How to download EBS-backed AMI from AWS into local machine?

Question

I have created my own AMIs of instances on ec2. Is there any way that I can download them to my local machine ? where are these created images stored on AWS? I do not find them in my S3!

Answer 1

I have successfully used the VMWare convertor utility to virtualize a running EC2 instance to a file on a second running EC2 instance, and then copy that file to S3 and download it and run locally in VMWare workstation - if this is what you are interested, you can get the free tool here:

http://www.vmware.com/products/converter.html

Edit: Actually now that I think about it, I didn't use a 2nd ec2 instance. I attached a second EBS volumne, mounted it as a disk and then used the P2V utility to store the results there, then to S3 and then downloaded and ran locally. Not a major difference, but you don't need a second ec2 instance.

Answer 2

There is one situation where you can download your AMI: If you originally imported it from one of the supported VM formats.

So if you created your AMI based on an AWS or Marketplace AMI, you cannot export it. If you uploaded an existing VM, and then modified it in AWS, you can export it using the import/export tool .

Answer 3

EBS backed AMI stored in Amazon S3 behind the scene but as its not visible in your AWS account and you can't download them(Thanks to mark for pointing that out in the comment). Amazon Instance Store-Backed AMI are stored in AWS S3.

Refer to http://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/ComponentsAMIs.html AWS documentation for understanding the difference between these 2 types of AMI and where they are stored and how to determine if a instance is backed by EBS to instance store.

Also these is no easy way to download AWS AMI to your instances.