Here is an example.<\/p>\n
Navigate through:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Systems Manager > Maintenance Windows<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/staging.elixirrdigital.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/How-to-Use-Amazon-Data-Lifecycle-Manager-and-AWS-Systems-Manager-for-Data-Backup_1.png\")
<\/p>\nFigure 1 – Maintenance window<\/p>\n
2. Click on the Actions button<\/p>\n
Here you can see type of tasks that you can register under existing window:<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/staging.elixirrdigital.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/How-to-Use-Amazon-Data-Lifecycle-Manager-and-AWS-Systems-Manager-for-Data-Backup_2.png\")
<\/p>\nFigure 2 – Maintenance window actions<\/p>\n
These tasks execute AWS documents like AWS-StartEC2Instanceor AWS-StopEC2Instance, which can be found navigating through:<\/p>\n
3. AWS Systems Manager > Shared Resources (bottom of the drop-down Menu) > Documents<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/staging.elixirrdigital.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/How-to-Use-Amazon-Data-Lifecycle-Manager-and-AWS-Systems-Manager-for-Data-Backup_3.png\")
<\/p>\nFigure 3 – Systems Manager Documents<\/p>\n
4. Then choose Owned by Amazon.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/staging.elixirrdigital.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/How-to-Use-Amazon-Data-Lifecycle-Manager-and-AWS-Systems-Manager-for-Data-Backup_4.png\")
<\/p>\nFigure 4 – Types of Systems Manager Documents<\/p>\n
In AWS Systems Manager feature Documents users can store customized YAML format for a specific kind of execution. Navigate through:<\/p>\n
5. Change Management > Maintenance Windows > Create maintenance windows<\/p>\n
We can create our own schedule. You will need to provide window details, schedule, and tags.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/staging.elixirrdigital.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/How-to-Use-Amazon-Data-Lifecycle-Manager-and-AWS-Systems-Manager-for-Data-Backup_5.png\")
<\/p>\nFigure 5 – Maintenance windows<\/p>\n
To create window, set configuration:<\/p>\n
6. Maintenance Windows > Create maintenance window<\/p>\n
You need to specify task details:<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/staging.elixirrdigital.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/How-to-Use-Amazon-Data-Lifecycle-Manager-and-AWS-Systems-Manager-for-Data-Backup_6.png\")
<\/p>\nFigure 6 – Maintenance window creation<\/p>\n
7. Then create maintenance window:<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/staging.elixirrdigital.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/How-to-Use-Amazon-Data-Lifecycle-Manager-and-AWS-Systems-Manager-for-Data-Backup_7.png\")
<\/p>\nFigure 7 – Maintenance window creation settings<\/p>\n
When you have created the window, you can open it and set Automation documents that you will use, targets, percentage, and IAM service role.<\/p>\n
8. Maintenance window > Actions \uf0e0 Register Automation task<\/p>\n
9. Fill maintenance window details:<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/staging.elixirrdigital.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/How-to-Use-Amazon-Data-Lifecycle-Manager-and-AWS-Systems-Manager-for-Data-Backup_8.png\")
<\/p>\nFigure 8 – Automation task details<\/p>\n
10. Choose Automation document:<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/staging.elixirrdigital.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/How-to-Use-Amazon-Data-Lifecycle-Manager-and-AWS-Systems-Manager-for-Data-Backup_9.png\")
<\/p>\nFigure 9 – Automation documents<\/p>\n
11. Choose Targets:<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/staging.elixirrdigital.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/How-to-Use-Amazon-Data-Lifecycle-Manager-and-AWS-Systems-Manager-for-Data-Backup_10.png\")
<\/p>\nFigure 10 – Targets settings<\/p>\n
12. Fill Input parameters:<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/staging.elixirrdigital.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/How-to-Use-Amazon-Data-Lifecycle-Manager-and-AWS-Systems-Manager-for-Data-Backup_11.png\")
<\/p>\nFigure 11 – Input parameters<\/p>\n
13. Choose IAM role:<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/staging.elixirrdigital.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/How-to-Use-Amazon-Data-Lifecycle-Manager-and-AWS-Systems-Manager-for-Data-Backup_12.png\")
<\/p>\nFigure 12 – IAM role setup<\/p>\n
You can manage EBS volumes and AMI snapshots for your Amazon EC2 instances with the instructions above. AWS Systems Manager is a powerful AWS service that gives you a fully automated management of your Amazon EC2 instances.<\/p>\n
Amazon Data Lifecycle Manager backup<\/h2>\n
Amazon Data Lifecycle Manager is an Amazon EC2 capability using which you can create various schedules for EBS volume or AMI snapshots simultaneously.<\/p>\n
Through lifecycle policy you can choose EBS snapshot policy\/EBS-backed AMI policy and backup a volume or an instance. There is a possibility of creating four schedules in one Lifecycle policy, like daily, weekly, monthly, and even yearly schedule for each instance. You can combine them as it suits your project needs.<\/p>\n
You can create lifecycle policy under:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Amazon EC2 > Elastic Block Store > Amazon Data Lifecycle Manager > Create Lifecycle Policy > Next step<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/staging.elixirrdigital.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/How-to-Use-Amazon-Data-Lifecycle-Manager-and-AWS-Systems-Manager-for-Data-Backup_13.png\")
<\/p>\nFigure 13 – Lifecycle policy creation<\/p>\n
Under Create lifecycle policy you need to specify settings:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Target resources – Choose between Volume or Instance. Pay attention to Target resource tags and choose specific tags for each instance. In case you choose tag that is shared between Amazon EC2 instances, you will get multiple snapshots.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/staging.elixirrdigital.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/How-to-Use-Amazon-Data-Lifecycle-Manager-and-AWS-Systems-Manager-for-Data-Backup_14.png\")
<\/p>\nFigure 14 – Choosing Target<\/p>\n
2. Description (which is very important if you handle dozens of lifecycle policies):<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/staging.elixirrdigital.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/How-to-Use-Amazon-Data-Lifecycle-Manager-and-AWS-Systems-Manager-for-Data-Backup_15.png\")
<\/p>\nFigure 15 – Target description<\/p>\n
3. IAM role (choose default role if you don\u2019t have anything specific in mind):<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/staging.elixirrdigital.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/How-to-Use-Amazon-Data-Lifecycle-Manager-and-AWS-Systems-Manager-for-Data-Backup_16.png\")
<\/p>\nFigure 16 – IAM role settings<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/staging.elixirrdigital.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/How-to-Use-Amazon-Data-Lifecycle-Manager-and-AWS-Systems-Manager-for-Data-Backup_17.png\")
<\/p>\nFigure 17 – Tags<\/p>\n
4. In the end, you need to configure one or more schedules. Maximum is 4:<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/staging.elixirrdigital.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/How-to-Use-Amazon-Data-Lifecycle-Manager-and-AWS-Systems-Manager-for-Data-Backup_18.png\")
<\/p>\nFigure 18 – Schedule configuration<\/p>\n
Schedules can be set like CRON expression or schedule rate.<\/p>\n
In case you need to modify or delete a policy, you can navigate through:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Amazon EC2 > Elastic Block Store > Lifecycle Manager > Actions > Modify\/Delete. You can easily modify any schedule by adding or removing schedules from the Lifecycle policy.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
AWS Systems Manager backup \u2013 Amazon Data Lifecyle Manager backup comparison<\/h2>\n
AWS Systems Manager has several \u201cmoving parts\u201d that you need to combine for Amazon EC2 backup. It gives you capability to monitor, manage, patch, and backup Amazon EC2 instances manually or fully automated. In Systems Manager you can manage one Amazon EC2 instance with customized tasks or you can choose to manage several instances or more as a fleet. You can manage them through AWS Systems Manager Documents, AWS Lambda function or AWS Step Functions.<\/p>\n
Maintenance Windows feature combined with AWS Systems Manager Documents can create a snapshot timeout if it runs more than 60 minutes. This needs to be handled in Documents by creating a custom Document which needs to be modified. You need to stop the instance, create a snapshot, and then start the instance. This, however, causes downtime and that can be tricky if it is happening in production.<\/p>\n
Some PROD environments have dense ETL loads. If loads are running on Amazon EC2 instance that is maintained by AWS Systems Manager, the instance can be unavailable for some time because of maintenance which can make clients dissatisfied. On the other hand, Lifecycle Manager gives you an opportunity to create snapshots while instance is running. This can solve the issue with downtime while data is consistent after the snapshot. Best practice for AWS Systems Manager is to stop the instance, create the snapshot and start the instance to preserve consistent data and avoid corruption.<\/p>\n
Lifecycle Manager has inaccurate policy start time (one hour from specified start time) which can cause confusion, and AWS Systems Manager is accurate regarding start time, so if you need accurate snapshot creation time this can be your choice. Maintenance window offers several steps for starting your snapshots. You can assign schedule for executing tasks on several Amazon EC2 instances in parallel. Here is an example:<\/p>\n
- \n
- EC2-a 0 stop instance<\/li>\n
- EC2-a 1 create snapshot<\/li>\n
- EC2-a 2 start instance<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
With priority numbers (0,1,2) you can orchestrate when each instance will run AWS Document that will trigger stop, create snapshot, and start instance action. You can set priority number higher if you want some action to have lower priority than other. You can add up to 5 instances (or targets) in your orchestration.<\/p>\n
Conclusion<\/h2>\n
AWS Systems Manager and Amazon Data Lifecycle Manager have great capabilities regarding backup creation. The purpose of this blog is not to direct you to use any of these two but to show you what can be set through them.<\/p>\n
Amazon Data Lifecycle manager:<\/h2>\n
Pros<\/strong><\/p>\n
- \n
- Simplicity<\/li>\n
- Easy deployment<\/li>\n
- Automated retention policy<\/li>\n
- No time limit for snapshot creation<\/li>\n
- Incremental backup<\/li>\n
- possibility of creating up to 100 policies per region<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Cons<\/strong><\/p>\n
- \n
- Imprecise snapshot start (up to 60 minutes from the scheduled time)<\/li>\n
- Limited set of features<\/li>\n
- Limited management of scheduled tasks<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
AWS Systems Manager:<\/h2>\n
Pros<\/strong><\/p>\n
- \n
- Numerous features that can be combined to manage Amazon EC2 instances<\/li>\n
- Precise schedule start<\/li>\n
- AWS Document customization<\/li>\n
- Cross service task implementation (AWS Lambda, AWS Step function combined with Run command and Automation tasks)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Cons<\/strong><\/p>\n
- \n
- No automated retention policy<\/li>\n
- Time limit for snapshot creation<\/li>\n
- Downtime during snapshot creation<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
AWS Systems Manager has wider variety of settings and capabilities than Amazon Data Lifecycle Manager which is specialized for Amazon EC2 instances. In AWS Systems Manager you can schedule AWS Step Functions where each of them will schedule several AWS Lambda functions and create a vast orchestration of tasks and sub-tasks. If any direction should be given, use Amazon Data Lifecycle Manager for simpler backup tasks and AWS Systems Manager when tasks require higher level of complexity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A comparison of two automated backup solutions. One is through Amazon EC2 service and the other one is using AWS Systems Manager.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":5848,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37,32],"tags":[],"related_service":[49],"related_industry":[],"class_list":["post-4924","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-managed-services","category-aws"],"acf":[],"card":"
\n
- Amazon EC2 > Elastic Block Store > Lifecycle Manager > Actions > Modify\/Delete. You can easily modify any schedule by adding or removing schedules from the Lifecycle policy.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- Target resources – Choose between Volume or Instance. Pay attention to Target resource tags and choose specific tags for each instance. In case you choose tag that is shared between Amazon EC2 instances, you will get multiple snapshots.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
- Amazon EC2 > Elastic Block Store > Amazon Data Lifecycle Manager > Create Lifecycle Policy > Next step<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/staging.elixirrdigital.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/03\/AdobeStock_558577783-868x579.jpeg\")
<\/div>\n