Invoking sysprep (Generalising a Windows install) on AWS EC2

1. From the Windows Start menu:
   For Windows Server 2008 through Windows Server 2012 R2, open EC2ConfigService Settings, and then choose the Image tab.
   For Windows Server 2016 or later, open EC2 Launch Settings.
2. For Administrator Password, choose Random.
3. Choose Shutdown with Sysprep.
4. Choose Yes.
   Note: You must retrieve the new password from the EC2 console at the next service start.

Source: https://aws.amazon.com/premiumsupport/knowledge-center/sysprep-create-install-ec2-windows-amis/

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Instruct AWS EC2 'User Data' to be invoked on startup (Server 2016+)

When launching Amazon EC2 images 'user-data' (effectively a bootstrapper) is invoked on first launch. However if you create a custom AMI from one of these images you'll need to run the following to ensure user data is invoked (as the task that invokes it gets disabled prior) with:

C:\ProgramData\Amazon\EC2-Windows\Launch\Scripts\InitializeInstance.ps1 –Schedule

Shutdown the instance and then create AMI again.

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Quick Start: Upgrading Juniper SRX Devices

Once you've obtained the relevant firmware from Juniper you can either download it via https:

file copy https://cdn.juniper.net/software/junos/XX/XX.tgz /tmp XX.tgz

or alternatively if you need to download it from a named routing instance you'll need to download it over ftp firstly:

ftp routing-instance <instance-name> <ftp-host>

start shell
md5 /tmp/<firmware>.tgz

request system software add validate /tmp/<firmware>.tgz

The system will then extract the firmware and reboot immediately.

To verify the Junos firmware version after reload issue:

show version

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