# Configure simplified automatic recovery on an Amazon EC2 instance **Important** This section describes how to proactively configure recovery mechanisms on an EC2 instance. These recovery mechanisms are designed to restore instance availability when AWS detects an underlying hardware or software issue that causes a system status check to fail. If you are currently experiencing problems accessing your instance, see [Troubleshoot EC2 instances](ec2-instance-troubleshoot.md). If AWS detects that an instance is unavailable due to an underlying hardware or software issue, *simplified automatic recovery* can automatically restore instance availability by moving the instance from the host with the underlying issue to a different host. If simplified automatic recovery occurs, AWS sends one of the following events to your AWS Health Dashboard, depending on the outcome: + Success event: `AWS_EC2_SIMPLIFIED_AUTO_RECOVERY_SUCCESS` + Failure event: `AWS_EC2_SIMPLIFIED_AUTO_RECOVERY_FAILURE` To be notified of these events, you can configure notifications. For more information, see [Creating your first notification configuration in AWS User Notifications](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/notifications/latest/userguide/getting-started.html) in the *AWS User Notifications User Guide*. You can also use [Amazon EventBridge rules](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/eventbridge/latest/userguide/eb-rules.html) to monitor simplified automatic recovery events. Simplified automatic recovery is enabled by default on all supported instances during instance launch. However, it can only operate if an instance is in the `running` state, there are no service events listed in the AWS Health Dashboard, and there is available capacity for the instance type. In some situations, such as significant outages, capacity constraints might cause recovery attempts to fail. For more information, see [Troubleshoot simplified automatic recovery failures](#ec2-instance-recover-simplified-auto-recovery-troubleshooting). You can disable simplified automatic recovery during or after launch, and re-enable it later if required. **Warning** When AWS recovers your instance due to an underlying hardware or software issue, be aware of the following consequences: data stored in volatile memory (RAM) will be lost and the operating system’s uptime will start over from zero. To help protect against data loss, we recommend that you regularly create backups of valuable data. For more information about backup and recovery best practices for EC2 instances, see [Best practices for Amazon EC2](ec2-best-practices.md). Automatic instance recovery mechanisms are designed for *individual instances*. For guidance on building a resilient *system*, see [Build a resilient system](ec2-instance-recover.md#instance-recovery-build-a-resilient-system). **Topics** + [Requirements for enabling simplified automatic recovery](#requirements-for-simplified-automatic-recovery) + [Configure simplified automatic recovery](#set-recovery-behavior) + [Troubleshoot simplified automatic recovery failures](#ec2-instance-recover-simplified-auto-recovery-troubleshooting) ## Requirements for enabling simplified automatic recovery Simplified automatic recovery can be enabled on instances that meet the following criteria: **Instance types** + **General purpose:** A1, M3, M4, M5, M5a, M5n, M5zn, M6a, M6g, M6i, M6in, M7a, M7g, M7i, M7i-flex, M8a, M8azn, M8g, M8gb, M8gn, M8i, M8i-flex, T1, T2, T3, T3a, T4g + **Compute optimized:** C3, C4, C5, C5a, C5n, C6a, C6g, C6gn, C6i, C6in, C7a, C7g, C7gn, C7i, C7i-flex, C8a, C8g, C8gb, C8gn, C8i, C8ib, C8in, C8i-flex + **Memory optimized:** R3, R4, R5, R5a, R5b, R5n, R6a, R6g, R6i, R6in, R7a, R7g, R7i, R7iz, R8a, R8g, R8gb, R8gn, R8i, R8i-flex, U-3tb1, U-6tb1, U-9tb1, U-12tb1, U-18tb1, U-24tb1, U7i-6tb, U7i-8tb, U7i-12tb, U7in-16tb, U7in-24tb, U7in-32tb, U7inh-32tb, X1, X1e, X2iezn, X8g, X8i + **Accelerated computing:** G3, G5g, Inf1, P3, VT1 + **High-performance computing:** Hpc6a, Hpc7a, Hpc7g, Hpc8a **Tenancy** + Shared + Dedicated Instance For more information, see [Amazon EC2 Dedicated Instances](dedicated-instance.md). **Limitations** Simplified automatic recovery is not supported for instances with the following characteristics: + Instance size: `metal` instances + Tenancy: Dedicated Host. For Dedicated Hosts, use [Dedicated Host Auto Recovery](dedicated-hosts-recovery.md) instead. + Storage: Instances with instance store volumes + Networking: Instances using an Elastic Fabric Adapter + Auto Scaling: Instances that are part of an Auto Scaling group + Maintenance: Instances currently undergoing a scheduled maintenance event ## Configure simplified automatic recovery Simplified automatic recovery is enabled by default when you launch a supported instance. You can set the automatic recovery behavior to `disabled` during or after launching the instance. The `default` configuration doesn't enable simplified automatic recovery for an unsupported instance. ------ #### [ Console ] **To disable simplified automatic recovery at launch** 1. Open the Amazon EC2 console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/ec2/](https://console.aws.amazon.com/ec2/). 1. In the navigation pane, choose **Instances**, and then choose **Launch instance**. 1. In the **Advanced details** section, for **Instance auto-recovery**, choose **Disabled**. 1. Configure the remaining instance launch settings as needed and then launch the instance. **To disable simplified automatic recovery after launch** 1. Open the Amazon EC2 console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/ec2/](https://console.aws.amazon.com/ec2/). 1. In the navigation pane, choose **Instances**. 1. Select the instance, and then choose **Actions**, **Instance settings**, **Change auto-recovery behavior**. 1. Choose **Off**, and then choose **Save**. **To enable simplified automatic recovery after launch** 1. Open the Amazon EC2 console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/ec2/](https://console.aws.amazon.com/ec2/). 1. In the navigation pane, choose **Instances**. 1. Select the instance, and then choose **Actions**, **Instance settings**, **Change auto-recovery behavior**. 1. Choose **Default (On)**, and then choose **Save**. ------ #### [ AWS CLI ] **To disable simplified automatic recovery at launch** Use the [run-instances](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/reference/ec2/run-instance.html) command with the `--maintenance-options` option. ``` --maintenance-options AutoRecovery=Disabled ``` **To disable simplified automatic recovery after launch** Use the [modify-instance-maintenance-options](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/reference/ec2/modify-instance-maintenance-options.html) command. ``` aws ec2 modify-instance-maintenance-options \ --instance-id i-1234567890abcdef0 \ --auto-recovery disabled ``` **To enable simplified automatic recovery after launch** Use the [modify-instance-maintenance-options](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/reference/ec2/modify-instance-maintenance-options.html) command. ``` aws ec2 modify-instance-maintenance-options \ --instance-id i-1234567890abcdef0 \ --auto-recovery default ``` ------ #### [ PowerShell ] **To disable simplified automatic recovery at launch** Use the [New-EC2Instance](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/powershell/latest/reference/items/New-EC2Instance.html) cmdlet. ``` -MaintenanceOptions_AutoRecovery Disabled ``` **To disable simplified automatic recovery after launch** Use the [Edit-EC2InstanceMaintenanceOption](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/powershell/latest/reference/items/Edit-EC2InstanceMaintenanceOption.html) cmdlet. ``` Edit-EC2InstanceMaintenanceOption ` -InstanceId i-1234567890abcdef0 ` -AutoRecovery Disabled ``` **To enable simplified automatic recovery after launch** Use the [Edit-EC2InstanceMaintenanceOption](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/powershell/latest/reference/items/Edit-EC2InstanceMaintenanceOption.html) cmdlet. ``` Edit-EC2InstanceMaintenanceOption ` -InstanceId i-1234567890abcdef0 ` -AutoRecovery Enabled ``` ------ ## Troubleshoot simplified automatic recovery failures If simplified automatic recovery fails to recover your instance, consider the following issues: + AWS service events are running Simplified automatic recovery does not operate during service events in the AWS Health Dashboard. You might not receive recovery failure notifications for such events. For the latest service availability information, see the [Service health](https://health.aws.amazon.com/health/status) status page. + Insufficient capacity There is temporarily insufficient replacement hardware to migrate the instance. + Maximum daily recovery attempts reached The instance has reached the maximum daily allowance for recovery attempts. Your instance might subsequently be retired if automatic recovery fails and a hardware degradation is determined to be the root cause of the original failed system status check. If the instance’s system status check failure persists despite multiple recovery attempts, see [Troubleshoot instances with failed status checks](TroubleshootingInstances.md) for additional guidance.