/ EC2

Import that Image

I just had to import a VM image onto EC2. Here is how I did it.

  • Prepare the Image.
  • Install VM API Tools

Prepare the Image

Someone else did this so I really don’t know what it takes. But I do know there are steps that you need to take.

Install VM API Tools

  1. Setup S3 Bucket
    • Go to S3 and create a new Bucket.
  2. Download the API Tools from Amazon
  3. Configure Authentication
    • Follow these steps
    • Get X.509 Certificate
    • Get Private Key
  4. Set Environment Variables. export JAVA_HOME /path/to/java export EC2_HOME path/to/aws/api/tools/ export EC2_PRIVATE_KEY=/path/to/ect/pk-EXAMPLE.pem export EC2_CERT=/path/to/ec2/cert-EXAMPLE.pem export EC2_URL=https://ec2.us-east-1.amazonaws.com

  5. Set Java Args

    • Edit ec2-cmd to include: set EC2_JVM_ARGS=-Xms1024m -Xmx2048m

  6. Import Image

    • Run the ec2-import-instance command $ ec2-import-instance /path/to/vmimage.vmdk -f VMDK -t m1.large -a x86_64 -b bucketname -o EXAMPLESECRETE -w EXAMPLEKEY
    • Write down the import id for later use. See Possible Issues below.

That’s is how I did it. Of course it wasn’t a smooth import. I ran into a few issues.

Possible Issues

  • File Format
    • Issue ERROR: This file appears to be in RAW or flat-VMDK format. Please check the format parameter and the User Guide for more information.
    • Solution. Change the file format type to RAW: ec2-import-instance /path/to/vmimage.vmdk -f RAW -t m1.large -a x86_64 -b brig -o EXAMPLESECRETE -w EXAMPLEKEY
  • Import Interrupted
    • Issue: For whatever reason the import process is interrupted
    • Solution: Restart the process. The import id is displayed when you start the import process. $ .ec2-resume-import -t import-i-EXAMPLEID -o EXAMPLESECRETE -w EXAMPLEKEY /path/to/vmimage.vmdk

  • Import Failed

    • Issue: Failed due to unsupported OS Type. In my case I tried to upload Win7

    Solution: Delete the import process $ .ec2-cancel-conversion-task import-i-EXAMPLEID

Resources