Amazon Machine Images (AMIs) in AWS - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Amazon Machine Images (AMIs)

📖 Scenario: You are setting up a cloud environment where you want to create a custom Amazon Machine Image (AMI) to launch virtual servers with your preferred software and settings.

🎯 Goal: Build a simple AWS CloudFormation template step-by-step that defines an EC2 instance and creates an AMI from it.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a CloudFormation template with an EC2 instance resource

Add a parameter for the base AMI ID

Use the parameter to specify the AMI for the EC2 instance

Add a resource to create an AMI from the EC2 instance

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Creating custom AMIs helps launch EC2 instances quickly with pre-installed software and settings, saving time and ensuring consistency.

💼 Career

Cloud architects and DevOps engineers often create and manage AMIs to optimize infrastructure deployment and maintenance.

1

Create the base CloudFormation template with an EC2 instance

Create a CloudFormation template with a resource named MyInstance of type AWS::EC2::Instance. Set the ImageId property to ami-0abcdef1234567890 and InstanceType to t2.micro.

AWS

# Your CloudFormation template starts here
Resources:
  MyInstance:
    Type: AWS::EC2::Instance
    Properties:
      ImageId: ami-0abcdef1234567890
      InstanceType: t2.micro

Need a hint?

Define the Resources section with an EC2 instance named MyInstance. Use the exact AMI ID and instance type given.

2

Add a parameter for the base AMI ID

Add a Parameters section with a parameter named BaseAmiId of type AWS::EC2::Image::Id. Remove the hardcoded ImageId from MyInstance and instead reference the parameter BaseAmiId using !Ref BaseAmiId.

AWS

Parameters:
  BaseAmiId:
    Type: AWS::EC2::Image::Id

Resources:
  MyInstance:
    Type: AWS::EC2::Instance
    Properties:
      ImageId: !Ref BaseAmiId
      InstanceType: t2.micro
# Add the parameter and update ImageId to use it

Need a hint?

Use the Parameters section to allow the AMI ID to be passed in. Reference it in the EC2 instance.

3

Add a resource to create an AMI from the EC2 instance

Add a resource named MyAmi of type AWS::EC2::Image. Set the InstanceId property to reference MyInstance using !Ref MyInstance. Set the Name property to MyCustomAMI.

AWS

Parameters:
  BaseAmiId:
    Type: AWS::EC2::Image::Id

Resources:
  MyInstance:
    Type: AWS::EC2::Instance
    Properties:
      ImageId: !Ref BaseAmiId
      InstanceType: t2.micro
  MyAmi:
    Type: AWS::EC2::Image
    Properties:
      InstanceId: !Ref MyInstance
      Name: MyCustomAMI
# Add the AMI creation resource

Need a hint?

Use the AWS::EC2::Image resource to create an AMI from the EC2 instance.

4

Add a tag to the AMI resource

Add a Tags property to the MyAmi resource. Add a tag with Key set to Purpose and Value set to CustomImage.

AWS

Parameters:
  BaseAmiId:
    Type: AWS::EC2::Image::Id

Resources:
  MyInstance:
    Type: AWS::EC2::Instance
    Properties:
      ImageId: !Ref BaseAmiId
      InstanceType: t2.micro
  MyAmi:
    Type: AWS::EC2::Image
    Properties:
      InstanceId: !Ref MyInstance
      Name: MyCustomAMI
      Tags:
        - Key: Purpose
          Value: CustomImage
# Add a tag to the AMI resource

Need a hint?

Tags help identify your AMI. Add the Tags property with the specified key and value.