Bring Your Own Image (BYOI)

The Bring Your Own Image (BYOI) feature enables you to bring your own versions of operating systems to the appliance as long as the underlying hardware supports it. The Private Cloud Appliance services do not depend on the OS you run.

Important:

You must comply with all licensing requirements when you upload and start instances based on OS images that you supply.

For more conceptual information, refer to "Bring Your Own Image (BYOI)" in the Compute Instance Concepts chapter in the Oracle Private Cloud Appliance Concepts Guide.

Importing Custom Linux Images

Preparing Linux VMs for Import

Before you import a custom Linux image, you must prepare the image to ensure that instances launched from the image can boot correctly and that network connections will work.

Perform these steps.

Review the requirements.

Refer to "Linux Source Image Requirements" in the Compute Instance Concepts chapter of the Oracle Private Cloud Appliance Concepts Guide.
Create a backup of the root volume.
If the VM has remotely attached storage, such as NFS or block volumes, configure any services that rely on this storage to start manually. Remotely attached storage is not available the first time an imported instance boots on the appliance.
Ensure that all network interfaces use DHCP, and that the MAC address and IP addresses are not hardcoded. See your system documentation for steps to perform network configuration for your system.
Stop the VM.
Clone the stopped VM as a VMDK or QCOW2 file, and then export the image from your virtualization environment.

Refer to the tools documentation for your virtualization environment.

Importing a Linux Image

After you prepare a Linux image for import, follow these steps to import the image:

Upload the image file to an Object Storage bucket.

Ensure that you select a bucket where you have read and write access. See Exporting an Image to an Object Storage Bucket.
Import the image from the bucket to your tenancy.

See Importing an Image from an Object Storage Bucket
Complete the post-import tasks.

See Post-Import Tasks for Linux Images.

Post-Import Tasks for Linux Images

After you import a custom Linux image, perform these steps.

Use the imported image to launch an instance.

For the image source, select Custom Images, and then select the image that you imported. See Creating an Instance.
If the instance requires any remotely attached storage, such as block volumes, create and attach the storage.

See Creating and Attaching Block Volumes.
Create and attach any required secondary VNICs.

See Configuring VNICs and IP Addressing.
Test that all applications are working as expected.
Reconfigure any services that were set to start manually.

Importing Custom Microsoft Windows Images

The Compute service enables you to import Microsoft Windows images and use them to launch instances. You can import images that you create from Microsoft Windows systems that are running on your on-premises physical or virtual machines (VMs).

Perform the procedures in this section to prepare, create, export, import, and perform post-import tasks.

Preparing Microsoft Windows Systems for Import

The configuration described in this section is required so that Compute instances that are launched from the Microsoft Windows system image can boot correctly and network connections will work.

Important:

The system drive configuration where the Microsoft Windows source system is installed will be imported to the image. All partitions on the drive will follow through the imported image. Any other drives will not be imported, and you must re-create them on the instance after they are launched from the image. You will then need to manually move the data on the non-system drives to storage on the instance.

You can perform this configuration on the running source system or after you have launched the Compute instance.

Preparing the Source System Prior to Creating the Image. This is the recommended method.
Preparing the Compute Instance After Instance Launch. If you have concerns about modifying the live source system, you can use this method. If you use this method, your Compute instance is not initially viable. After you launch your Compute instance, connect to the VNC console and use the VNC window to make the changes described in Preparing the Source System Prior to Creating the Image.

Preparing the Source System Prior to Creating the Image

Review the requirements.

Refer to "Microsoft Windows Source Image Requirements" in the Compute Instance Concepts chapter of the Oracle Private Cloud Appliance Concepts Guide.
Follow your organization's security guidelines to ensure that the Microsoft Windows system is secured. This can include, but is not limited to the following tasks:
- Install the latest security updates for the operating system and installed applications.
- Enable the firewall, and configure it so that you only enable the rules that are needed.
- Disable unnecessary privileged accounts.
- Use strong passwords for all accounts.
Configure Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) access to the image.
1. Enable Remote Desktop connections to the image. See Enabling Remote Desktop Protocol Access.
2. Modify the Microsoft Windows Firewall inbound port rule to allow RDP access for both Private and Public network location types. When you import the image, the Microsoft Windows Network Location Awareness service will identify the network connection as a Public network type.
Determine whether the current Microsoft Windows license type is a volume license by running the following command in PowerShell:
```
Get-CimInstance -ClassName SoftwareLicensingProduct | where {$_.PartialProductKey} | select ProductKeyChannel
```
If the license is not a volume license, after you import the image, you will update the license type.
If you plan to use this custom image to launch more than one instance, create a generalized image of the boot disk. A generalized image is cleaned of computer-specific information, such as unique identifiers. When you create instances from a generalized image, the unique identifiers are regenerated. This prevents two instances that are created from the same image from colliding on the same identifiers.
Create a backup of the root volume.
If the system has remotely attached storage, such as NFS or block volumes, configure any services that rely on this storage to start manually. Remotely attached storage is not available the first time an instance that was created from a custom image boots on Oracle Private Cloud Appliance.
Ensure that all network interfaces use DHCP, and that the MAC address and IP addresses are not hardcoded. See your system documentation for steps to perform network configuration for your system.
Install the Oracle VirtIO Drivers for Microsoft Windows.
1. Downloading the Oracle VirtIO Drivers for Microsoft Windows
2. Installing the Oracle VirtIO Drivers for Microsoft Windows
Perform the Creating and Exporting an Image procedure unless you already followed the Preparing the Compute Instance After Instance Launch procedure.

Creating and Exporting an Image

Stop the system.
Clone the stopped system as a VMDK or QCOW2 file. Refer to the tools documentation for your system.
Export the image from your physical system or virtualization environment.
Perform the Importing a Microsoft Windows Image procedure to import the image into Oracle Private Cloud Appliance.

Preparing the Compute Instance After Instance Launch

Perform as many of the Preparing the Source System Prior to Creating the Image steps as you are comfortable performing.
Perform the Creating and Exporting an Image procedure.

After importing the image, do not perform the Post-Import Tasks for Microsoft Windows Images procedure.
Use the imported image to launch an instance.

For the image source, select Custom Images, and then select the image that you imported. See Creating an Instance.
Connect to the console as described in Remotely Troubleshooting an Instance by Using a Console Connection.
Perform the Preparing the Source System Prior to Creating the Image procedure.
Perform the Post-Import Tasks for Microsoft Windows Images procedure.

Downloading the Oracle VirtIO Drivers for Microsoft Windows

The Oracle VirtIO Drivers for Microsoft Windows are paravirtualized drivers for Microsoft Windows instances. These drivers improve performance for network and block (disk) devices on Microsoft Windows instances and resolve common issues.

Download the Oracle VirtIO Drivers for Microsoft Windows from the Oracle Software Delivery Cloud website or from My Oracle Support (MOS).

Download the Oracle VirtIO Drivers for Microsoft Windows from Oracle Software Delivery Cloud

Sign in to the Oracle Software Delivery Cloud site.
In the All Categories list, select Release.
Type Oracle Linux 7.9 in the search box and click Search.
Click "REL: Oracle Linux 7.9.0.0.0" to add it to your cart.
At the top right of the page, to the right of your cart, click Continue.
In the Platforms/Languages list, select x86 64 bit. Click Continue.
Review and accept the license agreement (click "I reviewed and accept the Oracle License Agreement."). Click Continue.
Click the V1009702-01.zip file name to the left of "Oracle VirtIO Drivers Version for Microsoft Windows 1.1.7, 67.9 MB".
Follow the prompts to save the V1009702-01.zip file.

Download the Oracle VirtIO Drivers for Microsoft Windows from MOS

Sign in to My Oracle Support.
Click the Patches & Updates tab.
In the Patch Search pane, in the Patch Name or Number field, enter 27637937. Click the Search button.
From the search results table, click the Patch Name to the left of "Oracle VirtIO driver version 1.1.7" for Release 7.9.0.0.0.

A more detailed description of the patch is shown.
In the box, click the Download button.
In the File Download window, follow the prompts to save the p27637937_79000_MSWIN-x86-64.zip file.

Installing the Oracle VirtIO Drivers for Microsoft Windows

To install the Oracle VirtIO Drivers for Microsoft Windows, configure Microsoft Windows policies and then run the installation program.

Configuring Policies for Device Installation

Configure Microsoft Windows policies to allow the installation of the Oracle VirtIO Drivers for Microsoft Windows, if these policies are not already configured.

Go to the Microsoft Windows system on which you want to install the Oracle VirtIO Drivers for Microsoft Windows.
From the Start menu, select Run.
Enter gpedit.msc and then click OK.

The Local Group Policy Editor is displayed.
From the Console Tree, display the list of Device Installation Restrictions as follows:
1. Expand Computer Configuration, and then expand Administrative Templates.
2. Expand System, and then expand Device Installation.
3. Select Device Installation Restrictions.
Edit the policy settings so that no device installation restrictions are configured.
Close the Local Group Policy Editor.
Restart the Microsoft Windows system.

After performing one of the procedures described in Downloading the Oracle VirtIO Drivers for Microsoft Windows, the Microsoft Windows system should have a copy of the Oracle VirtIO Drivers for Microsoft Windows installation program, Setup.exe.

You can use a graphical user interface (GUI) to install the drivers, or use the command line to install the drivers by using a response file that you previously created.

The Oracle VirtIO Drivers for Microsoft Windows are installed in the following directories:

On 32-bit systems: C:\Program Files\Oracle Corporation\Oracle Windows VirtIO Drivers
On 64-bit systems: C:\Program Files (x86)\Oracle Corporation\Oracle Windows VirtIO Drivers

Installing the Oracle VirtIO Drivers for Microsoft Windows by Using the GUI

This procedure installs the drivers on a single Microsoft Windows system. You can optionally record your responses for use on other systems.

Run the Setup.exe driver installation program.
- To install the drivers on only this system, double-click the Setup.exe file.
- To record a response file for use on other systems, start the Setup.exe installer from the command line.
  1. Open a command-line window.
  2. Navigate to the directory where the Setup.exe file is located.
  3. Run Setup.exe -r to start the installer and create a response file.
If prompted, select Yes in the User Account Control dialog to allow the installer to proceed.

The Welcome window is displayed.
Click Next.

The "Start to install Oracle VirtIO Drivers for Microsoft Windows Release 2.0" window is displayed with information about your selection.
Click Install to start the installation.

The installer copies the Oracle VirtIO Drivers for Microsoft Windows files and installs the drivers on the system.
Once the installation completes, click Finish.

The system is restarted.

Installing the Oracle VirtIO Drivers for Microsoft Windows by Using an Existing Response File

This procedure uses a response file that was created in the Installing the Oracle VirtIO Drivers for Microsoft Windows by Using the GUI procedure.

Locate the response file, setup.iss, in the C:\Windows directory.
Copy the response file to the same directory where the Oracle VirtIO Drivers for Microsoft Windows installation program, Setup.exe, is located.

Alternatively, you can specify the location of the response file at the command line.
Open a command-line window.
Run Setup.exe -s to install the drivers by using the response file.

The following additional options to the Setup.exe -s command are available:
- -f1c:path_to\setup.iss to specify the location of the setup.iss response file.
- -f2c:path_to\setup.log to specify the location of the setup.log log file.
  
  By default, log files are written to the C:\Windows directory.

Importing a Microsoft Windows Image

After you prepare a Microsoft Windows image for import, follow these steps to import the image:

Upload the image file to an Object Storage bucket.

Ensure that you select a bucket where you have read and write access. See Exporting an Image to an Object Storage Bucket.
Import the image from the bucket to your tenancy.

See Importing an Image from an Object Storage Bucket and Importing an Image from a URL. Use the OCI CLI procedure and specify the --operating-system option. Make sure the value of the --operating-system option includes the case-insensitive string "Windows".
Complete the post-import tasks.

See Post-Import Tasks for Microsoft Windows Images.

Post-Import Tasks for Microsoft Windows Images

After you import a custom Microsoft Windows image, perform these steps.

Use the imported image to launch an instance.

For the image source, select Custom Images, and then select the image that you imported. See Creating an Instance.
Enable Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) access to the Compute instance.

See Enabling Remote Desktop Protocol Access.
Connect to the instance using RDP.

See Connecting with an RDP Client.
If the instance requires any remotely attached storage, such as block volumes, create and attach the storage.

See Creating and Attaching Block Volumes.
Create and attach any required secondary VNICs.

See Configuring VNICs and IP Addressing.
Test that all applications are working as expected.
Reconfigure any services that were set to start manually.
Configure your instance to use the Network Time Protocol (NTP).

To avoid performing this post-launch configuration every time you launch an instance using this custom image, consider creating a new image from the fully configured instance. See Creating an Image from an Instance.