This product has charges associated with it for hardening and maintenance. This Citadel VM is secured using 300+ open source security controls and validated using Citadel Audit.
This product has charges associated with it for hardening and maintenance. This Citadel Hardened VM is secured using 300+ security controls and validated using Citadel Audit.
This AMI delivers a secure, stable, and high-performance environment for developing and running cloud and enterprise applications. Regularly updated and maintained, this Citadel VM embodies the pinnacle of reliability for your operations.
By deploying an image hardened with the Citadel Audit, organizations can significantly enhance efficiency while reducing costs, time, and associated risks. This Citadel VM integrates a comprehensive set of security recommendations leading open-source industry standards, ensuring a robust defense layer without compromising the technology's functionality or utility.
Each VM includes comprehensive documentation and a detailed security report from Citadel Audit, offering insights into the security enhancements and best practices implemented.
This is the recommended default AMI by our security experts at Citadel. We are committed to providing continuous security and maintenance updates for all instances running, ensuring your operations are safeguarded with the latest security standards.
Highlights
Current and Consistent: Citadel's hardened images are kept up-to-date with the latest security patches and updates, ensuring you always have the most recent advancements in security and technology at your fingertips.
Built on open source secure frameworks and validated by Citadel Audit, our solutions offer unparalleled security and reliability, widely accepted by governments and industries. Our community-driven approach safeguards critical infrastructure and sensitive data, proving our commitment to the highest cybersecurity standards. Essential for top-tier security defense.
AWS Marketplace now accepts line of credit payments through the PNC Vendor Finance program. This program is available to select AWS customers in the US, excluding NV, NC, ND, TN, & VT.
Pricing is based on actual usage, with charges varying according to how much you consume. Subscriptions have no end date and may be canceled any time. Alternatively, you can pay upfront for a contract, which typically covers your anticipated usage for the contract duration. Any usage beyond contract will incur additional usage-based costs.
Additional AWS infrastructure costs may apply. Use the AWS Pricing Calculator to estimate your infrastructure costs.
If you are an AWS Free Tier customer with a free plan, you are eligible to subscribe to this offer. You can use free credits to cover the cost of eligible AWS infrastructure. See AWS Free Tier for more details. If you created an AWS account before July 15th, 2025, and qualify for the Legacy AWS Free Tier, Amazon EC2 charges for Micro instances are free for up to 750 hours per month. See Legacy AWS Free Tier for more details.
You pay by the hour for this hardened Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 image, billed per running instance. Pricing is not tiered. Instead, each rate maps to a specific AWS instance type you choose. Rates scale with the size and family of the instance you run, from small general-purpose machines to large memory, compute, storage, and accelerated types. Both x86_64 and ARM64 (Graviton) instances are covered, so you select the architecture that fits your workload. The software fee applies on top of standard AWS infrastructure charges, and you stop paying when instances stop running.
Top-of-mind questions for buyers
Am I charged the software fee when an instance is stopped or powered off?
The software fee meters running instance-hours. When you stop or power off an instance, the hourly software charge stops. You pay only while the instance runs. Note that AWS may still charge for storage attached to stopped instances, but that is separate from the software fee.
What am I actually paying for in each hourly rate on top of AWS charges?
Each rate covers the hardened Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 image for the specific instance type you launch. It includes the PCI-focused configuration baseline, monthly patched image releases, and US-based product support. Standard AWS infrastructure charges for compute, storage, and data transfer apply separately.
Does the rate differ between x86_64 and ARM64 (Graviton) instances?
Yes. Each rate maps to one specific AWS instance type, so x86_64 and Graviton (ARM64) instances have their own listed rates. The vendor offers both architectures, but availability varies by listing. Confirm the exact architecture and rate on the specific instance type before you launch.
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Vendor refund policy
At present, Citadel does not provide refunds. Billing will be only for the actual duration of instance use. Just like other Citadel offerings, our primary objective is to ensure complete satisfaction for all our customers. Should you need further assistance, please reach out to our team directly at support@citadelelement.com.
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Legal
Vendor terms and conditions
Upon subscribing to this product, you must acknowledge and agree to the terms and conditions outlined in the vendor's End User License Agreement (EULA).
Content disclaimer
Vendors are responsible for their product descriptions and other product content. AWS does not warrant that vendors' product descriptions or other product content are accurate, complete, reliable, current, or error-free.
An AMI is a virtual image that provides the information required to launch an instance. Amazon EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud) instances are virtual servers on which you can run your applications and workloads, offering varying combinations of CPU, memory, storage, and networking resources. You can launch as many instances from as many different AMIs as you need.
Version release notes
Security patches and package updates (August 2026)
Additional details
Usage instructions
Connect over SSH using the key pair selected at launch. The default user is shown above. See the listing's usage instructions for full details.
Support is part of what you get with a Citadel image, and it comes from a US-based team that works on these builds every day. Email support@citadelpci.com with anything - choosing the right image, how the hardening behaves, patching and releases, evidence for a PCI DSS review, or a question you are not sure who else to ask. We read every message, and we would much rather you ask than guess. More about how we work with customers:
AWS Support is a one-on-one, fast-response support channel that is staffed 24x7x365 with experienced and technical support engineers. The service helps customers of all sizes and technical abilities to successfully utilize the products and features provided by Amazon Web Services.
This product has charges associated with it for hardening and maintenance. This Citadel VM is secured using 300+ open source security controls and validated using Citadel Audit.
This product has charges associated with it for hardening, update maintenance, and seller support. Docker on Hardened Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 (RHEL 8) (ARM) is rigorously secured following STIG guidelines, recognized through a consensus-driven process as the industry benchmark for secure configuration, optimizing both security and efficiency.
This product has charges associated with the pre-built hardening to the CIS Benchmarks™ and recurring maintenance. The CIS Hardened Images® are hardened in accordance with the associated CIS Benchmarks, an industry best practice for secure configuration. Reduce cost, time, and risk by building your AWS solution with CIS AMIs.
This product has charges associated with the pre-built hardening to the CIS Benchmarks™ and recurring maintenance. The CIS Hardened Images® are hardened in accordance with the associated CIS Benchmarks, an industry best practice for secure configuration. Reduce cost, time, and risk by building your AWS solution with CIS AMIs.
This product has charges associated with the pre-built hardening to the CIS Benchmarks™ and recurring maintenance. The CIS Hardened Images® are hardened in accordance with the associated CIS Benchmarks, an industry best practice for secure configuration. Reduce cost, time, and risk by building your AWS solution with CIS AMIs.
This product has charges associated with the pre-built hardening to the CIS Benchmarks™ and recurring maintenance. The CIS Hardened Images® are hardened in accordance with the associated CIS Benchmarks, an industry best practice for secure configuration. Reduce cost, time, and risk by building your AWS solution with CIS AMIs.
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