1

You create an AMI from scratch (Linux and UNIX only) or based on an existing AMI. This is optional, as you can launch instances of existing AMIs without modifying them. See Preparing an AMI.

2

For an AMI that uses an instance store as its root devices, you follow the bundling process and register it. For an AMI that uses an Amazon EBS volume as its root device, you simply use the create image command on a running instance. Amazon EC2 returns an AMI ID, so you can launch as many instances of the AMI as you want. See Creating an AMI.

3

You launch one or more instances of your AMI. See Launching and Using Instances.

4

You administer and use your instances as you would with any servers.