About Images

An image contains the operating system for a virtual machine. It defines the file system layout, the OS version, and other related information about the operating system to provision. An image can be provisioned to one or more virtual machines in the cloud.

Images in the cloud

Images that you add (upload) are used to boot virtual machine instances in the cloud.

Before virtual machine instances can be provisioned in the cloud, you must create at least one provider or private network, and upload at least one image. Using the CloudSystem Console, you upload images by doing one of the following:

Managing images

From the Images overview screen on the CloudSystem Console, you can view data about existing images, including how many virtual machine instances are running a particular image. You can also access the Add Image screen to upload one or more images.

After you upload an image using the console, cloud users can then use the CloudSystem Portal to choose from available images, or create their own from existing servers. Users can also create images using OpenStack API or CLI.

As Infrastructure administrator, you can use either the console or the service portal to edit and delete images.

Can I delete images after they are provisioned?

Yes. Since images are downloaded to the virtual machine instances running the images, you can delete images after they are provisioned without affecting the instances. Deleting an image removes it from the console and user portal, making it unavailable for use when deploying virtual machine instances.

Before you delete an image, you must check the Read-only setting for the image and, if necessary, set it to Disabled. See Add or Edit Image screen details.

Deleting an image changes its screen components.

  • In the CloudSystem Console, the Image value for each previously associated instance changes to Missing. See Overview screen details.

  • In the CloudSystem Portal, the Status value for the image changes to Deleted.

To make a deleted image available for use again, use the Add Image screen in the console. See Add Image.

Understanding image data

You can click the icon next to an image on the Images overview screen to show all available details for that image. You can then click the icon to collapse the detailed view for that image.

When an image is being used by one or more virtual machine instances, you can click the Used by link to see details about those instances.

Sorting and filtering image data

By default, information is listed on the Images overview screen in ascending alphabetical order of the image names. You can use the Sort by option to sort the listed images by any of the available choices in the drop-down list. For option descriptions, see Overview screen details.

You can click the icon on the overview screen to expand (or collapse) the Filters pane on the left side of the screen. The side pane contains the same filter selections as those available in the drop-down lists at the top of the screen, but in a vertical presentation.

Use the selectors on the filters menus to refine the display of information.

  • Select an OS type to list information for images running RHEL, Microsoft Windows, or Other operating systems, or use the default All OS types filter.

  • Select a Source to list information for images obtained from a file server URL upload, a local file Upload, or from creating an image from a Snapshot, or use the default All sources filter.

  • Click Reset to restore the filters to the default settings.

Creating and obtaining images

For information about creating and obtaining images that you can add to the CloudSystem Console, see the OpenStack Virtual Machine Image Guide at OpenStack Cloud Software.

See also