# Amazon Machine Images (AMIs) for AWS PCS
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AWS PCS works with AMIs that you provide, affording great flexibility in the software and configuration found on nodes in your cluster. If you are trying out AWS PCS, you can use a sample AMI provided by and maintained by AWS. If you are using AWS PCS in production, we recommend you build your own AMIs. This topic covers how to discover and use the sample AMIs, as well as how to build and use your own customized AMIs.

**Topics**
+ [Using sample Amazon Machine Images (AMIs) with AWS PCS](working-with_ami_samples.md)
+ [Custom Amazon Machine Images (AMIs) for AWS PCS](working-with_ami_custom.md)
+ [Software installers to build custom AMIs for AWS PCS](working-with_ami_installers.md)
+ [Release notes for AWS PCS sample AMIs](ami-release-notes.md)