An image is a running environment template for ECS instances. It generally includes an operating system and pre-installed software. An image works as a file copy that includes data from one or more disks. These disks can be a single system disk, or a combination of the system disk and data disks.
Image overview
ECS provides a range of image types that you can use to easily access image resources.
| Image type | Type description | Technical support |
|---|---|---|
| Public image | Alibaba Cloud provides the following types of public images:
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| Custom image | Custom images include imported images, and custom images created from public images and Alibaba Cloud Marketplace images. |
You can contact the OS vendors for technical support. Additionally, Alibaba Cloud provides technical support in problem investigation. |
| Marketplace image | Marketplace images are licensed and provided by Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) and sold in Alibaba Cloud Marketplace. Such images have undergone stringent testing conducted by the respective ISVs and Alibaba Cloud to guarantee security. Marketplace images provide not only the OSs required for applications, but also the configuration environments. This eliminates complicated installation and configuration process and helps you deploy ECS in one click. |
You can contact the image vendors for technical support. |
Public images
Public images are fully licensed to provide a highly stable operating environment. You can customize your application environment based on a public image. Different instance types correspond to different available public images. For information about the built-in services of public images releases, go to the official website of the OS vendors.
Alibaba Cloud regularly releases and updates public images. For more information, see Image release notes. You can view available public images in the Public image list in the ECS console. The following table lists the ECS public images.
| OS type | OS version | OS type | OS version |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windows Server |
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CentOS |
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| SUSE Linux |
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Debian |
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| Red Hat |
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Ubuntu |
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| FreeBSD | FreeBSD 11.1 64-bit | OpenSUSE | OpenSUSE 42.3 64-bit |
| Aliyun Linux | Aliyun Linux 17.1 64-bit | CoreOS | CoreOS 1465.8.0 64-bit |
Custom images
- Create a custom image by using a snapshot
- Create a custom image by using an instance
- Import an on-premises custom image
Note A custom image must be imported in one of the following formats: VHD, qcow2, or RAW. If the custom image is in another format, it must be converted before it can run in ECS. For more information, see Convert image file format.
Billing details
We recommend that you maintain a sufficient balance in the linked credit card or PayPal account to complete the payment or preauthorization. For more information, see Pricing overview.The ECS image billing details are as follows:
| Image type | Billing description |
|---|---|
| Public image |
Only Windows Server and Red Hat Enterprise Linux public images incur fees, which are included in the bill when an instance is created. Windows Sever public images or Red Hat Enterprise Linux public images are provided with certified licenses and authorized support from Microsoft or Red Hat, respectively.
Other public images are available free of charge. |
| Custom image |
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| Marketplace image | The billing policies of the ISVs apply. |
| Shared image | If a shared image comes from the Alibaba Cloud Marketplace, the billing policies of the ISV apply. |
Related operations
Console operations- You can Create an instance from a custom image.
- You can change the system disk of an ECS instance by using either of the following methods:
- You can obtain a custom image by using the following methods:
- After creating custom images, you can perform the following operations:
For more information, see the APIs for images.