Posted On: Aug 26, 2021

Starting today, customers will be able to automatically deprecate their Amazon Machine Images (AMIs) with Amazon Data Lifecycle Manager (Amazon DLM). Deprecating an AMI prevents outdated images from being accessed by new users after a specific time, helping to ensure that any new EC2 Instances are launched from only the most up-to-date AMIs. With Amazon DLM, customers can automate when to deprecate their AMIs, removing the need for complicated custom scripts.

Customers can create new or modify existing EBS-backed AMI policies within Amazon DLM, and set when/which AMIs they would like to deprecate. For customers creating AMIs using age-based policies, AMI will be deprecated after a specified period of time from creation. For customers creating AMIs using count-based policies, deprecation will be applied to the oldest number of AMIs as set by the policy. Customers will also be able to monitor the application of the ‘DeprecationTime’ property via Amazon DLM CloudWatch metrics.

Automating AMI deprecation with Amazon Data Lifecycle Manager is now available to customers in both Amazon Web Services China (Beijing) Region, operated by Sinnet and Amazon Web Services China (Ningxia) Region, operated by NWCD at no additional cost. You can start using these metrics through the Console, Amazon Web Services CLI, or Amazon Web Services SDK. To learn more, visit the Amazon Data Lifecycle Manager documentation and the EC2 AMI deprecation documentation.