# Create an Amazon EBS-backed AMI
You can create your own Amazon EBS-backed AMI from an Amazon EC2 instance or from a snapshot of the root volume of an Amazon EC2 instance.
To create an Amazon EBS-backed AMI from an instance, start by launching an instance using an existing Amazon EBS-backed AMI. This AMI can be one you obtained from the AWS Marketplace, created using [VM Import/Export](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/vm-import/latest/userguide/what-is-vmimport.html), or any other AMI that you can access. After customizing the instance to meet your specific requirements, create and register a new AMI. You can then use the new AMI to launch new instances with your customizations.
**Note**
To create an AMI that supports EC2 instance attestation, see [Attestable AMIs](attestable-ami.md).
The procedures described below work for Amazon EC2 instances backed by encrypted Amazon Elastic Block Store (Amazon EBS) volumes (including the root volume) as well as for unencrypted volumes.
The AMI creation process is different for Amazon S3-backed AMIs. For more information, see [Create an Amazon S3-backed AMI](creating-an-ami-instance-store.md).
**Topics**
+ [
## Overview of AMI creation from an instance
](#process-creating-an-ami-ebs)
+ [
## Create an AMI from an instance
](#how-to-create-ebs-ami)
+ [
## Create an AMI from a snapshot
](#creating-launching-ami-from-snapshot)
## Overview of AMI creation from an instance
The following diagram summarizes the process for creating an Amazon EBS-backed AMI from a running EC2 instance: Start with an existing AMI, launch an instance, customize it, create a new AMI from it, and finally launch an instance of your new AMI. The numbers in the diagram match the numbers in the description that follows.
![\[Workflow for creating an AMI from an instance\]](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/images/running-instance.png)
**1 – AMI \$11: Start with an existing AMI**
Find an existing AMI that is similar to the AMI that you'd like to create. This can be an AMI you have obtained from the AWS Marketplace, an AMI that you have created using [VM Import/Export](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/vm-import/latest/userguide/what-is-vmimport.html), or any other AMI that you can access. You'll customize this AMI for your needs.
In the diagram, **EBS root volume snapshot \$11** indicates that the AMI is an Amazon EBS-backed AMI and that information about the root volume is stored in this snapshot.
**2 – Launch instance from existing AMI**
The way to configure an AMI is to launch an instance from the AMI on which you'd like to base your new AMI, and then customize the instance (indicated at **3** in the diagram). Then, you'll create a new AMI that includes the customizations (indicated at **4** in the diagram).
**3 – EC2 instance \$11: Customize the instance**
Connect to your instance and customize it for your needs. Your new AMI will include these customizations.
You can perform any of the following actions on your instance to customize it:
+ Install software and applications
+ Copy data
+ Reduce start time by deleting temporary files and defragmenting your hard drive
+ Attach additional EBS volumes
**4 – Create image**
When you create an AMI from an instance, Amazon EC2 powers down the instance before creating the AMI to ensure that everything on the instance is stopped and in a consistent state during the creation process. If you're confident that your instance is in a consistent state appropriate for AMI creation, you can tell Amazon EC2 not to power down and reboot the instance. Some file systems, such as XFS, can freeze and unfreeze activity, making it safe to create the image without rebooting the instance.
During the AMI-creation process, Amazon EC2 creates snapshots of your instance's root volume and any other EBS volumes attached to your instance. You're charged for the snapshots until you [deregister the AMI](deregister-ami.md) and delete the snapshots. If any volumes attached to the instance are encrypted, the new AMI only launches successfully on instances that support Amazon EBS encryption.
Depending on the size of the volumes, it can take several minutes for the AMI-creation process to complete (sometimes up to 24 hours). You might find it more efficient to create snapshots of your volumes before creating your AMI. This way, only small, incremental snapshots need to be created when the AMI is created, and the process completes more quickly (the total time for snapshot creation remains the same).
**5 – AMI \$12: New AMI**
After the process completes, you have a new AMI and snapshot (**snapshot \$12**) created from the root volume of the instance. If you added instance store volumes or EBS volumes to the instance, in addition to the root volume, the block device mapping for the new AMI contains information for these volumes.
Amazon EC2 automatically registers the AMI for you.
**6 – Launch instance from new AMI**
You can use the new AMI to launch an instance.
**7 – EC2 instance \$12: New instance**
When you launch an instance using the new AMI, Amazon EC2 creates a new EBS volume for the instance's root volume using the snapshot. If you added instance store volumes or EBS volumes when you customized the instance, the block device mapping for the new AMI contains information for these volumes, and the block device mappings for instances that you launch from the new AMI automatically contain information for these volumes. The instance store volumes specified in the block device mapping for the new instance are new and don't contain any data from the instance store volumes of the instance you used to create the AMI. The data on EBS volumes persists. For more information, see [Block device mappings for volumes on Amazon EC2 instances](block-device-mapping-concepts.md).
When you create a new instance from an EBS-backed AMI, you should initialize both its root volume and any additional EBS storage before putting it into production. For more information, see [Initialize Amazon EBS volumes](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/ebs/latest/userguide/ebs-initialize.html) in the *Amazon EBS User Guide*.
## Create an AMI from an instance
If you have an existing instance, you can create an AMI from this instance.
------
#### [ Console ]
**To create an AMI**
1. Open the Amazon EC2 console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/ec2/](https://console.aws.amazon.com/ec2/).
1. In the navigation pane, choose **Instances**.
1. Select the instance from which to create the AMI, and then choose **Actions**, **Image and templates**, **Create image**.
**Tip**
If this option is disabled, your instance isn't an Amazon EBS-backed instance.
1. On the **Create image** page, specify the following information:
1. For **Image name**, enter a unique name for the image, up to 127 characters.
1. For **Image description**, enter an optional description of the image, up to 255 characters.
1. For **Reboot instance**, either keep the checkbox selected (the default), or clear it.
+ If **Reboot instance** is selected, when Amazon EC2 creates the new AMI, it reboots the instance so that it can take snapshots of the attached volumes while data is at rest, in order to ensure a consistent state.
+ If **Reboot instance** is cleared, when Amazon EC2 creates the new AMI, it does not shut down and reboot the instance.
**Warning**
If you clear **Reboot instance**, we can't guarantee the file system integrity of the created image.
1. **Instance volumes** – You can modify the root volume, and add additional Amazon EBS and instance store volumes, as follows:
1. The root volume is defined in the first row.
+ To change the size of the root volume, for **Size**, enter the required value.
+ If you select **Delete on termination**, when you terminate the instance created from this AMI, the EBS volume is deleted. If you clear **Delete on termination**, when you terminate the instance, the EBS volume is not deleted. For more information, see [Preserve data when an instance is terminated](preserving-volumes-on-termination.md).
1. To add an EBS volume, choose **Add volume** (which adds a new row). For **Storage type**, choose **EBS**, and fill in the fields in the row. When you launch an instance from your new AMI, additional volumes are automatically attached to the instance. Empty volumes must be formatted and mounted. Volumes based on a snapshot must be mounted.
1. To add an instance store volume, see [Add instance store volumes to an Amazon EC2 AMI](adding-instance-storage-ami.md). When you launch an instance from your new AMI, additional volumes are automatically initialized and mounted. These volumes do not contain data from the instance store volumes of the running instance on which you based your AMI.
1. **Snapshot destination** – If your instance volumes are in a Local Zone that supports EBS local snapshots, choose where to create the AMI’s snapshots:
+ **AWS Region**: Create snapshots in the parent Region of the Local Zone of your volumes.
+ **AWS Local Zone**: Create snapshots in the same Local Zone as your volumes.
**Note**
This option appears only in Local Zones that support EBS local snapshots, and only if your instance was created in a Local Zone. If the volume is in a Region, this option does not appear, and the snapshot is automatically created in the same Region as the volume. For more information, see [Local snapshots in Local Zones](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/ebs/latest/userguide/snapshots-localzones.html) in the *Amazon EBS User Guide*.
**Important**
All snapshots of the instance’s volumes must be in the same location. Verify the location of existing snapshots. If any existing snapshots are in a different location than your selected destination, the AMI creation will fail.
1. **Tags** – You can tag the AMI and the snapshots with the same tags, or you can tag them with different tags.
+ To tag the AMI and the snapshots with the *same* tags, choose **Tag image and snapshots together**. The same tags are applied to the AMI and every snapshot that is created.
+ To tag the AMI and the snapshots with *different* tags, choose **Tag image and snapshots separately**. Different tags are applied to the AMI and the snapshots that are created. However, all the snapshots get the same tags; you can't tag each snapshot with a different tag.
To add a tag, choose **Add tag**, and enter the key and value for the tag. Repeat for each tag.
1. When you're ready to create your AMI, choose **Create image**.
1. To view the status of your AMI while it is being created:
1. In the navigation pane, choose **AMIs**.
1. Set the filter to **Owned by me**, and find your AMI in the list.
Initially, the status is `pending` but should change to `available` after a few minutes.
1. (Optional) To view the snapshot that was created for the new AMI:
1. Note the ID of your AMI that you located in the previous step.
1. In the navigation pane, choose **Snapshots**.
1. Set the filter to **Owned by me**, and then find the snapshot with the new AMI ID in the **Description** column.
When you launch an instance from this AMI, Amazon EC2 uses this snapshot to create the instance's root volume.
------
#### [ AWS CLI ]
**To create an AMI**
Use the [create-image](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/reference/ec2/create-image.html) command.
```
aws ec2 create-image \
--instance-id i-1234567890abcdef0 \
--name "my-web-server" \
--description "My web server image" \
--no-reboot
```
------
#### [ PowerShell ]
**To create an AMI**
Use the [New-EC2Image](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/powershell/latest/reference/items/New-EC2Image.html) cmdlet.
```
New-EC2Image `
-InstanceId i-1234567890abcdef0 `
-Name "my-web-server" `
-Description "My web server image" `
-NoReboot $true
```
------
## Create an AMI from a snapshot
If you have a snapshot of the root volume of an instance, you can create an AMI from this snapshot.
**Note**
In most cases, AMIs for Windows, Red Hat, SUSE, and SQL Server require correct licensing information to be present on the AMI. For more information, see [Understand AMI billing information](ami-billing-info.md). When creating an AMI from a snapshot, the `RegisterImage` operation derives the correct billing information from the snapshot's metadata, but this requires the appropriate metadata to be present. To verify if the correct billing information was applied, check the **Platform details** field on the new AMI. If the field is empty or doesn't match the expected operating system code (for example, Windows, Red Hat, SUSE, or SQL), the AMI creation was unsuccessful, and you should discard the AMI and follow the instructions in [Create an AMI from an instance](#how-to-create-ebs-ami).
------
#### [ Console ]
**To create an AMI from a snapshot**
1. Open the Amazon EC2 console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/ec2/](https://console.aws.amazon.com/ec2/).
1. In the navigation pane, choose **Snapshots**.
1. Select the snapshot from which to create the AMI, and then choose **Actions**, **Create image from snapshot**.
1. On the **Create image from snapshot** page, specify the following information:
1. For **Image name**, enter a descriptive name for the image.
1. For **Description**, enter a brief description for the image.
1. For **Architecture**, choose the image architecture. Choose **i386** for 32-bit, **x86\$164** for 64-bit, **arm64** for 64-bit ARM, or **x86\$164** for 64-bit macOS.
1. For **Root device name**, enter the device name to use for the root volume. For more information, see [Device names for volumes on Amazon EC2 instances](device_naming.md).
1. For **Virtualization type**, choose the virtualization type to be used by instances launched from this AMI. For more information, see [Virtualization types](ComponentsAMIs.md#virtualization_types).
1. (For paravirtual virtualization only) For **Kernel ID**, select the operating system kernel for the image. If you're using a snapshot of the root volume of an instance, select the same kernel ID as the original instance. If you're unsure, use the default kernel.
1. (For paravirtual virtualization only) For **RAM disk ID**, select the RAM disk for the image. If you select a specific kernel, you may need to select a specific RAM disk with the drivers to support it.
1. For **Boot mode**, choose the boot mode for the image, or choose **Use default** so that when an instance is launched with this AMI, it boots with the boot mode supported by the instance type. For more information, see [Set the boot mode of an Amazon EC2 AMI](set-ami-boot-mode.md).
1. (Optional) Under **Block device mappings**, customize the root volume and add additional data volumes.
For each volume, you can specify the size, type, performance characteristics, the behavior of delete on termination, and encryption status. For the root volume, the size can't be smaller than the size of the snapshot. For volume type, General Purpose SSD `gp3` is the default selection.
1. (Optional) Under **Tags**, you can add one or more tags to the new AMI. To add a tag, choose **Add tag**, and enter the key and value for the tag. Repeat for each tag.
1. When you're ready to create your AMI, choose **Create image**.
1. (Windows, Red Hat, SUSE, and SQL Server only) To verify if the correct billing information was applied, check the **Platform details** field on the new AMI. If the field is empty or doesn't match the expected operating system code (for example, **Windows** or **Red Hat**), the AMI creation was unsuccessful, and you should discard the AMI and follow the instructions in [Create an AMI from an instance](#how-to-create-ebs-ami).
------
#### [ AWS CLI ]
**To create an AMI from a snapshot using the AWS CLI**
Use the [register-image](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/reference/ec2/register-image.html) command.
```
aws ec2 register-image \
--name my-image \
--root-device-name /dev/xvda \
--block-device-mappings DeviceName=/dev/xvda,Ebs={SnapshotId=snap-0db2cf683925d191f}
```
------
#### [ PowerShell ]
**To create an AMI from a snapshot using PowerShell**
Use the [Register-EC2Image](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/powershell/latest/reference/items/Register-EC2Image.html) cmdlet.
```
$block = @{SnapshotId=snap-0db2cf683925d191f}
Register-EC2Image `
-Name my-image `
-RootDeviceName /dev/xvda `
-BlockDeviceMapping @{DeviceName="/dev/xvda";Ebs=$block}
```
------