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# EC2: Restore an Instance

This article explains how to restore an EC2 instance from your Eon snapshots using the standard restore method.

Standard restore fully restores all volumes from your vault before the instance becomes available.
For faster recovery where the instance becomes available in minutes while data loads in the background, see [EC2: Restore an Instance with Instant Restore].
If the instance has saved restore settings in a restore template, you can [restore the instance from a restore template](#restore-the-instance-from-a-restore-template) instead of setting each detail in the wizard.

[EC2: Restore an Instance with Instant Restore]: /data-protection/restoring/restore-cloud-workloads/aws/ec2/ec2-restore-an-instance-instant-restore

## Decide whether to convert to an AMI or restore

An EC2 instance can be converted to an AMI or restored, so you'll need to decide which option is best for your case:

| AMI                                                                                                                | Instance restore                            |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------- |
| * Can be shared with another availability zone or region.
* Can be used to create multiple copies of the instance. | - Deployed in a specific availability zone. |

## Restore the instance

#### Before you start

Before you restore an EC2 instance, make sure:

#### Find the snapshot you want to restore

1. In your

   inventory

   , select the EC2 resource you want to restore.
   The Resource Details drawer opens.

2. Click the **Eon snapshots** tab.
   You'll see a calendar view with colored dots on the days when snapshots were taken.
   There can be more than one snapshot per day.

   When you click a day, a list of Eon snapshots taken that day is displayed below the calendar.

3. Expand the snapshot you want to restore.
   Click **Instance**, and then click **Restore**.
   If a menu opens, click **Manual restore**.
   The **Restore EC2 Instance** wizard opens.

#### Choose the restore account

In the Restore EC2 wizard, you're taken through a three-step process.
The first step is to choose a restore account.

1. Choose the cloud account you want to restore the volume in.

2. Leave **Use instant restore** off to use the standard restore method.

3. Click **Next**.

#### Set the instance details

[Amazon EC2 Instance types]: https\://aws.amazon.com/ec-2/instance-types/

In the **Instance configuration** step, you'll set the instance details.

1. Choose a **Region** and **Subnet** to deploy the restored instance to.

2. Choose the **Instance type**.
   For information on available options, see [Amazon EC2 Instance types] from AWS.

3. Optionally, select a **Security group** and **Instance profile** to apply to the restored instance.

4. If you want to retain the tags that were present when the snapshot was taken, turn **Keep original tags** on.
   Otherwise, turn **Keep original tags** off.

   In both cases, the new volume is tagged with `eon:restore=true`.
   Tags with the `eon:` prefix aren't included in the original tags because Eon uses this prefix for internal operations.

5. Click **Next**.

#### Set details for the attached volumes

In this step of the wizard, you'll set encryption, volume settings, and tags for the volumes attached to the instance at the time the snapshot was taken.
Expand individual volumes to show volume-specific settings.

#### Encryption

You can encrypt all volumes with the same key, or you set each volume's key separate from the other volumes.
If you choose to encrypt each volume separately, turn off **Encrypt all volumes with the same key**.
Encryption settings are then displayed for each volume.

You can either select an existing key or create a key and paste an ARN.

#### Volume settings

For each volume, you can keep the original volume settings, or you can customize the drive's type, size, IOPS, and throughput.

#### Tags

Each volume has its own tags, independent of the instance-level tags in the previous step.
If you want to retain the tags that were present when the snapshot was taken, turn **Keep original tags** on.
Otherwise, turn **Keep original tags** off.

In both cases, the new volume is tagged with `eon:restore=true`.
Tags with the `eon:` prefix aren't included in the original tags because Eon uses this prefix for internal operations.

#### Start the restore job

Click **Restore** to start the asynchronous restore job.

You can monitor the restore job on the

Restore jobs tab

in the Jobs page.

Once the restore job completes, all volumes are fully restored and the instance starts and becomes available in your restore account.
You can find the restored instance in your AWS console.

## Restore the instance from a restore template

A restore template saves the destination account, region, network, instance type, and naming for an EC2 instance restore.
The restore uses the standard restore method.

Restoring from a template takes you straight to the restore, because the template already supplies the settings the wizard's configuration steps ask for.
Eon fills in the template's placeholders for this instance and snapshot, and [validates the template](/data-protection/restoring/restore-templates/about-restore-templates#template-validation) before the restore starts.

#### Before you start

Before you restore an EC2 instance from a restore template, make sure:

* A restore template for EC2 instances exists in your project.
  To create one, and to attach it to the instance, see [Manage Restore Templates].

#### Find the snapshot you want to restore

1. In your

   inventory

   , select the EC2 resource you want to restore.
   The Resource Details drawer opens.

2. Click the **Eon snapshots** tab.
   You'll see a calendar view with colored dots on the days when snapshots were taken.
   There can be more than one snapshot per day.

   When you click a day, a list of Eon snapshots taken that day is displayed below the calendar.

3. Expand the snapshot you want to restore.
   Click **Instance**, click **Restore**, and then click **Restore using template**.
   The **EC2 instance restore** panel opens.

#### Choose the template

In **Restore template**, the instance's [attached template](/data-protection/restoring/restore-templates/about-restore-templates) is already selected.
To restore with a different template, select any other EC2 instance template.

#### Review the template validation and parameters

Eon validates the template against this instance and the template's destination account.
If the template passes, the panel shows "Template is valid."
If it fails, the panel shows "Template is invalid." and lists each failing setting with the reason and a suggested fix.

To continue, select a different template, or fix this one on the

Restore templates

page.

Under **Evaluated parameters**, review the settings this restore uses, with the template's placeholders already filled in for the instance and snapshot.

#### Start the restore job

Click **Restore**.

You can monitor the restore job on the

Restore jobs tab

in the Jobs page.

Once the restore job completes, the instance is restored to the template's destination account with the template's settings.
You can find the restored instance in your AWS console.

[Manage Restore Templates]: /data-protection/restoring/restore-templates/manage-restore-templates