# AWS NVMe drivers
Amazon EBS volumes and instance store volumes are exposed as NVMe block devices on [Nitro-based instances](instance-types.md#instance-hypervisor-type). To fully utilize the performance and capabilities of Amazon EBS features for volumes exposed as NVMe block devices, the instance must have the AWS NVMe driver installed. All current generation AWS Windows AMIs come with the AWS NVMe driver installed by default.
For more information about EBS and NVMe, see [Amazon EBS and NVMe](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/ebs/latest/userguide/nvme-ebs-volumes.html) in the *Amazon EBS User Guide*. For more information about SSD instance store and NVMe, see [SSD instance store volumes for EC2 instances](ssd-instance-store.md).
## Linux instances
The following AMIs include the required NVMe drivers:
+ Amazon Linux 2
+ Amazon Linux AMI 2018.03
+ Ubuntu 14.04 or later with `linux-aws` kernel
**Note**
AWS Graviton-based instance types require Ubuntu 18.04 or later with `linux-aws` kernel
+ Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.4 or later
+ SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP2 or later
+ CentOS 7.4.1708 or later
+ FreeBSD 11.1 or later
+ Debian GNU/Linux 9 or later
**To confirm that your instance has the NVMe driver**
You can confirm that your instance has the NVMe driver using the following command.
+ Amazon Linux, RHEL, CentOS, and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
```
$ modinfo nvme
```
If the instance has the NVMe driver, the command returns information about the driver.
+ Amazon Linux 2 and Ubuntu
```
$ ls /sys/module/ | grep nvme
```
If the instance has the NVMe driver, the command returns the installed drivers.
**To update the NVMe driver**
If your instance has the NVMe driver, you can update the driver to the latest version using the following procedure.
1. Connect to your instance.
1. Update your package cache to get necessary package updates as follows.
+ For Amazon Linux 2, Amazon Linux, CentOS, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux:
```
[ec2-user ~]$ sudo yum update -y
```
+ For Ubuntu and Debian:
```
[ec2-user ~]$ sudo apt-get update -y
```
1. Ubuntu 16.04 and later include the `linux-aws` package, which contains the NVMe and ENA drivers required by Nitro-based instances. Upgrade the `linux-aws` package to receive the latest version as follows:
```
[ec2-user ~]$ sudo apt-get install --only-upgrade -y linux-aws
```
For Ubuntu 14.04, you can install the latest `linux-aws` package as follows:
```
[ec2-user ~]$ sudo apt-get install linux-aws
```
1. Reboot your instance to load the latest kernel version.
```
sudo reboot
```
1. Reconnect to your instance after it has rebooted.
## Windows instances
------
#### [ PowerShell ]
If you did not launch your instance from one of the latest AWS Windows AMIs provided by Amazon, use the following procedure to install the current AWS NVMe driver on your instance. Reboot is required for this install. Either the install script will reboot your instance or you must reboot it as the final step.
**Prerequisites**
+ PowerShell version 3.0 or later is installed.
+ The commands shown in this section must run in the 64-bit version of PowerShell. Do not use the `x86` version of PowerShell. That is the 32-bit version of the shell, and is not supported for these commands.
**To download and install the latest AWS NVMe driver**
1. We recommend that you create an AMI as a backup as follows, in case you need to roll back your changes.
1. When you stop an instance, the data on any instance store volumes is erased. Before you stop an instance, verify that you've copied any data that you need from your instance store volumes to persistent storage, such as Amazon EBS or Amazon S3.
1. In the navigation pane, choose **Instances**.
1. Select the instance that requires the driver upgrade, and choose **Instance state**, **Stop instance**.
1. After the instance is stopped, select the instance, choose **Actions**, then **Image and templates**, and then choose **Create image**.
1. Choose **Instance state**, **Start instance**.
1. Connect to your instance and log in as the local administrator.
1. Download the drivers to your instance using one of the following options:
+ **Browser** – [Download](https://s3.amazonaws.com/ec2-windows-drivers-downloads/NVMe/Latest/AWSNVMe.zip) the latest driver package to the instance and extract the zip archive.
+ **PowerShell** – Run the following commands:
```
Invoke-WebRequest https://s3.amazonaws.com/ec2-windows-drivers-downloads/NVMe/Latest/AWSNVMe.zip -outfile $env:USERPROFILE\nvme_driver.zip
Expand-Archive $env:userprofile\nvme_driver.zip -DestinationPath $env:userprofile\nvme_driver
```
If you receive an error when downloading the file, and you are using Windows Server 2016 or earlier, TLS 1.2 might need to be enabled for your PowerShell terminal. You can enable TLS 1.2 for the current PowerShell session with the following command and then try again:
```
[Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [Net.SecurityProtocolType]::Tls12
```
1. Install the driver to your instance by running the `install.ps1` PowerShell script from the `nvme_driver` directory (`.\install.ps1`). If you get an error, make sure you are using PowerShell 3.0 or later.
1. (Optional) Starting with AWS NVMe version `1.5.0`, Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) persistent reservations are supported for Windows Server 2016 and later. This feature adds support for Windows Server Failover Clustering with shared Amazon EBS storage. By default, this feature isn't enabled during installation.
You can enable the feature when running the `install.ps1` script to install the driver by specifying the `EnableSCSIPersistentReservations` parameter with a value of `$true`.
```
PS C:\> .\install.ps1 -EnableSCSIPersistentReservations $true
```
You can disable the feature when running the `install.ps1` script to install the driver by specifying the `EnableSCSIPersistentReservations` parameter with a value of `$false`.
```
PS C:\> .\install.ps1 -EnableSCSIPersistentReservations $false
```
1. Starting with AWS NVMe `1.5.0`, the `install.ps1` script always installs the `ebsnvme-id` tool with the driver.
(Optional) For versions `1.4.0`, `1.4.1`, and `1.4.2`, the `install.ps1` script allows you to specify whether the `ebsnvme-id` tool should be installed with the driver.
1. To install the `ebsnvme-id` tool, specify `InstallEBSNVMeIdTool ‘Yes’`.
1. If you don't want to install the tool, specify `InstallEBSNVMeIdTool ‘No’`.
If you don't specify `InstallEBSNVMeIdTool`, and the tool is already present at `C:\ProgramData\Amazon\Tools`, the package will upgrade the tool by default. If the tool is not present, `install.ps1` will not upgrade the tool by default.
If you don't want to install the tool as part of the package, and want to install it later, you can find the latest version or the tool in the driver package. Alternatively, you can download version `1.0.0` from Amazon S3:
[Download](https://s3.amazonaws.com/ec2-windows-drivers-downloads/EBSNVMeID/Latest/ebsnvme-id.zip) the `ebsnvme-id` tool.
1. If the installer does not reboot your instance, reboot the instance.
------
#### [ Distributor ]
You can use Distributor, a capability of AWS Systems Manager, to install the NVMe driver package one time or with scheduled updates.
**To install the latest AWS NVMe driver**
1. For the instructions for how to install the NVMe driver package using Distributor, see the procedures in [Install or update packages](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/systems-manager/latest/userguide/distributor-working-with-packages-deploy.html) in the *Amazon EC2 Systems Manager User Guide*.
1. For **Installation Type**, select **Uninstall and reinstall**.
1. For **Name**, choose **AWSNVMe**.
1. (Optional) For **Additional Arguments**, you can customize the installation by specifying values. The values must be formatted using valid JSON syntax. For examples of how to pass additional arguments for the `aws configure` package, see the [Command document plugin reference](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/systems-manager/latest/userguide/documents-command-ssm-plugin-reference.html).
1. Starting with AWS NVMe `1.5.0`, the driver supports SCSI persistent reservations for Windows Server 2016 and later. By default, this feature isn't enabled during installation.
+ To enable this feature, specify `{"SSM_EnableSCSIPersistentReservations": "true"}`.
+ If you don't want to enable this feature, specify `{"SSM_EnableSCSIPersistentReservations": "false"}`.
1. Starting with AWS NVMe `1.5.0`, the `install.ps1` script will always install the `ebsnvme-id` tool.
(Optional) For versions `1.4.0`, `1.4.1`, and `1.4.2`, the `install.ps1` script allows you to specify whether the ebsnvme-id tool should be installed with the driver.
+ To install the ebsnvme-id tool, specify `{"SSM_InstallEBSNVMeIdTool": "Yes"}`.
+ If you don't want to install the tool, specify `{"SSM_InstallEBSNVMeIdTool": "No"}`.
If `SSM_InstallEBSNVMeIdTool` is not specified for **Additional Arguments**, and the tool is already present at `C:\ProgramData\Amazon\Tools`, the package will upgrade the tool by default. If the tool is not present, the package will not upgrade the tool by default.
If you don't want to install the tool as part of the package, and want to install it later, you can find the latest version of the tool in the driver package. Alternatively, you can download version `1.0.0` from Amazon S3:
[Download](https://s3.amazonaws.com/ec2-windows-drivers-downloads/EBSNVMeID/Latest/ebsnvme-id.zip) the `ebsnvme-id` tool.
1. If the installer does not reboot your instance, reboot the instance.
------
## Configure SCSI persistent reservations for Windows instances
After AWS NVMe driver version `1.5.0` or later has been installed, you can enable or disable SCSI persistent reservations using the Windows registry for Windows Server 2016 and later. You must reboot the instance for these registry changes to take effect.
You can enable SCSI persistent reservations with the following command which sets the `EnableSCSIPersistentReservations` to a value of `1`.
```
PS C:\> $registryPath = "HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\AWSNVMe\Parameters\Device"
Set-ItemProperty -Path $registryPath -Name EnableSCSIPersistentReservations -Value 1
```
You can disable SCSI persistent reservations with the following command which sets the `EnableSCSIPersistentReservations` to a value of `0`.
```
PS C:\> $registryPath = "HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\AWSNVMe\Parameters\Device"
Set-ItemProperty -Path $registryPath -Name EnableSCSIPersistentReservations -Value 0
```
# AWS NVMe Windows driver version history
The following table shows which AWS NVMe drivers run on each version of Windows Server on Amazon EC2.
| Windows Server version | AWS NVMe driver version |
| --- | --- |
| Windows Server 2025 | latest version |
| Windows Server 2022 | latest version |
| Windows Server 2019 | latest version |
| Windows Server 2016 | latest version |
| Windows Server 2012 R2 | version 1.5.1 and earlier |
| Windows Server 2012 | version 1.5.1 and earlier |
| Windows Server 2008 R2 | version 1.3.2 and earlier |
| Windows Server 2008 | version 1.3.2 and earlier |
The following table describes the released versions of the AWS NVMe driver.
| Package version | Driver version | Details | Release date |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [1.8.1](https://s3.amazonaws.com/ec2-windows-drivers-downloads/NVMe/1.8.1/AWSNVMe.zip) | 1.8.1 | [\[See the AWS documentation website for more details\]](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/nvme-driver-version-history.html) | 24 February 2026 |
| 1.8.0 | 1.8.0 | [\[See the AWS documentation website for more details\]](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/nvme-driver-version-history.html) | 16 January 2026 |
| [1.7.0](https://s3.amazonaws.com/ec2-windows-drivers-downloads/NVMe/1.7.0/AWSNVMe.zip) | 1.7.0 | [\[See the AWS documentation website for more details\]](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/nvme-driver-version-history.html) | 17 September 2025 |
| [1.6.0](https://s3.amazonaws.com/ec2-windows-drivers-downloads/NVMe/1.6.0/AWSNVMe.zip) | 1.6.0 | [\[See the AWS documentation website for more details\]](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/nvme-driver-version-history.html) | 25 October 2024 |
| [1.5.1](https://s3.amazonaws.com/ec2-windows-drivers-downloads/NVMe/1.5.1/AWSNVMe.zip) | 1.5.0 | Fixed the install script to create a folder for the `ebsnvme-id` tool if it is not present. | 17 November 2023 |
| 1.5.0 | 1.5.0 | Added support for Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) persistent reservations for instances running Windows Server 2016 and later. The ebsnvme-id tool (`ebsnvme-id.exe`) is now installed by default. | 31 August 2023 |
| 1.4.2 | 1.4.2 | Fixed a bug where the AWS NVMe driver did not support instance store volumes on D3 instances. | 16 March 2023 |
| 1.4.1 | 1.4.1 | Reports Namespace Preferred Write Granularity (NPGW) for EBS volumes that support this optional NVMe feature. For more information, see section 8.25, "Improving Performance through I/O Size and Alignment Adherence," in the [NVMe Base Specification, version 1.4](https://nvmexpress.org/wp-content/uploads/NVM-Express-1_4b-2020.09.21-Ratified.pdf). | 20 May 2022 |
| 1.4.0 | 1.4.0 | [\[See the AWS documentation website for more details\]](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/nvme-driver-version-history.html) | 23 November 2021 |
| [1.3.2](https://s3.amazonaws.com/ec2-windows-drivers-downloads/NVMe/1.3.2/AWSNVMe.zip) | 1.3.2 | Fixed issue with modifying EBS volumes actively processing IO, which may result in data corruption. Customers who do not modify online EBS volumes (for example, resizing or changing type) are not impacted. This is the last version that can run on Windows Server 2008 and 2008 R2. This version is available for download but no longer supported. Windows Server 2008 and 2008 R2 has reached end-of-life, and is no longer supported by Microsoft. | 10 September 2019 |
| 1.3.1 | 1.3.1 | Reliability Improvements. | 21 May 2019 |
| 1.3.0 | 1.3.0 | Device optimization improvements. | 31 August 2018 |
| 1.2.0 | 1.2.0 | Performance and reliability improvements for AWS NVMe devices on all supported instances, including bare metal instances. | 13 June 2018 |
| >1.0.0 | >1.0.0 | AWS NVMe driver for supported instance types running Windows Server. | 12 February 2018 |
## Subscribe to notifications
Amazon SNS can notify you when new versions of EC2 Windows Drivers are released. Use the following procedure to subscribe to these notifications.
**To subscribe to EC2 notifications from the console**
1. Open the Amazon SNS console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/sns/v3/home](https://console.aws.amazon.com/sns/v3/home).
1. In the navigation bar, change the Region to **US East (N. Virginia)**, if necessary. You must select this Region because the SNS notifications that you are subscribing to are in this Region.
1. In the navigation pane, choose **Subscriptions**.
1. Choose **Create subscription**.
1. In the **Create subscription** dialog box, do the following:
1. For **TopicARN**, copy the following Amazon Resource Name (ARN):
arn:aws:sns:us-east-1:801119661308:ec2-windows-drivers
1. For **Protocol**, choose `Email`.
1. For **Endpoint**, type an email address that you can use to receive the notifications.
1. Choose **Create subscription**.
1. You'll receive a confirmation email. Open the email and follow the directions to complete your subscription.
Whenever new EC2 Windows drivers are released, we send notifications to subscribers. If you no longer want to receive these notifications, use the following procedure to unsubscribe.
**To unsubscribe from Amazon EC2 Windows driver notification**
1. Open the Amazon SNS console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/sns/v3/home](https://console.aws.amazon.com/sns/v3/home).
1. In the navigation pane, choose **Subscriptions**.
1. Select the checkbox for the subscription and then choose **Actions**, **Delete subscriptions**. When prompted for confirmation, choose **Delete**.
**To subscribe to EC2 notifications using the AWS CLI**
To subscribe to EC2 notifications with the AWS CLI, use the following command.
```
aws sns subscribe --topic-arn arn:aws:sns:us-east-1:801119661308:ec2-windows-drivers --protocol email --notification-endpoint YourUserName@YourDomainName.ext
```
**To subscribe to EC2 notifications using AWS Tools for Windows PowerShell**
To subscribe to EC2 notifications with AWS Tools for Windows PowerShell, use the following command.
```
Connect-SNSNotification -TopicArn 'arn:aws:sns:us-east-1:801119661308:ec2-windows-drivers' -Protocol email -Region us-east-1 -Endpoint 'YourUserName@YourDomainName.ext'
```