Amazon EC2 | VM Import Export

Question 1

Will my Previous Generation instances I purchased as a Reserved Instance be affected or changed?

VM Import/Export

Amazon EC2 | Compute

Answer 1

No. Your Reserved Instances will not change, and the Previous Generation instances are not going away.

Question 2

What is VM Import/Export?

VM Import/Export

Amazon EC2 | Compute

Answer 2

VM Import/Export enables customers to import Virtual Machine (VM) images in order to create Amazon EC2 instances. Customers can also export previously imported EC2 instances to create VMs. Customers can use VM Import/Export to leverage their previous investments in building VMs by migrating their VMs to Amazon EC2.

Question 3

What operating systems are supported?

VM Import/Export

Amazon EC2 | Compute

Answer 3

VM Import/Export currently supports Windows and Linux VMs, including Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2012 R1, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 5.1-6.5 (using Cloud Access), Centos 5.1-6.5, Ubuntu 12.04, 12.10, 13.04, 13.10, and Debian 6.0.0-6.0.8, 7.0.0-7.2.0. For more details on VM Import, including supported file formats, architectures, and operating system configurations, please see the VM Import/Export section of the Amazon EC2 User Guide.

Question 4

What virtual machine file formats are supported?

VM Import/Export

Amazon EC2 | Compute

Answer 4

You can import VMware ESX VMDK images, Citrix Xen VHD images, Microsoft Hyper-V VHD images and RAW images as Amazon EC2 instances. You can export EC2 instances to VMware ESX VMDK, VMware ESX OVA, Microsoft Hyper-V VHD or Citrix Xen VHD images. For a full list of support operating systems, please see What operating systems are supported?.

Question 5

What is VMDK?

VM Import/Export

Amazon EC2 | Compute

Answer 5

VMDK is a file format that specifies a virtual machine hard disk encapsulated within a single file. It is typically used by virtual IT infrastructures such as those sold by VMware, Inc.

Question 6

How do I prepare a VMDK file for import using the VMware vSphere client?

VM Import/Export

Amazon EC2 | Compute

Answer 6

The VMDK file can be prepared by calling File-Export-Export to OVF template in VMware vSphere Client. The resulting VMDK file is compressed to reduce the image size and is compatible with VM Import/Export. No special preparation is required if you are using the Amazon EC2 VM Import Connector vApp for VMware vCenter.

Question 7

What is VHD?

VM Import/Export

Amazon EC2 | Compute

Answer 7

VHD (Virtual Hard Disk) is a file format that that specifies a virtual machine hard disk encapsulated within a single file. The VHD image format is used by virtualization platforms such as Microsoft Hyper-V and Citrix Xen.

Question 8

How do I prepare a VHD file for import from Citrix Xen?

VM Import/Export

Amazon EC2 | Compute

Answer 8

Open Citrix XenCenter and select the virtual machine you want to export. Under the Tools menu, choose “Virtual Appliance Tools” and select “Export Appliance” to initiate the export task. When the export completes, you can locate the VHD image file in the destination directory you specified in the export dialog.

Question 9

How do I prepare a VHD file for import from Microsoft Hyper-V?

VM Import/Export

Amazon EC2 | Compute

Answer 9

Open the Hyper-V Manager and select the virtual machine you want to export. In the Actions pane for the virtual machine, select “Export” to initiate the export task. Once the export completes, you can locate the VHD image file in the destination directory you specified in the export dialog.

Question 10

Are there any other requirements when importing a VM into Amazon EC2?

VM Import/Export

Amazon EC2 | Compute

Answer 10

The virtual machine must be in a stopped state before generating the VMDK or VHD image. The VM cannot be in a paused or suspended state. We suggest that you export the virtual machine with only the boot volume attached. You can import additional disks using the ImportVolume command and attach them to the virtual machine using AttachVolume. Additionally, encrypted disks (e.g. Bit Locker) and encrypted image files are not supported. You are also responsible for ensuring that you have all necessary rights and licenses to import into AWS and run any software included in your VM image.

Question 11

Does the virtual machine need to be configured in any particular manner to enable import to Amazon EC2?

VM Import/Export

Amazon EC2 | Compute

Answer 11

Ensure Remote Desktop (RDP) or Secure Shell (SSH) is enabled for remote access and verify that your host firewall (Windows firewall, iptables, or similar), if configured, allows access to RDP or SSH. Otherwise, you will not be able to access your instance after the import is complete. Please also ensure that Windows VMs are configured to use strong passwords for all users including the administrator and that Linux VMs and configured with a public key for SSH access.

Question 12

How do I import a virtual machine to an Amazon EC2 instance?

VM Import/Export

Amazon EC2 | Compute

Answer 12

You can import your VM images using the Amazon EC2 API tools:

Import the VMDK, VHD or RAW file via the ec2-import-instance API. The import instance task captures the parameters necessary to properly configure the Amazon EC2 instance properties (instance size, Availability Zone, and security groups) and uploads the disk image into Amazon S3.

If ec2-import-instance is interrupted or terminates without completing the upload, use ec2-resume-import to resume the upload. The import task will resume where it left off.

Use the ec2-describe-conversion-tasks command to monitor the import progress and obtain the resulting Amazon EC2 instance ID.

Once your import task is completed, you can boot the Amazon EC2 instance by specifying its instance ID to the ec2-run-instances API.

Finally, use the ec2-delete-disk-image command line tool to delete your disk image from Amazon S3 as it is no longer needed.

Alternatively, if you use the VMware vSphere virtualization platform, you can import your virtual machine to Amazon EC2 using a graphical user interface provided through AWS Management Portal for vCenter. Please refer to Getting Started Guide in AWS Management Portal for vCenter. AWS Management Portal for vCenter includes integrated support for VM Import. Once the portal is installed within vCenter, you can right-click on a VM and select “Migrate to EC2” to create an EC2 instance from the VM. The portal will handle exporting the VM from vCenter, uploading it to S3, and converting it into an EC2 instance for you, with no additional work required. You can also track the progress of your VM migrations within the portal.

Question 13

How do I export an Amazon EC2 instance back to my on-premise virtualization environment?

VM Import/Export

Amazon EC2 | Compute

Answer 13

You can export your Amazon EC2 instance using the Amazon EC2 CLI tools:

Export the instance using the ec2-create-instance-export-task command. The export command captures the parameters necessary (instance ID, S3 bucket to hold the exported image, name of the exported image, VMDK, OVA or VHD format) to properly export the instance to your chosen format. The exported file is saved in an S3 bucket that you previously created

Use ec2-describe-export-tasks to monitor the export progress

Use ec2-cancel-export-task to cancel an export task prior to completion

Question 14

Are there any other requirements when exporting an EC2 instance using VM Import/Export?

VM Import/Export

Amazon EC2 | Compute

Answer 14

You can export running or stopped EC2 instances that you previously imported using VM Import/Export. If the instance is running, it will be momentarily stopped to snapshot the boot volume. EBS data volumes cannot be exported. EC2 instances with more than one network interface cannot be exported.

Question 15

Can I export Amazon EC2 instances that have one or more EBS data volumes attached?

VM Import/Export

Amazon EC2 | Compute

Answer 15

Yes, but VM Import/Export will only export the boot volume of the EC2 instance.

Question 16

What does it cost to import a virtual machine?

VM Import/Export

Amazon EC2 | Compute

Answer 16

You will be charged standard Amazon S3 data transfer and storage fees for uploading and storing your VM image file. Once your VM is imported, standard Amazon EC2 instance hour and EBS service fees apply. If you no longer wish to store your VM image file in S3 after the import process completes, use the ec2-delete-disk-image command line tool to delete your disk image from Amazon S3.

Question 17

What does it cost to export a virtual machine?

VM Import/Export

Amazon EC2 | Compute

Answer 17

You will be charged standard Amazon S3 storage fees for storing your exported VM image file. You will also be charged standard S3 data transfer charges when you download the exported VM file to your on-premise virtualization environment. Finally, you will be charged standard EBS charges for storing a temporary snapshot of your EC2 instance. To minimize storage charges, delete the VM image file in S3 after downloading it to your virtualization environment.

Question 18

When I import a VM of Windows Server 2003 or 2008, who is responsible for supplying the operating system license?

VM Import/Export

Amazon EC2 | Compute

Answer 18

When you launch an imported VM using Microsoft Windows Server 2003 or 2008, you will be charged standard instance hour rates for Amazon EC2 running the appropriate Windows Server version, which includes the right to utilize that operating system within Amazon EC2. You are responsible for ensuring that all other installed software is properly licensed.

So then, what happens to my on-premise Microsoft Windows license key when I import a VM of Windows Server 2003 or 2008? Since your on-premise Microsoft Windows license key that was associated with that VM is not used when running your imported VM as an EC2 instance, you can reuse it for another VM within your on-premise environment.

Question 19

Can I continue to use the AWS-provided Microsoft Windows license key after exporting an EC2 instance back to my on-premise virtualization environment?

VM Import/Export

Amazon EC2 | Compute

Answer 19

No. After an EC2 instance has been exported, the license key utilized in the EC2 instance is no longer available. You will need to reactivate and specify a new license key for the exported VM after it is launched in your on-premise virtualization platform.

Question 20

When I import a VM with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), who is responsible for supplying the operating system license?

VM Import/Export

Amazon EC2 | Compute

Answer 20

When you import Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) VM images, you can use license portability for your RHEL instances. With license portability, you are responsible for maintaining the RHEL licenses for imported instances, which you can do using Cloud Access subscriptions for Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Please contact Red Hat to learn more about Cloud Access and to verify your eligibility.

Question 21

How long does it take to import a virtual machine?

VM Import/Export

Amazon EC2 | Compute

Answer 21

The length of time to import a virtual machine depends on the size of the disk image and your network connection speed. As an example, a 10 GB Windows Server 2008 SP2 VMDK image takes approximately 2 hours to import when it’s transferred over a 10 Mbps network connection. If you have a slower network connection or a large disk to upload, your import may take significantly longer.

Question 22

In which Amazon EC2 regions can I use VM Import/Export?

VM Import/Export

Amazon EC2 | Compute

Answer 22

Visit the Region Table page to see product service availability by region.

Question 23

How many simultaneous import or export tasks can I have?

VM Import/Export

Amazon EC2 | Compute

Answer 23

Each account can have up to five active import tasks and five export tasks per region.

Question 24

Can I run imported virtual machines in Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC)?

VM Import/Export

Amazon EC2 | Compute

Answer 24

Yes, you can launch imported virtual machines within Amazon VPC.