Data is stored in blocks of equal sizes in the IONOS cloud known as Block Storage. It provides endless possibilities to store large amounts of data. It ensures the safety of resource planning systems and offers prompt and instant access to the necessary quantity of data.

Prerequisites

Make sure you have the appropriate privileges. Only contract owners, administrators, or users with the Create Data Center privilege can set up a Virtual Data Center (VDC). Other user types have read-only access and cannot provision changes.

Recommended How-Tos

Block Storage is a type of IT architecture in which data is stored as a file system. It provides endless possibilities for storing large amounts of information. It guarantees the safety of resource planning systems and provides instant access to the required amount of data without delay.

IONOS provides you with several ready-made public images that you can use immediately. You can also use your own images by uploading them via our FTP access. For more information, see Private Images. Your IONOS account supports many types of HDD images as well as ISO images from which you can install an operating system or software directly, using an emulated CD-ROM drive.

Storage types and options

The virtual storage devices you create in the DCD are provisioned and hosted in one of the IONOS physical data centers. Virtual storage devices are used in the same way as physical storage devices and can be configured and managed within the server's operating system.

A virtual storage device is equivalent to an iSCSI block device and behaves exactly like direct-attached storage. IONOS block storage is managed independently of servers. It is therefore easily scalable. You can assign a hard disk image to each storage device via DCD (or API). You can use one of the IONOS images, your own image, or a snapshot created with DCD (or API). You have a choice of hard disk drive (HDD) and solid-state drive (SSD) storage technologies while SSD is available in two different performance classes. For more information about setting up the storage, see Set Up Storage.

Up to 24 storage volumes can be connected to a Dedicated Core Server or a Cloud Cube (while the Cloud Cube already has one virtual storage device attached per default). You can use any mix of volume types if necessary.

IONOS Cloud provides HDD and SSD block storage in a double-redundant setup. Each virtual storage volume is replicated four times and stored on distributed physical devices within the selected data center location.

HDD storage

The following performance and configuration limits apply per HDD volume. The performance of HDD storage is static and independent of its volume size.

HDD storage performance

• Read/write speed, sequential: 200 Mb/s at 1 MB block size

• Read/write speed, full random:

  • Regular: 1,100 IOPS at 4 kB block size

  • Burst: 2,500 IOPS at 4 kB block size

HDD storage limits

• Minimum Size per Volume: 1 GB

• Maximum Size per Volume: 4 TB

Larger volumes can be made available on request. For more information, please contact IONOS Cloud Support.

SSD storage

SSD storage volumes are available in two performance classes - SSD Premium and SSD Standard. The performance of SSD storage depends on the volume size. Please find the respective performance and configuration limits listed below.

SSD storage performance

The performance of SSD storage is directly related to the volume size. To get the full benefits of high-speed SSDs, we recommend that you book SSD storage units of at least 100 GB. You can use smaller volumes for your VDC, but performance will be suboptimal, compared to that of the larger units. When storage units are configured in DCD, expected performance is predicted based on the volume size (Inspector > Settings). For storage volumes of more than 600 GB the performance is capped at the maximum as specified in the documentation above.

Availability Zones

Secure your data, enhance reliability, and set up high-availability scenarios by deploying your Dedicated Core Servers and storage devices across multiple Availability Zones.

Assigning different Availability Zones ensures that redundant modules reside on separate physical resources at IONOS. For example, a server or a storage device assigned to Availability Zone 1 resides on a different resource than a server or storage device assigned to Availability Zone 2.

For HDD and SSD Storage, you have the following Availability Zone options:

• Zone 1

• Zone 2

• Zone 3

• A - Auto (default; the system automatically assigns an Availability Zone upon provisioning)

Authentication

The first time you create a storage unit based on a public image, you must select at least one authentication method. Without authentication, the image on the storage unit cannot be provisioned. The authentication methods available depend on the IONOS operating system image you select.

Authentication methods depend on the operating system.

We recommend using both SSH and a password with IONOS Linux images. This will allow you to log in with the Remote Console. It is not possible to provision a storage unit with a Linux image without specifying a password or an SSH key.

Passwords: Provisioning a storage device with a Windows image is not possible without specifying a password. It must be between 8 and 50 characters long and may only consist of numbers (0 - 9) and letters (a-z, A - Z). For IONOS Linux images, you can specify a password along with SSH keys, so that you can also log in without the SSH, such as with the Remote Console. The password is set as the root or administrator password with corresponding permissions.

SSH (Secure Shell): To use SSH, you must have an SSH key pair consisting of public and private keys. The private key is installed on the client (the computer you use to access the server), and the public key is installed on the (virtual) instance (the server you wish to access). The IONOS SSH feature requires that you have a valid SSH public/private key pair and that the private key is installed as appropriate for your local operating system.

If you set an invalid or incorrect SSH key, it must be corrected on the side of the virtual machine.

Limitations

IONOS is focused on ensuring the uninterrupted and cost-efficient operation of your services. This is why we offer a selection of tested operating systems for immediate use in your virtual cloud instances. To ensure uninterrupted, secure, and stable performance, all operating systems, regardless of their source, should meet the following requirements:

• VirtIO drivers are essential for the operation of virtual network cards.

• The following are the recommended drivers for the operation of virtual storage:

  • VirtIO (maximum performance)

  • IDE (for vStorage, an alternative connection by IDE is available, but it will not deliver the potential performance offered by IONOS).

  • QXL drivers are required to use the Remote Console.

• We guarantee operation for the selected operating system as long as vendor or upstream support is available.

• In general, all current Linux distributions and their derivatives are supported.

• Microsoft Windows Server versions are also supported as long as vendor support is available.

The older an OS version, the greater the risk of performance and stability losses. It is recommended that you always switch to the current versions well before the manufacturer's support for your old version expires. This will greatly improve your operating system's security and functionality.

When operating software appliances, it is recommended that you use the images that have been specially prepared for the KVM hypervisor.

If you are using special software appliances or operating systems that are not listed here, please contact IONOS Cloud Support. We would be happy to explore the possibility of using such systems within the IONOS Enterprise Cloud and advise you on the best possible implementation.

Overview

VirtIO provides an efficient abstraction for hypervisors and a common set of IO virtualization drivers. It was chosen to be the main platform for IO virtualization in KVM. Currently, the following four drivers are available:

• Balloon - The balloon driver affects the memory management of the guest OS.

• VIOSERIAL - The serial driver affects single serial device limitation within KVM.

• NetKVM - The network driver affects Ethernet network adapters.

• VIOSTOR - The block driver affects SCSI-based controllers.

Windows-based systems require VirtIO drivers primarily to recognize the VirtIO (SCSI) controller and network adapter presented by the IONOS KVM-based hypervisor. This can be accomplished in a variety of ways depending on the state of the virtual machine.

IONOS provides pre-configured Windows Server images that already contain the required VirtIO drivers and the optimal network adapter configuration. Additionally, a VirtIO ISO to simplify the driver installation process for Windows 2008 R2, Windows 2012 & Windows 2012 R2 systems is also available. This ISO can be found in the CD-ROM drop-down menu under IONOS Images which can be used for new Windows installations (only required for customer-provided images), as well as Windows images that have been migrated from other environments. Example: via VMDK upload.

Install Windows VirtIO drivers

To install Windows VirtIO drivers, follow these steps:

1. Add a CD-ROM drive.

2. Log in to the DCD with your username and password, and follow these instructions: a. In the Workspace, select the required server. b. In the Inspector pane, select the Storage tab. c. Click CD-ROM to add a CD-ROM drive. d. In the dialog box, enter the following:

   • Choose an IONOS Image with drivers (windows-VirtIO-driver-<version>.iso).

   • Select the Boot from Device checkbox.

   • Confirm your action by clicking Create CD-ROM Drive.

   e. Provision your changes. f. Connect to the server using the Remote Console. The installation menu opens. g. Follow the options provided by the installation menu. h. Remove the CD-ROM drive as soon as the menu asks you to do so, and shut down the VM. i. In the DCD, specify from which storage to boot. j. Restart the server using the DCD. k. Provision your changes. l. Connect to the server again using the Remote Console to make further changes.

3. Set optimal values: For an optimal configuration, apply the following settings:

   • MTU:

     • Internal network interface: 1500 MTU

     • External network interface: 1500 MTU

   • Offloading for Receive (RX) and Transmit (TX):

     • Offload Tx IP checksum: Enabled

     • Offload Tx LSO: Enabled

     • Offload Tx TCP checksum: Enabled

     • Fix IP checksum on LSO: Enabled

     • Hardware checksum: Enabled

4. Disable TCP Offloading/Chimney:

   • Default: netsh int tcp set global chimney=disabled

   • Everything:

   Copy

   rss=disabled
   chimney=disabled
   congestionprovider=none
   netdma=disabled dca=disabled
   ecncapability=disabled
   timestamps=enabled

   • Alternatively, modify the Windows registry:

   Copy

   [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters]
   "EnableTCPA"=dword:00000000
   "EnableRSS"=dword:00000000
   "EnableTCPChimney"=dword:00000000

1. Set correct values for any network adapter automatically by executing the Get-NetAdapter command via PowerShell. The following output is displayed: a. In the Name field, use the output value instead of Ethernet. b. Create a new file from the File > New menu in the PowerShell ISE. c. Copy and paste the following code and remember to update $name ="Ethernet" appropriately:

   Copy

   Clear-Host
   $name ="Ethernet"
   Set-NetAdapterAdvancedProperty-name $name -RegistryKeyword "MTU" -Registryvalue 1500
   Set-NetAdapterAdvancedProperty -name $name -RegistryKeyword "*rss" -Registryvalue 0
   Set-NetAdapterAdvancedProperty -name $name -RegistryKeyword"*TCPChecksumOffloadIPv4" -Registryvalue 0
   Set-NetAdapterAdvancedProperty -name $name -RegistryKeyword "*UDPChecksumOffloadIPv4" -Registryvalue 0
   netsh interface tcp set global chimney=disabled
   netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=normal
   netsh interface tcp set global netdma=disabled
   netsh interface tcp set global dca=disabled
   netsh interface tcp set global ecncapability=disabled
   netsh interface tcp set global timestamps=enabled
   Get-NetAdapterAdvancedProperty
   netsh int tcp show global

   d. Click File > Execute. e. Verify the settings. f. Restart the VM.

6. Activate TCP/IP auto-tuning. It ensures optimal data transfer between the client and the server by monitoring network traffic and automatically adjusting the Receive Window Size. You must permanently activate the option for optimal performance.

• Execute the netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=normal command to activate TCP/IP auto-tuning.

• Execute the netsh interface tcp show global command to check the current setting.

IONOS provides a variety of operating system block storage images and different versions of it that are ready to be used on any block storage type.

All images get updated frequently to include the latest updates, patches, and security fixes. IONOS will not inform about image updates separately. Once a new patch or update is provided, a new image is built and provided while the previous version is removed from the software catalog. The currently available version number is displayed in the image name that you can retrieve from the image selection within the block storage selection.

For more information about using public images for your Block Storage, see Set Up a Block Storage.

Available operating system images

The following list provides an overview of the operating systems and their corresponding distributions supplied by IONOS.

Open Source Linux

• Alma Linux

• CentOS Linux (deprecation announced for June, 30th 2024)

• Debian Linux

• Rocky Linux

• Ubuntu Linux

Enterprise Linux

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux. For more information, see Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

Microsoft Server

• Microsoft Windows Server

With IONOS Cloud Block Storage, you can quickly provision Dedicated Core Servers, vCPU Servers, Cloud Cubes, and other Infrastructure-as-a-Service IaaS offerings. Refer to our user guides and FAQs to support your hosting needs.

Block Storage also supports images and snapshots. Images are further classifed into public and private images. IONOS contains a collection of different types of public images that can be instantly used or you can also upload your private images via the File Transfer Protocol (FTP). You can also create snapshots of provisioned block storages and in turn use it for storage purposes.

Product Overview

Get an overview of Block Storage, supported storage types, and images and snapshots.

Recommended How-To's

Get started with Block Storage via the DCD.

Developer Tools

Get started with Block Storage via the tools.

Frequently Asked Questions

Only contract owners, administrators, and users with valid access rights can view, use, or edit resources in a VDC. These access rights are assigned to groups and are inherited by group members.

Set access rights and ownership

A resource creator, by default, is the owner of the resource and can specify access rights to it. The Security tab of the respective resource displays its ownership details. The following table displays the access rights necessary to access and use a resource:

Set restrictions using 2-factor authentication

In addition to enabling access to a resource, you can also activate the 2-factor authentication for your data centers and snapshots. Only users authorized with the 2-factor authentication can access the data centers and snapshots and unauthorized users cannot view or access the resources, even if they belong to an authorized group.

Depending on their role, users can set access rights at the resource level and via the User Manager.

Manage access rights at the resource level

To manage access rights at the resource level, follow these steps:

1. Log in to the DCD with your username and password.

2. Open the data center:

   • Images: Menu > Resource Manager > Image Manager > Image.

   • Snapshots: Menu > Resource Manager > Image Manager > Snapshot.

   • IP addresses: Menu > Resource Manager > IP Manager.

   • Kubernetes Cluster: Menu > Resource Manager > Kubernetes Manager.

3. Select the required resource in the Resources tab.

4. Select Security > Visible to Groups.

5. From the + Add Group drop-down list, select the required groups to enable access.

6. Select Read to allow users to see and use the resource. However, they cannot modify the respective resource.

7. (Optional) Select further permissions (Edit, Share). You may only share those permissions that you have.

Set access rights via the User Manager

Contract owners and administrators can set the access rights and also limit who else can access a resource by defining its permissions in the User Manager.

To set access rights via the User Manager, follow these steps:

1. Log in to the DCD with your username and password.

2. Go to the Menu > Management > Users & Groups.

3. Select the required resource in the Resources tab.

4. Select the Visible to Groups tab.

5. From the + Add Group list, add the required groups to enable access.

6. (Optional) Select Edit to enable write access or Share to enable resource sharing.

Assigning resources to a group

To assign resources to a group, follow these steps:

1. Log in to the DCD with your username and password.

2. Go to the Menu > Management > Users & Groups.

3. Select the required group in the Groups tab.

4. Select the Resources of Group tab.

5. Select the required resource by clicking on + Grant Access. This enables read access to the selected resource.

6. (Optional) Select Edit to enable write access or Share to enable resource sharing.

For more information about creating and managing the groups, see Manage User Access.

Storage space is added to your Virtual Machine (VM) by using storage elements in your Virtual Data Center (VDC). Storage name, availability zone, size, OS image, and boot options are configurable for each element.

Add Storage to a Server or a Cube

1. Drag a storage element (HDD or SSD) from the Palette onto a Server or a Cube in the Workspace to connect them together. The highlighted VM will expand with a storage section.

2. Click the Unnamed HDD Storage to highlight the storage section. You can now see new options in the Inspector on the right.

Configure Storage

1. Enter a name that is unique within your VDC.

2. Select a zone in which you want the storage device to be maintained. When you select A (Auto), the system assigns the optimal Zone. The Availability Zone cannot be changed after provisioning.

3. Specify the required storage capacity. The size can be increased after provisioning, even while the server is running, as long as this is supported by its operating system. It is not possible to reduce the storage size after provisioning.

You can select one of the IONOS images or snapshots, or use your own. Only images and snapshots that you have access to are available for selection. Since provisioning does not require you to specify an image, you can also create empty storage volumes.

Authentication

1. Set the root or administrator password for your server according to the guidelines. This is recommended for both operating system types

2. Select an SSH key stored in the SSH Key Manager.

3. Copy and paste the public part of your SSH key into this field.

4. Select the storage volume from which the server is to boot by clicking on BOOT or Make Boot Device.

Alternative Mode

• When adding a storage element using the Inspector, select the appropriate check box in the Add Storage dialog box. If you wish to boot from the network, set this on the server: Server in the Workspace > Inspector > Storage.

• It is recommended to always use VirtIO to benefit from the full performance of InfiniBand. IDE is intended for troubleshooting if, for instance, the operating system has no VirtIO drivers installed. In this case, Windows usually displays a "blue screen" when booting.

• After provisioning, the Live Vertical Scaling properties of the selected image are displayed. You can make changes to these properties later, which will require a reboot. You can set the properties of your uploaded images before you apply them to storage volumes in the Image Manager.

• (Optional) Add and configure further storage elements.

• (Optional) Make further changes to your data center.

• Provision your changes.

Add a CD-ROM drive

To assign an image and specify a boot device, you need to add and configure a storage element.

• Click on CD-ROM to add a CD-ROM drive so that you can use ISO images to install and configure an operating system from scratch.

• Set up a network by connecting the server to other elements, such as an internet access element or other servers through their NICs.

• Provision your changes.

Delete Storage

When you no longer need snapshots or images, you should remove them from your cloud infrastructure to avoid unnecessary costs. For backup purposes, you can create a snapshot before deleting it.

1. In the Workspace, select the storage device you wish to delete.

2. Open the context menu of the element and select Delete.

3. (Optional) Select the element and press the DEL key.

4. Provision your changes.

IONOS offers a wide range of readily available public images that you can use instantly. In addition, you can also use your private images by uploading them into the IONOS Cloud infrastructure via the File Transfer Protocol (FTP). Your IONOS account supports numerous block storage and ISO image types using an emulated CD-ROM drive, from which you can install an operating system or software directly.

Furthermore, you can create snapshots of provisioned block storage. Each snapshot is a separate instance, representing the state of the source block storage device while capturing the snapshot.

For Linux images, IONOS supports Cloud-Init to automate software package installations and instance configurations.

Recommended How-Tos

Get started with images and snapshots via the DCD.

IONOS is a certified partner of Red Hat and is entitled to offer and operate Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) within the IONOS public cloud.

Compatible versions

Currently, the entitlement is valid for RHEL 8 and RHEL 9 public images that IONOS provides.

Red Hat subscription

Currently, IONOS does not provide any Bring-Your-Own-Subscription (BYOS) option for subscription-based operating systems like Red Hat Enterprise Linux. You still need an IONOS subscription if you want to use your images. IONOS will charge you each time a boots from the private RHEL image. For more information about the charges, see .

Please ensure not to subscribe to or unsubscribe from sources of third-party subscription services to avoid duplicate charges for your Red Hat deployment. The subscription fee also includes access to the IONOS Red Hat Update Infrastructure (RHUI) instance.

IONOS Red Hat Update Infrastructure (RHUI)

IONOS operates its own instance of a Red Hat Update Infrastructure (RHUI). It is accessible by all public IONOS IP addresses. IONOS public RHEL images are preconfigured to access the IONOS RHUI setup as long as the VM has access to the internet.

With the entitlement, RHUI enables IONOS to provide the following services to end-users with an RHEL deployment:

• Mirror repositories hosted by Red Hat.

• Provide repositories with custom content supplied by IONOS.

• Publish content to VMs running RHEL workloads.

Select an RHEL image

Access internet

• that is connected to a public LAN. The network interface has a public IP address. If you have a firewall configured, you may need to allow access to the subscription endpoint and service port.

• that is connected to a private LAN containing other VMs that could act as a proxy to the public internet. Connectivity must be configured manually via the routing settings within the VM.

Access information for the IONOS RHUI service

Overview

are images generated from any block storage that have already been provisioned. You can use snapshots on any block storage type, regardless of the storage type from which the snapshot was created.

You can also use snapshots for other storages. This feature is useful, for example, if you want to quickly roll out multiple with the same or similar configuration or when you need a recovery point.

You can create snapshots from provisioned and storages, regardless of the underlying storage type (HDD or SSD). After creation, a snapshot utilizes the complete HDD storage space assigned to your IONOS account. Therefore, ensure that you have enough HDD quotas available before you create a snapshot.

A snapshot covers the entire capacity of the block storage device. It will also contain the volume part with no data written to it. For example, if you have a block storage with a volume of 100GiB containing 10GiB of data written to it and the remaining volume is empty, the snapshot will still be for the entire 100GiB volume. Consequently, a new block storage volume must at least be the same size as the snapshot. If the new block storage volume is large, you may need to extend the partition manually after booting the s and mounting the respective volume to the VM.

Snapshots are not incremental. Each snapshot is a separate instance representing the state of the source block storage device during the snapshot creation.

Snapshots can be shared with groups so that the users in that specific group can receive access to the snapshot. However, snapshots are limited to use only at the data center location where they were originally created. They can be utilized in several as long as they operate at the exact data center location as the snapshot creation.

Snapshots have no usage quota and can be used as often as you want. Furthermore, snapshots do not have a retention period; hence, they are not deleted automatically.

Prerequisite

Only contract administrators, owners, and users with the Create Snapshot permission can create a snapshot. Ensure that you have the necessary permission and sufficient memory available.

Snapshot authentication

You can create snapshots from provisioned block storage volumes only. It includes the authentication you specified during the creation of the snapshot. IONOS does not modify snapshots at any time. If you want to change the authentication configurations, we recommend doing it before reusing the snapshot on a new block storage device.

Create a Snapshot

You can create snapshots from any provisioned block storage, regardless of the underlying storage type. After creation, a snapshot utilizes the complete HDD storage space assigned to your IONOS account. Therefore, ensure that you have enough HDD quotas available before you create a snapshot.

The VM can be switched on or off when creating a snapshot. If you want to ensure that data that is still in the RAM of the VM is included in the snapshot, it is recommended that you synchronize the data (with sync under Linux) or shut down the guest operating system (with shutdown -h now under Linux) before creating the snapshot.

To create a snapshot, follow these steps:

1. Open the required data center.

2. (Optional) Shut down the server. Creating a snapshot while the server is running takes longer.

3. Open the context menu of the storage element and select Create Snapshot.

4. (Optional) Change the name and the description of the snapshot.

5. Click Create Snapshot to start the process.

Delete a Snapshot

If you no longer need a snapshot and want to save your resources, you can delete it. You cannot restore a snapshot after it is deleted.

To delete a snapshot, follow these steps:

1. Log in to the DCD with your username and password.

2. Go to Menu > Management > Images & Snapshots.

3. Open the Snapshots tab and select the snapshot you would like to delete.

4. Click Delete.

5. In the dialog that appears, confirm your action by entering your password and clicking OK.

You can migrate your images into the IONOS cloud infrastructure by uploading them via the FTP. For more information, see . Your IONOS account supports many types of block storage images as well as ISO images, using an emulated CD-Rom drive, from which you can install an operating system or software directly.

Image types

The following image types are supported; hence, you can upload any of these:

FTP access endpoints

The list below contains the FTP access endpoints for corresponding locations:

Alternatively, you can also find the FTP addresses on the DCD. To retrieve the details, log in to the DCD with your credentials, and click:

• Menu > Help (Question Mark icon) > FTP Image Upload

• Menu > Management > Images & Snapshots > FTP Upload Image

License

Currently, IONOS does not support the Bring-Your-Own-License (BYOL) option for license or subscription based operating systems like Microsoft Windows Server or Red Hat Enterprise Linux. If you want to use one of these two options for private images, IONOS will still grant you the license and charge you when a virtual machine boots from the private image.

Private image authentication

Private images inherit the same authentication defined during their creation. Therefore, the option to set an administrator password or apply an SSH key is not displayed when using a private image.

You can create snapshots from provisioned block storage volumes only. It includes the authentication you specified during the creation of the snapshot. IONOS does not modify snapshots at any time. If you want to change the authentication configurations, we recommend doing it before reusing the snapshot on a new block storage device.

Upload an image via the FTP

IONOS offers you FTP access to each data center location so you can upload your own images. Access to images is location-specific, meaning if you have uploaded an image from location A, it can be accessed only from that specific location. You can also set access rights to only allow authorized users to access and use them. Only images and snapshots to which you have access are displayed.

To upload an image, follow these steps:

1. Log in to the DCD with your username and password.

2. Go to the Menu > Resource Manager > Images & Snapshots.

3. Set up a connection from your computer to the IONOS FTP server. You can use an FTP client such as FileZilla or tools from your operating system to establish a connection.

4. Upload the image via the appropriate FTP URL to the corresponding IONOS data center location.

5. After uploading, the image is converted to a RAW format. As a result, dynamic HDD images are always used at their maximum size. A dynamic image, for example, whose file size is 3 GB, but which comes from a 50 GB hard disk, will be a 50 GB image again after conversion to the IONOS format. The conversion process generally takes a few minutes based on the size of your image.

Establish an FTP connection to upload images via the Windows Explorer

In Windows 10, you can upload an image, without additional software. To establish an FTP connection, follow these steps:

1. Open Windows Explorer.

2. Select Add a network location from the context menu.

3. Enter the IONOS FTP address as the location of the website. Example: ftps://ftps-fkb.ionos.com. An image is only available at the location where it was uploaded.

4. Select Log on anonymously in the next dialog box that appears.

5. Enter a name for the connection in the following dialog box. The name will later be visible in Windows Explorer. Example: upload_fkb.

6. Click Finish to confirm your action.

Upload your image through the established FTP connection

1. Open the FTP access on your local computer.

2. In the login dialog box, enter the credentials of your IONOS account.

3. Copy the image from your local computer and paste it to a folder in the data center. The image type must be, either HDD or iso.

Access and manage a private image

After completing the upload and conversion process, you can manage your uploaded images via the DCD.

To access and manage your images, follow these steps:

1. Log in to the DCD with your username and password.

2. Go to the Menu > Management > Images & Snapshots.

3. Modify the following details, if necessary:

   • Name: Rename the image, if required.

Delete a private image

You can delete your private image if you no longer need it, thus saving resources.

To delete an image, follow these steps:

1. Log in to the DCD with your username and password.

2. Go to the Menu > Management > Images & Snapshots.

3. Open the Image tab and select the private image you would like to delete.

4. Click Delete.

5. In the dialog that appears, confirm your action by entering your password and clicking OK.

Overview

is a software package that automates the initialization of during system boot. When you deploy a new Linux server from an , cloud-init gives you the option to set default user data.

User data must be written in shell scripts or cloud-config directives using YAML syntax. You can modify IONOS cloud-init's behavior via user-data. You can pass the user data in various formats to the IONOS cloud-init at launch time. Typically, this happens as a template, a parameter in the CLI, etc. This method is highly compatible across platforms and fully secure.

Compatibility: This service is supported on all public IONOS Cloud Linux distributions. You may submit user data through the or via . Existing cloud-init configurations from other providers are compatible with IONOS Cloud.

Limitations: Cloud-init is available on all public Linux images supplied by IONOS Cloud. If you wish to use your own Linux image, please make sure that it is cloud-init supported first. Otherwise, there is no guarantee that the package will function as intended. Windows images are currently out of scope; adding them may be considered at a later stage.

Provisioning: Cloud-init can only be set at initial provisioning. It cannot be applied to instances that have already been provisioned. Settings cannot be changed once provisioned.

Laptops: When using a laptop, scroll down the properties panel of the block storage volume that you want to create and configure, as additional fields are not immediately visible on a small screen. Clout-Init may only become visible when an supported image has been selected.

Supported user data formats

The following table demonstrates the use of cloud-config and user-data scripts. However, the cloud-init package supports a variety of formats.

Configuring user data via the DCD

1. Log in to the DCD with your username and password.

2. In the Workspace, create a new virtual instance and attach any storage device to it.

3. Select the storage device and from the Inspector pane associate an Image with it.

   • To associate a private image, select Own Images from the drop-down list.

   • To associate a public image, select IONOS Images from the drop-down list. Once you choose an image, additional fields will appear in the Inspector pane.

1. Enter a Password. It is required for Remote Console access. You may change it later.

2. (Optional) Upload a new SSH key or use an existing file. SSH Keys can also be injected as user data utilizing cloud-init.

3. (Optional) Add a specific key to the Ad-hoc SSH Key field.

4. Select No configuration for Cloud-Init user data and the Cloud-Init User Data window appears.

1. To complete setup, return to the Inspector pane and click Provision Changes.

Use shell scripts

Using shell scripts is an easy way to bootstrap a server. The code creates, installs, and configures our CentOS web server in the following example. It also rewrites the default index.html file.

Use cloud-config directives

Example 1: Create a swap partition

The following script is an example of how to create a swap partition with second block storage using a YAML script:

Example 2: Resize the file system

The following script is an example of how to resize your file system according to the chosen size of the block storage. It will also create a user with an SSH key using a cloud-config YAML script:

Output log files

The cloud-init output log file (/var/log/cloud-init-output.log) captures console output. Depending on the default configuration for logging, a second log file exists within /var/log/cloud-init.log. This provides a comprehensive record based on the user data.

Configure user data via API

The cloud API offers increased convenience if you want to automate the provisioning and configuration of cloud instances. Enter the following details:

• Name: Enter the userData.

• Type: Enter the type in the form of a string.

• Description: The cloud-init configuration for the volume as base64 encoded string. The property is immutable and is only allowed to be set on a new volume creation. It is mandatory to provide either public image or imageAliasthat has cloud-init compatibility in conjunction with this property.

Curl example

The following script is an example of how to configure userData using curl:

Which virtualization technology does IONOS use?

IONOS systems are built on Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) hypervisor and libvirt virtualization management. We have adapted both of these components to our requirements and optimized them for the delivery of diverse cloud services, with a special focus on security and guest isolation.

Which images can I import?

Some software images are only designed for certain virtualization systems. Without VirtlO drivers, VM will not work properly with the hypervisor. You can set the storage bus type to IDE temporarily to install the VirtlO drivers.

How do I install VirtIO drivers for Windows?

For a Windows VM to work properly with our hypervisor, VirtI/O drivers are required.

• Install Windows using the original IDE driver

  You can now install the VirtIO drivers from the ISO provided by IONOS.

• Add a CD-ROM drive to your server

• Select the windows-virtio-driver.iso ISO

• Boot from the selected ISO to start the automatic installation tool

  You can now switch to VirtIO.

For more information, see Install Windows VirtIO drivers.

Can I run a virtualization platform on a Dedicated Core Server?

Our hypervisor informs the guest operating system that it is located in a virtualized environment. Some virtualized systems do not support virtualized environments and cannot be executed on an IONOS Dedicated Core Server. We generally do not recommend using your virtualization technology in virtual hosts.

How do I upload my images with FTP?

You can upload your images to the FTP server in your region. The available regions are:

In the DCD, FTP addresses are also listed at several spots:

• Menu > Help (Question Mark icon) > FTP Image Upload

• Menu > Management > Image Manager > FTP Image Upload

For more information, see Private Images.

Why I cannot select the images I uploaded?

Your own images are only available in the region where you uploaded them. Accordingly, only images located in the same region as the virtual data center are available for selection in a virtual data center. For example, if you upload an image to the FTP server in Frankfurt, you can only use that image in a virtual data center in Frankfurt.

Can I use an encrypted connection for FTP uploads?

We strongly recommend that you select FTPS (File Transfer Protocol with Transport Layer Security) as the transfer protocol. This can easily be done using "FileZilla", for example. Simple FTP works as well, but your access data is transmitted in plain text.

Why are image files in the FTP account 0 bytes in size?

After a file has been uploaded to the FTP server, it is protected from deletion, converted, and then made available as an image. When this process is finished, the file size is reduced to 0 bytes to save space but left on the FTP server. This is to prevent a file with the same name from being uploaded again and interfering with the processing of existing images. If an image is no longer needed, contact IONOS Cloud Suppport.

How do I delete snapshots?

Snapshots that you no longer need can be deleted in the Image Manager.

For more information, see Delete a snapshot.

Which images support Live Vertical Scaling (LVS)?

Live Vertical Scaling is supported by all our images. Please note that the Windows OS only allows CPU core scaling.

Can I connect one storage device to multiple servers?

It is not possible to connect multiple servers to one storage device, but you can connect multiple servers in a network without performance loss.

Which image types are supported?

IONOS Cloud allows the customer to upload their own images to the infrastructure via upload servers. This procedure is to be completed individually for each data center location. IONOS Cloud optionally offers transmission with secure transport (TLS). The uploading of HDD and CD-ROM/DVD-ROM images is supported. Specifically, the uploading of images in the following formats is supported:

CD-ROM / DVD-ROM:

• *.iso ISO 9660 image file

HDD Images:

• *.vmdk vmware HDD images

• *.vhd, *.vhdx HyperV HDD images

• *.cow, *.qcow, *.qcow2 Qemu HDD images

• *.raw binary HDD image

• *.vpc VirtualPC HDD image

• *.vdi VirtualBox HDD image

How do I change the Availability Zone of a storage device?

Once a storage device is provisioned, it is not possible to change its Availability Zone. You could, however, create a snapshot and then use it to provision a storage device with a new Availability Zone.

For more information, see Availability Zones.

Does IONOS support RHEL images? What are the charges?

Yes, IONOS is authorized to provide and operate Red Hat Enterprise Linux within the IONOS public cloud infrastructure.

As this is a paid Linux distribution, IONOS charges a certain fee for the usage of IONOS RHEL images. The following table lists the charges.