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Information about prepared OS images for creating an instance

The process of creating an instance begins with selecting an operating system image from which to deploy the virtual disk. After analyzing the requests of our customers and current trends, we selected the most popular OS distributions and specially prepared them for the optimal work of SIM-Cloud users.

When preparing images, SIM-Networks experts are guided by two principles:

1) verified source: we only use the stable version of the OS from the official website; be sure to check the checksum of the file to be sure of the integrity;

2) a minimum of changes: in fact, there are a minimum of changes, and all of them are aimed either at saving space, increasing stability, or adding important functionality.

Below is detailed information on what changes were made to the OS in the process of optimizing for work in SIM-Cloud.

Network settings and disk partitioning

For all operating systems: the instance will receive network settings via DHCP.

Disk layout::

Windows: standard, as suggested by the installer - one NTFS partition.
Linux: One LVM partition, ext4 file system. The swap partition is not created because it is more practical to use swap as files.
FreeBSD: single partition, UFS file system. The swap partition is not created because it is more practical to use swap as files.

Windows VM Image

The installation is done from the official MSDN image. The Eval key taken from here was used. Changes made by our specialists:

installation of a stable version of the VirtIO drivers (on the disk adapter and network controller);
QEMU Guest Agent installation;
Enable the "Remote Desktop Connection" feature. No other changes were made. OS activation and software installation, including Windows updates, is the responsibility of the user.

CentOS

Centos is a GNU/Linux distribution from Red Hat based on the commercial Red Hat Enterprise Linux. The support period is 10 years. Used as a server OS.

Centos 7 VM image

The latest stable version of minimal downloaded from centos.org is installed in the SIM-Cloud image library. Changes made by our specialists:

the EPEL repository is connected;
updated packages from the standard repository;
additional packages installed: htop, iftop, iotop, nano, net-tools, psmisc, wget;
installed QEMU Guest Agent;
removed old kernel 3.10.0-514;
configured mandatory password change for the 'root' user at the first start; No other changes were made.

CentOS 6 VM image

A fresh stable version of minimal is installed and downloaded from centos.org. Changes made by our specialists:

the EPEL repository is connected;
updated packages from the standard repository;
additional packages installed: htop, iftop, iotop, lsof, nano, wget;
installed QEMU Guest Agent;
removed old kernel 2.6.32-696;
configured mandatory password change for the 'root' user at the first start; No other changes were made.

Debian 8, Debian 9 VM image

Debian is one of the most widely used GNU/Linux distributions. Used for both servers and workstations.

The SIM-Cloud Image Library installs the latest stable version of Debian downloaded from debian.org. Changes made by our specialists:

updated packages from the standard repository;
additionally installed packages: htop, iftop, iotop;
installed QEMU Guest Agent;
enabled SSH connection for the 'root' user;
configured to require a password change for the 'root' user on the first start. No other changes were made.

Ubuntu

Ubuntu is an actively developing GNU/Linux distribution based on Debian. It is #1 on the list of the most popular Linux distributions for web servers (according to Canonical Ltd).

Ubuntu 17.04 VM image

The SIM-Cloud Image Library installs the latest stable version of Ubuntu Server 16.04 downloaded from releases.ubuntu.com. Changes made by our specialists:

updated packages from the standard repository;
additionally installed packages: htop, iftop, iotop;
installed QEMU Guest Agent;
removed old kernel 4.4.0-62;
enabled SSH connection for the 'root' user;
configured to require a password change for the 'root' user on the first start. No other changes were made.

Ubuntu 17.04 VM image

The SIM-Cloud Image Library installs the latest stable version of Ubuntu Server 17.04 downloaded from releases.ubuntu.com. Changes made by our specialists:

updated packages from the standard repository;
additionally installed packages: htop, iftop, iotop;
installed QEMU Guest Agent;
removed old kernel 4.10.0-19;
enabled SSH connection for the 'root' user;
configured to require a password change for the 'root' user on the first start. No other changes were made.

Ubuntu 17.04 Gnome VM Image

The SIM-Cloud Image Library installs a fresh stable version of Ubuntu Desktop 17.04 downloaded from ubuntu.com. Changes made by our specialists:

updated packages from the standard repository;
additionally installed packages: htop, iftop, iotop;
installed QEMU Guest Agent;
SSH server installed;
removed old kernel 4.10.0-19 and memtest86+ package;
configured mandatory password change for the user 'user' at the first start. No other changes were made.

FreeBSD image

FreeBSD is a free operating system of the UNIX family. Very stable, efficient memory management, used as a server OS. It is often used in the construction of intranet and Internet networks.

The SIM-Cloud Image Library installs the latest stable release downloaded from freebsd.org. Changes made by our specialists:

updating packages from the standard repository;
enable SSH for user 'root';
setting the password change for the 'root' user to be required on the first start. No other changes were made.

pfSense image

The pfSense software product is a software router/firewall built on FreeBSD, known for its reliability. It is open-source software.

A fresh stable version downloaded from pfsense.org is installed in the SIM-Cloud image library. Changes made by our specialists:

updating packages from the standard repository;
enabling SSH;
setting the password change for the 'root' user to be required at the first start;
removing the built-in user admin. No other changes were made.

OPNsense image

OPNsense is a popular firewall/router distribution. It originates from pfSense since 2014 it has been developed as a separate project. It is open-source software.

A fresh stable version downloaded from opnsense.org is installed in the SIM-Cloud image library. Changes made by our specialists:

updating packages from the standard repository;
removing the built-in installer user.
No other changes were made.

BitrixVM image

BitrixVM is a virtual machine ready to install trial versions of 1C-Bitrix products, as well as to transfer your own ready-made projects. Installation is performed on top of one of the recommended Linux distributions, namely Centos 7.3.

For installation, a script created by Bitrix is used, available on the BitrixVM page. The changes made by our specialists are minimal and all of them concern only the Linux distribution:

updated packages from the standard repository;
additional packages installed: htop, iftop, iotop, nano, psmisc, wget;
installed QEMU Guest Agent;
removed old kernel 3.10.0-514;
configured to require a password change for the 'root' user on the first start. No other changes were made.

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