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Amazon Machine Image (AMI)

·405 words·2 mins

What is Amazon EC2 AMI #

AMI are a customization of an EC2 instance.

  • Custom software, configuration, etc. can be added
  • Faster boot / configuration time because all your software is pre-packaged

AWS EC2 AMI Tutorial


AMI are build for a specific AWS region but can be copied across regions.

AMI can be launched from #

  • Public AMI - AWS provided
  • Own AMI - managed by an organization
  • AWS Marketplace - created by a vendor or another 3rd party (can be sold / bought)

Steps to build an AMI #

  • Start EC2 Instance and customize it
  • Stop the instance (for data integrity)
  • Build AMI - this will also create EBS Sapshots
  • Launch instances from other AMI’s
EC2 > Instances > Select an EC2 instance > Actions > Image and Templates > Create image

EC2 Image Builder #

EC2 Image Builder is a fully managed AWS service that helps you to automate the creation, management and deployment of customized, secure and up-to-date server images.

Custom images can be created via AWS Console, AWS CLI or API.

Automate the creation, maintain, validate the build of EC2 AMI’s. Can run on a schedule and can be distributed to multiple AWS Regions.

Summary #

AMI #
  • Create ready-to-use EC2 instances with own customizations
EC2 Image Builder #
  • automatically build, test and distribute AMI’s

» Sources « #

Stephane Maarek’s AWS playlists on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@StephaneMaarek/playlists

» References « #

» Table of contents (CLF-C02) « #

1. What is Cloud Computing2. IAM3. Budget
4. EC25. Security Groups6. Storage
7. AMI8. Scalability & High Availability9. Elastic Load Balancing
10. Auto Scaling Group11. S312. Databases
13. Other Compute Services14. Deployments15. AWS Global Infrastructure
16. Cloud Integrations17. Cloud Monitoring18. VPC
19. Security and Compliance20. Machine Learning21. Account Management and Billing
22. Advanced Identity23. Other Services24. AWS Architecting & Ecosystem
25. Preparing for AWS Practitioner exam

» Disclaimer « #

Disclaimer: Content for educational purposes only, no rights reserved.

Most of the content in this series is coming from Stephane Maarek’s Ultimate AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner CLF-C02 2025 course on Udemy.

I highly encourage you to take the Stephane’s courses as they are awesome and really help understanding the subject.

More about Stephane Maarek:

This article is just a summary and has been published to help me learning and passing the practitioner exam.