Catalyst Cloud provides some pre-configured operating system images to make it easier for you to get started on the cloud.
Catalyst Cloud provides only recent and supported images through the web dashboard, out of maintenance images may still be available via API listings and can be used for new instances when launched from the API. We provide old images to ensure any automation you might have to create instances using the UUID of an image will continue to find that image. However we recommend you use the latest version of an image, and supported distribution versions where ever possible. If you must run an older release of a distribution, it may be possible to purchase extended support from the upstream provider.
When Catalyst Cloud updates a new version of a image, we add a suffix of the upload date to the previous image. The latest image has no suffix. For example, with Debian, the latest image for Debian 12 “Bookworm” is always debian-12-x86_64, but a previous published image might be debian-12-x86_64-20241217, but the UUID remains consistent even with the rename. This means that if you create a new instance using the same image UUID (29f38676-3adf-4fa1-b995-24bde9d11b4b for debian-12-x86_64-20241217), then you’ll get the same image.
The table below lists the images provided by Catalyst Cloud, as well as the default user name you should use to log in to each one of them (unless you have overwritten the default user name with cloud-init).
Operating system |
Image name prefix |
User name |
Licence/IP policy |
|---|---|---|---|
CentOS Linux |
centos-* |
centos |
|
CoreOS Linux |
coreos-* |
core |
|
Debian Linux |
debian-* |
debian |
|
Fedora CoreOS Linux |
fedora-coreos-* |
core |
|
Flatcar Container Linux |
flatcar-* |
core |
|
Rocky Linux |
rocky-* |
rocky |
|
openSUSE Leap Linux |
opensuse-leap-* |
opensuse |
|
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) |
suse-sles-* |
sles |
BYOS model |
Ubuntu Linux |
ubuntu-* |
ubuntu |
BYOS (Bring Your Own Subscription):
After launching a new instance from a suse-sles-* image you will have a running instance that is unable to receive any software updates. In order to keep your instance up to date you will need a SUSE registration code and you will have to follow the registration process as explained by the SUSE Public Cloud Guide; After which your instance will appear on the SUSE Customer Center.
Note
The orchestration service (Heat) changes the default user name on compute instances launched by it to “ec2”. This is done to preserve some level of compatibility with AWS CloudFormation.
Our standard policy is not to modify or customise cloud images provided by upstream Linux distributions. This gives you the assurance that you are running software exactly as provided by the software providers.
Before using the images provided by Catalyst Cloud, you should always confirm that they are suitable for your needs and fit for purpose. Catalyst Cloud provides them “as is”, without warranty of any kind. If there is something you need to change, you can always upload your own images, crafted the way you like, or take a snapshot of ours and modify it the way you need.
Note
In particular take note that the ubuntu-minimal-* images are not
compatible with the dashboard console as explained on Dashboard console and ubuntu-minimal-* images.
The images provided by Catalyst Cloud can be identified using the projectID
(94b566de52f9423fab80ceee8c0a4a23) that they are shared from. Using the
command line tools, you can easily locate our shared images by running:
openstack image list --long | grep 94b566de52f9423fab80ceee8c0a4a23
For a less verbose view, you can filter by column name.
openstack image list -c ID -c Name -c Project --long | grep 94b566de52f9423fab80ceee8c0a4a23
Operating system |
Image name prefix |
User-name |
Partner |
Licence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Windows |
windows-server-* |
admin |
Silicon Systems |
|
Windows |
sql-server-* |
admin |
Silicon Systems |
Note
SPUR: Services Provider Use Rights
SPLA: Services Provider License Agreement
With SPLA the Provider (here Silicon Systems) is the licensee.
Before using the images provided by our Partners, you should always confirm that they are suitable for your needs and fit for purpose. Catalyst Cloud provides them “as is”, without warranty of any kind.
The OpenStack upstream documentation provides detailed instructions on how to prepare all major operating systems to run in the cloud: https://docs.openstack.org/image-guide/create-images-manually.html
Another method for creating custom images is to use Packer. Packer is an open source tool developed by Hashicorp for creating machine images for multiple platforms from a single source configuration. We have made a tutorial entitled Using Packer to build custom bootable images on Catalyst Cloud that demonstrates how to use Packer.