.Model.BlockDeviceMapping
$bdm.DeviceName = "dev/xvda"
$bdm.Ebs = $ebs

Configure the root volume to persist for an existing instance

You can configure the root volume to persist for a running instance. Note that you can't complete this task using the Amazon EC2 console.

AWS CLI
To configure the root volume to persist for an existing instance

Use the modify-instance-attribute command with a block device mapping that sets the DeleteOnTermination attribute to false.

aws ec2 modify-instance-attribute \
    --instance-id i-1234567890abcdef0 \
    --block-device-mappings file://mapping.json

Specify the following in mapping.json.

[
    {
        "DeviceName": "/dev/xvda",
        "Ebs": {
            "DeleteOnTermination": false
        }
    }
]
PowerShell
To configure the root volume to persist for an existing instance

Use the Edit-EC2InstanceAttribute cmdlet with a block device mapping that sets the DeleteOnTermination attribute to $false.

$ebs = New-Object Amazon.EC2.Model.EbsInstanceBlockDeviceSpecification
$ebs.DeleteOnTermination = $false
$bdm = New-Object Amazon.EC2.Model.InstanceBlockDeviceMappingSpecification
$bdm.DeviceName = "/dev/xvda"
$bdm.Ebs = $ebs
Edit-EC2InstanceAttribute `
    -InstanceId i-1234567890abcdef0 `
    -BlockDeviceMapping $bdm

Confirm that a root volume is configured to persist

You can confirm that a root volume is configured to persist.

Console
To confirm that a root volume is configured to persist

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

  2. In the navigation pane, choose Instances and then select the instance.

  3. In the Storage tab, under Block devices, locate the entry for the root volume. If Delete on termination is No, the volume is configured to persist.

AWS CLI
To confirm that a root volume is configured to persist

Use the describe-instances command and verify that the DeleteOnTermination attribute is set to false.

aws ec2 describe-instances \
    --instance-id i-1234567890abcdef0 \
    --query "Reservations[].Instances[].BlockDeviceMappings"

The following is example output.

[
    [
        {
            "DeviceName": "/dev/xvda",
            "Ebs": {
                "AttachTime": "2024-07-12T04:05:33.000Z",
                "DeleteOnTermination": false,
                "Status": "attached",
                "VolumeId": "vol-1234567890abcdef0"
                
        }
    ]              
]
PowerShell
To confirm that a root volume is configured to persist

Use the Get-EC2Instance cmdlet and verify that the DeleteOnTermination attribute is set to False.

(Get-EC2Instance -InstanceId i-i-1234567890abcdef0).Instances.BlockDeviceMappings.Ebs

The following is example output.

AssociatedResource  : 
AttachTime          : 7/12/2024 4:05:33 AM
DeleteOnTermination : False
Operator            : 
Status              : attached
VolumeId            : vol-1234567890abcdef0