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Elastic Compute Service:Overview

Last Updated:May 18, 2023

Public images are provided by Alibaba Cloud and fully licensed to provide a secure and stable operating environment for applications on Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instances. This topic describes the types of public image: Alibaba Cloud Linux images, third-party images, and open-source images.

Types of public images

The following table describes the types of public images provided by Alibaba Cloud. You can use public images to create ECS instances free of charge, except Windows Server, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server public images. For more information about the billing of these public images, see Image prices.

Type of public image

Description

Technical support

Alibaba Cloud Linux images

Alibaba Cloud Linux images are custom, proprietary operating system images provided by Alibaba Cloud for ECS instances. Alibaba Cloud Linux images are thoroughly tested to ensure their security, stability, and normal startup and operation.

Alibaba Cloud provides technical support to help resolve the issues that you may encounter when you use Alibaba Cloud Linux images.

Third-party images and open-source images

Third-party and open source images are thoroughly tested and released by Alibaba Cloud to ensure their security, stability, and normal startup and operation. The following third-party public images are available:

  • Windows: Windows Server

  • Linux: Anolis OS, Ubuntu, CentOS, CentOS Stream, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Debian, openSUSE, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, FreeBSD, CoreOS, Fedora CoreOS, Fedora, Rocky Linux, and AlmaLinux

  • For open-source public images, contact the corresponding open source communities for technical support. Alibaba Cloud also provides technical support to help identify issues about the images.

  • For commercial images, Alibaba Cloud offers licenses and works with the corresponding operating system vendors to provide technical support.

Alibaba Cloud Linux images

Alibaba Cloud Linux images are Linux public images developed by Alibaba Cloud. The following table describes the versions of Alibaba Cloud Linux images.

Operating system

Operating system version

Description

Alibaba Cloud Linux 3

  • Alibaba Cloud Linux 3.2104 64-bit

  • Alibaba Cloud Linux 3.2104 64-bit (Quick Start)

  • Alibaba Cloud Linux 3.2104 64-bit for ARM

  • Alibaba Cloud Linux 3.2104 64-bit (UEFI)

The operating system supports various Alibaba Cloud instance types including ECS Bare Metal Instance types. By default, Alibaba Cloud Linux 3 is equipped with Alibaba Cloud CLI and other software packages.

If you want to use Alibaba Cloud Linux 3, you can select Public Image and select Alibaba Cloud Linux 3 when you create an ECS instance or when you replace the operating system of an ECS instance. For information about how to replace the operating system of an instance, see Replace the operating system (system disk) of an instance.

For more information, see Alibaba Cloud Linux overview and Release notes for Alibaba Cloud Linux 3.

Alibaba Cloud Linux 2

  • Alibaba Cloud Linux 2.1903 LTS 64-bit

  • Alibaba Cloud Linux 2.1903 64-bit (Quick Start)

  • Alibaba Cloud Linux 2.1903 64-bit (UEFI)

  • Alibaba Cloud Linux 2.1903 64-bit (Trusted)

The operating system supports various Alibaba Cloud instance types including ECS Bare Metal Instance types. By default, Alibaba Cloud Linux 2 is equipped with Alibaba Cloud CLI and other software packages.

If you want to use Alibaba Cloud Linux 2, you can select Public Image and select Alibaba Cloud Linux 2 when you create an ECS instance or when you replace the operating system of an ECS instance. For information about how to replace the operating system of an instance, see Replace the operating system (system disk) of an instance.

For more information, see Overview and Release notes for Alibaba Cloud Linux 2.

Third-party images and open-source images

Alibaba Cloud releases and updates public images of third-party and open source image vendors on a regular basis. For more information, see 2023. Alternatively, you can select a region in the ECS console and view all the public images available in that region on the Public Images tab. For more information, see Find an image.

The following tables describe the versions of third-party and open source public images for Windows and Linux provided by Alibaba Cloud.

  • Windows images

    Operating system

    Operating system version

    Windows Server 2022

    • Windows Server 2022 Datacenter 64-bit (Simplified Chinese)

    • Windows Server 2022 Datacenter 64-bit (English)

    • Windows Server 2022 Datacenter 64-bit (Simplified Chinese, Without UI)

    • Windows Server 2022 Datacenter 64-bit (English, Without UI)

    Windows Server 2019

    • Windows Server 2019 Datacenter with Containers 64-bit (Simplified Chinese)

    • Windows Server 2019 Datacenter with Containers 64-bit (English)

    • Windows Server 2019 Datacenter 64-bit (Simplified Chinese)

    • Windows Server 2019 Datacenter 64-bit (English)

    Windows Server 2016

    • Windows Server 2016 Datacenter 64-bit (Simplified Chinese)

    • Windows Server 2016 Datacenter 64-bit (English)

    Windows Server 2012

    • Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter 64-bit (Simplified Chinese)

    • Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter 64-bit (English)

    Windows Server 2008

    • Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise Edition 64-bit (Simplified Chinese)

    • Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise Edition 64-bit (English)

    Note On January 14, 2020, Microsoft stopped providing support for Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2 operating systems. In light of this, Alibaba Cloud no longer provides technical support for ECS instances that use these operating systems. If you have ECS instances that use these operating systems, upgrade them to Windows Server 2012 or later at your earliest opportunity.

    Windows Server Version 2004

    • Windows Server Version 2004 Datacenter 64-bit (Simplified Chinese, Without UI)

    • Windows Server Version 2004 Datacenter 64-bit (English, Without UI)

    • Windows Server Version 2004 Datacenter with Containers 64-bit (Simplified Chinese, Without UI)

    • Windows Server Version 2004 Datacenter with Containers 64-bit (English, Without UI)

    Note

    All Windows operating systems support visualization except for Windows Server Version 2004 **** (Without UI) and Windows Server 2022 Datacenter **** (Without UI).

  • Linux images

    Operating system

    Operating system version

    Anolis OS

    • Anolis OS 8.8 ANCK 64-bit

    • Anolis OS 8.8 RHCK 64-bit

    • Anolis OS 8.6 ANCK 64-bit

    • Anolis OS 8.6 RHCK 64-bit

    • Anolis OS 8.6 ANCK 64-bit for ARM

    • Anolis OS 8.6 RHCK 64-bit for ARM

    • Anolis OS 8.6 ANCK 64-bit (UEFI)

    • Anolis OS 8.6 RHCK 64-bit (UEFI)

    • Anolis OS 8.4 ANCK 64-bit

    • Anolis OS 8.4 RHCK 64-bit

    • Anolis OS 8.4 ANCK 64-bit for ARM

    • Anolis OS 8.4 RHCK 64-bit for ARM

    • Anolis OS 8.4 ANCK 64-bit (UEFI)

    • Anolis OS 8.4 RHCK 64-bit (UEFI)

    • Anolis OS 8.2 ANCK 64-bit

    • Anolis OS 8.2 RHCK 64-bit

    • Anolis OS 8.2 ANCK 64-bit for ARM

    • Anolis OS 8.2 RHCK 64-bit for ARM

    • Anolis OS 7.9 ANCK 64-bit

    • Anolis OS 7.9 RHCK 64-bit

    • Anolis OS 7.9 ANCK 64-bit for ARM

    • Anolis OS 7.9 RHCK 64-bit for ARM

    • Anolis OS 7.9 ANCK 64-bit (UEFI)

    • Anolis OS 7.9 RHCK 64-bit (UEFI)

    • Anolis OS 7.7 ANCK 64-bit

    • Anolis OS 7.7 RHCK 64-bit

    • Anolis OS 7.7 ANCK 64-bit for ARM

    • Anolis OS 7.7 RHCK 64-bit for ARM

    CentOS

    Note
    • The CentOS project has announced the end of life (EOL) for CentOS Linux. CentOS Linux public images provided by Alibaba Cloud are derived from the repositories provided by the CentOS project. When CentOS Linux reaches its EOL, Alibaba Cloud stops providing support for CentOS Linux. For information about how to deal with the situation, see Options for dealing with CentOS Linux end of life.

    • CentOS 6 and CentOS 8 have reached their EOL. In accordance with Linux community rules, all content has been removed from the CentOS 6 and CentOS 8 repository addresses. If you want to continue to use specific installation packages of CentOS 6 and CentOS 8 during the transition period, you must change CentOS 6 and CentOS 8 repository addresses. For more information, see the Change the CentOS 6 source address and Change CentOS 8 repository addresses.

    • To use a 32-bit operating system, select an instance type that has 4 GiB or less of memory. For more information, see Select an image.

    • CentOS 8.5 64-bit

    • CentOS 8.4 64-bit

    • CentOS 8.4 64-bit for ARM

    • CentOS 8.4 64-bit (UEFI)

    • CentOS 8.3 64-bit

    • CentOS 8.3 64-bit for ARM

    • CentOS 8.3 64-bit (UEFI)

    • CentOS 8.2 64-bit

    • CentOS 8.2 64-bit (AMD-compatible)

    • CentOS 8.1 64-bit

    • CentOS 8.0 64-bit

    • CentOS 7.9 64-bit

    • CentOS 7.9 64-bit (AMD-compatible)

    • CentOS 7.9 64-bit (UEFI)

    • CentOS 7.8 64-bit

    • CentOS 7.8 64-bit (Trusted)

    • CentOS 7.8 64-bit (AMD-compatible)

    • CentOS 7.7 64-bit

    • CentOS 7.6 64-bit

    • CentOS 7.5 64-bit

    • CentOS 7.4 64-bit

    • CentOS 7.3 64-bit

    • CentOS 7.2 64-bit

    • CentOS 6.10 64-bit

    • CentOS 6.9 64-bit

    • CentOS 6.8 32-bit

    CentOS Stream

    • CentOS Stream 9 64-bit

    • CentOS Stream 8 64-bit

    CoreOS

    Note Updates are no longer provided for CoreOS Container Linux as of May 26, 2020 based on the end-of-life announcement for CoreOS Container Linux from the Fedora CoreOS community. In light of this, Alibaba Cloud has issued the following announcements:
    • As of May 26, 2020, Alibaba Cloud no longer provides technical support for ECS instances that use the CoreOS Container Linux operating system. However, you can still use existing ECS instances that run this operating system.
    • After September 30, 2020, you are unable to use CoreOS Container Linux public images provided by Alibaba Cloud to create ECS instances.
    • As of May 26, 2020, CoreOS Container Linux can continue to be used on instances on which it is already installed. However, no security patches are available because the operating system has reached its end of life. For security purposes, we recommend that you no longer use CoreOS Container Linux images.
    • Alibaba Cloud has released Fedora CoreOS public images. The Fedora CoreOS community recommends that you use Fedora CoreOS in place of CoreOS Container Linux.
    • CoreOS 2345.3.0 64-bit

    • CoreOS 2303.4.0 64-bit

    • CoreOS 2303.3.0 64-bit

    • CoreOS 2247.6.0 64-bit

    • CoreOS 2023.4.0 64-bit

    • CoreOS 1745.7.0 64-bit

    Debian

    • Debian 11.6 64-bit

    • Debian 11.5 for ARM

    • Debian 11.4 64-bit

    • Debian 11.3 64-bit

    • Debian 11.2 64-bit

    • Debian 11.1 64-bit

    • Debian 11.0 64-bit

    • Debian 10.13 for ARM

    • Debian 10.12 64-bit

    • Debian 10.11 64-bit

    • Debian 10.10 64-bit

    • Debian 10.10 64-bit (UEFI)

    • Debian 10.9 64-bit

    • Debian 10.9 64-bit for ARM

    • Debian 10.7 64-bit

    • Debian 10.7 64-bit (AMD-compatible)

    • Debian 10.6 64-bit

    • Debian 10.5 64-bit

    • Debian 10.4 64-bit

    • Debian 10.3 64-bit

    • Debian 10.2 64-bit

    • Debian 9.13 64-bit

    • Debian 9.13 64-bit (UEFI)

    • Debian 9.12 64-bit

    • Debian 9.11 64-bit

    • Debian 9.9 64-bit

    • Debian 9.8 64-bit

    • Debian 9.6 64-bit

    • Debian 8.11 64-bit

    • Debian 8.9 64-bit

    FreeBSD

    • FreeBSD 13.0 64-bit

    • FreeBSD 12.3 64-bit

    • FreeBSD 12.1 64-bit

    • FreeBSD 11.4 64-bit

    • FreeBSD 11.3 64-bit

    • FreeBSD 11.2 64-bit

    OpenSUSE

    • OpenSUSE 15.4 64-bit

    • OpenSUSE 15.3 64-bit

    • OpenSUSE 15.2 64-bit

    • OpenSUSE 15.1 64-bit

    • OpenSUSE 42.3 64-bit

    Red Hat

    Note
    • When you create instances, Red Hat image versions are available only if you select an instance type from an instance family that is certified on Red Hat Enterprise Linux. For information about instance families that are certified on Red Hat Enterprise Linux, see Instance families supported by Red Hat images.

    • The prices of Red Hat Enterprise Linux images vary based on the instance types that you select. For information about Red Hat Enterprise Linux image prices, see Images.

    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.0 64-bit

    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.6 64-bit

    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.5 64-bit

    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.4 64-bit

    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.2 64-bit

    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.1 64-bit

    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.0 64-bit

    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.9 64-bit

    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.8 64-bit

    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.7 64-bit

    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.6 64-bit

    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.5 64-bit

    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.4 64-bit

    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.10 64-bit

    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.9 64-bit

    SUSE Linux

    • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP3 64-bit

    • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP2 64-bit

    • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP1 64-bit

    • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP5 64-bit

    • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP4 64-bit

    • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP3 64-bit

    Note

    Starting from October 30, 2021, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server public images are charged. SUSE Linux Enterprise Server will be commercialized on October 30, 2021. The SUSE Linux Enterprise Server images used by existing instances can be upgraded to commercial versions to continue to receive image updates and technical support. For more information, see Upgrade the SUSE Linux Enterprise Server public images of existing instances to the commercial edition.

    Ubuntu

    • Ubuntu 22.04 LTS 64-bit

    • Ubuntu 20.04 LTS 64-bit

    • Ubuntu: 20.04 LTS 64-bit (AMD-compatible)

    • Ubuntu 20.04 LTS 64-bit for ARM

    • Ubuntu 20.04 LTS 64-bit (UEFI)

    • Ubuntu 18.04 LTS 64-bit

    • Ubuntu 18.04 LTS 64-bit (AMD-compatible)

    • Ubuntu 18.04 LTS 64-bit for ARM

    • Ubuntu 18.04 LTS 64-bit (UEFI)

    • Ubuntu 16.04 LTS 64-bit

    • Ubuntu 16.04 LTS 32 bit

    • Ubuntu 14.04 LTS 64-bit

    • Ubuntu 14.04 LTS 32 bit

    Note

    To use a 32-bit operating system, select an instance type that has 4 GiB or less of memory. For more information, see Select an image.

    Fedora CoreOS

    • Fedora CoreOS 35 64-bit

    • Fedora CoreOS 34 64-bit

    • Fedora CoreOS 33 64-bit

    When you use these images, take note of the following items:

    • When you create an instance or replace the system disk of an instance, you can use only a key pair as logon credentials. You can use only the key pair that you initially configured for your instance to log on to the instance. You cannot change or unbind the key pair.

    • If you have created an instance or replaced the system disk of an instance, you cannot reset the password of the instance.

    Fedora

    • Fedora 37 64-bit

    • Fedora 35 64-bit

    • Fedora 34 64-bit

    • Fedora 33 64-bit

    Rocky Linux

    • Rocky Linux 9.0

    • Rocky Linux 8.6

    • Rocky Linux 8.5

    AlmaLinux

    • AlmaLinux 9.0

    • AlmaLinux 8.6

    • AlmaLinux 8.5

    Note

    By default, each Linux image offers a command line interface. You can install a graphical desktop based on your needs. Example: the desktop described in Install a GUI desktop for Ubuntu 18.