An image is a cloud server or disk template that contains an operating system (OS), service data, or necessary software.
Image Management Service (IMS) provides image lifecycle management. You can create ECSs from public, private, or shared images. You can also create a private image from a cloud server or an external image file to make it easier to migrate workloads to the cloud or on the cloud.
IMS provides public, private, and shared images. Public images are provided by the cloud platform, private images are created by users, and shared images are private images that other users shared with you.
Image Type | Description |
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Public | A public image is a standard, widely used image. It contains an OS and preinstalled public applications and is available to all users. Public images are very stable and their OS and any included software have been officially authorized for use. If a public image does not contain the environment or software you need, you can use it to create an ECS and then deploy the required environment or software on it. |
Private | A private image contains an OS or service data, preinstalled public applications, and a user's personal applications. Private images are only available to the users who created them. A private image can be a system disk image, data disk image, ISO image, or full-ECS image.
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Shared | A shared image is a private image another user has shared with you. For more information, see "Sharing Images" in Image Management Service User Guide. |
IMS provides:
The public cloud provides a web-based service management platform (a management console). You can access the IMS service through HTTPS APIs or from the management console.
If you need to integrate IMS into a third-party system for secondary development, use APIs to access the IMS service. For details, see Image Management Service API Reference.
If no integration with a third-party system is needed, use the management console. Log in to the IMS console and choose Computing > Image Management Service.