Question

A SysOps administrator manages a fleet of EC2 instances launched from a launch template. A separate automated pipeline builds a new hardened AMI weekly and needs a reliable way to publish the latest AMI ID so that new instance launches always reference the current image without requiring manual edits to the launch template each week. The team wants a low-cost, native solution that also lets other automation reference the AMI ID programmatically. Which approach best meets these requirements?

Accepted Answer

Store the latest AMI ID in an SSM Parameter Store parameter and reference it in the launch template using the resolve:ssm dynamic reference so new launches always pull the current value.

Answer

Hardcode the new AMI ID into the launch template as a new version each week using a scheduled Lambda function that edits the template.

Answer

Store the AMI ID in an S3 object and configure the launch template to read the object at launch time.

Answer

Tag the AMI with a 'latest' key and configure the launch template to filter by tag to select the AMI at launch.