Question

What permissions are required to create an AMI?

Answer 1

To create an Amazon Machine Image (AMI) in AWS, you need to have appropriate permissions assigned to your AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) user, role, or group. Here are the specific permissions required to create an AMI:

IAM Permissions

1. EC2 Instance Permissions:

   • ec2: This permission allows the user to create an image (AMI) from an EC2 instance. Without this permission, you won't be able to create an AMI.
   • Example policy statement:

     {
         "Effect": "Allow",
         "Action": "ec2:CreateImage",
         "Resource": "*"
     } 

   • Replace "Resource": "*" with specific resource ARNs if you want to limit AMI creation to certain instances or tags.

2. EC2 Instance Permissions (optional):

   • ec2: If you want to tag the created AMI for organizational or tracking purposes, you will need this permission.
   • Example policy statement:

     {
         "Effect": "Allow",
         "Action": "ec2:CreateTags",
         "Resource": "*"
     } 

3. EC2 Instance Permissions (optional):

   • ec2: If you plan to deregister (delete) old AMIs after creating new ones, you need this permission.
   • Example policy statement:

     {
         "Effect": "Allow",
         "Action": "ec2:DeregisterImage",
         "Resource": "arn:aws:ec2:region:account-id:ami/ami-id"
     } 

IAM Policy Example

Here is an example IAM policy that grants the necessary permissions to create and manage AMIs:

{
    "Version": "2012-10-17",
    "Statement": [
        {
            "Effect": "Allow",
            "Action": [
                "ec2:CreateImage",
                "ec2:CreateTags",
                "ec2:DeregisterImage"
            ],
            "Resource": [
                "*"
            ]
        }
    ]
} 

Additional Considerations

• Resource Specificity: While "Resource": "*" allows actions on all resources, it's recommended to restrict permissions to specific resources (like instances or AMIs) using ARNs for improved security.

• Tagging: Although not strictly necessary for AMI creation, tagging resources helps in managing and identifying them within your AWS environment.

• IAM Roles: If you are working within an AWS service that supports IAM roles (like EC2 instances with an attached IAM role), ensure the role associated with the instance has the necessary permissions to perform AMI creation.

By configuring IAM policies with these permissions, you can effectively manage the creation, tagging, and deletion of AMIs in your AWS environment while adhering to security best practices. Adjust permissions based on specific operational needs and organizational policies to maintain secure and efficient AMI management practices.