Images on IBM Cloud VPC are used to create instances. There are three types of images to choose from: stock images, custom images, and catalog images.
Stock images are pre-configured operating systems specifically designed for IBM Cloud VPC environments. They allow you to quickly and easily deploy virtual servers or bare metal servers with different architecture types. These images are regularly updated by IBM, but it is recommended to apply the latest fixes and packages from the vendor when provisioning an instance. IBM offers a variety of stock image options, including Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Windows Server, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, Debian, Ubuntu, Rocky Linux, CentOS Stream, and Fedora.
Custom images, on the other hand, are operating system images that have been customized by the customer with specific configurations. They can include additional software and are used to create virtual servers with personalized settings. Custom images can be created in two ways: by customizing an existing instance with a base stock image or by creating the image on-premises and importing it. Unlike stock images, the lifecycle of custom images is managed by the owner, who sets their status as available, deprecated, or obsolete.
Catalog images, also known as marketplace images, are custom images that you or an IBM partner can put into a private or public catalog. These images are available on virtual servers and can be shared within your enterprise using private catalogs. The lifecycle of catalog images is managed at the catalog level, with statuses such as available, deprecated, and obsolete.
To deploy an instance using a stock image, you can select the desired architecture type on the instance creation page and choose the stock image from the available options. For custom images, you can create them from an existing instance or import them from Cloud Object Storage (COS). Catalog images can be selected from the catalog images tab.
In summary, stock images are ideal for quick deployments, custom images allow for personalized configurations, and catalog images are useful for sharing images within your enterprise. For more information, you can refer to the IBM Cloud VPC documentation.
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