# Retrieving Amazon ECS-optimized Windows AMI metadata
<a name="retrieve-ecs-optimized_windows_AMI"></a>

The AMI ID, image name, operating system, container agent version, and runtime version for each variant of the Amazon ECS-optimized AMIs can be programmatically retrieved by querying the Systems Manager Parameter Store API. For more information about the Systems Manager Parameter Store API, see [GetParameters](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/systems-manager/latest/APIReference/API_GetParameters.html) and [GetParametersByPath](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/systems-manager/latest/APIReference/API_GetParametersByPath.html).

**Note**  
Your administrative user must have the following IAM permissions to retrieve the Amazon ECS-optimized AMI metadata. These permissions have been added to the `AmazonECS_FullAccess` IAM policy.  
ssm:GetParameters
ssm:GetParameter
ssm:GetParametersByPath

## Systems Manager Parameter Store parameter format
<a name="ecs-optimized-ami-parameter-format"></a>

**Note**  
The following Systems Manager Parameter Store API parameters are deprecated and should not be used to retrieve the latest Windows AMIs:  
`/aws/service/ecs/optimized-ami/windows_server/2016/english/full/recommended/image_id `
`/aws/service/ecs/optimized-ami/windows_server/2019/english/full/recommended/image_id`

The following is the format of the parameter name for each Amazon ECS-optimized AMI variant.
+ Windows Server 2025 Full AMI metadata:

  ```
  /aws/service/ami-windows-latest/Windows_Server-2025-English-Full-ECS_Optimized
  ```
+ Windows Server 2025 Core AMI metadata:

  ```
  /aws/service/ami-windows-latest/Windows_Server-2025-English-Core-ECS_Optimized
  ```
+ Windows Server 2022 Full AMI metadata:

  ```
  /aws/service/ami-windows-latest/Windows_Server-2022-English-Full-ECS_Optimized
  ```
+ Windows Server 2022 Core AMI metadata:

  ```
  /aws/service/ami-windows-latest/Windows_Server-2022-English-Core-ECS_Optimized
  ```
+ Windows Server 2019 Full AMI metadata:

  ```
  /aws/service/ami-windows-latest/Windows_Server-2019-English-Full-ECS_Optimized
  ```
+ Windows Server 2019 Core AMI metadata:

  ```
  /aws/service/ami-windows-latest/Windows_Server-2019-English-Core-ECS_Optimized
  ```
+ Windows Server 2016 Full AMI metadata:

  ```
  /aws/service/ami-windows-latest/Windows_Server-2016-English-Full-ECS_Optimized
  ```

The following parameter name format retrieves the metadata of the latest stable Windows Server 2019 Full AMI

```
aws ssm get-parameters --names /aws/service/ami-windows-latest/Windows_Server-2019-English-Full-ECS_Optimized
```

The following is an example of the JSON object that is returned for the parameter value.

```
{
    "Parameters": [
        {
            "Name": "/aws/service/ami-windows-latest/Windows_Server-2019-English-Full-ECS_Optimized",
            "Type": "String",
            "Value": "{\"image_name\":\"Windows_Server-2019-English-Full-ECS_Optimized-2023.06.13\",\"image_id\":\"ami-0debc1fb48e4aee16\",\"ecs_runtime_version\":\"Docker (CE) version 20.10.21\",\"ecs_agent_version\":\"1.72.0\"}",
            "Version": 58,
            "LastModifiedDate": "2023-06-22T19:37:37.841000-04:00",
            "ARN": "arn:aws:ssm:us-east-1::parameter/aws/service/ami-windows-latest/Windows_Server-2019-English-Full-ECS_Optimized",
            "DataType": "text"
        }
    ],
    "InvalidParameters": []
}
```

Each of the fields in the output above are available to be queried as sub-parameters. Construct the parameter path for a sub-parameter by appending the sub-parameter name to the path for the selected AMI. The following sub-parameters are available:
+ `schema_version`
+ `image_id`
+ `image_name`
+ `os`
+ `ecs_agent_version`
+ `ecs_runtime_version`

## Examples
<a name="ecs-optimized-ami-windows-parameter-examples"></a>

The following examples show ways in which you can retrieve the metadata for each Amazon ECS-optimized AMI variant.

### Retrieving the metadata of the latest stable Amazon ECS-optimized AMI
<a name="ecs-optimized-ami-windows-parameter-examples-1"></a>

You can retrieve the latest stable Amazon ECS-optimized AMI using the AWS CLI with the following AWS CLI commands.
+ **For the Amazon ECS-optimized Windows Server 2025 Full AMI:**

  ```
  aws ssm get-parameters --names /aws/service/ami-windows-latest/Windows_Server-2025-English-Full-ECS_Optimized --region us-east-1
  ```
+ **For the Amazon ECS-optimized Windows Server 2025 Core AMI:**

  ```
  aws ssm get-parameters --names /aws/service/ami-windows-latest/Windows_Server-2025-English-Core-ECS_Optimized --region us-east-1
  ```
+ **For the Amazon ECS-optimized Windows Server 2022 Full AMI:**

  ```
  aws ssm get-parameters --names /aws/service/ami-windows-latest/Windows_Server-2022-English-Full-ECS_Optimized --region us-east-1
  ```
+ **For the Amazon ECS-optimized Windows Server 2022 Core AMI:**

  ```
  aws ssm get-parameters --names /aws/service/ami-windows-latest/Windows_Server-2022-English-Core-ECS_Optimized --region us-east-1
  ```
+ **For the Amazon ECS-optimized Windows Server 2019 Full AMI:**

  ```
  aws ssm get-parameters --names /aws/service/ami-windows-latest/Windows_Server-2019-English-Full-ECS_Optimized --region us-east-1
  ```
+ **For the Amazon ECS-optimized Windows Server 2019 Core AMI:**

  ```
  aws ssm get-parameters --names /aws/service/ami-windows-latest/Windows_Server-2019-English-Core-ECS_Optimized --region us-east-1
  ```
+ **For the Amazon ECS-optimized Windows Server 2016 Full AMI:**

  ```
  aws ssm get-parameters --names /aws/service/ami-windows-latest/Windows_Server-2016-English-Full-ECS_Optimized --region us-east-1
  ```

### Using the latest recommended Amazon ECS-optimized AMI in an CloudFormation template
<a name="ecs-optimized-ami-windows-parameter-examples-5"></a>

You can reference the latest recommended Amazon ECS-optimized AMI in an CloudFormation template by referencing the Systems Manager parameter store name.

```
Parameters:
  LatestECSOptimizedAMI:
    Description: AMI ID
    Type: AWS::SSM::Parameter::Value<AWS::EC2::Image::Id>
    Default: /aws/service/ami-windows-latest/Windows_Server-2019-English-Full-ECS_Optimized/image_id
```