How do I create an EC2 image from a running instance using boto?

Question

I'm trying to create a simple python backup script for my EC2 instances. This script's purpose is to create daily/weekly snapshots of the current machine (see this question on ServerFault). I'm using the boto python package for EC2 API, and would like to create an EBS AMI from a given instance (like ElasticFox's "Create Image" action)

# This script will look up all your running EC2 images, find the current one, and back it up by creating an AMI 

# Configuration
accessKeyId = "..."
accessKeySecret = "..."
target = "..."

def resolveIp(target):
    import socket
    ip = repr(socket.gethostbyname_ex(target)[2][0])
    return ip

def find_target(target, connection) :
    ip = resolveIp(target)
    print "Finding instance for " + target + " (IP " + ip + ")"
    reservations = connection.get_all_instances();
    for reservation in reservations:
        instances = reservation.instances
        if len(instances) != 1:
            print "Skipping reservation " + reservation
            continue
        instance = instances[0]
        instanceIp = resolveIp(instance.dns_name)
        if instanceIp == ip:
            return instance

    raise Exception("Can't find instance with IP " + ip)

from boto.ec2.connection import EC2Connection

print "Connecting to EC2"
conn = EC2Connection(accessKeyId, accessKeySecret)
print "Connected to EC2"

instance = find_target(target, conn)
print "Backing up instance '{}'".format(instance)

# Now, I'd like to create a new image out of this instance
# Can you help?

(Also reported as an issue on the boto project page, since I didn't find a mailing list)

Answer 1

You want the "create_image" method of the EC2Connection object. See the docs here. You can also ask questions on the boto-users Google Group.