AWS Tools for PowerShell V4 has entered maintenance mode.

We recommend that you migrate to [AWS Tools for PowerShell V5](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/powershell/v5/userguide/). For additional details and information on how to migrate, please refer to our [maintenance mode announcement](https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/developer/aws-tools-for-powershell-v4-maintenance-mode-announcement/).

# Find an Amazon Machine Image Using Windows PowerShell
<a name="pstools-ec2-get-amis"></a>

When you launch an Amazon EC2 instance, you specify an Amazon Machine Image (AMI) to serve as a template for the instance. However, the IDs for the AWS Windows AMIs change frequently because AWS provides new AMIs with the latest updates and security enhancements. You can use the [Get-EC2Image](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/powershell/v4/reference/items/Get-EC2Image.html) and [Get-EC2ImageByName](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/powershell/v4/reference/items/Get-EC2ImageByName.html) cmdlets to find the current Windows AMIs and get their IDs.

**Topics**
+ [Get-EC2Image](#pstools-ec2-get-image)
+ [Get-EC2ImageByName](#pstools-ec2-get-ec2imagebyname)

## Get-EC2Image
<a name="pstools-ec2-get-image"></a>

The `Get-EC2Image` cmdlet retrieves a list of AMIs that you can use.

Use the `-Owner` parameter with the array value `amazon, self` so that `Get-EC2Image` retrieves only AMIs that belong to Amazon or to you. In this context, *you* refers to the user whose credentials you used to invoke the cmdlet.

```
PS > Get-EC2Image -Owner amazon, self
```

You can scope the results using the `-Filter` parameter. To specify the filter, create an object of type `Amazon.EC2.Model.Filter`. For example, use the following filter to display only Windows AMIs.

```
$platform_values = New-Object 'collections.generic.list[string]'
$platform_values.add("windows")
$filter_platform = New-Object Amazon.EC2.Model.Filter -Property @{Name = "platform"; Values = $platform_values}
Get-EC2Image -Owner amazon, self -Filter $filter_platform
```

The following is an example of one of the AMIs returned by the cmdlet; the actual output of the previous command provides information for many AMIs.

```
Architecture        : x86_64
BlockDeviceMappings : {/dev/sda1, xvdca, xvdcb, xvdcc…}
CreationDate        : 2019-06-12T10:41:31.000Z
Description         : Microsoft Windows Server 2019 Full Locale English with SQL Web 2017 AMI provided by Amazon
EnaSupport          : True
Hypervisor          : xen
ImageId             : ami-000226b77608d973b
ImageLocation       : amazon/Windows_Server-2019-English-Full-SQL_2017_Web-2019.06.12
ImageOwnerAlias     : amazon
ImageType           : machine
KernelId            : 
Name                : Windows_Server-2019-English-Full-SQL_2017_Web-2019.06.12
OwnerId             : 801119661308
Platform            : Windows
ProductCodes        : {}
Public              : True
RamdiskId           : 
RootDeviceName      : /dev/sda1
RootDeviceType      : ebs
SriovNetSupport     : simple
State               : available
StateReason         : 
Tags                : {}
VirtualizationType  : hvm
```

## Get-EC2ImageByName
<a name="pstools-ec2-get-ec2imagebyname"></a>

The `Get-EC2ImageByName` cmdlet enables you to filter the list of AWS Windows AMIs based on the type of server configuration you are interested in.

When run with no parameters, as follows, the cmdlet emits the complete set of current filter names:

```
PS > Get-EC2ImageByName

WINDOWS_2016_BASE
WINDOWS_2016_NANO
WINDOWS_2016_CORE
WINDOWS_2016_CONTAINER
WINDOWS_2016_SQL_SERVER_ENTERPRISE_2016
WINDOWS_2016_SQL_SERVER_STANDARD_2016
WINDOWS_2016_SQL_SERVER_WEB_2016
WINDOWS_2016_SQL_SERVER_EXPRESS_2016
WINDOWS_2012R2_BASE
WINDOWS_2012R2_CORE
WINDOWS_2012R2_SQL_SERVER_EXPRESS_2016
WINDOWS_2012R2_SQL_SERVER_STANDARD_2016
WINDOWS_2012R2_SQL_SERVER_WEB_2016
WINDOWS_2012R2_SQL_SERVER_EXPRESS_2014
WINDOWS_2012R2_SQL_SERVER_STANDARD_2014
WINDOWS_2012R2_SQL_SERVER_WEB_2014
WINDOWS_2012_BASE
WINDOWS_2012_SQL_SERVER_EXPRESS_2014
WINDOWS_2012_SQL_SERVER_STANDARD_2014
WINDOWS_2012_SQL_SERVER_WEB_2014
WINDOWS_2012_SQL_SERVER_EXPRESS_2012
WINDOWS_2012_SQL_SERVER_STANDARD_2012
WINDOWS_2012_SQL_SERVER_WEB_2012
WINDOWS_2012_SQL_SERVER_EXPRESS_2008
WINDOWS_2012_SQL_SERVER_STANDARD_2008
WINDOWS_2012_SQL_SERVER_WEB_2008
WINDOWS_2008R2_BASE
WINDOWS_2008R2_SQL_SERVER_EXPRESS_2012
WINDOWS_2008R2_SQL_SERVER_STANDARD_2012
WINDOWS_2008R2_SQL_SERVER_WEB_2012
WINDOWS_2008R2_SQL_SERVER_EXPRESS_2008
WINDOWS_2008R2_SQL_SERVER_STANDARD_2008
WINDOWS_2008R2_SQL_SERVER_WEB_2008
WINDOWS_2008RTM_BASE
WINDOWS_2008RTM_SQL_SERVER_EXPRESS_2008
WINDOWS_2008RTM_SQL_SERVER_STANDARD_2008
WINDOWS_2008_BEANSTALK_IIS75
WINDOWS_2012_BEANSTALK_IIS8
VPC_NAT
```

To narrow the set of images returned, specify one or more filter names using the `Names` parameter.

```
PS > Get-EC2ImageByName -Names WINDOWS_2016_CORE

Architecture        : x86_64
BlockDeviceMappings : {/dev/sda1, xvdca, xvdcb, xvdcc…}
CreationDate        : 2019-08-16T09:36:09.000Z
Description         : Microsoft Windows Server 2016 Core Locale English AMI provided by Amazon
EnaSupport          : True
Hypervisor          : xen
ImageId             : ami-06f2a2afca06f15fc
ImageLocation       : amazon/Windows_Server-2016-English-Core-Base-2019.08.16
ImageOwnerAlias     : amazon
ImageType           : machine
KernelId            : 
Name                : Windows_Server-2016-English-Core-Base-2019.08.16
OwnerId             : 801119661308
Platform            : Windows
ProductCodes        : {}
Public              : True
RamdiskId           : 
RootDeviceName      : /dev/sda1
RootDeviceType      : ebs
SriovNetSupport     : simple
State               : available
StateReason         : 
Tags                : {}
VirtualizationType  : hvm
```