Requirements for Uploading an OS ISO to Vultr

Published on: Wed, Nov 9, 2016 at 12:29 pm EST
FAQ

Vultr offers a wide variety of operating systems to choose from. Sometimes, however, you may want to upload your own custom operating system ISO such as Kali Linux, OpenBSD, pfSense, or even Windows which allows you to use your own license.

Before you can upload your ISO to Vultr, you need to make sure that your ISO and its upload URL meet the following requirements.

Linux and Windows

  • The filename must end in .iso.
  • The download URL for the ISO file must be an absolute path.

Windows specific requirements

  • Your ISO must include VirtIO Drivers. You can find more information how to create a Windows ISO with VirtIO in this Vultr Doc.

Where can I upload my ISO

There are multiple options for where you can upload your ISO to be able to use it with Vultr:

  • Amazon S3
  • Dropbox
  • A web server running on an existing Vultr VPS
  • Google Cloud Storage (not Google Drive).

URL examples

Good examples

  • http://192.168.1.2/myisos/Windows2012.iso
  • https://myawesomesite.com/iso/KaliLinux.iso
  • https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/109280193/pfsense.iso

Bad examples

  • https://drive.google.com/open?id=120912j8SQW@089712

Detaching an ISO from your Vultr Instance

When you install your VPS instance using an ISO file it is easy to forget to detach the ISO after the operating system is installed. Keeping the ISO attached and rebooting will cause the system to continue booting from the ISO until it is detached.

On the Servers page, select the instance you just installed and click the three dots next to the instance status to see the menu options for the instance. Select Server Details for the instance to get to the control panel.

From the instance’s management interface page select the Settings tab from the top menu, then Custom ISO from the menu on the left side menu bar.

From this page there will be a button that says Remove ISO, there will be a reboot warning asking if you are sure you wish to detach the ISO.

After a successful removal, you will be taken back to the instance’s Overview tab and will see the message ISO removed from machine.

Viewing the instance's console after a successful detachment will show the installed operating system. If the instance fails to boot, it means the operating system was not installed. The installation process will need to be repeated.