Is it possible to move an AWS EC2 AMI from one region to another region and if so how?

Solution 1:

You sure can. The command you're going to be looking for is ec2-migrate-bundle, and there are a few web sites with how-tos.

• http://www.dotanmazor.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=96:ec2-ami-move&catid=16:2008-11-14-08-43-34&Itemid=48
• http://chansiulun.com/2010/05/11/how-to-migrate-your-ec2-server-to-singapore-region/ (replace the Signapore location with the appropriate region)

In a nut shell, its just a matter of uploading the bundle to the right region.

Good luck!

Andrew

Solution 2:

The ec2-migrate-bundle tool migrates only S3-based AMIs, which are for launching instances with ephemeral instance storage mounted as the root volume. If your root device type is EBS, that isn't going to help you. AMIs for EBS-backed instances are stored as EBS snapshots. Here are instructions for moving an EBS-based AMI between regions.

Solution 3:

Actually it is better to use this utility.

It moves EBS-based images between regions. ec2-api-tools work only with S3-based AMIs.