How to create a virtual machine image

How-to · Updated Jun 2026

Coming from another cloud?

▸AWS·Amazon Machine Images (AMIs)

Amazon Machine Images (AMIs)high

Managed via EC2 APIs, not Glance.
Region-specific with cross-region copy.
Marketplace AMIs may charge hourly fees.
Includes block device mapping in AMI.

AWS docs ↗

▸Azure·Compute Gallery image definitions and versions

Azure Compute Gallery image definitions and versionshigh

Organized in galleries with image definitions and versioned images (Microsoft.Compute/galleries/images/versions), more structured than flat Glance images.
Supports global replication to regions with replicas (up to 100), ZRS storage, unlike OpenStack's store-only model.
Sharing via RBAC, community galleries, or direct share; requires gallery setup vs simple OpenStack image sharing.
New features like Trusted Launch only in Gallery, legacy managed images deprecated.

Azure docs ↗

▸DigitalOcean·Images (Distributions, 1-Click Apps, Snapshots, Backups, Custom Images)

Images (Distributions, 1-Click Apps, Snapshots, Backups, Custom Images)high

DigitalOcean classifies images into specific types (snapshots, backups, applications/1-Click, distributions, custom) rather than OpenStack Glance’s more generalized image model with visibility/properties/metadata.
Custom images are imported by providing a URL to a supported disk format (raw, qcow2, vhdx, vdi, vmdk) and have a documented max decompressed size (100 GB), which differs from typical OpenStack flows where images are uploaded directly to Glance and size limits are operator-defined.
DigitalOcean image operations are through /v2/images in their API, not Glance (and images also include DigitalOcean-specific fields like kind values base/snapshot/backup/custom/admin).
DigitalOcean's "applications" images (1-Click Apps/Marketplace style) are a first-class image type, whereas OpenStack commonly treats such preconfigured stacks as separate concerns (OpenTofu modules, Heat templates, app catalogs) rather than an image 'type'.

DigitalOcean docs ↗

▸Google Cloud·Machine Images (full VM state capture)

OS imageshigh

Public images shareable across projects (e.g. debian-cloud); OpenStack typically tenant-private.
Image families point to latest version; no OpenStack equivalent.
Custom images stored in Cloud Storage with licensing fees for premium OS.

Google Cloud docs ↗

▸Hetzner·Images

Imageshigh

Includes system images (OS), user images (snapshots/backups).
API /v1/images; create via server action create_image (type=snapshot/backup).
Billed per GB/month; backups cost 20% of server price.
No direct image upload; custom via ISO attach or rebuild.

Hetzner docs ↗

How to create a virtual machine image

Upload a custom OS image to your Quake AI project so you can use it to launch instances. Quake AI supports QCOW2, RAW, and ISO disk formats. Use QCOW2 for most use cases.

Prerequisites

ConsoleLogged in to the Quake AI console
CLIOpenStack CLI installed and authenticated (clouds.yaml or openrc sourced)
APIAPI token generated with $OS_TOKEN and service endpoint variables set

Windows: CLI examples use bash. Set up a Linux CLI environment on Windows before proceeding.

A Quake AI account with a project
For file uploads: the image file (.qcow2, .raw, or .iso) available on your local machine

Upload an image#

Go to Compute > Images > Create Image.
Provide a name for the image.
Choose how to supply the image file from the two source tabs at the top of the form:
- Upload File: select a file from your local machine. Quake AI sends the file directly to the image service.
- File URL: provide the URL of a publicly accessible image file. Quake AI fetches the file from the URL.
Set the Disk Format: QCOW2 for most images. Use RAW for direct disk copies, ISO for installation media.
Set Container Format to Bare (the only supported value; the API accepts the case-insensitive form and stores it as bare).
Set OS to your distribution. The dropdown lists eight families: CentOS, Ubuntu, Fedora, Debian, CoreOS, Arch, FreeBSD, Rocky. (AlmaLinux and Alpine images exist in the public catalog but the create-form dropdown does not list them; pick the closest family or use the CLI.)
Set OS Version to the distribution version (for example, 22.04 for Ubuntu).
Set OS Admin to the default login username for the distribution. The field is a free-text input and does not auto-populate from the OS dropdown. The form's helper text reads "In general, administrator for Windows, root for Linux, please fill by image uploading." Override the hint when the distribution uses a non-root default account (for example, set ubuntu for Ubuntu). Quake AI stores the value on the image as the os_admin_user property.
Set Enable QEMU Guest Agent to Yes if your image already contains the qemu-guest-agent package (recommended for production Linux images). Otherwise leave at the default No.
Optionally enter a Description for the image (free text).
Optionally expand Advanced Options to set minimums and tuning:
- Min System Disk (GiB) and Min Memory (GiB): refuse instance creation on flavors with less than these values.
- Protected: prevents accidental deletion. Clear the flag before you delete the image.
- Interface Multiqueue: enable multi-queue networking (default on). Leave at the default unless you have a specific tuning need.
- Disk Bus: the virtual disk bus for instances created from this image (default SCSI).
- SCSI Model: the SCSI HBA emulation (default VirtIO SCSI).
Select Confirm to create the image. New images are project-scoped (private) by default; making an image public requires the admin role and is reachable through the CLI (openstack image set --public).

Verify the image#

Go to Compute > Images. The image appears in the list with status Active when the upload is complete.

Image format notes#

Format	Use case
QCOW2	General purpose. Supports snapshots and compression. Recommended default.
RAW	Direct byte copy. Compatible with most tools, larger file size.
ISO	Installation media (CD/DVD image). Use for booting from ISO.

Quake AI supports x86 architecture images only. Use KVM-compatible images when sourcing from public repositories.

Usage Guidelines

The sample code, software libraries, command line tools, proofs of concept, templates, and other related technology on this page (including any of the foregoing that is provided by Quake AI personnel) is provided to you as Quake AI Content under the Quake AI Customer Agreement, or the relevant written agreement between you and Quake AI (whichever applies). Do not use this Quake AI Content in your production accounts, or on production or other critical data. You are responsible for testing, securing, and optimizing the Quake AI Content (such as sample code) as appropriate for production grade use based on your specific quality control practices and standards. Deploying Quake AI Content may incur Quake AI charges for creating or using Quake AI chargeable resources, such as running Compute instances or storing data in Object Storage. Your use is also subject to the Acceptable Use Policy.

For the full policy, see Usage Guidelines.

Last validated: 04.06.2026

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How to create a virtual machine image

How to create a virtual machine image

Upload an image#

Verify the image#

Image format notes#

See also#

Usage Guidelines

Quick answers

See Also