Import a custom image

Importing turns a disk image from another cloud or your own servers into a saved image on E2E. Once it is ready, you launch nodes from it the same way as from any image you saved here. The image travels through E2E Object Storage: you upload the file to a bucket, then point the import at it.

Before you begin

You need:

• The image file, in qcow2, qed, raw, vdi, or vhd format. The disk inside it has a single boot partition and is no larger than 2,048 GB (2 TB). The partition can use any filesystem, as long as it boots cleanly from the MBR bootloader. You can compress the file with gzip or tar to cut the upload size and the import time.
• A source operating system E2E has tested imports with: CentOS or RHEL 7 or later, Debian 8 or later, Ubuntu 14.04 or later, or Rocky Linux or AlmaLinux 8 or later. Other systems can be imported too, but may need extra setup.
• The OpenNebula context package installed and turned on in the source machine before you made the image, with cloud-init turned off. On a node’s first boot, this package sets up its network, password, hostname, and SSH keys. Without it, a node launched from the image boots but cannot be reached. The commands for each operating system are in Install the OpenNebula context package.
• An E2E Object Storage bucket to hold the file. See Create a bucket to make one.
• For the private-bucket method only, an access key attached to that bucket. Any role can read the file: Bucket Reader, Bucket Writer, or Bucket Admin. See Generate an access key.

Importing is free. You pay for the storage the imported image uses. E2E stores imported images in its own format, so the image can take up to five times the size of the file you uploaded. Rates are on the pricing page, and for sizing questions you can write to cloud-platform@e2enetworks.com.

Choose how E2E reads the file

The import dialog has two tabs, one for each way E2E can reach the file:

• Public URL reads the file from its address in Object Storage, with no key. It works in Delhi and Chennai. For that, the bucket must let anyone download its files until the image reads Ready. The file can be up to 1 TB, or 5 TB if your account is allowed to import Windows images.
• Private EOS Bucket reads the file with an access key, so the bucket stays private. E2E uses the keys once, to fetch the file, and does not store them. This tab is offered in Delhi.

In Delhi, use Private EOS Bucket: the file stays private. In Chennai, use Public URL.

The image is imported into the region you are working in, the one selected at the top of MyAccount. Switch region first if you need the image somewhere else.

Upload the file

Upload the image file to your bucket from the Object Storage dashboard or with a command-line tool such as mc; see Upload and download objects and Connect with the mc client.

Note the file’s path inside the bucket, such as images/web-base.qcow2. You need it in the next part.

Import from a private bucket

1. On the Nodes page in MyAccount, click Saved Images. The Manage Saved Images page opens.
2. Click Import Custom Images, then open the Private EOS Bucket tab.
3. In Custom Image Name, name the image: 3 to 64 characters, using letters, digits, underscores, and hyphens.
4. In Bucket Name, enter the bucket that holds the file. In Object Path, enter the file’s path inside the bucket, such as images/web-base.qcow2. Use a path without spaces.
5. In Type of OS, choose what the image holds, Linux or Windows. For a Windows image, also choose the Boot Mode the source machine used, BIOS or UEFI. To import Windows images, your account needs to be set up for it; if Windows is missing from the list, ask support.
6. Enter the Access Key and Secret Key of the key attached to the bucket.
7. Check I understand and want to import custom image. and click Import.

Import from a public URL

Download is a setting for the whole bucket: while it is on, anyone who has an address in the bucket can download that file, not only E2E. Keep the image in a bucket that holds nothing else. If the image itself holds anything you would not publish, such as passwords, keys, or customer data, use the private-bucket method in Delhi, or keep Download on only until the image reads Ready.

1. Open the bucket’s Permissions tab and click Public Access Config. In Public Access Settings, check Download and click Save Permission. See Make a bucket public for what each setting opens up.

2. Put together the file’s address from the region’s endpoint, the bucket name, and the file’s path. In Delhi it looks like this:

   https://objectstore.e2enetworks.net/<bucket-name>/<file-path>

   In Chennai, use in-south1-objectstore.e2enetworks.net in place of objectstore.e2enetworks.net. Replace <bucket-name> with your bucket and <file-path> with the file’s path inside it, such as images/web-base.qcow2.

3. On the Nodes page, click Saved Images, then Import Custom Images. The dialog opens on the Public URL tab.

4. Paste the address into Public URL.

5. In Custom Image Name, name the image: 3 to 64 characters, using letters, digits, underscores, and hyphens.

6. In Type of OS, choose Linux or Windows. For Windows, also choose the Boot Mode the source machine used, BIOS or UEFI.

7. Check I understand and want to import custom image. and click Import.

If E2E cannot open the file at that address, the Public URL field shows Invalid Public Url. Check the address, and that Download is on for the bucket. An address that is not in E2E Object Storage shows The URL must belong to E2E Object Storage.

Check that the image is ready

The dialog closes, and the image can take a few moments to appear in the list. The import runs in the background, and a large file takes longer. E2E adds a number to the name you gave, so an image you named web-base shows up as something like web-base_I-48213377. A Linux image shows Linux in the OS column, whichever distribution it holds.

You get an email when the image is ready, and its State reads Ready. If the import fails, you get an Image import failed notification with the image’s name: check the file against Before you begin and import it again. If an import never finishes, E2E opens a support ticket for you after a few retries; to follow up yourself, contact support with the image’s name and the time you started the import.

To confirm the image works, open its Actions menu, click Create Node, and launch a node from it. When the node is Running, connect to it over SSH, or over Remote Desktop for Windows. If the node runs but you cannot reach it, the context package is the usual cause; see Troubleshooting image import and export.

(Optional) Clean up the uploaded file

Once the image reads Ready, E2E holds its own copy, and the file in your bucket is no longer needed. If you turned on Download for the import, turn it off again in Public Access Config. You can also delete the file to stop paying for its storage in the bucket.

To take a copy back out of E2E, or to move the image to the other region, see Export an image to Object Storage.