Preparing an Image File
You need to prepare an image file that can be used to create a private image.
Currently, a large image file (maximum: 1 TB) can be imported only in RAW or ZVHD2 format. In addition to the requirements described in Table 2, a bitmap file needs to be generated alongside each RAW image file. The bitmap file is uploaded together with the image file. For details, see Fast Import of an Image File.
Initial Configuration for an Image File
The initial configuration must be completed on the source VM before an image file is exported from it. If you did not configure it, use the image file to create an ECS, configure the ECS, and use the ECS to create a private image. For details, see What Do I Do If a Windows Image File Is Not Pre-Configured When I Use It to Register a Private Image?
Configuration Item |
How to Configure |
---|---|
Network |
The NIC must be set to DHCP. Otherwise, the ECS startup or network capability will be abnormal. For details, see: The following operations are optional:
|
Tools |
You are advised to install Cloudbase-Init. Cloudbase-Init is an open-source tool for cloud instance initialization. When creating ECSs from an image with Cloudbase-Init, you can use user data injection to inject customized initialization details (for example, an ECS login password) to the ECSs. You can also configure and manage a running ECS by querying and using metadata. If Cloudbase-Init is not installed, you cannot apply custom configurations to the ECSs. You will have to use the original password in the image file to log in to the ECSs. For details, see Installing and Configuring Cloudbase-Init. If each of your ECSs requires a unique SID in a domain, run Sysprep after Cloudbase-Init is installed. For details, see Running Sysprep. |
Drivers |
An ECS can run properly only after Xen Guest OS drivers (PV drivers) and KVM Guest OS drivers (VirtIO drivers) are installed on it. To ensure that ECSs support both Xen and KVM and to improve network performance, PV and VirtIO drivers must be installed for the image. For GPU-accelerated ECSs, you need to install special drivers when creating a private image. For details, see Installing Special Windows Drivers. |
Image File Properties
Image File Property |
Requirement |
---|---|
OS |
For details about the supported OS versions, see External Image File Formats and Supported OSs. These OSs support automatic configuration. For details, see What Will the System Do to an Image File When I Use the File to Register a Private Image? For other OSs, check and install Guest OS drivers. On the image registration page, select Other Windows. After the image is imported, whether the system is started depends on the driver integrity. |
Image format |
VMDK, VHD, QCOW2, RAW, VHDX, QED, VDI, QCOW, ZVHD2, and ZVHD |
Image size |
If an image is no larger than 128 GB, import it directly.
If an image is between 128 GB and 1 TB, convert the image file into RAW or ZVHD2 and import it using fast import.
|
Other
- Currently, images with data disks cannot be created. The image file must contain only a system disk, and the system disk size must be [40 GB, 1024 GB].
- The initial password in the image file must contain uppercase letters, lowercase letters, digits, and special characters (!@$%^-_=+[{}]:,./?).
- The boot partition and system partition must be on the same disk.
- For an external image file, you need a tenant administrator account and password combination.
- If you use an external image file to create a Windows system disk image and then use the image to create an ECS, you cannot log in to the ECS using a key pair or obtain the password from the key pair.
- Supported boot modes:
Some x86 OS images support the UEFI boot mode. (For details, see OSs Supporting UEFI Boot Mode.)
Arm OS images support only the UEFI boot mode.
- The image file cannot be encrypted, or ECSs created from the registered image may not work properly.
- A VMDK image file must be generated from a VM created in VMware Tools. Otherwise, the system may fail to start due to image parsing problems.
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