how to take amazon instance backup?

Question

I have two instances running. I have done lot of configuration on the instances. I want to shutdown the server so I do not get charged but I don't want to lose my configurations and data stored on instances.

What should I do to make sure I do not lose data ?

Answer 1

So basically create an image as following:

and then if you don't want to lose any state you can use the 'no reboot' option:

Answer 2

The simplest way i see is click on the instance > actions > create image. Then launch a new instance from that image whenever you need it.

Answer 3

You can customize the instance that you launch from a public AMI and then save that configuration as a custom AMI for your own use. Instances that you launch from your AMI use all the customizations that you've made.

For the detail: http://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/creating-an-ami-ebs.html