diff --git a/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE b/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a94b3afb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+spark-ec2 is no longer in active development. Please refer to the README.
diff --git a/.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE b/.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a94b3afb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+spark-ec2 is no longer in active development. Please refer to the README.
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 523ecd1a..854325f3 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+_Please note: spark-ec2 is **no longer under active development** and the project has been archived. All the existing code, PRs and issues are still accessible but are now read-only. If you're looking for a similar tool that is under active development, we recommend you take a look at [Flintrock](https://github.com/nchammas/flintrock)._
+
 # EC2 Cluster Setup for Apache Spark
 
 `spark-ec2` allows you
@@ -52,8 +54,8 @@ identify machines belonging to each cluster in the Amazon EC2 Console.
 
     ```bash
     export AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=AaBbCcDdEeFGgHhIiJjKkLlMmNnOoPpQqRrSsTtU
-export AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=ABCDEFG1234567890123
-./spark-ec2 --key-pair=awskey --identity-file=awskey.pem --region=us-west-1 --zone=us-west-1a launch my-spark-cluster
+    export AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=ABCDEFG1234567890123
+    ./spark-ec2 --key-pair=awskey --identity-file=awskey.pem --region=us-west-1 --zone=us-west-1a launch my-spark-cluster
     ```
 
 -   After everything launches, check that the cluster scheduler is up and sees
@@ -65,7 +67,7 @@ following options are worth pointing out:
 
 -   `--instance-type=<instance-type>` can be used to specify an EC2
 instance type to use. For now, the script only supports 64-bit instance
-types, and the default type is `m1.large` (which has 2 cores and 7.5 GB
+types, and the default type is `m3.large` (which has 2 cores and 7.5 GB
 RAM). Refer to the Amazon pages about [EC2 instance
 types](http://aws.amazon.com/ec2/instance-types) and [EC2
 pricing](http://aws.amazon.com/ec2/#pricing) for information about other
@@ -110,8 +112,8 @@ permissions on your private key file, you can run `launch` with the
 
     ```bash
     export AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=AaBbCcDdEeFGgHhIiJjKkLlMmNnOoPpQqRrSsTtU
-export AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=ABCDEFG1234567890123
-./spark-ec2 --key-pair=awskey --identity-file=awskey.pem --region=us-west-1 --zone=us-west-1a --vpc-id=vpc-a28d24c7 --subnet-id=subnet-4eb27b39 --spark-version=1.1.0 launch my-spark-cluster
+    export AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=ABCDEFG1234567890123
+    ./spark-ec2 --key-pair=awskey --identity-file=awskey.pem --region=us-west-1 --zone=us-west-1a --vpc-id=vpc-a28d24c7 --subnet-id=subnet-4eb27b39 --spark-version=1.1.0 launch my-spark-cluster
     ```
 
 ## Running Applications
@@ -148,7 +150,7 @@ as JVM options. This file needs to be copied to **every machine** to reflect the
 do this is to use a script we provide called `copy-dir`. First edit your `spark-env.sh` file on the master, 
 then run `~/spark-ec2/copy-dir /root/spark/conf` to RSYNC it to all the workers.
 
-The [configuration guide](configuration.html) describes the available configuration options.
+The [configuration guide](http://spark.apache.org/docs/latest/configuration.html) describes the available configuration options.
 
 ## Terminating a Cluster
 
diff --git a/spark_ec2.py b/spark_ec2.py
index f6aa00aa..28d72f43 100644
--- a/spark_ec2.py
+++ b/spark_ec2.py
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@
     raw_input = input
     xrange = range
 
-SPARK_EC2_VERSION = "1.6.0"
+SPARK_EC2_VERSION = "1.6.2"
 SPARK_EC2_DIR = os.path.dirname(os.path.realpath(__file__))
 
 VALID_SPARK_VERSIONS = set([
@@ -76,6 +76,8 @@
     "1.5.1",
     "1.5.2",
     "1.6.0",
+    "1.6.1",
+    "1.6.2",
 ])
 
 SPARK_TACHYON_MAP = {
@@ -94,6 +96,8 @@
     "1.5.1": "0.7.1",
     "1.5.2": "0.7.1",
     "1.6.0": "0.8.2",
+    "1.6.1": "0.8.2",
+    "1.6.2": "0.8.2",
 }
 
 DEFAULT_SPARK_VERSION = SPARK_EC2_VERSION
@@ -101,7 +105,7 @@
 
 # Default location to get the spark-ec2 scripts (and ami-list) from
 DEFAULT_SPARK_EC2_GITHUB_REPO = "https://github.com/amplab/spark-ec2"
-DEFAULT_SPARK_EC2_BRANCH = "branch-1.5"
+DEFAULT_SPARK_EC2_BRANCH = "branch-1.6"
 
 
 def setup_external_libs(libs):
@@ -192,7 +196,7 @@ def parse_args():
         help="If you have multiple profiles (AWS or boto config), you can configure " +
              "additional, named profiles by using this option (default: %default)")
     parser.add_option(
-        "-t", "--instance-type", default="m1.large",
+        "-t", "--instance-type", default="m3.large",
         help="Type of instance to launch (default: %default). " +
              "WARNING: must be 64-bit; small instances won't work")
     parser.add_option(