Importing VMDK to AWS using EC2 CLI

Yesterday I showed how we can import OVA file to AWS as an AMI image, today I'm going to demonstrate how we can import actual VMDK file that is exported from any virtualize software as an instance in EC2.

Before we started, there are prerequisites to be done first.

1. Setting up EC2 CLI to work with your terminal. Test it with simple command:

> ec2-describe-regions

2. Create S3 bucket, name it anything you want. Mine is "instance-manifest". This bucket will save our VMDK's manifest and small VMDK parts then convert them to EC2 instance.

3. Now use this command to start importing VMDK:

> ec2-import-instance -o <Access Key> -w <Secret Key> -t <Instance Type> -a x86_64 -f <File Type> -p <Platform> -b <Bucket name> -s <EBS disk size> -z <Availability Zone> "\path\to\file.vmdk"

Change to red highlight to appropriated value to suit your environment.

Example Command:

> ec2-import-instance -o Your_Access_Key -w Your_Secret_Key -t t2.micro -a x86_64 -f VMDK -p Linux -b instance-manifest -s 10 -z ap-southeast-1a "D:\Downloads\ubuntu-disk1-streamed.vmdk"

4. Let's check to status of importing with the following command:

> ec2-describe-conversion-tasks --region <region_name>

or

> ec2-describe-conversion-tasks <task_id>

5. When the importing is done. Go to AWS console, EC2 then you'll see new instance from conversion.