AWS console offers three ways to duplicate an EC2 instance, differing in whether disk data is carried over.
Create AMI (recommended, full clone) — preserves the system disk, installed software, and all configuration.
In the EC2 console, select the target instance → Actions → Image and templates → Create image. Wait for the AMI status to become available (a few minutes to tens of minutes), then go to AMIs → select it → Launch instance from AMI. Adjust instance type, subnet, Security Group as needed.
Launch More Like This (fastest, no data) — copies only instance configuration (type, SG, subnet, tags). The system disk is brand new.
Actions → Image and templates → Launch more like this. The Launch page opens with config pre-filled; confirm and launch. Good for stateless instances, e.g. web servers initialized via userdata.
Launch Template — if the original instance had a Launch Template saved, launch directly from it. EC2 → Launch Templates → select template → Actions → Launch instance from template.
Use AMI for most cases. Use Launch More Like This when you only need the same specs with a clean disk.
AWS 控制台里有三种复制 EC2 的方式，区别在于是否携带磁盘数据。
创建 AMI（推荐，完整克隆） — 保留系统盘数据、已安装软件和所有配置。
EC2 控制台选中目标实例 → Actions → Image and templates → Create image。等 AMI 状态变为 available（几分钟到几十分钟），再到 AMIs 页面选中它 → Launch instance from AMI，按需调整 instance type、subnet、Security Group 即可。
Launch More Like This（最快，但不含数据） — 只复制实例规格配置（type、SG、subnet、tags），系统盘是全新的。
Actions → Image and templates → Launch more like this，进入 Launch 页面时配置已预填好，确认启动就行。适合无状态实例，比如用 userdata 初始化的 web server。
Launch Template — 如果原实例之前保存过 Launch Template，可以直接从模板启动。EC2 → Launch Templates → 选模板 → Actions → Launch instance from template。
大多数场景用 AMI，只需要同规格全新系统时用 Launch More Like This。
In development, your frontend runs on localhost:5173 and your API server on localhost:3000. The browser blocks cross-origin requests — that's CORS. Vite's dev proxy solves this by forwarding /api/* requests to the backend, making them look same-origin to the browser:
// vite.config.ts
server: {
proxy: {
'/api': 'http://localhost:3000'
}
}
In production this proxy disappears. The built frontend is just static files (HTML/JS/CSS) — no port, no process. Nginx or a CDN serves them, and reverse-proxies /api/* to the backend the same way Vite did in dev:
user → Nginx :80
├── /api/* → backend :3000
└── /* → dist/ static files
One port from the user's perspective, no CORS issue. The backend port is always real and needed; the frontend "port" only exists during development because Vite's dev server is a live process.