You can share your custom images with other Alibaba Cloud accounts (sharees). The shared custom images are considered as shared images. Then, the sharees can use the shared images. This topic describes how to use shared images to create Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instances and replace the operating systems of ECS instances and how to copy shared images.
Considerations
Alibaba Cloud does not guarantee the integrity and security of shared images. Before you use shared images, make sure that the images come from trusted accounts. You must assume all risks associated with using shared images.
Before you use a shared image, take note of the items in the following table.
Item | Description |
Fees |
For more information about image billing, see Images. |
Limits |
|
Permissions |
|
Use a shared image to create ECS instances
You can use a shared image to create one or more ECS instances that have the same image environment.
Log on to the ECS console.
In the left-side navigation pane, choose .
In the top navigation bar, select the region and resource group to which the resource belongs.
Click the Shared Image tab, find the shared image that you want to use to create instances, and then click Create Instance in the Actions column.
Configure parameters on the instance buy page.
In the Image section, click the Shared Images tab and then select the shared image from the drop-down list.
For information about other parameters, see Create an instance on the Custom Launch tab.
Copy a shared image
When you are a sharee, you can use a shared image only to create ECS instances. If you want to delete or update a shared image, copy the shared image and then delete or update the copy of the shared image. The copy is displayed as a custom image in the custom image list within the same region.
Log on to the ECS console.
In the left-side navigation pane, choose .
In the top navigation bar, select the region and resource group to which the resource belongs.
Click the Shared Images tab, find the shared image that you want to copy, and then click Copy Image in the Actions column.
In the Copy Image dialog box, configure parameters.
Set Copy Mode to Copy or Copy and Encrypt.
Select the region in which the shared image resides as the destination region.
NoteShared images can be copied only to the region in which they reside. If you want to copy a shared image to a different region, you must make a copy of the shared image in the region in which the image resides and then copy the image copy to the other region. For more information, see Copy a custom image.
For information about how to configure other parameters, see Copy a custom image.
(Optional) View the image copy on the Custom Images tab.
Use a shared image to replace the system disk of an instance
You can use a shared image to replace the system disk of an instance. Then, the instance runs based on the shared image.
When you replace the system disk of the instance by using a shared image on the Change Operating System page, select Shared Image in the Image section and then select the shared image from the drop-down list. For more information, see Replace the operating system (system disk) of an instance.