If it's time to upgrade the Windows Server operating system on your EC2 Windows instance from an earlier version, you can use one of the following methods.
- In-place upgrade
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An in-place upgrade operates on an existing instance. Only the operating system files are affected during this proces, while your settings, server roles, and data are left intact.
- Migration (also known as a side-by-side upgrade)
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A migration involves capturing settings, configurations, and data, and porting these to a newer operating system on a fresh EC2 Windows instance. You can launch your instance from a public or private Windows AMI that you subscribe to from the AWS Marketplace, or an AMI that's shared with you. You can also create a custom AMI with EC2 Image Builder. See the Image Builder User Guide for more information.
Note
AWS provides a set of publicly available Amazon Machine Images (AMIs) for Windows Server versions that run on EC2 instances. These AMIs are updated on a monthly basis. For information about the latest Windows AMIs, see the AWS Windows AMI Reference.
Microsoft has traditionally recommended migrating to a newer version of Windows Server instead of upgrading in place. Migrating can result in fewer upgrade errors or issues, but can take longer than an in-place upgrade because of the need to provision a new instance, plan for and port applications, and adjust configuration settings on the new instance. An in-place upgrade can be faster, but software incompatibilities can produce errors.
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