Skip to main content

​
Overview

The Xloud Image Service accepts virtual machine disk images in several formats for use as boot sources when launching new instances. You can upload images directly from your workstation through the Dashboard or CLI, or trigger a server-side web download from a public URL. This guide covers both methods.
Prerequisites
  • An active Xloud account with appropriate permissions
  • Access to the Xloud Dashboard (https://connect.<your-domain>) or CLI configured with credentials
  • API credentials sourced (source admin-openrc.sh)
Supported formats: QCOW2 (recommended), RAW, VHD/VHDX, and VMDK. See the Image Formats guide for format selection guidance.

​
Upload from Local File

Navigate to Images

Log in to the Xloud Dashboard (https://connect.<your-domain>) and navigate to Project → Compute → Images. Click Create Image.

Configure image metadata

FieldDescription
Image NameDescriptive name (e.g., ubuntu-24.04-lts)
Image DescriptionOptional — displayed in the image list
Image SourceSelect File to upload from your browser
Image FileSelect the local .qcow2, .raw, .vhd, or .vmdk file
FormatSelect the disk format matching your file
VisibilityPrivate (project only) or Public (all projects, admin only)
Min Disk (GB)Minimum root disk size required to launch
Min RAM (MB)Minimum memory required to launch

Submit the upload

Click Create Image. The image enters Saving status while data is transferred. Large images may take several minutes depending on file size and network speed.
The image status transitions to Active when the upload is complete. It is immediately available for launching instances.

​
Import from URL (Web Download)

The web download import method fetches image data server-side — no local storage needed for large images.

Create the image record

Create image record for web-download import
openstack image create \
  --disk-format qcow2 \
  --container-format bare \
  --import-method web-download \
  ubuntu-24.04-noble
Note the image id from the output.

Trigger the web download

Import from Ubuntu cloud images
openstack image import \
  --method web-download \
  --uri https://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/noble/current/noble-server-cloudimg-amd64.img \
  <IMAGE_ID>

Monitor import status

Check import status
openstack image show <IMAGE_ID> -c status
Status transitions from importing to active when download and storage complete.

​
Upload Best Practices

Always set min_disk and min_ram

Setting --min-disk and --min-ram prevents instance launch failures on flavors that are too small for the image. Set these to the actual OS requirements:
OSRecommended min_diskRecommended min_ram
Ubuntu 22.04+10 GB1024 MB
CentOS/RHEL 915 GB1024 MB
Windows Server40 GB2048 MB
Upload images as private (project-scoped) during testing. Only promote to public or shared after validation. Administrators must approve public images to prevent unauthorized images from appearing in the shared catalog.
Include OS version and build date in image names for easy identification:
  • ubuntu-24.04-lts-2026-03 — OS, version, LTS flag, build month
  • windows-2022-std-2026-03 — OS, version, edition, build month This naming scheme makes it easy to identify outdated images and manage lifecycle.

​
Next Steps

Image Properties

Set hardware requirements and OS metadata on uploaded images.

Share Images

Share images with other projects in your organization.

Create a Snapshot

Capture running instances as golden images for cloning and backup.

Troubleshooting

Resolve upload failures, stuck images, and launch errors.