How to change instance type without losing data

Question

Hi,
I have a t3.large instance created, with 3 EBS volumes,  root,  /opt and /local/notesdata and I would like to change it to a m5.large.

On /opt,  I have my main program installed (HCL Domino 12, a popular email server).  That program, has his data on an additional volume mount on /local/notesdata.

While I am aware that I can detach that 2 volumes,  create a new instance using m5.large,  and attach that volumes on them,    and I am not sure if Domino will launch correctly withouth some information stores on the root/main volumen  (where the service is created, for example).  Also, I would lost my /home directories on the new instance created.

So, basically,  how do I change a famility from a type to another one ?   Is the information stores on the root volume  ( /etc configuration,  /home directories,  inet.d services) lost  ?  Should I recreate manually all the information that was setup on the root volume when I do a new instance ?

Thks !!!

Accepted Answer

The information is not lost if you change the instance type, except the instance store-backed instances. You also have to make sure your source and target instance types are compatible with each other. For more information on compatibility check please see: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/resize-limitations.html

You can:

1. Safely shutdown the instance (make sure the shutdown behavior is not set to terminate).

2. Change the instance type and 
3. Start the instance again.

The procedure for instance store-backed instances is documented on below url: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/resize-instance-store-backed-instance.html

How to change instance type without losing data

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