Create an image

Reviewed on August 14, 2026

The image feature lets you create an image of your Instance, which includes all its volumes. You can use this image to restore your Instance and its data, or to create a series of Instances with a predefined configuration.

This feature is available for all Instance types.

Creating an image makes a complete backup of your Instance, including all of its volumes. The snapshot feature, on the other hand, creates a snapshot of a specific volume. Consider creating a snapshot if you want to apply different snapshot strategies to different volumes of your Instance. For example, if it has one volume containing the OS and another containing application data.

Before you start

To complete the actions presented below, you must have:

• A Scaleway account logged into the console
• Owner status or IAM permissions allowing you to perform actions in the intended Organization
• An SSH key
• An Instance

Create an image

1. In the Scaleway console side menu, click Compute > CPU & GPU Instances. The Instances page opens.
2. Select the Availability Zone (AZ) from the dropdown (e.g., PAR1) to view resources in the selected AZ.
3. Click the Instance you want to back up.
4. Go to the Images section of the Instance overview page.
5. Click Create image from Instance. A dialog box opens asking you to confirm the action.
6. Click Create image from Instance. You are returned to the Storage tab, where your new image now displays.

When you create an image, the image feature creates a snapshot of each of the Instance volumes. You can view these snapshots in the Storage tab of your Instance dashboard.

Create or restore an Instance from an image

There are two different ways to create a new Instance from your image: using the Instance creation wizard, or restoring the image directly from an existing Instance.

Use the Instance creation wizard

Follow the instructions for creating an Instance. At the Choose an image step of the creation wizard, click the My images tab, and select the desired image.

A new Instance is created from your image.

Restore the image

1. Click CPU & GPU Instances in the Compute section of the side menu. The Instances page opens.

2. Select the Availability Zone (AZ) from the dropdown (e.g., PAR1) to view resources in the selected AZ.

3. Click the Instance you created an image of.

4. Click the Storage tab and scroll down to the Images section of the page.

5. Click more icon next to the Instance's image.

6. Select Create Instance in the dropdown. You are redirected to the Instance creation wizard, where the image has been preselected for you at step 2.

7. Finish configuring the Instance according to your requirements, and click Create Instance.

   A new Instance is created from your image.

Manage your images

1. In the Scaleway console side menu, click Compute > CPU & GPU Instances. The Instances page opens.

2. Select the Availability Zone (AZ) from the dropdown (e.g., PAR1) to view resources in the selected AZ.

3. Click the Storage tab. A list of your storage resources displays.

4. Scroll to the Images section of the page.

5. Click more icon next to the relevant image.

   • Select More info to view more information about the image, including its name, status, location, size, type, ID, and creation date.
   • Select Delete to delete the image if you no longer need it, then confirm in the dialog box that appears.
   Important

   Deleting an image does not delete the snapshots it is made of. These snapshots remain in your account and you continue to be billed for their storage. To stop being billed, delete each snapshot individually.
   Go to Storage > Block Storage > Snapshots in the Scaleway console, or see How to delete a snapshot.