General information about cloud server images
An image is an exact copy of a disk file system and its contents. You can use images to create cloud servers or create boot volumes for cloud servers.
You can use:
- pre-made images — images with a pre-installed operating system prepared by Selectel specialists;
- custom images — images that you can upload to the image storage yourself.
You can work with images in the Control panel, using the OpenStack CLI, or Terraform.
You can also use applications to create servers.
Records of operations with cloud server images are stored in audit logs.
Pre-built images
Pre-built images are prepared by Selectel specialists. For each pre-built image, the working environment is prepared, necessary parameters are configured, and the assembly is completed. The images are fully compatible with the cloud platform.
You can view the current list of pre-made images in the control panel: in the top menu, click Products → Cloud Servers → click Create Server → Source section → OS tab.
Custom images
If you need an image to create a cloud server that is not in the list of pre-made images, you can upload your own image to the image storage.
With custom images, you can migrate servers from other cloud platforms or within the Selectel Cloud Platform, and clone cloud servers from disk images.
Image formats .aki, .ami, .ari, .iso, .raw, .qcow2, .vdi, .vhd, .vhdx, and .vmdk are supported. For some .ami format images (Amazon Machine Image images for launching a server), additional upload of .aki (Amazon kernel image) and .ari (Amazon RAM image) images is required.
Container formats .aki, .ami, .ari, .bare, .ova, .ovf are supported.
Image availability across locations
Pre-built images
Custom images
St. Petersburg
Moscow
Novosibirsk
Tashkent
Almaty
Nairobi
Cost
Most pre-made images are included in the cloud server cost and are not charged additionally. Astra Linux and RED OS images are charged additionally because a license is required for these OSs to work. You can check the license cost for a specific OS version in the control panel when creating a server.
The cost of storing a custom image depends on its size and the pool it is uploaded to. Custom image storage is billed according to the Cloud Platform billing model.
You can check image storage prices on selectel.ru.