Programmatic modifications made to VMs by VM Import/Export
When importing a VM using the ImportImage
API, AWS modifies the file
system to make the imported VM accessible. When writing a modified file,
AWS retains the original file at the same location under a new name. The following actions may occur:
General
-
For parity with images provided by AWS, the AWS Systems Manager client is installed on the VM.
Windows
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Modifying registry settings to make the VM bootable.
Linux
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Installing Citrix PV drivers either directly in OS or modify initrd/initramfs to contain them.
-
Modifying network scripts to replace static IPs with dynamic IPs.
-
Modifying
/etc/fstab
, commenting out invalid entries and replacing device names with UUIDs. If no matching UUID can be found for a device, thenofail
option is added to the device description. You must correct the device naming and removenofail
after import. As a best practice when preparing your VMs for import, we recommend that you specify your VM disk devices by UUID rather than device name.Entries in
/etc/fstab
that contain non-standard file system types (cifs, smbfs, vboxsf, sshfs, etc.) are disabled. -
Modifying grub bootloader settings such as the default entry and timeout.