AWS Application Migration Service FAQs

AWS Application Migration Service (AWS MGN) is the recommended service for migrations to AWS. AWS Application Migration Service simplifies and expedites your migration to AWS by automatically converting your source servers from physical, virtual, or cloud infrastructure to run natively on AWS. It further simplifies your migration and reduces costs by allowing you to use the same automated process for a wide range of applications, without changes to applications, their architecture, or the migrated servers. You can use AWS Application Migration Service to perform non-disruptive tests prior to cutover. After testing, you can use AWS Application Migration Service to quickly migrate your applications to the cloud during a short cutover window, typically measured in minutes. You can also use AWS Application Migration Service to automate application modernizations on your migrated servers.

To start using AWS Application Migration Service, simply click here or sign into the AWS Management Console and navigate to “AWS Application Migration Service” in the “Migration & Transfer” category. You can follow the steps provided in the console to set up and operate AWS Application Migration Service, or refer to the Quick Start Guide.

The AWS Application Migration Service (AWS MGN) – A Technical Introduction training is recommended if you want to learn more about how to use the service, or if you are assisting customers with a migration using AWS Application Migration Service. This free online training is offered by AWS Training and Certification, and covers key concepts, service architecture, and implementation approaches for AWS Application Migration Service.

You can use AWS Application Migration Service to migrate your applications to AWS from physical servers, VMware vSphere, Microsoft Hyper-V, and other cloud providers. You can also use AWS Application Migration Service to migrate Amazon EC2 instances between AWS Regions or between AWS accounts, and to migrate from EC2-Classic to a VPC.

AWS Application Migration Service allows you to migrate physical, virtual, and cloud source servers to AWS for a variety of supported operating systems (OS). AWS Application Migration Service supports commonly used applications such as SAP, Oracle, and Microsoft SQL Server.

Yes. AWS Application Migration Service supports agentless replication from VMware vCenter versions 6.7 and 7.0 to AWS. You can perform agentless snapshot replication from your vCenter source environment to AWS by installing the AWS MGN vCenter Client in your vCenter environment. This option is intended for users who want to rehost their applications to AWS but cannot install agents due to company policies or technical restrictions. When possible, we recommend using the agent-based replication option as it provides continuous data replication and shortens cutover windows.

Contact AWS Premium Support to receive product support for AWS Application Migration Service according to your support plan.

The shortened service name for AWS Application Migration Service is AWS MGN. “MGN” is an abbreviation of the word “migration.” 

AWS Application Migration Service is the recommended service for migrations to AWS. You can learn about use cases that may require using a different migration service on the When to Choose AWS Application Migration Service page.

Yes, AWS Migration Hub is integrated with AWS Application Migration Service, and you can use the AWS Migration Hub console to monitor the servers you are migrating using AWS Application Migration Service. Learn more about using the AWS Migration Hub with AWS Application Migration Service.

Yes, you can use AWS Application Migration Service to migrate your instances and your databases from EC2-Classic to VPC with minimal downtime. Learn more about how to prepare for EC2-Classic retiring and how to migrate from EC2-Classic to a VPC.

AWS Application Migration Service is the next generation of CloudEndure Migration, and offers key features and operational benefits that are not available with CloudEndure Migration. 
View technical comparison table »

Application Migration Service is not yet supported in AWS China Regions. 
Note: CloudEndure Migration is no longer available in most AWS Regions. It will continue to be available for use in China Regions and AWS Outposts through November 30, 2023. Learn more

For each source server that you want to migrate, you can use AWS Application Migration Service for a free period of 2,160 hours, which is 90 days when used continuously.

The free period starts as soon as you install the AWS Replication Agent on your source server and continues during active source server replication. 

If you do not complete your migration of a specific server within the free period, you will be charged per hour while you continue replicating that server. Most customers complete migrations of servers within the allotted free period.

Note that while your source servers are actively replicating, including during the free period, you will incur charges for any AWS infrastructure that is provisioned by AWS Application Migration Service to facilitate data replication. You will also incur charges for resources that are provisioned when you launch test or cutover instances, such as compute (Amazon EC2) and storage (Amazon EBS) resources, according to your AWS pricing plan.

Please refer to the AWS Application Migration Service pricing page for more details. 

Your replicated data is encrypted in transit using TLS 1.2, and is transferred directly from your source servers to your VPC. Your data is also encrypted at rest on AWS using Amazon EBS encryption.

Yes, with AWS Application Migration Service you can control the data replication path using private connectivity options such as a VPN, AWS Direct Connect, VPC peering, or another private connection. Learn more about private connectivity options with AWS Application Migration Service.

Please refer to the Security in AWS Application Migration Service documentation to understand how to apply the shared responsibility model when you use AWS Application Migration Service. 

Please refer to the AWS Regional Services List for the most up-to-date information.