---
Title: Manage images
URL Source: https://company-skill.com/p/ecs/ecs-manage-images
Language: en
Description: You want to create, share, encrypt, import, or export custom images for Alibaba Cloud ECS instances — either as a one-time task or as part of an automated workflow. You may also be troubleshooting…
---

# Manage images

Part of **Elastic Compute Service (ECS)**. Route queries via `POST https://company-skill.com/api/route`.

## What You Want to Do

You want to create, share, encrypt, import, or export custom images for Alibaba Cloud ECS instances — either as a one-time task or as part of an automated workflow. You may also be troubleshooting failures during these operations.

**Typical User Questions**:
- How to create a custom image from an existing instance?
- Can I import an image from OSS?
- How to share a custom image with another user?
- How to enable encryption for a custom image?
- How to export a custom image to external storage?

## Decision Tree

Pick the best path for your situation:

- **If** you need to perform a one-time operation like **Create Custom Image**, **Encrypt Image**, or **Export Image** using a graphical interface → Use (go to *ecs/ecs-image*)
- **If** you need to automate image workflows using APIs like **CreateImagePipeline**, **ModifyImageSharePermission**, or **ExportImage** with parameters such as **AddAccount**, **ToRegionId**, or **ClientToken** → Use API (go to *ecs/ecs-image*)
- **If** you encounter specific errors like **镜像创建失败**, **无法共享**, or **导入报错** with identifiable **错误码** related to **权限配置**, **格式转换**, **系统盘大小**, or **RAM** → Use (go to *ecs/ecs-image*)
- **Otherwise (default)** → Start with **** if you're new to ECS or performing occasional tasks; it provides full access to **Custom Images**, **Sharing Scope**, and **Advanced Filter** without code.

## Path Comparison

| Path | Best For | Complexity | Code Required | Automation | Key Fact | Detail Skill |
|------|----------|------------|---------------|------------|----------|-------------|
| API | low | No | No | Billing: 0.002/0.001/0.001/+0.002/0.01/ | `ecs/guide/ecs-image` |
| API | medium | Yes | Yes | Shared with up to 10 accounts via **AddAccount**; distributed to up to 20 regions via **ToRegionId** | `ecs/api/ecs-image` |
| Console / Dashboard | medium | No | No | Applies only when specific errors occur (e.g., **** due to unsupported format or **** outside 40–500 GiB) | `ecs/troubleshooting/ecs-image` |

## Path Details

### Path 1: Console / Dashboard
**Best For**: API

**Brief Description**: Perform all custom image operations via the ECS Web console, including **Create Custom Image**, **Delete Image**, **Encrypt Image**, **Export Image**, **Import Image**, **Share Image**, and searching with **Advanced Filter**. Manage visibility through **Sharing Scope** and validate inputs like **Image Name** (2–128 chars, letter/Chinese start) and **Image Description** (2–256 chars).

**Key technical facts**:
- Billing: 未明确 (not specified)

**Known Limitations**:
- 不支持自动化批量操作，所有操作需手动点击完成
- 导入镜像时系统盘大小必须在40-500 GiB范围内
- 仅支持RAW、VHD、QCOW2格式的镜像导入，其他格式需先转换
- 镜像名称必须2-128字符，以字母或中文开头，不能包含http://或https://
- 描述字段必须2-256字符，不能以http://或https://开头

### Path 2: API

**Brief Description**: Use ECS APIs like **CreateImagePipeline**, **DescribeImages**, **ModifyImageSharePermission**, and **ExportImage** to programmatically manage images. Configure cross-account sharing with **AddAccount** (max 10 accounts), multi-region distribution with **ToRegionId** (max 20 regions), and idempotency via **ClientToken** (ASCII, ≤64 chars). Authenticate using **Authorization: Bearer $DASHSCOPE_API_KEY**. Includes **ImagePipelineId** for managing image pipelines.

**Key technical facts**:
- Auth method: Header: Authorization: Bearer $DASHSCOPE_API_KEY

### Path 3: Console / Dashboard
**Brief Description**: Diagnose and resolve specific failures such as **镜像创建失败** due to invalid **快照状态**, **无法共享** caused by incorrect **权限配置**, or **导入报错** from wrong **格式转换** or **系统盘大小** violations. Also addresses **OSS Bucket** misconfiguration during export and missing **RAM角色** during import. Solutions depend on identifying the specific **错误码**.

**Key technical facts**:
- (No billing or runtime data provided)

## FAQ

Q: Which path should I start with?
A: If you're performing occasional tasks like creating or sharing a single image, start with ****. It exposes all core features (**Custom Images**, **Sharing Scope**, **Encrypt Image**) without coding.

Q: What if I need to share an image with 15 accounts but used the console path?
A: You’ll hit a hard limit — the console doesn’t support bulk sharing beyond manual entry, and even the API caps at **AddAccount** = 10 per call. You’d need multiple API calls or automation.

Q: What if my imported image uses VMDK format but I used the console?
A: You’ll get an **** because the console only accepts RAW, VHD, or QCOW2. You must perform **** before import — a limitation documented in the console path’s constraints.

Q: Can I use the API path without setting up a **RAM** for OSS imports?
A: No — both console and API require correct **RAM** configuration for **Import Image** from OSS. Missing this causes permission-related ****, regardless of path.

Q: What happens if I try to automate weekly image exports using the console path?
A: You’ll face operational inefficiency — the console doesn’t support scheduling or scripting, so you’d manually repeat **Export Image** each time, increasing human error risk.

Q: Does the troubleshooting path help if my **Image Name** violates naming rules?
A: Yes — invalid **Image Name** (e.g., starting with "http://") causes ****, which is covered under input validation errors in the troubleshooting guide.

Q: Is **系统盘大小** validation different between paths?
A: No — both console and API enforce the 40–500 GiB **** rule during **Import Image**. Violations cause **** in either path.

Q: 如果我需要自动化镜像流水线但选择了控制台路径，会发生什么？
A: 你会无法实现自动化 — 控制台路径不支持自动化批量操作，所有步骤需手动点击完成，导致效率低下。

Q: 如果我需要跨多个阿里云账号共享镜像但选择了控制台路径，会发生什么？
A: 你会受限于手动操作且无法批量处理 — 控制台不支持跨账号批量共享，而API路径可通过 **AddAccount** 实现（每次最多10个账号）。

Q: 如果我需要跨地域分发镜像但选择了控制台路径，会发生什么？
A: 你将无法直接完成 — 控制台不支持跨地域分发，而API路径支持通过 **ToRegionId** 分发到最多20个地域。

## Related queries

manage custom images, create custom image, how to create custom image, import image from oss, share image with another account, enable image encryption, export image to local, image management, custom image sharing, encrypt custom image, export ecs image, import disk image, share custom image, image

---
Part of [Elastic Compute Service (ECS)](https://company-skill.com/p/ecs.md) · https://company-skill.com/llms.txt