Configure AMI distribution settings to use an Amazon EC2 launch template - EC2 Image Builder
Add an Amazon EC2 launch template to your AMI distribution settings (console)Add an Amazon EC2 launch template to your AMI distribution settings (Amazon CLI)
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Configure AMI distribution settings to use an Amazon EC2 launch template

To help ensure a consistent launch experience for your Image Builder AMI in target accounts and Regions, you can specify an Amazon EC2 launch template in your distribution settings, using launchTemplateConfigurations. When launchTemplateConfigurations are present during the distribution process, Image Builder creates a new version of the launch template that includes all of the original settings from the template, and the new AMI ID from the build. For more information about launching an EC2 instance using a launch template, see one of the following links, depending on your target operating system.

Note

When you include a launch template to enable Windows Fast Launch in your image, the launch template must include the following tag so that Image Builder can enable Windows Fast Launch on your behalf.

CreatedBy: EC2 Image Builder

Add an Amazon EC2 launch template to your AMI distribution settings (console)

To provide a launch template with your output AMI, follow these steps in the console:

  1. Open the EC2 Image Builder console at https://console.amazonaws.cn/imagebuilder/.

  2. Choose Distribution settings from the navigation pane. This shows a list of the distribution settings that are created under your account.

  3. At the top of the Distribution settings page, choose Create distribution settings. This opens the Create distribution settings page.

  4. In the Image type section, choose the Amazon Machine Image (AMI) Output type. This is the default setting.

  5. In the General section, enter the Name of the distribution settings resource that you want to create (required).

  6. In the Region settings section, select the name of an EC2 launch template from the list. If there are no launch templates in your account, choose Create new launch template, which opens the Launch Templates in the EC2 Dashboard.

    Select the Set the default version check box to update the launch template default version to the new version that Image Builder creates with your output AMI.

    To add another launch template to the selected Region, choose Add launch template configuration.

    To remove a launch template, choose Remove.

  7. Continue specifying any additional settings that you require, and choose Create settings to create your new distribution settings resource.

Add an Amazon EC2 launch template to your AMI distribution settings (Amazon CLI)

This section describes how to configure a distribution settings file with a launch template, and use the create-image command in the Amazon CLI to build and distribute an Image Builder AMI and a new version of the launch template that uses it.

  1. Configure a distribution settings file

    Before you can create an Image Builder AMI with a launch template, using the Amazon CLI, you must create a distribution configuration JSON structure that specifies the launchTemplateConfigurations settings. You must specify at least one launchTemplateConfigurations entry in the source Region.

    The following sample file, named create-distribution-config-launch-template.json, shows a few possible scenarios for launch template configuration in the source Region.

    {
    "name": "NewDistributionConfiguration",
    "description": "This is just a test",
    "distributions": [
        {
            "region": "us-west-2",
            "amiDistributionConfiguration": {
                "name": "test-{{imagebuilder:buildDate}}-{{imagebuilder:buildVersion}}",
                "description": "description"
            },
            "launchTemplateConfigurations": [
                {
                    "launchTemplateId": "lt-0a1bcde2fgh34567",
                    "accountId": "935302948087",
                    "setDefaultVersion": true
                },
                {
                    "launchTemplateId": "lt-0aaa1bcde2ff3456"
                },
                {
                    "launchTemplateId": "lt-12345678901234567",
                    "accountId": "123456789012"
                }
            ]
        }
    ],
    "clientToken": "clientToken1"
}
  2. Create the distribution settings

    To create an Image Builder distribution settings resource using the create-distribution-configuration command in the Amazon CLI, provide the following parameters in the command:

    • Enter the name of the distribution in the --name parameter.

    • Attach the distribution configuration JSON file you created in the --cli-input-json parameter.

    aws imagebuilder create-distribution-configuration --name my distribution name--cli-input-json file://create-distribution-config-launch-template.json
    Note

    • You must include the file:// notation at the beginning of the JSON file path.

    • The path for the JSON file should follow the appropriate convention for the base operating system where you are running the command. For example, Windows uses the backslash (\) to refer to the directory path, and Linux uses the forward slash (/).

You can also provide JSON directly in the command, using the --distributions parameter.