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Manage images

How to list, create, upload, export, and delete images on the Images page, and how image aliases work.

The Images page lists the images in your current project and is where you upload new images and delete unused ones. Images are stored on a storage pool, so removing images you no longer need frees pool capacity.

List project images

Go to Images in the sidebar. The table shows each image's Name (its description, or fingerprint if it has none), Alias, Architecture, Public flag, Type (Container or VM), Upload date, and Size. Use the search box to filter by description or alias; columns are sortable.

Per-image actions: Create instance (opens the create form with the image preselected), Export image (downloads the image file; only available for images in the unified single-file format), and Delete.

If the page is empty, that is normal for a new project: images appear here after you launch an instance from a remote catalog image, create an image from an instance, or upload one.

Create an image from an instance

Publishing an instance as an image lets you launch further instances with the same setup.

  1. Stop the instance — the action is disabled while the instance is Running, Frozen, or in Error state ("Stop the instance to create an image").
  2. On the instance detail page, click Create Image.
  3. In the Create image from instance dialog, set an Alias (defaults to from-instance-<name>).
  4. Optionally check Make the image publicly available.
  5. Confirm. Image creation runs as an operation; a toast reports the result.

You can also create an image from an instance snapshot without stopping the instance: on the instance's Snapshots tab, use the snapshot's Create image action. See Snapshots.

Upload an image

To import an image file (for example, one exported from another project or deployment):

  1. Go to Images → Upload image.
  2. In the Import image from file dialog, choose the Image backup file. Select one file for a unified image, or exactly two files for a split image (metadata plus root filesystem) — the console pairs them automatically.
  3. Optionally enter an Alias and check Make the image publicly available.
  4. Click Upload image. A progress bar tracks the upload; a toast confirms when the image is created.

Aliases

An alias is a human-readable name for an image (images are otherwise identified by fingerprint). You set an alias when uploading an image or when creating one from an instance or snapshot, and you reference it when selecting images.

Delete images

  • Single image: click the image's delete action and confirm. Deletion is permanent; the confirmation requires typing the first 12 characters of the image fingerprint.
  • Multiple images: select images with the row checkboxes and use the bulk delete action.

Deleting an image does not affect instances already created from it. Deleting a cached catalog image only removes the local copy; the image is downloaded again the next time an instance is created from it.

Storage use

Images consume space on a storage pool. Each image is stored as an image volume — you can see them on the Volumes page by filtering Volume type to image. Delete unused images to reclaim pool space.

Installing VMs without an image

If no prebuilt image fits — for example, for an OS that is not in the catalog — upload the vendor's installer ISO and boot a VM from it instead. The Custom ISOs button on the Images page takes you to that flow; see Custom ISOs.