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Can we start using the ec2 instance, if ec2 instance AMI backup with reboot option is used and AMI backup is still in process, But the ec2 instance came up after reboot?

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Yes, you can use an EC2 instance while the backup is in progress. The snapshot will be as at the time you requested the snapshot. The reboot is irrelevant.

As Matt points out below, if you are using a Windows instance and create an AMI with a reboot, then the snapshot is timed as at some point during the reboot process. You can still use the EC2 instance as the snapshot is as at the time it was requested, any changes made to the EBS volume will not be reflected in the snapshot / AMI.

Documentation here.

You can back up the data on your Amazon EBS volumes to Amazon S3 by taking point-in-time snapshots. Snapshots are incremental backups, which means that only the blocks on the device that have changed after your most recent snapshot are saved. This minimizes the time required to create the snapshot and saves on storage costs by not duplicating data. Each snapshot contains all of the information that is needed to restore your data (from the moment when the snapshot was taken) to a new EBS volume.

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  • While the majority is accurate, the following is not true for AMI: "The snapshot will be as at the time you requested the snapshot. The reboot is irrelevant." For AMI images, the snapshots are initiated during the reboot (if requested). So the snapshot will be consistent with a time part way through the reboot.
    – Matt Houser
    Sep 13, 2022 at 0:20
  • @MattHouser I tend to create a standard EBS snapshot which doesn't require a reboot, then create an AMI from that which doesn't involved a reboot. Is there another process that reboots and creates an AMI in one step?
    – Tim
    Sep 13, 2022 at 1:19
  • Yes, the ec2:CreateImage command, which is required to create Windows AMI images. Your process only works for Linux AMIs. The OP is asking about the ec2:CreateImage case.
    – Matt Houser
    Sep 13, 2022 at 11:34
  • Ah, the question isn't very precise, and I rarely use Windows on AWS I haven't found this yet. I'll make a note in my answer, thanks :)
    – Tim
    Sep 13, 2022 at 17:53

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