Amazon Machine Images (AMIs) and Azure Compute Gallery (formerly Shared Image Gallery): - unix1998/technical_notes GitHub Wiki

both AWS and Azure allow customers to store their own OS images, and both provide REST APIs and command-line interfaces (CLI) to manage these images. Here’s an overview and examples for both platforms.

AWS (Amazon Web Services)

Amazon Machine Images (AMIs):

1. REST API: AWS provides the EC2 API for managing AMIs. You can register an image using the RegisterImage API action.

   • Documentation: RegisterImage API

2. AWS CLI: You can create and manage AMIs using the AWS Command Line Interface (CLI).

   • To create an AMI from an instance:

     aws ec2 create-image --instance-id i-1234567890abcdef0 --name "My server" --no-reboot
     

   • To register a new AMI:

     aws ec2 register-image --name "My server" --root-device-name /dev/sda1 --block-device-mappings DeviceName=/dev/sda1,Ebs={SnapshotId=snap-1234567890abcdef0}
     

Azure

Azure Compute Gallery (formerly Shared Image Gallery):

1. REST API: Azure provides REST APIs to manage images in the Compute Gallery. You can create an image version using the Create or Update Image Version API.

   • Documentation: Create or Update Image Version API

2. Azure CLI: You can use the Azure CLI to create and manage images in the Azure Compute Gallery.

   • To create a new image:

     az image create --resource-group MyResourceGroup --name MyImage --source /subscriptions/{subscription-id}/resourceGroups/{resource-group}/providers/Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/{vm-name}
     

   • To create a new image version in a Shared Image Gallery:

     az sig image-version create --resource-group MyResourceGroup --gallery-name MyGallery --gallery-image-definition MyImageDef --gallery-image-version 1.0.0 --managed-image /subscriptions/{subscription-id}/resourceGroups/{resource-group}/providers/Microsoft.Compute/images/{image-name}
     

Example Process

1. AWS: Creating an AMI

   • Create an image from a running instance:

     aws ec2 create-image --instance-id i-1234567890abcdef0 --name "MyCustomAMI" --no-reboot
     

   • Registering a new AMI (if you have a snapshot):

     aws ec2 register-image --name "MyCustomAMI" --root-device-name /dev/sda1 --block-device-mappings DeviceName=/dev/sda1,Ebs={SnapshotId=snap-1234567890abcdef0}
     

2. Azure: Creating an Image and Image Version

   • Create an image from a VM:

     az image create --resource-group MyResourceGroup --name MyCustomImage --source /subscriptions/{subscription-id}/resourceGroups/{resource-group}/providers/Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/{vm-name}
     

   • Create an image version in a Shared Image Gallery:

     az sig image-version create --resource-group MyResourceGroup --gallery-name MyGallery --gallery-image-definition MyImageDef --gallery-image-version 1.0.0 --managed-image /subscriptions/{subscription-id}/resourceGroups/{resource-group}/providers/Microsoft.Compute/images/MyCustomImage
     

Both AWS and Azure provide robust support for managing custom OS images through their respective APIs and CLIs, enabling automation and integration into deployment pipelines.