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New EC2 ImageBuilder Release Simplifies Image Ingestion for Amazon WorkSpaces BYOL.

This describes using the new capability from EC2 to create Amazon Machine Images compatible with Amazon WorkSpaces

Russell Bell
Amazon Employee
Published Jan 13, 2025
Last Modified Jan 17, 2025
We’ve frequently heard from Amazon WorkSpaces Customers that the Bring Your Own License, or BYOL, image ingestion process is overly complex and requires simplification. This prompted us to develop a series of YouTube videos to help build and import a Desktop Operating System (OS). To that end, the Amazon WorkSpaces service team, in collaboration with the Amazon EC2 service team, has developed a new capability to simplify creating an Amazon Machine Image (AMI) compatible with Amazon WorkSpaces https://docs.aws.amazon.com/workspaces/ using Amazon’s EC2 Image Builder https://docs.aws.amazon.com/imagebuilder/. To get started, you can review the EC2 Image Builder documentation here: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/imagebuilder/latest/userguide/import-iso-disk.html, but I will also give a brief walk-through.
Prerequisite:
For this, you will need an already-setup and configured Virtual Private Cloud (VPC), an Amazon Simple Storage Services Bucket (S3), a WorkSpaces-supported version of Windows 11 ISO (link to supported versions), and the AWSServiceRoleForImageBuilder set up and configured at https://docs.aws.amazon.com/imagebuilder/latest/userguide/image-builder-service-linked-role.html#image-builder-slr-permissions.
We will head over to Amazon’s EC2 Image Builder to get started.
Once they’re on the left-hand side, we will choose “Images” and then select “Import Image.”
In the next step, we will fill out the image's name and description and choose ISO import. We will select the bucket in which we have stored our Windows 11 ISO, and then for the IAM role, we will select the “AWSServiceRoleForImageBuilder.” For infrastructure configuration, you can either create a new one or use an existing one.
Note: At this time, you must ensure that the .ISO is capitalized at the end of your S3 bucket string.
Then, on the bottom right of the import screen, we will choose “Import Image.” After choosing import image, you will be taken back to the image screen. After a few seconds, you can hit the refresh button at the top right of the screen, and your import task should appear.
To monitor the import, you can select your import task. On the next screen, you will choose the import task for more time, and then you’ll be able to see the full CloudWatchdetails of the task.
Once the import is complete, you will be left with an Amazon Machine Image ID (AMI ID) that you can choose to import into Amazon WorkSpaces as a Windows 11 image for Amazon DCV or as a BYOP (Bring Your Own Protocol Image) for WorkSpace Core.
In the next few days, we will follow up on this post with a YouTube video in which we will talk to Nico Ignoto, Senior Software Dev Engineer with Amazon WorkSpaces, to dive deeper into the capability and demonstrate the solution.

Any opinions in this post are those of the individual author and may not reflect the opinions of AWS.

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