How to Find a Suitable AMI

To find a suitable AMI

1. Log in to the AWS Management Console and click the Amazon EC2 tab.

2. Click AMIs in the Navigation pane.

   The console displays your AMIs and all public AMIs.

3. To reduce the number of displayed AMIs, select options from the Viewing list boxes. For example, you might want to display Amazon images.

4. After locating your desired AMI, write down its AMI ID. You can use this to launch instances of the AMI or register your own AMI, using this as a baseline.

To find a suitable AMI

1. Use the ec2-describe-images command.

   PROMPT> ec2-describe-images -o self -o amazon | grep machine
   
   IMAGE    ami-2c5fba45    ec2-public-images/demo-paid-AMI-v1.07.manifest.xml    amazon    available    public    A79EC0DB    i386    machine
   IMAGE    ami-bd9d78d4    ec2-public-images/demo-paid-AMI.manifest.xml     amazon    available    public    A79EC0DB    i386    machine
   IMAGE    ami-2f5fba46    ec2-public-images/developer-image-i386-v1.07.manifest.xml    amazon     available    public        i386    machine
   IMAGE    ami-26b6534f    ec2-public-images/developer-image.manifest.xml    amazon    available     public        i386    machine
   IMAGE    ami-f51aff9c    ec2-public-images/fedora-8-i386-base-v1.06.manifest.xml    amazon    available    public        i386    machine    aki-a71cf9ce    ari-a51cf9cc
   IMAGE    ami-2b5fba42    ec2-public-images/fedora-8-i386-base-v1.07.manifest.xml    amazon     available    public        i386    machine    aki-a71cf9ce    ari-a51cf9cc
   IMAGE    ami-f21aff9b    ec2-public-images/fedora-8-x86_64-base-v1.06.manifest.xml    amazon     available    public        x86_64    machine    aki-b51cf9dcari-b31cf9da
   IMAGE    ami-2a5fba43    ec2-public-images/fedora-8-x86_64-base-v1.07.manifest.xml    amazon    available    public        x86_64    machine    aki-b51cf9dcari-b31cf9da
   IMAGE    ami-a21affcb    ec2-public-images/fedora-core-6-x86_64-base-v1.06.manifest.xml    amazon    available    public        x86_64    machine    aki-a53adfccari-a23adfcb
   IMAGE    ami-2d5fba44    ec2-public-images/fedora-core-6-x86_64-base-v1.07.manifest.xml     amazon    available    public        x86_64    machine    aki-a53adfccari-a23adfcb
   IMAGE    ami-225fba4b    ec2-public-images/fedora-core4-apache-mysql-v1.07.manifest.xml    amazon    available    public        i386    machine
   IMAGE    ami-25b6534c    ec2-public-images/fedora-core4-apache-mysql.manifest.xml    amazon    available    public        i386    machine
   IMAGE    ami-2e5fba47    ec2-public-images/fedora-core4-apache-v1.07.manifest.xml    amazon    available    public        i386    machine
   IMAGE    ami-23b6534a    ec2-public-images/fedora-core4-apache.manifest.xml    amazon    available    public        i386    machine
   IMAGE    ami-215fba48    ec2-public-images/fedora-core4-base-v1.07.manifest.xml    amazon    available    public        i386    machine
   IMAGE    ami-20b65349    ec2-public-images/fedora-core4-base.manifest.xml    amazon    available    public        i386    machine
   IMAGE    ami-205fba49    ec2-public-images/fedora-core4-i386-base-v1.07.manifest.xml    amazon    available    public        i386    machine    aki-9b00e5f2
   IMAGE    ami-255fba4c    ec2-public-images/fedora-core4-mysql-v1.07.manifest.xml    amazon    available    public        i386    machine
   IMAGE    ami-22b6534b    ec2-public-images/fedora-core4-mysql.manifest.xml    amazon    available    public        i386    machine
   IMAGE    ami-36ff1a5f    ec2-public-images/fedora-core6-base-x86_64.manifest.xml    amazon    available    public        x86_64    machine
   IMAGE    ami-235fba4a    ec2-public-images/getting-started-v1.07.manifest.xml    amazon    available    public        i386    machine
   IMAGE    ami-2bb65342    ec2-public-images/getting-started.manifest.xml    amazon    available    public        i386    machine
   

   The command lists your AMIs and Amazon's public AMIs. The output might not exactly match the preceding example.

2. Look for the line containing the public image identified by the ec2-public-images/getting-started.manifest.xml value in the third column and note the corresponding value in the second column.

   This is the AMI ID you need. In this example, it is ami-2bb65342.