Create an EBS EMI

To create a new EMI that is used to boot EBS-backed instances:

  1. Create a new volume whose size matches the size of the bootable file:

  2. Attach the volume to a helper instance:

  3. Log in to the instance and copy the bootable image from its source to the helper instance.

  4. While logged in to the helper instance, copy a bootable image to the attached volume:

  5. While logged in to the helper instance, flush the file system buffers after running the command:

  6. Detach the volume from the instance:

  7. Create a snapshot of the bootable volume:

  8. Register the bootable volume as a new EMI:

  9. Run a new EBS-backed instance:

The snapshot cannot be deleted unless the EMI is first deregistered.