# Prerequisites for exporting an image from Amazon EC2
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To export a VM from Amazon EC2, first meet the following prerequisites.
+ Install the Amazon CLI. For more information, see the [Amazon Command Line Interface User Guide](https://docs.amazonaws.cn/cli/latest/userguide/).
**Tip**  
In [supported Amazon Web Services Regions](https://docs.amazonaws.cn/cloudshell/latest/userguide/supported-aws-regions.html), you can also use [Amazon CloudShell](https://docs.amazonaws.cn/cloudshell/latest/userguide/welcome.html) for a browser-based, pre-authenticated shell that launches directly from the Amazon Web Services Management Console.
+ Create an Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) bucket for storing the exported images or choose an existing bucket. The bucket must be in the Region where you want to export your VMs. Additionally, the bucket must belong to the Amazon Web Services account where you are performing the export operation. For more information about S3 buckets, see the [Amazon Simple Storage Service User Guide](https://docs.amazonaws.cn/AmazonS3/latest/userguide/).
+ Create an IAM role named `vmimport`. For more information, see [Required service role](required-permissions.md#vmimport-role).