General information about cloud server images
An image is an exact copy of a disk's file system and its contents. You can use images to create cloud servers or create boot volumes for cloud servers.
You can use:
- pre-built images — images with a pre-installed operating system prepared by Selectel specialists;
- custom images — images that you can manually upload to the image storage.
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 cloud server image operations are saved 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 available images in the Control Panel: from the top menu, click Products → Cloud Servers → click Create Server → Source block → OS.
Custom images
If you need an image to create a cloud server that is not on the list of available images, you can upload your own image to the image storage.
You can use custom images to migrate servers from other cloud platforms or within the Selectel cloud platform, and use disk images to clone cloud servers.
Supported image formats are .aki, .ami, .ari, .iso, .raw, .qcow2, .vdi, .vhd, .vhdx and .vmdk. Some .ami format images (Amazon Machine Image to launch a server) require additional upload of .aki (Amazon kernel image) and .ari (Amazon RAM disk image).
Supported container formats are .aki, .ami, .ari, .bare, .ova, .ovf.
Pricing
Most available images are included in the cloud server price and are not charged separately. Astra Linux and RED OS images are charged separately, as these operating systems require a license. You can view 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 to which it is uploaded. Custom image storage is billed according to the cloud platform payment model.
Image storage prices can be viewed at selectel.ru.