Amazon EC2

Overview

The Amazon EC2 plugin for Deadline allows for communication between Deadline and the EC2 service. It works with both the Cloud Panel in the Monitor and the Deadline Balancer application.

Configuration

Before you can configure the Amazon EC2 plugin for Deadline, you must add Amazon as a provider in the Cloud Providers dialog in the Monitor. The Amazon EC2 plugin requires only a few credentials before it can be used in Deadline. All information can be found in the AWS Console (https://aws.amazon.com/console/).

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Configuration Settings

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  • Enable Region: Enables the cloud region for use in Deadline.

Options

VM Configuration

Customization

  • Instance Name: The name of the instances that are started by the Balancer. We add some random hex values to the end for uniqueness.

Making an Image

Here are some tips for making a Worker image on EC2.

Firstly, start a regular image using one of the provided blank images from Amazon. Next, install the Deadline Worker as a service. If you’re using Windows you might want to go into Services and change the user that the Worker is run as to NETWORK SERVICE. That way the Worker will start when the instance is turned on and you won’t have to have the user login. Then, install all the rendering and packaged software that you require to render. After that, on Windows run ‘ec2Config Settings’ and turn the ‘Set Computer Name’ check box on. That way the Worker will have a unique Worker name when a new image is started. On Linux, hostnames are set to the private ip by default so you shouldn’t need to change anything.

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Finally, in the EC2 web console, right-click on your instance, select ‘Image’ and ‘Create-Image’.

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AWS Policies

You can set permissions for individual users and groups with Amazon Web Services. For full access to the Deadline functions the AWS user requires the follow permissions:

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Here’s an example policy that can be copied:

{
        "Version": "2012-10-17",
        "Statement": [
                {
                        "Sid": "Stmt1234567891234",
                        "Effect": "Allow",
                        "Action": [
                                "ec2:CreateTags",
                                "ec2:DescribeImages",
                                "ec2:DescribeInstances",
                                "ec2:DescribeKeyPairs",
                                "ec2:DescribeTags",
                                "ec2:RebootInstances",
                                "ec2:RunInstances",
                                "ec2:StartInstances",
                                "ec2:StopInstances",
                                "ec2:TerminateInstances",
                                "ec2:DescribeInstanceAttribute"
                        ],
                        "Resource": [
                                "*"
                        ]
                }
        ]
}

where Stmt1234567891234 would be replaced with your appropriate Sid.

You can create new policies in the Security Credentials section of the AWS portal or use the AmazonEC2FullAccess default policy. If you want to test your created policies you can do it with the AWS Policy Simulator. You can also create a new policy in the Simulator.

FAQ

Are Amazon EC2 Spot Instances supported?

Deadline supports EC2 Spot Instances when using the AWS Portal and the Spot Event Plugin. The Amazon EC2 Cloud Plugin does not support the creation of Spot instances, however they can be viewed in the Cloud Panel.

Error Messages and Meanings

This is a collection of known Amazon EC2 Cloud error messages and their meanings, as well as possible solutions. We want to keep this list as up to date as possible, so if you run into an error message that isn’t listed here, please email Deadline Support and let us know.

Currently, no error messages have been reported for this cloud plug-in.