# AMI An Amazon Machine Image (AMI) is a special type of virtual appliance that is used to create a virtual machine within the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud ("EC2"). It serves as the basic unit of deployment for services delivered using EC2. **Launch Permissions** The owner of an AMI determines its availability by specifying launch permissions. Launch permissions fall into the following categories. 1\. Public -> The owner grants launch permissions to all AWS accounts. 2. Explicit -> The owner grants launch permissions to specific AWS accounts. 3. Implicit -> The owner has implicit launch permissions for an AMI. 1\. Public -> The owner grants launch permissions to all AWS accounts. 2\. Explicit -> The owner grants launch permissions to specific AWS accounts. 3\. Implicit -> The owner has implicit launch permissions for an AMI. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://gyansetu-aws.gitbook.io/aws-cloud/ami.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.