Move EC2 Instance to Another Availability Zone: Step-by-Step Guide

Move EC2 Instance to Another Availability Zone

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Question

You have an EC2 Instance that is located in a subnet mapped to an Availability Zone.

Due to a recent network redesign by your network architects, the Instance needs to be moved to another availability zone ( in another region )

How can you achieve this?

Answers

Explanations

Click on the arrows to vote for the correct answer

A. B. C. D.

Answer - A.

This is also given in the AWS Documentation.

How do I move my EC2 instance to another Availability Zone?

Issue.

I want to move or copy my EC2 instance to another Availability Zone.

How do I do that?

Short Description.

To move an EC2 instance, create a new Amazon Machine Image (AMI) in the desired target Availability Zone, launch a new instance based on this image, and then reassign the Elastic IP address from the instance you are moving to the new image.

All other options automatically become invalid because of this restriction.

For more information on moving EC2 Instances, one can visit the below URL.

https://aws.amazon.com/premiumsupport/knowledge-center/move-ec2-instance/

To move an EC2 Instance to another availability zone in another region, you can use the following steps:

Option A: Create an AMI out of the EC2 Instance. Copy the AMI and launch a new Instance in the other Availability Zone.

  1. Create an Amazon Machine Image (AMI) of the EC2 Instance that you want to move. This will create a copy of the instance's root volume, including its operating system and all installed applications, and store it in Amazon S3.

  2. Copy the AMI to the region where you want to launch the new Instance.

  3. Launch a new EC2 Instance in the new Availability Zone using the copied AMI. You can choose a different instance type, VPC, subnet, security group, and other settings if required.

Option B: Create an ENI in the new subnet. Attach it to the Instance.

  1. Create a new Elastic Network Interface (ENI) in the target subnet and Availability Zone.

  2. Attach the ENI to the EC2 Instance that you want to move.

  3. Move any Elastic IP addresses (EIPs) associated with the Instance to the new ENI.

Option C: Assign a new private IP address that pertains to the new subnet and then assign it to the Instance.

  1. Obtain a new private IP address from the target subnet.

  2. Stop the EC2 Instance that you want to move.

  3. Disassociate the current Elastic Network Interface (ENI) from the Instance.

  4. Assign the new private IP address to the Instance.

  5. Associate the Instance with a new ENI that is connected to the target subnet and Availability Zone.

Option D: Assign a new public IP address that pertains to the new subnet and then assign it to the Instance.

  1. Obtain a new Elastic IP address (EIP) from the target subnet.

  2. Stop the EC2 Instance that you want to move.

  3. Disassociate the current Elastic IP address from the Instance.

  4. Assign the new EIP to the Instance.

  5. Associate the Instance with a new ENI that is connected to the target subnet and Availability Zone.

Option A is likely the best choice as it involves creating an AMI of the Instance and launching a new Instance from that AMI. This ensures that the new Instance is an exact copy of the original, including all applications, configurations, and data. However, the other options may be more suitable in certain scenarios, such as when you need to move the Instance quickly or do not want to create a new Instance from an AMI.