Retrieving Amazon EKS optimized Amazon Linux AMI IDs - Amazon EKS

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Retrieving Amazon EKS optimized Amazon Linux AMI IDs

You can programmatically retrieve the Amazon Machine Image (AMI) ID for Amazon EKS optimized AMIs by querying the AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store API. This parameter eliminates the need for you to manually look up Amazon EKS optimized AMI IDs. For more information about the Systems Manager Parameter Store API, see GetParameter. The IAM principal that you use must have the ssm:GetParameter IAM permission to retrieve the Amazon EKS optimized AMI metadata.

You can retrieve the image ID of the latest recommended Amazon EKS optimized Amazon Linux AMI with the following command, which uses the sub-parameter image_id. Make the following modifications to the command as needed and then run the modified command:

  • Replace kubernetes-version with a supported Amazon EKS version.

  • Replace ami-type with one of the following options. For information about the types of Amazon EC2 instances, see Amazon EC2 instance types.

    • Use amazon-linux-2023/x86_64/standard for Amazon Linux 2023 (AL2023) x86 based instances.

    • Use amazon-linux-2023/arm64/standard for AL2023 ARM instances.

    • Use amazon-linux-2 for Amazon Linux 2 (AL2) x86 based instances.

    • Use amazon-linux-2-arm64 for AL2 ARM instances, such as AWS Graviton based instances.

    • Use amazon-linux-2-gpu for AL2 GPU accelerated instances.

  • Replace region-code with an Amazon EKS supported AWS Region for which you want the AMI ID.

aws ssm get-parameter --name /aws/service/eks/optimized-ami/kubernetes-version/ami-type/recommended/image_id \
    --region region-code --query "Parameter.Value" --output text

Here's an example command after placeholder replacements have been made.

aws ssm get-parameter --name /aws/service/eks/optimized-ami/1.30/amazon-linux-2023/x86_64/standard/recommended/image_id \
    --region us-west-2 --query "Parameter.Value" --output text

An example output is as follows.

ami-1234567890abcdef0