Create custom Windows Server images

Windows

---

You can create customized Windows Server images from existing Compute Engine Windows Server images. Use these custom images to create instances with boot disks that are the same as your existing instances.

These custom images are useful for saving the operating system configuration of your existing instances and reusing the same configuration to create other instances.

The following tasks are not covered in this section:

• Create a VM from a public image or a custom image; instead see Creating a new Windows instance.
• Schedule a backup of your persistent disks; instead see persistent disk snapshots.
• Import Windows Server or SQL Server systems; instead use the VM migration service.

Before you begin

• If you haven't already, then set up authentication. Authentication is the process by which your identity is verified for access to Google Cloud services and APIs. To run code or samples from a local development environment, you can authenticate to Compute Engine by selecting one of the following options:
  

  Select the tab for how you plan to use the samples on this page:

  Console

  When you use the Google Cloud console to access Google Cloud services and APIs, you don't need to set up authentication.

  gcloud

  1. Install the Google Cloud CLI, then initialize it by running the following command:

     gcloud init

     Note: If you installed the gcloud CLI previously, make sure you have the latest version by running gcloud components update.
  2. Set a default region and zone.

  Go

  To use the Go samples on this page in a local development environment, install and initialize the gcloud CLI, and then set up Application Default Credentials with your user credentials.

  1. Install the Google Cloud CLI.

  2. To initialize the gcloud CLI, run the following command:

     gcloud init

  3. If you're using a local shell, then create local authentication credentials for your user account:

     gcloud auth application-default login

     You don't need to do this if you're using Cloud Shell.

  For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment.

  Java

  To use the Java samples on this page in a local development environment, install and initialize the gcloud CLI, and then set up Application Default Credentials with your user credentials.

  1. Install the Google Cloud CLI.

  2. To initialize the gcloud CLI, run the following command:

     gcloud init

  3. If you're using a local shell, then create local authentication credentials for your user account:

     gcloud auth application-default login

     You don't need to do this if you're using Cloud Shell.

  For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment.

  Node.js

  To use the Node.js samples on this page in a local development environment, install and initialize the gcloud CLI, and then set up Application Default Credentials with your user credentials.

  1. Install the Google Cloud CLI.

  2. To initialize the gcloud CLI, run the following command:

     gcloud init

  3. If you're using a local shell, then create local authentication credentials for your user account:

     gcloud auth application-default login

     You don't need to do this if you're using Cloud Shell.

  For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment.

  Python

  To use the Python samples on this page in a local development environment, install and initialize the gcloud CLI, and then set up Application Default Credentials with your user credentials.

  1. Install the Google Cloud CLI.

  2. To initialize the gcloud CLI, run the following command:

     gcloud init

  3. If you're using a local shell, then create local authentication credentials for your user account:

     gcloud auth application-default login

     You don't need to do this if you're using Cloud Shell.

  For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment.

  REST

  To use the REST API samples on this page in a local development environment, you use the credentials you provide to the gcloud CLI.

  Install the Google Cloud CLI, then initialize it by running the following command:

  gcloud init

  For more information, see Authenticate for using REST in the Google Cloud authentication documentation.

Prepare to create a Windows Server image

Before you create the image, run GCESysprep on the instance to prepare it for the image creation process.

GCESysprep prepares an instance for becoming a Compute Engine image by completing the following steps:

1. Disables the GCEStartup scheduled task.
2. Deletes all files from temp folder location.
3. Clears all Windows event logs.
4. Runs sysprep.exe /generalize /oobe /quit /unattend
5. Configures instance_setup.ps1 to run on the first boot of the VM instance.
6. Deletes the RDP Certificate.
7. Removes the stored list of persistent disks.
8. Enables RDP and WinRM firewall rules.
9. Disables the Google OS Config service.
10. Shuts down the instance.

GCESysprep operations are logged to the Windows event log and serial port 1. Sysprep writes to multiple log files.

Note: Sysprep only clears the built-in Administrator account's password for Windows server editions. We encourage users to review and update all local accounts prior to running GCESysprep as any enabled accounts and credentials will be present in the new image.

How to create a Compute Engine image using GCESysprep:

1. Run GCESysprep with administrative rights.

   GCESysprep
   

2. Create the image.

Specify an image location

When creating a custom image, you can specify the image's Cloud Storage location, excluding dual-region locations. By specifying the image storage location, you can meet your regulatory and compliance requirements for data locality as well as your high availability needs by ensuring redundancy across regions.

The storage location feature is optional. If you do not select a location, Compute Engine will store your image in the multi-region closest to the image source. You can create custom images from source disks, images, snapshots, or images stored in Cloud Storage. You can use these images to create new VM instances.

All of your existing images prior to this feature launch remain where they are. The only change is that you can view the image location of all your images. If you have an existing image you want to move, you must recreate it in the desired location.

Create a Windows image

You can create disk images from the following sources:

• A persistent disk, even while that disk is attached to an instance
• A snapshot of a persistent disk
• Another image in your project
• An image that is shared from another project

• An imported image stored in Cloud Storage

Console

1. In the Google Cloud console, go to the Create a new image page.

   Create a new image

2. Specify the image Name.
3. Choose a Source disk with a Windows operating system from which you want to create an image.
4. Specify the Location to store the image. Choose an image location from the Based on source disk location (default) drop-down menu. For example, specify us to store the image in the us multi-region, or us-central1 to store it in the us-central1 region. If you do not make a selection, Compute Engine will store the image in the multi-region closest to your image's source location.
5. Specify the properties for your image. For example, you can specify an image family name for your image to organize this image as part of an image family.
6. Click Create.

gcloud

Use the gcloud compute with images create, and provide the source persistent disk from which you want to create an image. Optionally, include the --force flag to create the image even if it is attached to a running instance.

gcloud compute images create example-image --source-disk [DISK_NAME] \
    --source-disk-zone [ZONE] \
    --storage-location [LOCATION] \
    [--force]

• [DISK_NAME] is the name of the source disk to create the image from.
• [ZONE] is the zone of the disk.
• [LOCATION] is an optional flag that allows you to designate the region or multi-region where your image is going to be stored. For example, specify us to store the image in the us multi-region, or us-central1 to store it in the us-central1 region. If you do not make a selection, Compute Engine will store the image in the multi-region closest to your image's source location.
• --force is an optional flag that creates the image even if the disk is attached to an instance that is still running. This option might compromise the integrity of your image. Stop the instance before you create the image if possible.

When you run this command, gcloud compute creates a new image based on the persistent disk you provided and adds it to your collection. You can confirm that your image was successfully created by running:

gcloud compute images list

Go

Before trying this sample, follow the Go setup instructions in the Compute Engine quickstart using client libraries. For more information, see the Compute Engine Go API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Compute Engine, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment.

import (
	"context"
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"strings"

	compute "cloud.google.com/go/compute/apiv1"
	computepb "cloud.google.com/go/compute/apiv1/computepb"
	"google.golang.org/protobuf/proto"
)

// createWindowsOSImage creates a new Windows image from the specified source disk.
func createWindowsOSImage(
	w io.Writer,
	projectID, zone, sourceDiskName, imageName, storageLocation string,
	forceCreate bool,
) error {
	// projectID := "your_project_id"
	// zone := "europe-central2-b"
	// sourceDiskName := "your_source_disk_name"
	// imageName := "your_image_name"
	// storageLocation := "eu"
	// forceCreate := false

	ctx := context.Background()
	instancesClient, err := compute.NewInstancesRESTClient(ctx)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("NewInstancesRESTClient: %w", err)
	}
	defer instancesClient.Close()
	imagesClient, err := compute.NewImagesRESTClient(ctx)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("NewImagesRESTClient: %w", err)
	}
	defer imagesClient.Close()
	disksClient, err := compute.NewDisksRESTClient(ctx)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("NewDisksRESTClient: %w", err)
	}
	defer disksClient.Close()

	// Getting instances where source disk is attached
	diskRequest := &computepb.GetDiskRequest{
		Project: projectID,
		Zone:    zone,
		Disk:    sourceDiskName,
	}

	sourceDisk, err := disksClient.Get(ctx, diskRequest)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("unable to get disk: %w", err)
	}

	// Сhecking whether the instances is stopped
	for _, fullInstanceName := range sourceDisk.GetUsers() {
		parsedName := strings.Split(fullInstanceName, "/")
		l := len(parsedName)
		if l < 5 {
			return fmt.Errorf(
				"API returned instance name with unexpected format",
			)
		}
		instanceReq := &computepb.GetInstanceRequest{
			Project:  parsedName[l-5],
			Zone:     parsedName[l-3],
			Instance: parsedName[l-1],
		}
		instance, err := instancesClient.Get(ctx, instanceReq)
		if err != nil {
			return fmt.Errorf("unable to get instance: %w", err)
		}

		if instance.GetStatus() != "TERMINATED" && instance.GetStatus() != "STOPPED" {
			if !forceCreate {
				return fmt.Errorf("instance %s should be stopped. "+
					"Please stop the instance using "+
					"GCESysprep command or set forceCreate parameter to true "+
					"(not recommended). More information here: "+
					"https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/instances/windows/creating-windows-os-image#api",
					parsedName[l-1],
				)
			}
		}
	}

	if forceCreate {
		fmt.Fprintf(w, "Warning: ForceCreate option compromise the integrity of your image. "+
			"Stop the instance before you create the image if possible.",
		)
	}

	req := &computepb.InsertImageRequest{
		Project:     projectID,
		ForceCreate: &forceCreate,
		ImageResource: &computepb.Image{
			Name:             proto.String(imageName),
			SourceDisk:       proto.String(fmt.Sprintf("zones/%s/disks/%s", zone, sourceDiskName)),
			StorageLocations: []string{storageLocation},
		},
	}

	op, err := imagesClient.Insert(ctx, req)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("unable to create image: %w", err)
	}

	if err = op.Wait(ctx); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("unable to wait for the operation: %w", err)
	}

	fmt.Fprintf(w, "Image created\n")

	return nil
}

Java

Before trying this sample, follow the Java setup instructions in the Compute Engine quickstart using client libraries. For more information, see the Compute Engine Java API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Compute Engine, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment.

import com.google.cloud.compute.v1.Disk;
import com.google.cloud.compute.v1.DisksClient;
import com.google.cloud.compute.v1.Image;
import com.google.cloud.compute.v1.ImagesClient;
import com.google.cloud.compute.v1.InsertImageRequest;
import com.google.cloud.compute.v1.Instance;
import com.google.cloud.compute.v1.InstancesClient;
import com.google.cloud.compute.v1.Operation;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.util.Arrays;
import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.Map;
import java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException;
import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
import java.util.concurrent.TimeoutException;

public class CreateImage {

  public static void main(String[] args)
      throws IOException, ExecutionException, InterruptedException, TimeoutException {
    // TODO(developer): Replace these variables before running the sample.

    // Project ID or project number of the Cloud project you use.
    String project = "your-project-id";
    // Zone of the disk you copy from.
    String zone = "europe-central2-b";
    // Name of the source disk you copy from.
    String sourceDiskName = "source-disk-name";
    // Name of the image you want to create.
    String imageName = "your-image-name";
    // Storage location for the image. If the value is undefined,
    // function will store the image in the multi-region closest to your image's source location.
    String storageLocation = "eu";
    // Create the image even if the source disk is attached to a running instance.
    boolean forceCreate = false;

    createImage(project, zone, sourceDiskName, imageName, storageLocation, forceCreate);
  }

  // Creates a new disk image from the specified source disk.
  public static void createImage(String project, String zone, String sourceDiskName,
      String imageName, String storageLocation, boolean forceCreate)
      throws IOException, ExecutionException, InterruptedException, TimeoutException {
    // Initialize client that will be used to send requests. This client only needs to be created
    // once, and can be reused for multiple requests. After completing all of your requests, call
    // the `client.close()` method on the client to safely
    // clean up any remaining background resources.
    try (ImagesClient imagesClient = ImagesClient.create();
        InstancesClient instancesClient = InstancesClient.create();
        DisksClient disksClient = DisksClient.create()) {

      Disk disk = disksClient.get(project, zone, sourceDiskName);

      // Getting instances where source disk is attached.
      for (String fullInstanceName : disk.getUsersList()) {
        Map<String, String> instanceInfo = parseInstanceName(fullInstanceName);
        Instance instance = instancesClient.get(instanceInfo.get("instanceProjectId"),
            instanceInfo.get("instanceZone"), instanceInfo.get("instanceName"));

        // Сheck whether the instances are stopped.
        if (!Arrays.asList("TERMINATED", "STOPPED").contains(instance.getStatus())
            && !forceCreate) {
          throw new IllegalStateException(
              String.format(
                  "Instance %s should be stopped. For Windows instances please stop the instance "
                      + "using GCESysprep command. For Linux instances just shut it down normally."
                      + " You can suppress this error and create an image of the disk by setting "
                      + "'forceCreate' parameter to true (not recommended). "
                      + "More information here: "
                      + "* https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/instances/windows/creating-windows-os-image#api"
                      + "* https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/images/create-delete-deprecate-private-images#prepare_instance_for_image",
                  instanceInfo.get("instanceName")));
        }
      }

      if (forceCreate) {
        System.out.println(
            "Warning: forceCreate option compromise the integrity of your image. "
                + "Stop the instance before you create the image if possible.");
      }

      // Create Image.
      Image image = Image.newBuilder()
          .setName(imageName)
          .setSourceDisk(String.format("/zones/%s/disks/%s", zone, sourceDiskName))
          .addStorageLocations(storageLocation.isEmpty() ? "" : storageLocation)
          .build();

      InsertImageRequest insertImageRequest = InsertImageRequest.newBuilder()
          .setProject(project)
          .setForceCreate(forceCreate)
          .setImageResource(image)
          .build();

      Operation response = imagesClient.insertAsync(insertImageRequest).get(5, TimeUnit.MINUTES);

      if (response.hasError()) {
        System.out.println("Image creation failed ! ! " + response);
        return;
      }

      System.out.println("Image created.");
    }
  }


  public static Map<String, String> parseInstanceName(String name) {
    String[] parsedName = name.split("/");
    int splitLength = parsedName.length;

    if (splitLength < 5) {
      throw new IllegalArgumentException(
          "Provide correct instance name in the following format: "
              + "https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/PROJECT/zones/ZONE/instances/INSTANCE_NAME");
    }

    return new HashMap<>() {
      {
        put("instanceName", parsedName[splitLength - 1]);
        put("instanceZone", parsedName[splitLength - 3]);
        put("instanceProjectId", parsedName[splitLength - 5]);
      }
    };
  }

}

Node.js

Node.js

Before trying this sample, follow the Node.js setup instructions in the Compute Engine quickstart using client libraries. For more information, see the Compute Engine Node.js API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Compute Engine, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment.

/**
 * TODO(developer): Uncomment and replace these variables before running the sample.
 */
// const projectId = 'YOUR_PROJECT_ID';
// const zone = 'europe-central2-b';
// const sourceDiskName = 'YOUR_SOURCE_DISK_NAME';
// const imageName = 'YOUR_IMAGE_NAME';
// const storageLocation = 'eu';
// const forceCreate = false;

const compute = require('@google-cloud/compute');

function parseInstanceName(name) {
  const parsedName = name.split('/');
  const l = parsedName.length;

  if (parsedName.legth < 5) {
    throw new Error(
      'Provide correct instance name in the following format: https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/PROJECT/zones/ZONE/instances/INSTANCE_NAME'
    );
  }

  return [parsedName[l - 1], parsedName[l - 3], parsedName[l - 5]];
}

async function createWindowsOSImage() {
  const imagesClient = new compute.ImagesClient();
  const instancesClient = new compute.InstancesClient();
  const disksClient = new compute.DisksClient();

  // Getting instances where source disk is attached
  const [sourceDisk] = await disksClient.get({
    project: projectId,
    zone,
    disk: sourceDiskName,
  });

  // Сhecking whether the instances is stopped
  for (const fullInstanceName of sourceDisk.users) {
    const [instanceName, instanceZone, instanceProjectId] =
      parseInstanceName(fullInstanceName);
    const [instance] = await instancesClient.get({
      project: instanceProjectId,
      zone: instanceZone,
      instance: instanceName,
    });

    if (
      !['TERMINATED', 'STOPPED'].includes(instance.status) &&
      !forceCreate
    ) {
      throw new Error(
        `Instance ${instanceName} should be stopped. Please stop the instance using GCESysprep command or set forceCreate parameter to true (not recommended). More information here: https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/instances/windows/creating-windows-os-image#api.`
      );
    }
  }

  if (forceCreate) {
    console.warn(
      'Warning: forceCreate option compromise the integrity of your image. Stop the instance before you create the image if possible.'
    );
  }

  const [response] = await imagesClient.insert({
    project: projectId,
    forceCreate,
    imageResource: {
      name: imageName,
      sourceDisk: `/zones/${zone}/disks/${sourceDiskName}`,
      storageLocations: storageLocation ? [storageLocation] : [],
    },
  });
  let operation = response.latestResponse;
  const operationsClient = new compute.GlobalOperationsClient();

  // Wait for the create operation to complete.
  while (operation.status !== 'DONE') {
    [operation] = await operationsClient.wait({
      operation: operation.name,
      project: projectId,
    });
  }

  console.log('Image created.');
}

createWindowsOSImage();

Python

Python

Before trying this sample, follow the Python setup instructions in the Compute Engine quickstart using client libraries. For more information, see the Compute Engine Python API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Compute Engine, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment.

from __future__ import annotations

import sys
from typing import Any
import warnings

from google.api_core.extended_operation import ExtendedOperation
from google.cloud import compute_v1


def wait_for_extended_operation(
    operation: ExtendedOperation, verbose_name: str = "operation", timeout: int = 300
) -> Any:
    """
    Waits for the extended (long-running) operation to complete.

    If the operation is successful, it will return its result.
    If the operation ends with an error, an exception will be raised.
    If there were any warnings during the execution of the operation
    they will be printed to sys.stderr.

    Args:
        operation: a long-running operation you want to wait on.
        verbose_name: (optional) a more verbose name of the operation,
            used only during error and warning reporting.
        timeout: how long (in seconds) to wait for operation to finish.
            If None, wait indefinitely.

    Returns:
        Whatever the operation.result() returns.

    Raises:
        This method will raise the exception received from `operation.exception()`
        or RuntimeError if there is no exception set, but there is an `error_code`
        set for the `operation`.

        In case of an operation taking longer than `timeout` seconds to complete,
        a `concurrent.futures.TimeoutError` will be raised.
    """
    result = operation.result(timeout=timeout)

    if operation.error_code:
        print(
            f"Error during {verbose_name}: [Code: {operation.error_code}]: {operation.error_message}",
            file=sys.stderr,
            flush=True,
        )
        print(f"Operation ID: {operation.name}", file=sys.stderr, flush=True)
        raise operation.exception() or RuntimeError(operation.error_message)

    if operation.warnings:
        print(f"Warnings during {verbose_name}:\n", file=sys.stderr, flush=True)
        for warning in operation.warnings:
            print(f" - {warning.code}: {warning.message}", file=sys.stderr, flush=True)

    return result


STOPPED_MACHINE_STATUS = (
    compute_v1.Instance.Status.TERMINATED.name,
    compute_v1.Instance.Status.STOPPED.name,
)


def create_image_from_disk(
    project_id: str,
    zone: str,
    source_disk_name: str,
    image_name: str,
    storage_location: str | None = None,
    force_create: bool = False,
) -> compute_v1.Image:
    """
    Creates a new disk image.

    Args:
        project_id: project ID or project number of the Cloud project you use.
        zone: zone of the disk you copy from.
        source_disk_name: name of the source disk you copy from.
        image_name: name of the image you want to create.
        storage_location: storage location for the image. If the value is undefined,
            function will store the image in the multi-region closest to your image's
            source location.
        force_create: create the image even if the source disk is attached to a
            running instance.

    Returns:
        An Image object.
    """
    image_client = compute_v1.ImagesClient()
    disk_client = compute_v1.DisksClient()
    instance_client = compute_v1.InstancesClient()

    # Get source disk
    disk = disk_client.get(project=project_id, zone=zone, disk=source_disk_name)

    for disk_user in disk.users:
        instance_name = disk_user.split("/")[-1]
        instance = instance_client.get(
            project=project_id, zone=zone, instance=instance_name
        )
        if instance.status in STOPPED_MACHINE_STATUS:
            continue
        if not force_create:
            raise RuntimeError(
                f"Instance {disk_user} should be stopped. For Windows instances please "
                f"stop the instance using `GCESysprep` command. For Linux instances just "
                f"shut it down normally. You can supress this error and create an image of"
                f"the disk by setting `force_create` parameter to true (not recommended). \n"
                f"More information here: \n"
                f" * https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/instances/windows/creating-windows-os-image#api \n"
                f" * https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/images/create-delete-deprecate-private-images#prepare_instance_for_image"
            )
        else:
            warnings.warn(
                f"Warning: The `force_create` option may compromise the integrity of your image. "
                f"Stop the {disk_user} instance before you create the image if possible."
            )

    # Create image
    image = compute_v1.Image()
    image.source_disk = disk.self_link
    image.name = image_name
    if storage_location:
        image.storage_locations = [storage_location]

    operation = image_client.insert(project=project_id, image_resource=image)

    wait_for_extended_operation(operation, "image creation from disk")

    return image_client.get(project=project_id, image=image_name)

REST

Make a POST request to the images().insert method, with a sourceDisk URL in the request body.

POST https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/[PROJECT_ID]/global/images?[FORCE_OPTION]

{
  "name": "[IMAGE_NAME]",
  "sourceDisk": "zones/[ZONE]/disks/[DISK_NAME]",
  "storageLocations": "[LOCATION]",
}

where:

• [PROJECT_ID] is the project ID for this request.
• [FORCE_OPTION] is an option to create the image even if the source disk is attached to a running instance. Specify forceCreate=true at the end of your POST line to set this option. This option might compromise the integrity of your image. Stop the instance before you create the image if possible.
• [IMAGE_NAME] is the name to give this image.
• [ZONE] is the zone of the source disk to create an image from.
• [DISK_NAME] is the name of the source disk.
• [LOCATION] is an optional parameter that allows you to select the multi-region or a region storage location of your image. For example, specify us to store the image in the us multi-region, or us-central1 to store it in the us-central1 region. If you do not make a selection, Compute Engine will store the image in the multi-region closest to your image's source location.

For more information about adding images, see the images reference.

Update Windows agents and scripts

Compute Engine occasionally releases new Windows images with the latest agents and scripts. These items assist Windows instances with startup and shutdown processes, account management, and address management.

Since Windows image version v20160112, the Windows agent updates itself with upstream releases. You can disable these agent updates by setting the disable-agent-updates instance metadata key to true. If you have instances that are based on older image releases, you can manually update the Windows agent of those instances.

What's next

• Automating Windows password generation
• Using existing Microsoft application licenses