Process for Preparing an External Image File

Before exporting an external image file from the original platform, configure a server or VM on that platform as instructed in this section so that an iMetal server private image created from that server or VM can work properly.

You are strongly advised to configure a server or VM on the original platform and export an image file.

If you cannot configure a server or VM on the original platform, you are advised to create an image file by referring to Scenario 2: External Image File Exported from the Original Server or VM.

Preparing an Image File

**Table 1** Initial configuration for an image file
No.	Configuration Item	Description	Reference
1	Network	Mandatory. If this item is not configured, the server startup or network capability will be abnormal.	Deleting Files from the Network Rule Directory Configuring DHCP
2	Tools	Cloud-Init is an open-source cloud initialization tool. When creating a server from an image that has Cloud-Init installed, you can inject custom information (such as the login password) into the server. You can also query and use metadata to configure and manage running servers. If Cloud-Init is not installed, custom information cannot be injected into your server and you can only log in to it using the password in the image file.	Installing Cloud-Init (SLES/RHEL/CentOS/Oracle Linux/Ubuntu/Debian) Installing Cloud-Init (EulerOS/openEuler)
3	Password reset plug-in	To ensure that the password of your server created from a private image can be reset, you are advised to install the password reset plug-in CloudResetPwdAgent. For details, see Resetting the iMetal Password.	Installing the One-Click Password Reset Plug-In
4	bms-network-config	It is used to automatically configure networks.	Installing bms-network-config
5	Network service	By default, the network service is not installed for CentOS 8, EulerOS 2.9, RHEL 8, Ubuntu 20, or later. For iMetal servers using centralized gateways, the network service and network scripts are required to configure the network.	Installing the Network Service
6	Drivers	If KVM drivers are not installed, servers may fail to detect network interfaces and cannot communicate with external systems.	Installing Native KVM Drivers
7	File system	The root partition identified in the configuration file varies depending on the OS. It may be root=/dev/xvda or root=/dev/disk. The disk identifiers need to be changed to UUID.	Changing Disk Identifiers in the GRUB File to UUID Changing Disk Identifiers in the fstab File to UUID
8	Data disks	If multiple data disks are attached to the original server used to create a private image, the new servers created from the image may be unavailable. You need to detach all data disks from the original server before using it to create an image.	Detaching Data Disks from an ECS