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Amazon EC2 is a widely used cloud deployment platform that is part of Amazon Web Services (AWS). NixOS largely supports the platform through AMIs and the [https://github.com/nix-community/nixos-generators nixos-generators] project.

== Public NixOS AMIs ==

A list of NixOS AMI's available on AWS is located [https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/blob/master/nixos/modules/virtualisation/amazon-ec2-amis.nix here] and for a more up to date list: [https://nixos.github.io/amis/ here] (cf. [https://discourse.nixos.org/t/ami-for-nixos-23-11/36860/7 this discourse thread]).

The default user for these AMI's is <code>root</code>. There isn't a default password, instead authentication is done by using the SSH key selected during the EC2 creation process.

== Creating a NixOS AMI ==

The [https://github.com/nix-community/nixos-generators nixos-generators] project is currently the best method to create your own NixOS AMI. Follow the directions provided by <code>nixos-generators</code> & then follow the [https://docs.aws.amazon.com/vm-import/latest/userguide/what-is-vmimport.html instructions provided by AWS].

== Additional Resources ==

[http://jackkelly.name/blog/archives/2020/08/30/building_and_importing_nixos_amis_on_ec2/ Building and Importing NixOS AMIs on EC2] by Jack Kelly

== Troubleshooting ==

== SSH Asks For Password ==

When connecting to a newly launched EC2 instance via SSH, it may ask for a password. This seems to be because the <code>amazon-init</code> systemd service is still reading user data. Back out of the current SSH attempt and try again in a few minutes.

[[Category:Deployment]]
[[Category:Server]]