Launch new ec2 instance with powershell with increased volume size

Question

How to launch a new EC2 instance with the New-EC2Instance but with increased volume size (greater than the 8GB standard). I tried it with:

...
$blockDeviceMapping = New-Object -TypeName Amazon.EC2.Model.BlockDeviceMapping
$ebsBlockDevice = New-Object -TypeName Amazon.EC2.Model.EbsBlockDevice
$blockDeviceMapping.DeviceName = '/dev/sda1'
$ebsBlockDevice.VolumeSize = '50'
$ebsBlockDevice.VolumeType = 'standard'
$blockDeviceMapping.Ebs = $ebsBlockDevice
...
$NewInstanceResponse = New-EC2Instance <...> -BlockDeviceMapping $blockDeviceMapping

But it creates an instance with an unmounted volume. I am trying to create an instance with 1 storage volume with the size of 50GB.

Answer 1

Remove Single Quote of 50. It should be Integer , like below.

"VolumeSize": 50

Answer 2

I accomplished it in the way that I first created an instance with 50GB of root storage, and then created an image of that instance, so I could use the AMI with the increased root storage. It is maybe an workaround, but worked for me. If there is an cleaner solutions, I would like to hear it.

Answer 3

Make sure that your volume name matches the root volume name of your instance type. In my case it is /dev/xvda .

I have an example from the ASG LaunchTemplateData, but the solution should be the same:

        BlockDeviceMappings:
          - DeviceName: /dev/xvda
            Ebs:
              DeleteOnTermination: true
              VolumeSize: 16
              VolumeType: "gp2"

If I remember correctly, when I used a different name, just another volume was created - like in your case.

Then, when you start your instance with a regular 8GB AMI you will still see an 8GB filesystem. Depending on your filesystem type, you should be able to grow it in the metadata on the first start. I do the following:

        BLCKDEVICE=`lsblk -l | egrep 'part /$' | awk '{ print $1}' `
        DEVICE=`echo $BLCKDEVICE | cut -dp -f1`
        PARTID=`echo $BLCKDEVICE | cut -dp -f2`
        growpart /dev/$DEVICE $PARTID
        xfs_growfs -d /

Make sure your script matches your AMI configuration like the filesystem type (in my case it is XFS, but ext4 should work as well).