NixOS Amazon Machine Images (AMIs) Workflow and Roadmap

# Amazon images AMIs are regularly uploaded from Hydra. This automation lives in https://github.com/NixOS/amis ## How to upload an AMI for testing If you want to upload an AMI from changes in a local nixpkgs checkout. ```bash nix-build nixos/release.nix -A amazonImage export AWS_REGION=us-west-2 export AWS_PROFILE=my-profile nix run nixpkgs#upload-ami -- --image-info ./result/nix-support/image-info.json ``` ## How to build your own NixOS config into an AMI Use `nixos-rebuild build-image` as follows: ```bash NIXOS_CONFIG="$(pwd)/my-config.nix" nixos-rebuild build-image --image-variant amazon export AWS_REGION=us-west-2 export AWS_PROFILE=my-profile nix run github:NixOS/amis#upload-ami -- --image-info ./result/nix-support/image-info.json ``` ## Roadmap * @arianvp is planning to drop zfs support unless someone else picks it up * @arianvp is planning to rewrite the image builder to use the repart-based image builder. * @arianvp is planning to perhaps rewrite `upload-ami` to use coldnsap * @arianvp is planning to move `upload-ami` tooling into nixpkgs once it has stabilized. And only keep the Github Action in separate repo

This document details the management of NixOS Amazon Machine Images (AMIs), which are regularly uploaded from Hydra using automation found at `https://github.com/NixOS/amis`. It provides step-by-step instructions for users to upload an AMI for testing from local `nixpkgs` changes and to build and upload their own custom NixOS configuration into an AMI. The roadmap outlines future plans, including the potential removal of ZFS support, a rewrite of the image builder using `repart`, a possible rewrite of `upload-ami` to use `coldnsap`, and the eventual integration of `upload-ami` tooling into `nixpkgs`.