An image is a virtual machine template that contains software and necessary configurations, including the operating system, pre-installed public applications, user-specific private applications, and user business data. Images are classified into public images, private images, network device images, and advanced service images.

The Image Service provides simple and user-friendly self-service image management capabilities. Users can flexibly and conveniently apply for virtual machines using public images, private images, or shared images. Meanwhile, users can also create private images from existing virtual machines or external image files.