How to Backup an EC2 Instance on AWS

[@DTraub]

Watch more quick AWS how-to and tutorial videos here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/i3XTgZd4hNFqp9k

[@PaulLittlefield]

Excellent, clear and simple.

[@sharukhshaikh8355]

Thanks, Dennis 😀

[@DTraub]

Thanks!

[@jimmelbermudez]

Thank you Sir!

[@DTraub]

You’re welcome!

[@matthewhorne641]

Thanks for the video. Will this work with Windows as the OS as well or is there an additional step to prep the volume?

[@manivannan5346]

Thanks a lot

[@DTraub]

You‘re welcome!

[@amoghbantwal8179]

Is it possible to grab just a file from the ec2 instance which was made by my EBS env through a lambda function and then upload that to a s3 bucket. If not, how can i access a file in my ec2 instance and then find a way to put it in s3. I tried doing EFS, but i ma having trouble with mounting and then data tranferring using DataSync to put the file in s3

[@DTraub]

I'm not exactly sure I understand your use-case. I may be mistaken, but don't think you can access a file on EBS from outside an EC2 instance, except by running a file server on the instance. One thing that comes to mind is to run a simple HTTP server (e.g. a Django or Node app) that provides an endpoint for the Lambda function to call. That endpoint would then trigger a script on the instance that copies the file from the local file system to S3. If you take this approach, please make sure that the HTTP server has only permission to execute that one script. I would also recommend to run the instance in a private subnet and configure the calling Lambda function to connect to the VPC (docs.aws.amazon.com/lambda/latest/dg/configuration-vpc.html) Let me know if this helps.

[@mindraiz]

Thank you so much for the tutorial, mate! I followed it as you demonstrated, but I'm now encountering an issue and was wondering if you could assist me. I backed up and terminated an instance, then launched a new one from the AMI. However, now the website and other software aren't accessible. I can access everything on the server, including FTP, but not the website. It seems to have all the files and configurations from before. Thanks.

[@vikaswariyal]

If you noticed the public ip changed , you might need to reconfigure if the web server was setup or there is any reference of the old public ip.

[@armandltp]

Hi.. in case of a website crash, with this method, the final step is to point the domain to the new IP right? Do you have a video to do that?

[@Mauricio.Herrera]

Hi, how do you automate this? so it make a backup twice a week, and make an image in case of disaster? and mount the new image on a new instance

[@DTraub]

You can use AWS Lambda Functions to automate operations tasks like this. Have a look at the chapter "Automating operational tasks with Lambda" in the book AWS in Action (free preview available online at livebook.manning.com/book/amazon-web-services-in-action-second-edition/chapter-7/153) to learn how it works in general and go from there.

[@godjnsolutions4505]

can be use this option if 1/2 status failed?

[@ywueeee]

hey, does this work for spot instances? let's say i got a machine but it got terminated, how would you get the state and data back? can you please make video?

[@DTraub]

There is no way to access the in-memory state of a terminated instance. The security of customer data is our top priority at AWS, so the termination of an instance completely wipes the memory (and instance store, if applicable) so that customers that happen to deploy an instance on the same hardware at a later point in time have no way to access or recover any of you data. However, if the instance uses an EBS volume and the automatic termination of the volume has been deactivated, you can create a new instance using that volume. You can learn how to prevent your EBS volumes from being deleted when an EC2 instance is deleted here: aws.amazon.com/premiumsupport/knowledge-center/deleteontermination-ebs/ Unfortunately, if the EBS volume has also been deleted, there is no way to recover it for the security reasons mentioned above. I hope this helps.

[@lloydob6719]

Would you suggest an enterprise implement an AMI backup strategy over an EBS Snapshot strategy?

[@DTraub]

Hey Lloyd, thanks for asking. Manually snapshotting EBS volumes or backing up to AMIs can only be a first step. An enterprise should probably evaluate and employ multiple strategies, depending on the various workloads they have and their RPO/RTO requirements. With AWS Backup, a lot of this can be done in a centralized way. You can learn more about AWS Backup and its features here: aws.amazon.com/backup

[@lloydob6719]

@@DTraub appreciate the reply, thanks Dennis!

[@DTraub]

You're very welcome!

[@csabakovacs1757]

Can I use this method to replace an instance SSHs key, because the priv.key is lost?

[@DTraub]

Certainly. You can connect to the instance using the SSM Session Manager and then add the public key of a new key pair to the instance: docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/replacing-key-pair.html