When you launch an instance from our cloud control panel, you'll see various boot source options. These images include several common Linux distributions labeled either "ISO" or "Cloud".
ISOs are official images provided by the respective Linux distros. Cloud images are essentially templates with additional packages and tweaks to optimize them for our OpenStack cloud environment. All of our cloud images have cloud-init included and preconfigured.
Install Method
ISO
Traditional install. Requires selection of operating system options which allows for full customization.
Best for:
- • Custom partitioning schemes
- • Specific OS configuration
- • Manual setup preferences
- • Testing OS installers
Cloud Image
Instant install. The instance boots with the operating system installed. Customization possible with cloud-init user data.
Best for:
- • Quick deployments
- • Automated provisioning
- • Cloud-init automation
- • Production environments
When to Use Each
Use Cloud Images When:
- You want to deploy quickly (boot in seconds)
- You're using infrastructure-as-code tools (Terraform, Ansible)
- You want to automate instance configuration with cloud-init
- You need consistent, repeatable deployments
- You're deploying production workloads
Use ISO Images When:
- You need complete control over the installation process
- You require custom disk partitioning
- You're installing an operating system not available as a cloud image
- You want to manually configure everything from scratch
- You're testing different OS versions or configurations
💡 Recommended Approach
For most users, Cloud Images are the recommended choice. They're faster to deploy, easier to automate, and optimized for cloud environments. Use ISOs only when you have specific requirements that demand manual installation.