If the images that are provided by WUYING Workspace cannot meet your business requirements, you can create and import your own images to the WUYING Workspace console and use the images to create cloud computers. This topic describes how to create a custom image and import the image to the WUYING Workspace console.
Prerequisites
If you use a Resource Access Management (RAM) user, you must contact the Alibaba Cloud account to which the RAM user belongs to obtain the permissions to import images and perform operations on Object Storage Service (OSS) buckets. For more information, see Grant permissions to the RAM user.
OSS is activated. For more information, see Activate OSS.
Make sure that the network connectivity is stable when you create a custom image on a virtual machine (VM).
Limits
Before you create a custom image and import it to the WUYING Workspace console, take note of the following items:
Alibaba Cloud cannot ensure the security of custom images that you create and import. Before you import images, make sure that the images are safe for your business.
You can import only Windows images.
Only Windows Pro and Windows Enterprise are supported.
The following Windows versions are not supported:
Windows XP
Windows 7
Windows 8
Windows 8.1
Windows 11
You cannot import .iso image files to WUYING Workspace.
If you have an .iso image, refer to the description in the following sections to create a VM, install and configure an OS, and then import the image.
If you have a .vdi image, convert the image to a valid format before you import the image. For more information, see Convert the format of an image.
Image files in Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) boot mode are not supported. We recommend that you select an image file in Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) boot mode.
Preparations
VirtualBox is installed. If VirtualBox is not installed, visit the official site to download and install VirtualBox.
ossbrowser is installed on your local computer.
If ossbrowser is not installed, obtain an ossbrowser installation package based on the OS type and OS version that your local computer runs and install ossbrowser. For more information, see Install and log on to ossbrowser.
The raw .iso image that runs Windows is prepared.
You can download a Windows .iso image file that is not in Home edition from the Microsoft official website. For more information, visit Download Windows 10.
Procedure
Step 1: Create a VM
This section describes how to create a virtual disk on VirtualBox. VirtualBox 7.0.4 is used as an example. The steps to create a VM may vary based on the VirtualBox version. Follow the on-screen instructions to proceed in your actual business scenario.
Launch VirtualBox.
Click New in the upper-right corner of the page.
Select Name and Operating System, enter a name for the VM, and then select an OS and an OS version.
Select Hardware and specify the memory size and the number of vCPUs based on your business requirements.
ImportantThe memory size and number of vCPUs are irrelevant to the specifications of a cloud computer.
Do not select Enable EFI. Cloud computers do not support the EFI boot mode.
Select Hard Disk, select the file location, and then configure the disk size and disk type.
NoteWe recommend that you set the disk size to 40 GB. If you want to resize the disk, you can perform related operations in the WUYING Workspace console.
You can import only RAW, VHD, and QCOW2 images. Otherwise, you must convert the format before you import your images. We recommend that you select VHD.
Confirm the information about the VM and click Finish.
Step 2: Install a Windows OS on the VM
After you create a VM, you must install a Windows OS on the VM.
You cannot install an OS in UEFI mode. We recommend that you select the BIOS mode.
Launch VirtualBox.
Select the VM that you created and click Start to start the VM.
Install a Windows OS on the VM and follow the on-screen instructions to proceed. Wait until the Windows OS is installed.
Delete a recovery partition of the Windows system.
ImportantIf the recovery partition is created after you create the primary partition, we recommend that you delete the recovery partition. If you do not delete the recovery partition, you may be unable to scale up the system disk in subsequent tasks.
Open the
DiskPart
window.You can enter
diskpart
in the search box or enterWindows PowerShell
in the search box and run thediskpart
command.Run the
list disk
command to view the disk list.Run the
select disk <Disk number>
command on the disk whose recovery partition you want to delete.Example:
select disk 0
. Replace <Disk number> with the actual disk number.Run the
list volume
command to view disk partitions.If a recovery partition is returned in the Volume list column in the command output, run the following command:
Run the
select volume <Disk partition number>
command on the disk whose recovery partition you want to delete.Example:
select volume 1
. Replace <Disk partition number> with the actual number.Run the
delete part override
command to delete the recovery partition.If you fail to delete the recovery partition, we recommend that you format the disk by using a disk tool to delete the partition.
If a recovery partition is not returned in the Volume list in the command output, no other operations are required.
Step 3: Configure the system
Install Cloud Assistant Agent on the VM.
Click Cloud Assistant Agent to obtain the Cloud Assistant Agent installation package and install Cloud Assistant Agent.
ImportantAfter you install Cloud Assistant Agent, start it. Make sure that Cloud Assistant Agent can be started as expected. If Aliyun Assistant Agent fails to be started, restart the VM and the agent.
You can check the status of the AliyunService process in Task Manager. If Running is displayed, the process is started as expected.
In specific Windows versions, Cloud Assistant Agent cannot be started on the cloud. In this case, you can save the shortcut of Cloud Assistant Agent to the Windows startup folder to ensure that Cloud Assistant Agent can be started.
Cloud Assistant Agent path: C:\ProgramData\aliyun\assist\Version number of Cloud Assistant Agent\aliyun_assist_service.exe
Windows startup folder path: C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp
Open Windows PowerShell and run the following command to disable User Account Control (UAC):
reg.exe add HKLM\Software\MicroSoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System /v EnableLUA /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f
Run the
netsh advfirewall set allprofiles state off
command to disable the built-in firewall on the Windows system.
Step 4: Obtain a Windows image file
After you configure the VM, you must obtain the Windows image file that was created.
You can obtain the image file from the Folder path in which your VM was located when you created the VM.
If you moved the VM to another path after you created the VM, the actual path prevails.
Step 5: Upload the image file to OSS
Before you import a custom image to the WUYING Workspace console, you must upload the image file to an OSS bucket.
Obtain the address of the OSS bucket in the WUYING Workspace console.
Log on to the WUYING Workspace (Pro Edition) console.
In the left-side navigation pane, choose .
In the upper-left corner of the top navigation bar, select a region.
On the Images page, click Create Image.
In the Create Image panel, select Import Image.
In the OSS Bucket Address section, click Obtain and record the address.
Log on to ossbrowser. For more information, see Log on to ossbrowser.
Endpoint: The value of this parameter is Public Cloud (Default). If you are an Alibaba Finance Cloud or Alibaba Gov Cloud user, you must enter a custom domain name. For more information, see the parameter description in the "Log on to ossbrowser by using an AccessKey pair" section of the Install and log on to ossbrowser topic.
AccessKeyId and AccessKeySecret: An Alibaba Cloud account or a RAM user can obtain AccessKey pairs, which consist of the AccessKeyId and AccessKeySecret. For more information, see Create an AccessKey pair.
NoteYou must use the same Alibaba Cloud account or RAM user account to obtain AccessKeyId and AccessKeySecret.
Preset OSS Path: The OSS bucket address that you obtain in the WUYING Workspace console.
Region: The region where the OSS bucket is deployed.
Upload a prepared image file to the bucket.
ImportantYou can import images only in the RAW, VHD, or QCOW2 format. You cannot compress the images. If your image file is in a different format, convert the file to a valid format. For more information, see Convert the format of an image.
In the Actions column of the uploaded image, click Address to obtain and record the address of the OSS object.
Step 6: Import the image
Log on to the WUYING Workspace (Pro Edition) console.
In the left-side navigation pane, choose .
In the upper-left corner of the top navigation bar, select a region.
On the Images page, click Create Image.
In the Create Image panel, select Import Image.
Configure parameters when you import the image. The following table describes the parameters.
Parameter
Description
Region
The region of the OSS bucket to which the image is uploaded.
OSS Object Address
The address of the OSS object that you obtained from the previous step.
Image Name
The name of the image. Follow the on-screen instructions to enter the name.
OS
Only Windows images are supported.
System Disk Size (GiB)
The size of the system disk.
The value must be greater than the size of the image file. Valid values: 5 to 500.
GPU Driver
Specifies whether to install a GPU driver.
If you want to create a GPU-accelerated cloud computer by using the image of an Enterprise Graphics cloud computer, select Yes and specify the GPU Driver Type parameter as prompted.
Protocol Type
The protocol of the image. You can use the default value.
License Type
The method that you want to use to activate the image.
Bring Your Own License (BYOL): Use your own license.
Description
The description of the image.
Click Create.
After you import the image to the WUYING Workspace console, you can view the image details on the Custom Image tab.
What to do next
After you import an image, you can create a cloud computer template that contains the image. Then, you can create a cloud computer based on the cloud computer template.
For more information about how to create a cloud computer template, see Create a custom cloud computer template.
For more information about how to create a cloud computer, see Create a cloud computer.