Before you begin - Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud
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Before you begin

Before you create VSS-enabled EBS snapshots by using Run Command, review the following requirements and limitations, and complete the required tasks.

Important

The AWSVssComponents package and the AWSEC2-CreateVssSnapshot and AWSEC2-ManageVssIO SSM documents no longer receive updates for Windows Server 2008 R2.

The AWSVssComponents package supports Windows Server 2008 R2 up to version 1.3.1.0 and no later.

You can query the latest version of Windows 2008 R2 supported by the AWSEC2-CreateVssSnapshot and AWSEC2-ManageVssIO SSM documents by using the GetDocument API and specifying 2008R2 for -VersionName. For example:

Get-SSMDocument -Name AWSEC2-CreateVssSnapshot -VersionName "2008R2"

Amazon EC2 Windows instance requirements (non-clustered)

Non-clustered instances must meet the following requirements:

  • Your instance is running Windows Server 2012 or later.

  • Your instance meets all requirements for Amazon Systems Manager. For more information, see Setting Up Amazon Systems Manager in the Amazon Systems Manager User Guide.

Amazon EC2 Windows instance requirements (clustered)

Your cluster must meet the following requirements to support VSS application-consistent snapshots on the primary node of a Windows Server Failover Cluster (WSFC) that uses shared EBS storage:

.NET Framework version

The AWSVssComponents package requires .NET Framework version 4.6 and later. If you are using Windows 2012, or 2012 R2, the default .NET Framework version is earlier than 4.6 and you must install version 4.6 or later using Windows Update.

SSM Agent version

Update your instances to use SSM Agent version 2.2.58.0 or later. If you are using an older version of SSM Agent, you can update it by using Run Command. For more information, see Update SSM Agent by using Run Command in the Amazon Systems Manager User Guide.

Amazon Tools for Windows PowerShell version

Ensure that your instance is running version 3.3.48.0 or later of the Amazon Tools for Windows PowerShell. To check your version number, run the following command on the instance in a PowerShell console:

Get-AWSPowerShellVersion

If you need to update the version of Tools for Windows PowerShell on your instance, see Setting up the Amazon Tools for Windows PowerShell on a Windows-based Computer in the Amazon Tools for Windows PowerShell User Guide.

Windows PowerShell version

Ensure that your instance is running Windows PowerShell major version 3, 4, or 5. To check your version number, run the following command on the instance in a Windows PowerShell console:

$PSVersionTable.PSVersion
PowerShell language mode

Ensure that your instance has the PowerShell language mode set to FullLanguage. For more information about language modes, see about_Language_Modes in the Microsoft documentation.