How do I create, launch an instance from, or troubleshoot a custom AMI?

Resolution

Create a custom AMI

For information on creating a custom AMI, see the following resources:

• Create a custom Windows AMI
• Create an AMI (Linux)
• How do I create an AMI that's based on my Amazon Elastic Block Store (Amazon EBS) backed EC2 instance?
• How to create a custom AMI with encrypted Amazon EBS snapshots and share it with other accounts and Regions
• How can I use Sysprep to create and install custom reusable Windows AMIs?

Launch an instance from a custom AMI

For more information, see How do I launch an Amazon EC2 instance from a custom AMI?

Share a custom AMI

For information on sharing a custom AMI, see the following resources:

• How do I create an AMI in one AWS Region and then copy it to another?
• How do I transfer an EC2 instance or AMI to a different AWS account?
• How to share encrypted AMIs across accounts to launch encrypted EC2 instances
• How do I use VM Import/Export to export a VM-based instance on my AMI?

Troubleshoot an AMI

For information on troubleshooting AMIs, see the following resources:

• Why can't I connect to my EC2 Windows instance that was launched from a custom AMI?
• Why is my AMI or EBS snapshot creation slow or stuck in the Pending state?
• Why can't I launch EC2 instances from my copied AMI?
• How do I troubleshoot an Amazon EC2 instance that stops or terminates when I try to start it with the "InternalError" or "Client.UserInitiatedShutdown" error?
• How can I troubleshoot connecting to my EC2 Linux instance using SSH?
• How can I recover an accidentally deleted AMI?
• Why are some instance types unavailable when I'm trying to launch an EC2 instance from an AMI?
• What can I do when the AMI that my EC2 Windows instance uses is no longer public or when I see the error "Cannot load details for ami-xxxxxx. You may not be permitted to view it."?

Related information

AWS Windows AMIs

Amazon Machine Images (Linux)