How do I use the EC2Rescue tool to perform Last Known Good Configuration on an Amazon EC2 instance?

Short description

To perform Last Known Good Configuration, you must take the disk offline to a helper Amazon EC2 instance.

If you experience the following issues, then use the Amazon EC2Rescue tool to perform Last Known Good Configuration:

• Windows doesn't boot.
• Amazon EC2 is stuck on a reboot loop.
• You get a blue screen that doesn't change.
• Applications don't work as expected because of recent changes that you made on the Amazon EC2 instance.
• RDP doesn't work because of recent changes.
• You get a 1/2 status check failure.

Resolution

Before you begin, you must meet the following requirements to use Amazon EC2Rescue:

• Windows server 2008 R2 or newer.
• .NET framework 3.5 SPI or newer.
• Accessibility from an RDP connection.

To use the EC2Rescue tool to perform Last Known Good Configuration on an Amazon EC2 instance, complete the following steps:

1. Stop the unreachable instance, and then detach the root volume.
2. Launch a new instance in the same Availability Zone as the unreachable instance. The new instance is your rescue instance.
   Note: It's a best practice to launch a Windows instance that's different from the unreachable instance to avoid disk signature issues.
3. Attach the volume to the rescue instance as /dev/xvdf.
4. Use RDP to connect to the rescue instance. Then, use Disk Manager to bring the previously attached volume online.
5. Download and unzip the EC2Rescue folder.
6. Navigate to the folder, and then complete the following steps:
   Right-click EC2Rescue.exe.
   Choose Run as Administrator.
   Accept the License Agreement.
   Choose Next.
   Choose OFFLINE INSTANCE.
7. Select the disk of the newly mounted volume, and then choose Next.
8. Confirm the disk selection, and then choose Yes.
9. Select the Restore option, and then choose Last Known Good Configuration.
10. Choose Next, and then choose Finish.
11. Detach the volume from the rescue instance, and then attach the volume to the unreachable instance as the root volume (/dev/sda1).
12. Restart your original Amazon EC2 instance.