---
display_name: AWS EC2 (Windows)
description: Provision AWS EC2 Windows VMs as Coder workspaces
icon: ../../../site/static/icon/aws.svg
maintainer_github: coder
verified: true
tags: [vm, windows, aws]
---

# Remote Development on AWS EC2 VMs (Windows)

Provision AWS EC2 Windows VMs as [Coder workspaces](https://coder.com/docs/user-guides/workspace-management) with this example template.

<!-- prerequisites:start -->

## Prerequisites

### Authentication

By default, this template authenticates to AWS using the provider's default [authentication methods](https://registry.terraform.io/providers/hashicorp/aws/latest/docs#authentication-and-configuration).

The simplest way (without making changes to the template) is via environment variables (e.g. `AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID`) or a [credentials file](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/userguide/cli-configure-files.html#cli-configure-files-format). If you are running Coder on a VM, this file must be in `/home/coder/aws/credentials`.

To use another [authentication method](https://registry.terraform.io/providers/hashicorp/aws/latest/docs#authentication), edit the template.

## Required permissions / policy

The following sample policy allows Coder to create EC2 instances and modify
instances provisioned by Coder:

```json
{
	"Version": "2012-10-17",
	"Statement": [
		{
			"Sid": "VisualEditor0",
			"Effect": "Allow",
			"Action": [
				"ec2:GetDefaultCreditSpecification",
				"ec2:DescribeIamInstanceProfileAssociations",
				"ec2:DescribeTags",
				"ec2:DescribeInstances",
				"ec2:DescribeInstanceTypes",
				"ec2:DescribeInstanceStatus",
				"ec2:CreateTags",
				"ec2:RunInstances",
				"ec2:DescribeInstanceCreditSpecifications",
				"ec2:DescribeImages",
				"ec2:ModifyDefaultCreditSpecification",
				"ec2:DescribeVolumes"
			],
			"Resource": "*"
		},
		{
			"Sid": "CoderResources",
			"Effect": "Allow",
			"Action": [
				"ec2:DescribeInstanceAttribute",
				"ec2:UnmonitorInstances",
				"ec2:TerminateInstances",
				"ec2:StartInstances",
				"ec2:StopInstances",
				"ec2:DeleteTags",
				"ec2:MonitorInstances",
				"ec2:CreateTags",
				"ec2:RunInstances",
				"ec2:ModifyInstanceAttribute",
				"ec2:ModifyInstanceCreditSpecification"
			],
			"Resource": "arn:aws:ec2:*:*:instance/*",
			"Condition": {
				"StringEquals": {
					"aws:ResourceTag/Coder_Provisioned": "true"
				}
			}
		}
	]
}
```

<!-- prerequisites:end -->

## Architecture

This template provisions the following resources:

- AWS Instance

This template uses PowerShell user data to start and stop the Coder agent on the Windows VM. The workspace is fully persistent, meaning the full filesystem is preserved when the workspace restarts.

> **Note**
> This template is designed to be a starting point! Edit the Terraform to extend the template to support your use case.