You can import image files to the ECS environment to create custom images. You can then use these image to create ECS instances.

Requirements

Supported Windows (32-bit and 64-bit) operating systems

• Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 (Standard Edition)
• Microsoft Windows Server 2012 (Standard Edition, Data Center Edition)
• Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 (Standard Edition, Data Center Edition, Enterprise Edition)
• Microsoft Windows Server 2008 (Standard Edition, Data Center Edition, Enterprise Edition)
• Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 (Standard Edition, Data Center Edition, Enterprise Edition)
• Microsoft Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 1 (SP1) (Standard Edition, Data Center Edition, Enterprise Edition)
• Windows 7 Professional Edition and Enterprise Edition

Note: Windows XP, Windows 8, and Windows 10 are not supported.

Supported Linux (32-bit and 64-bit) operating systems

• CentOS 5, 6, 7
• Ubuntu 10, 12, 13, 14
• Debian 6, 7
• OpenSUSE 13.1
• SUSE Linux 10, 11, 12
• CoreOS 681.2.0+

Supported image formats

• RAW
• Virtual hard disk (VHD)

Supported file systems

• Windows (32-bit and 64-bit)
  Supports NTFS format and MBR partition.

• Linux/Unix (32- bit and 64-bit)
  Supports ext3 and ext4 file system format and MBR partition.

Windows-specific requirements

• Recommended system disk size: 40 GB ~ 500 GB.
• The firewall must be disabled. Otherwise, remote login is not possible. Port 3389 must be enabled.
• Disable user account control (UAC) to enable changes to be made to the system.

Linux-specific requirements

• Recommended system disk size: 40 GB ~ 500 GB.
• SELinux is not activated.
• The firewall is disabled; port 22 is enabled by default.

Restrictions

• Images can only be imported from the system disk. You cannot import images from data disks.
• Image import does not support the use of multiple network interfaces or IPv6 addresses.
• Passwords must be 8 ~ 30 characters in length and contain three types of characters (uppercase, lowercase, numbers, and special characters).
• It is recommended that you install the XEN and KVM virtualization platform drivers.

Import images using the ECS Management Console

Prerequisites

• OSS must be activated before images can be imported.
• OSS access permissions must be manually granted to the official ECS service account before images are imported.
• Use an OSS third-party tool client, OSS API or OSS SDK, to upload the file to a bucket in the same region as the ECS custom image to import.
• Ensure images are being created in accordance with image restrictions and requirements.

Operating procedure

To import images using the management console, perform the following:

1. Log on to the ECS console.

2. Click Images in the left-side navigation bar.

3. Select the image you want to import, and click Import Image next to that image. Ensure the image you want to import meets the preceding requirements. If you have not granted the official ECS service account access to your OSS, image import may fail.

4. Complete the image import form using the following information:

   • Region
     Select the region where you want to deploy the application.

   • Image File OSS Address
     Copy the object address taken from the OSS console.

   • Image Name
     The length should be 2 ~ 128 characters. It can contain uppercase letters, lowercase letters or Chinese characters. It cannot contain numbers, underscores (_), or hyphens (-).

   • System Disk Size
     Windows system disk size: 40-500 GB; Linux system disk size: 20- 500 GB.

   • System Architecture
     64-bit OS: x86_64. 32-bit OS: i386.

   • Operating System Type
     Currently supported OS releases are:

     • Windows: Windows Server 2003, 2008, 2012, and Windows 7.
     • Linux: CentOS, SUSE, Ubuntu, Debian, FreeBSD, and CoreOS.
       Note:
       • (Linux only) Open a ticket to Alibaba Cloud to confirm the selected edition is supported.
       • If your image OS is a custom edition developed on a Linux core, open a ticket to Alibaba Cloud.

   • Image Format
     Supports RAW and VHD format. RAW format is recommended.
     Note: You cannot use qemu-image to create VHD images.

   • Image Description
     Enter a description of the image.

5. Click Submit. You can view the task progress in the image list of the import region.

Image importing takes time, usually several hours. The duration of the task depends on the size of your image file and how many other import tasks are running. You can view the task progress in the image list of the import region.

You can also find and cancel the image import task in the task manager.