OS templates

_{Updated May 8, 2026} An OS template is the pre-built operating system image you select when creating a VM. The template determines what’s on the VM’s disk before any of your code or config runs — kernel, init system, package manager, base packages, default users. Two kinds of templates ship with the platform: Beyond these you can save your own VM as a Custom Image and reuse it like an OS template.

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OS templates available today (us-east)

All Linux templates ship with cloud-init already configured for Raff’s CONTEXT-disk pattern (SSH key + password injection at first boot). All Windows templates ship with cloudbase-init for the same.

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Ubuntu

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Debian

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RHEL family — AlmaLinux, Rocky Linux, CentOS Stream

Three RHEL-compatible distros covering the same surface — same dnf/rpm ecosystem, same SELinux defaults, same admin patterns. Pick whichever fits your shop’s preference.

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Fedora

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Alpine

Alpine is not glibc-compatible — some prebuilt binaries (Java, Node native modules, proprietary databases) don’t run without rebuilding for musl. Pick another distro if your stack expects glibc.

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Other Unix-like

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Windows Server

Datacenter vs Standard: Datacenter unlocks Storage Spaces Direct, Software-Defined Networking, and unlimited Hyper-V VM hosting — features most cloud-VM customers don’t need. Pick Standard unless you specifically need a Datacenter feature.

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Marketplace templates

Pre-installed apps on top of an OS image — usable straight after first boot once you fill in any credential fields the dialog asks for. Marketplace templates each ship a Get-Started Guides entry (linked from the VM detail page) that walks through first use.

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Custom Images

Beyond stock and marketplace, you can save any VM’s OS disk as a Custom Image for reuse. This is how you:

• Bake your own gold image with your packages / configs / certificates pre-installed
• Roll back to a known-good state by reinstalling from a snapshot-saved image
• Standardize a baseline across many VMs in your account

See Save VM disk as image for the API call. Custom Images appear under their own filter in the create-VM dialog’s template picker.

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Picking a template

A short decision flow: If you don’t have a strong preference, start with Ubuntu 24.04 LTS — broadest community support, recent kernel, current LTS through 2029.

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