Exporting EC2 Windows Root Volume as VMDK and Booting in VMware

EC2 instances launched from public Windows AMIs cannot be directly exported as VMDK via VM Import/Export because they contain AWS-licensed software. The workaround is to perform a block-level read of the EBS root volume after stopping the instance, convert it with qemu-img, and offline-enable Windows generic storage drivers to avoid blue screens in VMware.

Why VM Export Fails

Running create-instance-export-task may produce:

An error occurred (NotExportable) when calling the CreateInstanceExportTask operation:
The image ID (ami-xxxxxxxx) provided contains AWS-licensed software and is not exportable.

This is a product limitation, not an IAM permissions issue. Windows / SQL Server / Marketplace images launched from public AWS AMIs are generally non-exportable.

Alternatives

Available options:

• If you can log in to the instance: use Disk2vhd.
• If you don't want to spin up a rescue instance: use coldsnap + qemu-img.
• If the instance can be stopped or has crashed: use a rescue instance for block-level EBS reading, then qemu-img conversion.

This article documents the third approach.

Key Pitfall: Storage Controller Drivers

EC2 Windows typically runs on NVMe devices. After exporting to VMware, the controller may change to LSI Logic SAS, SATA, or IDE. If these drivers are not set to Boot start in the Windows registry, you'll get a blue screen at boot:

UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME

So before conversion, you need to offline-modify the SYSTEM hive and set the Start value of common storage drivers to 0.

Procedure

1. Stop Instance and Detach Volume

aws ec2 stop-instances --instance-ids <instance-id>
aws ec2 wait instance-stopped --instance-ids <instance-id>

aws ec2 detach-volume --volume-id <volume-id>
aws ec2 wait volume-available --volume-ids <volume-id>

aws ec2 attach-volume \
  --volume-id <volume-id> \
  --instance-id <helper-instance-id> \
  --device /dev/sdg

It's recommended to create a snapshot of the volume before proceeding.

2. Identify Disk on Rescue Instance

sudo lsblk -o NAME,SIZE,SERIAL,MOUNTPOINT,FSTYPE

On Nitro instances, EBS appears as /dev/nvmeXn1. You can match volume IDs via the SERIAL field.

3. Mount Working Disk

sudo mkfs.xfs -f /dev/nvme1n1
sudo mkdir -p /mnt/work
sudo mount /dev/nvme1n1 /mnt/work

The working disk must be larger than the actual output size of the target volume.

4. Install Tools

sudo dnf install -y qemu-img gcc make perl

If hivex is not available in the repository, you'll need to install it from source. It's used to edit Windows registry hives.

5. Mount NTFS and Backup SYSTEM Hive

sudo modprobe ntfs3
sudo mkdir -p /mnt/windows
sudo mount -t ntfs3 -o rw /dev/nvme2n1p1 /mnt/windows

sudo cp /mnt/windows/Windows/System32/config/SYSTEM /mnt/work/SYSTEM_BACKUP
sudo cp /mnt/windows/Windows/System32/config/SYSTEM /tmp/SYSTEM_EDIT

6. Enable Generic Storage Drivers

The following services need their Start set to 0:

Service	Purpose
storahci	SATA AHCI
intelide	IDE
pciide	PCI IDE
LSI_SAS	Common VMware SCSI
iaStorV	Intel Storage Virtualization
stornvme	Keep EC2 NVMe bootable

If using a Windows machine to edit:

reg load HKLM\OFFLINE C:\Temp\SYSTEM
reg add "HKLM\OFFLINE\ControlSet001\Services\LSI_SAS" /v Start /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f
reg add "HKLM\OFFLINE\ControlSet001\Services\storahci" /v Start /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f
reg add "HKLM\OFFLINE\ControlSet001\Services\stornvme" /v Start /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f
reg unload HKLM\OFFLINE

On Linux, you can use hivex to accomplish the same operation.

After writing back, unmount:

sudo cp /tmp/SYSTEM_EDIT /mnt/windows/Windows/System32/config/SYSTEM
sudo sync
sudo umount /mnt/windows

7. Convert to VMDK

You must input the entire disk, not just a partition:

sudo qemu-img convert -p \
  -f raw -O vmdk \
  -o subformat=monolithicSparse \
  /dev/nvme2n1 /mnt/work/instance-fixed.vmdk

monolithicSparse is suitable for local use with VMware Workstation.

8. Create Virtual Machine in VMware

Key configuration:

Setting	Recommended Value
Firmware	BIOS (MBR partition table)
I/O Controller	LSI Logic SAS
Disk Type	SCSI
Disk	Use existing VMDK

The first boot may install drivers and require a restart — this is normal.

Common Issues

Issue	Cause	Solution
UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME	Storage drivers not enabled	Offline modify SYSTEM hive
Boot enters UEFI loop	MBR disk with UEFI selected	Switch to BIOS
VMDK unusable	Only converted a partition	Re-convert the entire disk
Windows not activated	AWS KMS doesn't apply locally	Ignore for testing or use your own license

Summary

There are three key points for exporting an EC2 Windows root volume to VMware:

1. VM Export has restrictions on AWS-licensed Windows images — direct export is not possible.
2. Use a rescue instance for block-level EBS reading, then convert with qemu-img to VMDK.
3. Offline-enable VMware-compatible storage drivers before conversion, otherwise you'll get a blue screen.

This approach is suitable for downtime migration, offline forensics, and local verification of failed instances.