Share custom images - Simple Application Server - Alibaba Cloud Documentation Center

You can share a custom image with other Alibaba Cloud accounts in the same region to efficiently deploy a consistent environment across multiple Simple Application Servers.

Prerequisites

You have created a custom image. For more information, see Create a custom image.
Before you share an image, remove sensitive data and files.
Obtain the ID of the recipient Alibaba Cloud account. For more information, see How do I view an Alibaba Cloud account ID?.

Limitations

Custom images can only be shared within the same region.

To share an image across regions, you must first copy the image to the destination region and then share it. For more information, see Copy a custom image.
Each custom image can be shared with up to 10 Alibaba Cloud accounts. Sharing with RAM users is not supported.
Recipients cannot change the name or description of the shared image and can only use it to create Simple Application Server instances.
A shared image does not count towards the recipient's custom image quota.
To delete a shared image from the source account, you must first unshare it. The recipient cannot delete a shared image.
Recipients cannot re-share a shared image.
Images cannot be shared between Alibaba Cloud accounts on the China site and the international site.
If you share a custom image that contains a data disk, the data disk is not included in the recipient's shared image.

Billing

Sharing custom images is free of charge.

Share a custom image

Go to the Image page in the Simple Application Server console.
On the Custom Images tab, find the image and click Share Image in the Actions column.
In the dialog box that appears, enter the ID of the recipient Alibaba Cloud account, and then select I understand that the recipient can access data in the image after it is shared. To prevent data leakage, I acknowledge and confirm to share this image with this UID.

Note
Each custom image can be shared with up to 10 Alibaba Cloud accounts.
Click Confirm to Share.

After the image is shared, you can hover over the icon for the image to view the ID of the recipient Alibaba Cloud account.

If you no longer need to share the custom image, in the Actions column, select Unshare and follow the on-screen instructions.

Important
After an image is unshared, the recipient can no longer re-initialize the cloud disks of instances created from that image.

Create an instance from a shared image

After an image is shared, the recipient can use the image to create a Simple Application Server instance.

Log on to the Simple Application Server console by using the recipient's Alibaba Cloud account and go to the Images page.
On the Image page, click the Share Image tab.
In the Actions column, click Create Instance.

This action redirects you to the Simple Application Server purchase page, where the shared image is selected by default. For more information about how to configure other parameters, see Create a Simple Application Server instance.

Related operations

If you want to migrate workloads from a Simple Application Server to ECS, you can share the custom image to ECS. For more information, see Share a custom image to ECS.