What is the best method to keep FreeBSD on AWS-EC2 up to date?

[Dr. Rolf Jansen]

Hello!

I did a trial setup on AWS-EC2 using the FreeBSD 10.2 AMI by Colin Percival from the AWS Marketplace. The installation went smooth by a few clicks, and everything is running fine for now. However, I got some doubts about the correct updating path, because the usage instructions of the AMI descriptions state:

> … From there on, standard FreeBSD usage and system configuration applies, except that freebsd-update cannot be used (due to local patches needed for the FreeBSD/EC2 platform).

When I cannot use freebsd-update, what else should I do to keep the system updated?

The AMI got FreeBSD Release 10.2-p12. I am mostly concerned about the upcoming next patch levels. I guess, when it comes to a system upgrade, it would be best to create a new clean instance with the new system, get my stuff over and terminate the old instance. I only don't want to do this for every security patch. 

Many thanks in advance for your ideas.

Best regards

Rolf