I want to upgrade my Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) Windows Server instance to a newer Windows version.
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For Windows Server 2008 R2, you can choose between a server migration or an automated upgrade.
For Windows Server 2012 R2 or later, you can choose between a server migration, automated upgrade, or an in-place upgrade.
To minimize downtime, plan your upgrade before you start. It's a best practice to maintain backups of your instances and data. Before you upgrade, create a custom Windows AMI, or create snapshots of your Amazon Elastic Block Store (Amazon EBS) volumes.
Note: For in-place upgrades, make sure that you complete the requirements before you begin.
Server migration for EC2 Windows Server 2008 R2 or later
With a migration, you copy the data and configuration to a new server that already runs your preferred version of Windows. This process can result in fewer upgrade errors or issues, but can take longer than an in-place upgrade.
For instructions, see Upgrade and migrate roles and features in Windows Server on the Microsoft website.
In-place upgrade for EC2 Windows Server 2012 R2 or later
An in-place upgrade lets you keep your current configuration and data. This process can be faster, but errors can occur because of software incompatibilities.
For in-place upgrade instructions, see Perform an in-place upgrade.
Upgrade issues
If you experience upgrade issues, see Troubleshoot an upgrade.
Automated upgrade for EC2 Windows Server 2008 R2 and SQL Server 2008 R2
You can use AWS Systems Manager Automation runbooks to perform an automated upgrade. Two upgrade paths are available:
- Windows Server 2008 R2, 2012 R2, or 2016 to Windows Server 2012 R2, 2016, 2019, or 2022
- SQL Server 2008 R2 on Windows Server 2012 R2 to SQL Server 2016
For prerequisites and instructions, see Perform an automated upgrade.
Related information
Upgrade an Amazon EC2 Windows instance to a newer version of Windows Server