canonical: https://jentic.com/apis/amazonaws.com/mgn

# AWS Application Migration Service

Jentic publishes the only available OpenAPI specification for AWS Application Migration Service, keeping it validated and agent-ready. Application Migration Service (MGN) is AWS's lift-and-shift service for migrating physical, virtual, and cloud servers onto AWS. It continuously replicates source servers into a staging area in the target AWS account and orchestrates cutover and test launches into EC2. The control plane covers source servers, applications, waves, replication and launch configuration templates, post-launch actions, and lifecycle state changes such as archive, disconnect, and finalize cutover.

## For AI agents

Migrate physical, virtual, and cloud servers to AWS through continuous block-level replication and orchestrated EC2 cutovers.

## Scope

Does not handle database migration, schema conversion, container migration, or workload re-architecture - use for full-server lift-and-shift migration to AWS only.

## Capabilities

- Group source servers into applications and waves to coordinate migration phases
- Configure replication templates that govern staging area, instance, and bandwidth defaults
- Configure launch templates that define target EC2 instance type, OS licensing, and disks
- Run test launches to validate cutover readiness without disrupting production
- Orchestrate cutover to convert replicated volumes into running EC2 instances
- Archive applications, waves, and source servers after migration completes
- Define post-launch actions (e.g. SSM scripts) that run after instance start

## Use cases

### Datacenter Lift-and-Shift Migration

Enterprises moving from on-premises VMware to AWS install MGN agents on each source server, group servers into applications and waves, and run continuous block-level replication into a staging area. Test launches validate that each wave boots and connects to dependencies; cutover launches replace those test instances with the final production EC2 instances. The whole flow is orchestrated through this control-plane API.

Example prompt: Call CreateApplication for app 'erp-prod', associate the relevant source servers via AssociateSourceServers, then run StartTest for that application and inspect the resulting Job

### Cross-Cloud Migration Programs

Organisations migrating from another cloud (Azure, GCP) to AWS use MGN's continuous replication so source workloads remain online while replication catches up. ListSourceServers and ListApplications surface the current migration state to dashboards; UpdateLaunchConfiguration tunes target EC2 sizing per server before cutover; PostLaunchActions run SSM documents post-boot to install agents or rotate credentials.

Example prompt: Call UpdateLaunchConfiguration on a source server with TargetInstanceTypeRightSizingMethod=BASIC and Licensing.OsByol=true, then call StartTest to validate the new sizing

### Migration Wave Orchestration

Programme managers coordinate hundreds of servers per migration window using waves: a wave groups applications that cut over together. CreateWave, AssociateApplications, and StartCutover sequenced over weeks let large programmes prove out test launches, hold a freeze period, and finally cut all wave members over in a coordinated event. ArchiveWave records the completed wave for audit.

Example prompt: Call CreateWave for 'Q3-wave-3', associate the applications in scope via AssociateApplications, then call StartCutover for the wave once test launches are signed off

### AI Agent Migration Operations

Migration agents call MGN through Jentic to track replication lag across servers, trigger scheduled test launches, and flag servers stuck in REPLICATION_FAILED state. Jentic isolates the AWS access keys and exposes the source server, application, wave, and template operations as discoverable tools, so the agent can answer 'launch a test for tonight's wave' without learning the AWS SDK.

Example prompt: Search Jentic for 'launch a migration test', load the StartTest operation, and execute it with the array of SourceServerIDs in tonight's wave

## Key endpoints

| Method | Path | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| POST | /CreateApplication | Create a logical application grouping source servers |
| POST | /CreateWave | Create a migration wave |
| POST | /AssociateSourceServers | Associate source servers with an application |
| POST | /CreateLaunchConfigurationTemplate | Create a launch configuration template |
| POST | /CreateReplicationConfigurationTemplate | Create a replication configuration template |
| POST | /ChangeServerLifeCycleState | Change a source server's lifecycle state |
| POST | /ArchiveApplication | Archive an application after migration |

## Key resources

- **SourceServers** — Track each replicated source server, its replication state, and lifecycle
- **Applications** — Logical grouping of source servers belonging to an application
- **Waves** — Cohorts of applications cut over together
- **ReplicationConfigurationTemplates** — Default replication settings applied to new source servers
- **LaunchConfigurationTemplates** — Default EC2 launch settings applied to source servers
- **Jobs** — Test, cutover, and termination jobs and their per-server status
- **PostLaunchActions** — SSM-based actions executed after target instances launch

## Why Jentic

- **Setup:** Wiring the AWS Application Migration Service by hand means implementing Signature Version 4 signing, resolving the regional mgn host, and coordinating the application, wave, and replication lifecycle yourself. Through Jentic you install once, import Application Migration Service from the API Directory, store the AWS keys once, and your agent calls it.
- **Permission scoping:** Application Migration Service is a JSON action API where source-server and application identifiers travel in the request body, so scope the agent to the operations it needs, such as CreateApplication, StartTest, and DescribeSourceServers. You choose the operations it may call, so ones like ChangeServerLifeCycleState or cutover are not included unless you add them.
- **Credential handling:** Your AWS access keys are stored once, encrypted, by your own Jentic One instance and each request is signed with Signature Version 4 at execution time. They never enter the agent's prompt, logs, or context.
- **Discovery method:** Agents search Jentic by intent such as 'launch a migration test' or 'list replicating source servers', and Jentic returns the matching Application Migration Service operation with its input schema, so the agent calls the right endpoint without browsing the reference docs.

## Related APIs

- **AWS Migration Hub** — Migration Hub aggregates progress across migration tools including MGN
- **AWS Database Migration Service** — DMS migrates databases while MGN migrates servers
- **AWS Migration Hub Config** — Migration Hub Config manages the home region MGN reports into

## FAQ

### Why is there no official OpenAPI spec for AWS Application Migration Service?

AWS does not publish an OpenAPI specification. Jentic generates and maintains this spec so that AI agents and developers can call AWS Application Migration Service via structured tooling. It is validated against the live API and kept up to date. Get started with Jentic One, the self-hosted execution layer.

### What authentication does the AWS Application Migration Service API use?

MGN uses AWS Signature Version 4 (HMAC) with an access key ID and secret access key scoped via IAM. The service also assumes IAM roles to provision target EC2 instances and manage the staging area. Through Jentic, the access keys live in the encrypted vault and Jentic signs each request server-side.

### Can I orchestrate test launches and cutovers with the AWS MGN API?

Yes. POST /StartTest creates test EC2 instances from replicated volumes for a list of SourceServerIDs without affecting production. POST /StartCutover finalises the migration by launching production instances. POST /FinalizeCutover archives the source server entries once you confirm the cutover is successful.

### What are the rate limits for the AWS MGN API?

AWS does not document hard request-per-second limits for MGN control-plane operations in this spec. Soft quotas apply to source servers, applications, waves, and concurrent jobs per region - see the AWS service quotas console for current values.

### How do I run a test launch through Jentic?

Search Jentic for 'launch a migration test' to surface POST /StartTest. Load the schema with the Jentic SDK (pip install jentic), execute it with the array of SourceServerIDs in scope and any tags you want applied to the resulting Job, and poll DescribeJobs to track per-server progress.

### Is AWS Application Migration Service free?

MGN itself is free for the first 90 days per source server, after which a per-server-per-hour charge applies during replication. EC2, EBS, and data transfer charges for the staging area and cutover instances are billed separately at standard rates.

### Can I limit what my agent is allowed to do with the AWS Application Migration Service API?

Yes. Because you run Jentic One yourself, your own rules decide which of the Application Migration Service operations the agent may call and which AWS credentials it may use. Since this is a JSON action API where source-server and application identifiers travel in the request body, you can scope the agent to only the operations it needs, such as CreateApplication, StartTest, and DescribeSourceServers. State-changing operations like ChangeServerLifeCycleState or StartCutover stay unavailable to the agent unless you explicitly add them.