github.com/aspring/packer@v0.8.1-0.20150629211158-9db281ac0f89/website/source/docs/builders/amazon-ebs.html.markdown

---
layout: "docs"
page_title: "Amazon AMI Builder (EBS backed)"
description: |-
  The `amazon-ebs` Packer builder is able to create Amazon AMIs backed by EBS volumes for use in EC2. For more information on the difference between EBS-backed instances and instance-store backed instances, see the storage for the root device section in the EC2 documentation.
---

# AMI Builder (EBS backed)

Type: `amazon-ebs`

The `amazon-ebs` Packer builder is able to create Amazon AMIs backed by EBS
volumes for use in [EC2](http://aws.amazon.com/ec2/). For more information
on the difference between EBS-backed instances and instance-store backed
instances, see the
["storage for the root device" section in the EC2 documentation](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/ComponentsAMIs.html#storage-for-the-root-device).

This builder builds an AMI by launching an EC2 instance from a source AMI,
provisioning that running machine, and then creating an AMI from that machine.
This is all done in your own AWS account. The builder will create temporary
keypairs, security group rules, etc. that provide it temporary access to
the instance while the image is being created. This simplifies configuration
quite a bit.

The builder does _not_ manage AMIs. Once it creates an AMI and stores it
in your account, it is up to you to use, delete, etc. the AMI.

## Configuration Reference

There are many configuration options available for the builder. They are
segmented below into two categories: required and optional parameters. Within
each category, the available configuration keys are alphabetized.

In addition to the options listed here, a
[communicator](/docs/templates/communicator.html)
can be configured for this builder.

### Required:

* `access_key` (string) - The access key used to communicate with AWS.
  If not specified, Packer will use the key from any [credentials](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/userguide/cli-chap-getting-started.html#cli-config-files) file
  or fall back to environment variables `AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID` or `AWS_ACCESS_KEY` (in that order), if set.

* `ami_name` (string) - The name of the resulting AMI that will appear
  when managing AMIs in the AWS console or via APIs. This must be unique.
  To help make this unique, use a function like `timestamp` (see
  [configuration templates](/docs/templates/configuration-templates.html) for more info)

* `instance_type` (string) - The EC2 instance type to use while building
  the AMI, such as "m1.small".

* `region` (string) - The name of the region, such as "us-east-1", in which
  to launch the EC2 instance to create the AMI.

* `secret_key` (string) - The secret key used to communicate with AWS.
  If not specified, Packer will use the secret from any [credentials](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/userguide/cli-chap-getting-started.html#cli-config-files) file
  or fall back to environment variables `AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY` or `AWS_SECRET_KEY` (in that order), if set.

* `source_ami` (string) - The initial AMI used as a base for the newly
  created machine.

* `ssh_username` (string) - The username to use in order to communicate
  over SSH to the running machine.

### Optional:

* `ami_block_device_mappings` (array of block device mappings) - Add the block
  device mappings to the AMI. The block device mappings allow for keys:

  - `device_name` (string) - The device name exposed to the instance (for
      example, "/dev/sdh" or "xvdh")
  - `virtual_name` (string) - The virtual device name. See the documentation on
          [Block Device Mapping][1] for more information
  - `snapshot_id` (string) - The ID of the snapshot
  - `volume_type` (string) - The volume type. gp2 for General Purpose (SSD)
  volumes, io1 for Provisioned IOPS (SSD) volumes, and standard for Magnetic
  volumes
  - `volume_size` (integer) - The size of the volume, in GiB. Required if not
      specifying a `snapshot_id`
  - `delete_on_termination` (boolean) - Indicates whether the EBS volume is
      deleted on instance termination
  - `encrypted` (boolean) - Indicates whether to encrypt the volume or not
  - `no_device` (boolean) - Suppresses the specified device included in the
       block device mapping of the AMI
  - `iops` (integer) - The number of I/O operations per second (IOPS) that the
       volume supports. See the documentation on [IOPs][2] for more information


* `ami_description` (string) - The description to set for the resulting
  AMI(s). By default this description is empty.

* `ami_groups` (array of strings) - A list of groups that have access
  to launch the resulting AMI(s). By default no groups have permission
  to launch the AMI. `all` will make the AMI publicly accessible.
  AWS currently doesn't accept any value other than "all".

* `ami_product_codes` (array of strings) - A list of product codes to
  associate with the AMI. By default no product codes are associated with
  the AMI.

* `ami_regions` (array of strings) - A list of regions to copy the AMI to.
  Tags and attributes are copied along with the AMI. AMI copying takes time
  depending on the size of the AMI, but will generally take many minutes.

* `ami_users` (array of strings) - A list of account IDs that have access
  to launch the resulting AMI(s). By default no additional users other than the user
  creating the AMI has permissions to launch it.

* `associate_public_ip_address` (boolean) - If using a non-default VPC, public
  IP addresses are not provided by default. If this is toggled, your new
  instance will get a Public IP.

* `availability_zone` (string) - Destination availability zone to launch instance in.
  Leave this empty to allow Amazon to auto-assign.

* `enhanced_networking` (boolean) - Enable enhanced networking (SriovNetSupport) on
  HVM-compatible AMIs. If true, add `ec2:ModifyInstanceAttribute` to your AWS IAM policy.

* `force_deregister` (boolean) - Force Packer to first deregister an existing
AMI if one with the same name already exists. Default `false`.

* `iam_instance_profile` (string) - The name of an
  [IAM instance profile](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/instance-profiles.html)
  to launch the EC2 instance with.

* `launch_block_device_mappings` (array of block device mappings) - Add the
  block device mappings to the launch instance. The block device mappings are
  the same as `ami_block_device_mappings` above.

* `run_tags` (object of key/value strings) - Tags to apply to the instance
  that is _launched_ to create the AMI. These tags are _not_ applied to
  the resulting AMI unless they're duplicated in `tags`.

* `security_group_id` (string) - The ID (_not_ the name) of the security
  group to assign to the instance. By default this is not set and Packer
  will automatically create a new temporary security group to allow SSH
  access. Note that if this is specified, you must be sure the security
  group allows access to the `ssh_port` given below.

* `security_group_ids` (array of strings) - A list of security groups as
  described above. Note that if this is specified, you must omit the
  `security_group_id`.

* `spot_price` (string) - The maximum hourly price to pay for a spot instance
  to create the AMI. Spot instances are a type of instance that EC2 starts when
  the current spot price is less than the maximum price you specify. Spot price
  will be updated based on available spot instance capacity and current spot
  instance requests. It may save you some costs. You can set this to "auto" for
  Packer to automatically discover the best spot price.

* `spot_price_auto_product` (string) - Required if `spot_price` is set to
  "auto". This tells Packer what sort of AMI you're launching to find the best
   spot price. This must be one of: `Linux/UNIX`, `SUSE Linux`, `Windows`,
   `Linux/UNIX (Amazon VPC)`, `SUSE Linux (Amazon VPC)`, `Windows (Amazon VPC)`

* `ssh_keypair_name` (string) - If specified, this is the key that will be
  used for SSH with the machine. By default, this is blank, and Packer will
  generate a temporary keypair. `ssh_private_key_file` must be specified
  with this.

* `ssh_private_ip` (bool) - If true, then SSH will always use the private
  IP if available.

* `subnet_id` (string) - If using VPC, the ID of the subnet, such as
  "subnet-12345def", where Packer will launch the EC2 instance. This field is
  required if you are using an non-default VPC.

* `tags` (object of key/value strings) - Tags applied to the AMI and
  relevant snapshots.

* `temporary_key_pair_name` (string) - The name of the temporary keypair
  to generate. By default, Packer generates a name with a UUID.

* `token` (string) - The access token to use. This is different from
  the access key and secret key. If you're not sure what this is, then you
  probably don't need it. This will also be read from the `AWS_SECURITY_TOKEN`
  environmental variable.

* `user_data` (string) - User data to apply when launching the instance.
  Note that you need to be careful about escaping characters due to the
  templates being JSON. It is often more convenient to use `user_data_file`,
  instead.

* `user_data_file` (string) - Path to a file that will be used for the
  user data when launching the instance.

* `vpc_id` (string) - If launching into a VPC subnet, Packer needs the
  VPC ID in order to create a temporary security group within the VPC.

* `windows_password_timeout` (string) - The timeout for waiting for
  a Windows password for Windows instances. Defaults to 20 minutes.
  Example value: "10m"

## Basic Example

Here is a basic example. It is completely valid except for the access keys:

```javascript
{
  "type": "amazon-ebs",
  "access_key": "YOUR KEY HERE",
  "secret_key": "YOUR SECRET KEY HERE",
  "region": "us-east-1",
  "source_ami": "ami-de0d9eb7",
  "instance_type": "t1.micro",
  "ssh_username": "ubuntu",
  "ami_name": "packer-quick-start {{timestamp}}"
}
```

-> **Note:** Packer can also read the access key and secret
access key from environmental variables. See the configuration reference in
the section above for more information on what environmental variables Packer
will look for.

## Accessing the Instance to Debug

If you need to access the instance to debug for some reason, run the builder
with the `-debug` flag. In debug mode, the Amazon builder will save the
private key in the current directory and will output the DNS or IP information
as well. You can use this information to access the instance as it is
running.

## AMI Block Device Mappings Example

Here is an example using the optional AMI block device mappings. This will add
the /dev/sdb and /dev/sdc block device mappings to the finished AMI.

```javascript
{
  "type": "amazon-ebs",
  "access_key": "YOUR KEY HERE",
  "secret_key": "YOUR SECRET KEY HERE",
  "region": "us-east-1",
  "source_ami": "ami-de0d9eb7",
  "instance_type": "t1.micro",
  "ssh_username": "ubuntu",
  "ami_name": "packer-quick-start {{timestamp}}",
  "ami_block_device_mappings": [
    {
      "device_name": "/dev/sdb",
      "virtual_name": "ephemeral0"
    },
    {
      "device_name": "/dev/sdc",
      "virtual_name": "ephemeral1"
    }
  ]
}
```

## Tag Example

Here is an example using the optional AMI tags. This will add the tags
"OS_Version" and "Release" to the finished AMI.

```javascript
{
  "type": "amazon-ebs",
  "access_key": "YOUR KEY HERE",
  "secret_key": "YOUR SECRET KEY HERE",
  "region": "us-east-1",
  "source_ami": "ami-de0d9eb7",
  "instance_type": "t1.micro",
  "ssh_username": "ubuntu",
  "ami_name": "packer-quick-start {{timestamp}}",
  "tags": {
    "OS_Version": "Ubuntu",
    "Release": "Latest"
  }
}
```

-> **Note:** Packer uses pre-built AMIs as the source for building images.
These source AMIs may include volumes that are not flagged to be destroyed on
termiation of the instance building the new image. Packer will attempt to clean
up all residual volumes that are not designated by the user to remain after
termination. If you need to preserve those source volumes, you can overwrite the
termination setting by specifying `delete_on_termination=false` in the
`launch_device_mappings` block for the device.

[1]: http://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/APIReference/API_BlockDeviceMapping.html
[2]: http://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/APIReference/API_EbsBlockDevice.html