---
description: |
    The amazon-ebsvolume Packer builder is like the EBS builder, but is intended to
    create EBS volumes rather than a machine image.
layout: docs
page_title: 'Amazon EBS Volume - Builders'
sidebar_current: 'docs-builders-amazon-ebsvolume'
---

# EBS Volume Builder

Type: `amazon-ebsvolume`

The `amazon-ebsvolume` Packer builder is able to create Amazon Elastic Block
Store volumes which are prepopulated with filesystems or data.

This builder builds EBS volumes by launching an EC2 instance from a source AMI,
provisioning that running machine, and then destroying the source machine,
keeping the volumes intact.

This is all done in your own AWS account. The builder will create temporary key
pairs, security group rules, etc. that provide it temporary access to the
instance while the image is being created.

The builder does *not* manage EBS Volumes. Once it creates volumes and stores
it in your account, it is up to you to use, delete, etc. the volumes.

-> **Note:** Temporary resources are, by default, all created with the
prefix `packer`. This can be useful if you want to restrict the security groups
and key pairs Packer is able to operate on.

## Configuration Reference

There are many configuration options available for the builder. They are
segmented below into two categories: required and optional parameters. Within
each category, the available configuration keys are alphabetized.

In addition to the options listed here, a
[communicator](/docs/templates/communicator.html) can be configured for this
builder.

### Required:

<%= partial "partials/builder/amazon/common/AccessConfig-required" %>
<%= partial "partials/builder/amazon/common/RunConfig-required" %>

### Optional:

<%= partial "partials/builder/amazon/common/AccessConfig-not-required" %>
<%= partial "partials/builder/amazon/common/RunConfig-not-required" %>
<%= partial "partials/builder/amazon/ebsvolume/Config-not-required" %>
<%= partial "partials/builder/amazon/common/RunConfig-not-required" %>
<%= partial "partials/helper/communicator/Config-not-required" %>

## Basic Example

``` json
{
  "type" : "amazon-ebsvolume",
  "secret_key" : "YOUR SECRET KEY HERE",
  "access_key" : "YOUR KEY HERE",
  "region" : "us-east-1",
  "ssh_username" : "ubuntu",
  "instance_type" : "t2.medium",
  "source_ami" : "ami-40d28157",
  "ebs_volumes" : [
    {
      "volume_type" : "gp2",
      "device_name" : "/dev/xvdf",
      "delete_on_termination" : false,
      "tags" : {
        "zpool" : "data",
        "Name" : "Data1"
      },
      "volume_size" : 10
    },
    {
      "volume_type" : "gp2",
      "device_name" : "/dev/xvdg",
      "tags" : {
        "zpool" : "data",
        "Name" : "Data2"
      },
      "delete_on_termination" : false,
      "volume_size" : 10
    },
    {
      "volume_size" : 10,
      "tags" : {
        "Name" : "Data3",
        "zpool" : "data"
      },
      "delete_on_termination" : false,
      "device_name" : "/dev/xvdh",
      "volume_type" : "gp2"
    }
  ]
}
```

-&gt; **Note:** Packer can also read the access key and secret access key from
environmental variables. See the configuration reference in the section above
for more information on what environmental variables Packer will look for.

Further information on locating AMI IDs and their relationship to instance
types and regions can be found in the AWS EC2 Documentation [for
Linux](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/finding-an-ami.html)
or [for
Windows](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/WindowsGuide/finding-an-ami.html).

## Accessing the Instance to Debug

If you need to access the instance to debug for some reason, run the builder
with the `-debug` flag. In debug mode, the Amazon builder will save the private
key in the current directory and will output the DNS or IP information as well.
You can use this information to access the instance as it is running.

## Build template data

In configuration directives marked as a template engine above, the following
variables are available:

-   `BuildRegion` - The region (for example `eu-central-1`) where Packer is
    building the AMI.
-   `SourceAMI` - The source AMI ID (for example `ami-a2412fcd`) used to build
    the AMI.
-   `SourceAMIName` - The source AMI Name (for example
    `ubuntu/images/ebs-ssd/ubuntu-xenial-16.04-amd64-server-20180306`) used to
    build the AMI.
-   `SourceAMITags` - The source AMI Tags, as a `map[string]string` object.

-&gt; **Note:** Packer uses pre-built AMIs as the source for building images.
These source AMIs may include volumes that are not flagged to be destroyed on
termination of the instance building the new image. In addition to those
volumes created by this builder, any volumes inn the source AMI which are not
marked for deletion on termination will remain in your account.


<%= partial "partials/builders/aws-ssh-differentiation-table" %>