Exporting an AMI to use with Amazon EC2 Jobs - Amazon Snowcone User Guide
Configuring an AMI to Use SSH to Connect to Compute Instances Launched on the DeviceCreating Your Job Using the ConsoleCreating Your Job Using the Amazon CLI
Services or capabilities described in Amazon Web Services documentation might vary by Region. To see the differences applicable to the China Regions, see Getting Started with Amazon Web Services in China (PDF).

Exporting an AMI to use with Amazon EC2 Jobs

This section provides an overview of how to export your Amazon Machine Image (AMI) for use with Amazon EC2 compute instances on an Amazon Snowcone device.

Configuring an AMI to Use SSH to Connect to Compute Instances Launched on the Device

To use Secure Shell (SSH) to connect to your compute instances on Snowcone devices, you must perform the following procedure. This procedure adds the SSH key to the AMI before creating your job. We also recommend that you use this procedure to set up your applications on the instance that you plan to use as the AMI for your job.

Important

If you don't follow this procedure, you can't connect to your instances with SSH when you receive your Snowcone device.

To put an SSH key into an AMI

  1. When you launch your instance, make sure that the storage size that you assign to the instance is appropriate for your later use on the Snowcone device. In the Amazon EC2 console, you do this in Step 4: Add Storage. For a list of the supported sizes for compute instance storage volumes on a Snowcone, see "ec2-snowcone-limits".

  2. Install and configure the applications that you want to run on the Snowcone, and test that they work as expected.

  3. Make a copy of the PEM/PPK file that you used for the SSH key pair to create this instance. Save this file to the server that you plan to use to communicate with the Snowcone. This file is required for using SSH to connect to the launched instance on your device, so make a note of the path to this file.

  4. Save the instance as an AMI. For more information, see Creating an Amazon EBS-Backed Linux AMI.

  5. Repeat this procedure for each of the instances that you want to connect to using SSH. Make sure that you make copies of your different SSH key pairs and take note of the AMIs they're associated with.

Creating Your Job Using the Console

Your next step is to create a job. Your job can be of any job type, including a cluster. Using the Amazon Snow Family Management Console, follow the instructions provided in see Creating an Amazon Snowcone Job. When you get to the Step 3: Give job details page in the job creation wizard, add the following additional steps.

  1. Choose Enable compute with EC2.

  2. Choose Add an AMI.

  3. In the dialog box that opens, choose an AMI and choose Save.

  4. Add up to 10 total AMIs to your job.

  5. Continue creating your job as normal.

Creating Your Job Using the Amazon CLI

You can also create your job using the Amazon Command Line Interface (Amazon CLI). To do this, open a terminal and run the following command, replacing the red text with your actual values.

aws snowball create-job --job-type IMPORT --resources '{"S3Resources":[{"BucketArn":"arn:aws:s3:::bucket-name"}],"Ec2AmiResources":[{"AmiId":"ami-12345678"}]}' --description Example --address-id ADIEXAMPLE60-1234-1234-5678-41fEXAMPLE57 --kms-key-arn arn:aws:kms:us-west-2:012345678901:key/eEXAMPLE-1234-1234-5678-5b4EXAMPLE8e --role-arn arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/snowcone-import-snowcone-role --shipping-option SECOND_DAY --snowball-type SNC1_HDD --snowball-capacity-preference T8 --device-configuration '{"SnowconeDeviceConfiguration":{"WirelessConnection": {"IsWifiEnabled": false}}}'

After the device arrives and you unlock your device, use the Snowball Edge client to get your local credentials. For more information, see Getting Credentials.