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Images

Images in OpenStack are used to provide the operating system for your instances. By default, we provide only a few selected images in the cloud to use for everybody. As mentioned in the documentation for configuring your instance it is possible to upload your own images to create instances from.

Uploading custom images

To upload your own image using the dashboard navigate to the Images page found under the Compute category on the left. Here you can see all public images alongside your own images or images shared with you.

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Click the +Create Image button to open the image creation dialog. Enter your image name and choose your image file to upload.

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Note

Please be aware that your images must support cloud-init for correct instantiation. Cloud init is used to configure networking, users, ssh access and so on. Therefore, images without support will not create functional instances.

Regarding image formats

We recommend converting your image to the raw format using tools like qemu-img before uploading it. Raw images provide better performance compared to other image formats. This is due to the fact that non-raw images will be copied and converted to raw upon instance creation resulting in slower creation times.

Converting an image to raw
$ qemu-img convert -f <source_format> -O raw <source_file> image.raw

Selecting a visibility

Lastly, select your image's visibility. OpenStack provides three visibility levels to users. Use the table below to choose your desired visibility level.

Visibility Definition
Private Private images can only be seen by you in your project. Other users will not be able to create instances with your image.
Shared Shared images, just like private images, are initially only visible to you. However, access for other projects may be granted.
Community Community images can be used by everyone to launch instances with. However, they will not appear in the image list. They are solely visible when launching an instance.

You do not need to specify the fields we did not talk about to create an image. Once your file is uploaded and you have selected a visibility you are good to go.