Question

A SysOps administrator manages an Auto Scaling group that uses an EC2 launch template. The team bakes a new golden AMI every month and needs to roll it out to newly launched instances while keeping the ability to quickly revert if the new image causes problems. They also want to avoid editing the Auto Scaling group configuration each month. What is the MOST operationally efficient approach?

Accepted Answer

Create a new version of the launch template with the updated AMI ID, and configure the Auto Scaling group to use the '$Latest' version so new versions are automatically picked up.

Answer

Replace the AMI ID in the existing launch template version in place, since launch templates support editing to preserve rollback history.

Answer

Create a new launch configuration each month with the new AMI and attach it to the Auto Scaling group.

Answer

Store the AMI ID in the user data script and update the script monthly so instances pull the correct image at boot.