How to create a system disk from an image
A system disk contains a pre-installed operating system and can serve as the boot disk of a VM. This guide explains how to create one from the Hikube console, from a catalog image or from your own image.
Prerequisites
- A project with sufficient storage quota
- For a custom image: a public HTTPS URL to an ISO or QCOW2 file
Steps
1. Open the wizard
Open Infrastructure → Disks and click Create a disk. At the General step, enter the Disk Name.
2. Choose the source
At the Source step, select System Disk. The OS Image / Source selector is displayed:
- Catalog image: choose the operating system, then its Version;
- Custom image: click Custom Image and fill in the Image URL (ISO/QCOW2). The URL must point to a raw or compressed file recognized by the system.
URL validation rules:
| Rule | Console message |
|---|---|
| URL required | "URL is required" |
| HTTPS only | "URL must use the HTTPS protocol" |
| No private or local address | "Private or local IP addresses are not allowed" |
3. Configure size and security
At the Configuration step:
- Size (GB): at least 20 GB, and at least 50 GB for a Windows image (the console adjusts the value automatically);
- Replication Type: Asynchronous Replication (Recommended) or Synchronous Replication;
- Disk Encryption: enable it if needed.
4. Review and create
At the Summary step, the Source & Content section shows System Disk and the chosen image (Cloud Image: … or Custom image (ISO/QCOW2) with the URL). The Estimated Cost includes the license for a Windows image. Click Create disk.
5. Follow the download
After creation, the disk goes through the Downloading status: the platform imports the image and the disk page shows the progress as a percentage. The disk then switches to Ready.
The disk page shows the source image in the Source section.
Use the system disk
To boot a VM from this disk, select Existing on the System Disk (Boot) at the Storage step of the VM creation wizard (see Attach a disk to a VM).
Custom image (ISO) is only available when creating a disk.
Verification
- The disk has the Ready status.
- Its page shows the source image (Source system image) in the Source section.