Overview
The Xloud Image Service is the centralized catalog for virtual machine images and instance snapshots. Every new instance launched on the platform boots from an image registered here. Images can be public (shared across all projects), private (scoped to your project), or community-shared with specific tenants — giving you full control over your image library.Prerequisites
- An active Xloud account with project-member privileges or higher
- Access to the Xloud Dashboard (
https://connect.<your-domain>) oropenstackCLI - For uploading images: image data in a supported format (QCOW2, RAW, VHD, or VMDK)
What the Image Service Provides
Image Catalog
Centralized storage and discovery of OS images, application images, and snapshots
available across your Xloud environment.
Multiple Formats
Native support for QCOW2, RAW, VHD, and VMDK formats with automatic metadata
detection and validation on upload.
Visibility Controls
Per-image visibility settings — public, private, shared, or community — controlling
who can discover and use each image.
Instance Snapshots
Capture a running or stopped instance as an image snapshot. Use snapshots for
backups, cloning, and golden image workflows.
Image Sharing
Share specific images with other projects without making them globally public,
enabling controlled cross-team image distribution.
Rich Metadata
Attach structured properties to images — OS type, version, minimum disk, hardware
requirements — enabling the scheduler to make informed placement decisions.
Image Lifecycle
| State | Description |
|---|---|
queued | Image record created; data upload not yet started |
saving | Image data is being uploaded and stored |
active | Image is ready and available for instance launches |
deactivated | Image has been disabled by an administrator; cannot be used for new instances |
deleted | Image has been removed; the record is retained temporarily before permanent purge |
Supported Formats
| Format | Extension | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| QCOW2 | .qcow2 | Default format. Supports copy-on-write, compression, and snapshots. Recommended for most workloads. |
| RAW | .img | Maximum performance. No overhead. Preferred when storage backend handles copy-on-write natively. |
| VHD / VHDX | .vhd, .vhdx | Images exported from Hyper-V environments. |
| VMDK | .vmdk | Images exported from VMware environments. |
Guides
User Guide
Upload images, manage snapshots, configure visibility, and share images with other
projects from the Dashboard and CLI.
Admin Guide
Configure storage backends, metadata schemas, image signing, caching, and quotas
for production image service deployments.
Compute User Guide
Learn how images are used when launching compute instances and creating snapshots.
Authentication & CLI
Configure CLI credentials to manage images from the command line.