> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.xloud.tech/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Convert Image Formats

> Convert virtual machine images between QCOW2, RAW, VMDK, VHD, and VDI formats using qemu-img before uploading to Xloud.

## Overview

Images obtained from VMware, VirtualBox, Hyper-V, or other virtualization platforms use
formats that differ from what Xloud Compute expects. The `qemu-img` tool converts between
all major disk image formats quickly and without data loss. QCOW2 is the recommended
format for Xloud — it provides compression, snapshot support, and efficient sparse storage.

<Note>
  **Prerequisites**

  * A Linux workstation with `qemu-utils` installed
  * The source image file in its original format
  * Free disk space: RAW conversions require space equal to the full virtual disk size
</Note>

***

## Supported Formats

| Format         | Extension       | Description                       | Use Case                                                     |
| -------------- | --------------- | --------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **QCOW2**      | `.qcow2`        | Compressed, sparse, copy-on-write | Recommended for Xloud — best balance of size and performance |
| **RAW**        | `.img`, `.raw`  | Uncompressed, full disk image     | Maximum I/O performance; large file size                     |
| **VMDK**       | `.vmdk`         | VMware native format              | Import from VMware ESXi or Workstation                       |
| **VHD / VHDX** | `.vhd`, `.vhdx` | Hyper-V / Azure native format     | Import from Hyper-V or Microsoft Azure                       |
| **VDI**        | `.vdi`          | VirtualBox native format          | Import from Oracle VirtualBox                                |

<Warning>
  Converting to RAW format creates a file equal to the full virtual disk size, not just
  the used space. A 50 GB virtual disk produces a 50 GB RAW file even if only 5 GB is
  used. Ensure sufficient disk space before converting.
</Warning>

***

## Install qemu-img

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="Ubuntu / Debian" icon="server">
    ```bash title="Install qemu-utils" theme={null}
    apt-get update && apt-get install -y qemu-utils
    ```
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="CentOS / AlmaLinux / Rocky Linux" icon="server">
    ```bash title="Install qemu-img" theme={null}
    dnf install -y qemu-img
    ```
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

***

## Check Image Information

Before converting, inspect the source image to confirm its format, virtual size, and
backing chain:

```bash title="Inspect image metadata" theme={null}
qemu-img info source-image.vmdk
```

Expected output:

```text title="Example qemu-img info output" theme={null}
image: source-image.vmdk
file format: vmdk
virtual size: 20 GiB (21474836480 bytes)
disk size: 4.2 GiB
cluster_size: 65536
```

<Tip>
  The `disk size` shows actual data written; `virtual size` shows the size instances
  see. QCOW2 preserves this sparse allocation — RAW expands to the full virtual size.
</Tip>

***

## Common Conversions

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="VMDK to QCOW2" icon="terminal">
    Convert a VMware disk image to QCOW2:

    <Steps titleSize="h3">
      <Step title="Convert the image" icon="repeat">
        ```bash title="Convert VMDK to QCOW2" theme={null}
        qemu-img convert \
          -f vmdk \
          -O qcow2 \
          source-image.vmdk \
          output-image.qcow2
        ```

        The `-f` flag specifies the source format; `-O` specifies the output format.
      </Step>

      <Step title="Verify the output" icon="circle-check">
        ```bash title="Verify converted image" theme={null}
        qemu-img info output-image.qcow2
        ```

        <Check>Output shows `file format: qcow2` and virtual size matches the source.</Check>
      </Step>
    </Steps>
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="VHD to QCOW2" icon="terminal">
    Convert a Hyper-V or Azure VHD image to QCOW2:

    <Steps titleSize="h3">
      <Step title="Convert the image" icon="repeat">
        ```bash title="Convert VHD to QCOW2" theme={null}
        qemu-img convert \
          -f vpc \
          -O qcow2 \
          source-image.vhd \
          output-image.qcow2
        ```

        <Note>VHD uses the `vpc` format identifier in `qemu-img`. VHDX uses `vhdx`.</Note>
      </Step>

      <Step title="Verify the output" icon="circle-check">
        ```bash title="Verify converted image" theme={null}
        qemu-img info output-image.qcow2
        ```

        <Check>Output shows `file format: qcow2`.</Check>
      </Step>
    </Steps>
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="RAW to QCOW2" icon="terminal">
    Compress a RAW image into QCOW2 to reduce storage footprint:

    <Steps titleSize="h3">
      <Step title="Convert with compression" icon="repeat">
        ```bash title="Convert RAW to QCOW2 with compression" theme={null}
        qemu-img convert \
          -f raw \
          -O qcow2 \
          -c \
          source-image.raw \
          output-image.qcow2
        ```

        The `-c` flag enables compression. Compressed QCOW2 images can be significantly
        smaller than their RAW equivalents.
      </Step>

      <Step title="Compare sizes" icon="chart-bar">
        ```bash title="Compare source and output sizes" theme={null}
        ls -lh source-image.raw output-image.qcow2
        ```

        <Check>QCOW2 output is typically 30–70% smaller than the RAW source for OS images.</Check>
      </Step>
    </Steps>
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="QCOW2 to RAW" icon="terminal">
    Convert to RAW for maximum I/O performance or compatibility testing:

    <Steps titleSize="h3">
      <Step title="Check available disk space first" icon="hard-drive">
        ```bash title="Check free space vs. virtual image size" theme={null}
        df -h .
        qemu-img info source-image.qcow2 | grep "virtual size"
        ```

        Ensure free space exceeds the virtual size of the image.
      </Step>

      <Step title="Convert to RAW" icon="repeat">
        ```bash title="Convert QCOW2 to RAW" theme={null}
        qemu-img convert \
          -f qcow2 \
          -O raw \
          source-image.qcow2 \
          output-image.raw
        ```
      </Step>

      <Step title="Verify the output" icon="circle-check">
        ```bash title="Verify the RAW image" theme={null}
        qemu-img info output-image.raw
        ```

        <Check>Output shows `file format: raw` and file size equals the virtual disk size.</Check>
      </Step>
    </Steps>
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

***

## Validation

After conversion, perform a consistency check before uploading to Xloud:

```bash title="Check image integrity" theme={null}
qemu-img check output-image.qcow2
```

Expected output:

```text title="Clean image output" theme={null}
No errors were found on the image.
```

<Warning>
  If `qemu-img check` reports errors, the conversion may have encountered a corrupt
  source image. Re-obtain the source and retry the conversion. Do not upload a
  corrupted image — instances launched from it will fail unpredictably.
</Warning>

***

## Next Steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Upload an Image" href="/services/images/upload-image" color="#197560">
    Upload the converted QCOW2 image to the Xloud Image Service.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Image Requirements" href="/services/images/image-requirements" color="#197560">
    Verify the image meets all Xloud Compute compatibility requirements.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Modify Images" href="/services/images/modify-images" color="#197560">
    Customize images with additional packages and configuration before uploading.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Image Formats" href="/services/images/image-formats" color="#197560">
    Compare all supported image formats and choose the right one for your workload.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>