You can purchase an Alibaba Cloud Marketplace image to create ECS instances with a pre-installed running environment or software applications. These images can be used for scenarios such as website creation, application development, and visualized management. ECS can be used out-of-the-box, which is time-saving and convenient.

Background information

Alibaba Cloud Marketplace images

Alibaba Cloud Marketplace is a network platform established by Alibaba Cloud. Images are provided by Independent Software Vendors (ISVs). Alibaba Cloud Marketplace images integrate specific software environments and features such as the PHP runtime environment and the control panel into the operating system.

If you create an instance by using an Alibaba Cloud Marketplace image, your license may not be valid. If you encounter this problem, contact the image vendors for technical support.

Create an instance by using an Alibaba Cloud Marketplace image

To create an ECS instance by using an Alibaba Cloud Marketplace image, follow these steps:

  1. Log on to the ECS console.
  2. In the left-side navigation pane, choose Instances & Images > Instances.
  3. In the top navigation bar, select a region.
  4. On the Instances page, click Create Instance. The Custom Launch page appears.
  5. Specify the instance type. In the Image section, choose Marketplace Image > Select from image market (including operating system). For more information, see Create an ECS instance.
    Select an Alibaba Cloud Marketplace image
  6. In the dialog box that appears, click All Categories and select an image, or search for the image by keywords.
  7. Select the desired image and configure other parameters. Click Preview and Create Instance. For more information, see Create an ECS instance.

Purchase an image from Alibaba Cloud Marketplace and create an instance

After you purchase an image from Alibaba Cloud Marketplace, you can follow these steps to create an ECS instance:

  1. Go to Alibaba Cloud Marketplace.
  2. Select the image that you need and click Buy Now.
  3. Optional:Log on to the Alibaba Cloud Management console.
    Create an instance
  4. The purchased image is displayed in the Image section. Configure other parameters, and click Confirm Order and Create Instance. For more information, see Create an ECS instance.
    Note The configuration and image fees are displayed in the lower part of the Preview page. Before you create an instance, confirm the configuration information.

    After you purchase Alibaba Cloud Marketplace images, you can go to the Billing Management page to view consumption information.

Change the operating system by using an Alibaba Cloud Marketplace image

If you have purchased an ECS instance, you can replace the image of the instance with an Alibaba Cloud Marketplace image by changing the system disk.
Note If you change the image, the data on the system disk will be lost. Therefore, we recommend that you back up your data before you change your operating system. For more information, see Create a normal snapshot.

On the Replace System Disk page, select Marketplace Image for Image Type and click Select from image market (including operating system). In the Image Market dialog box that appears, select the desired image. For more information, see Replace the system disk (non-public images).

Flowchart for replacing the operating system