professional-service/examples/iaas-image-upload

iaas-image-upload

Upload a custom VM image to STACKIT using Terraform.

This example provisions a single stackit_image resource from a local image file. It covers the minimal configuration needed to make a custom image available in a STACKIT project, including disk format, boot requirements, and UEFI/Secure Boot settings.

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Architecture

sequenceDiagram
    participant User
    participant FS as Local Filesystem
    participant TF as Terraform / STACKIT API
    participant IMG as STACKIT Image Service
    participant SRV as STACKIT Compute

    Note over User,SRV: terraform apply

    User->>FS: read image file (local_file_path)
    FS-->>TF: binary image data

    User->>TF: create image metadata (name, format, min_disk, min_ram, config)
    TF-->>IMG: POST /v1/projects/{project_id}/images
    IMG-->>TF: image_id · status: uploading

    TF-->>IMG: PUT upload binary image data
    IMG-->>IMG: compute checksum · validate format
    IMG-->>TF: status: active · checksum_digest

    TF-->>User: ✅ image_id · checksum_digest

    Note over User,SRV: 04-server.tf

    User->>TF: create Key Pair + Server (source_id = image_id)
    TF-->>SRV: POST /v1/projects/{project_id}/servers
    SRV-->>TF: server_id

    TF-->>User: ✅ server_id

STACKIT Project
├── Image: custom-image-v1  (scope: private)
│   ├── Format:   qcow2
│   ├── Min disk: 20 GB
│   ├── Min RAM:  2048 MB
│   └── Config:   uefi=true · secure_boot=false
│
└── Server: custom-image-server
    ├── Machine: g1.1
    ├── Zone:    eu01-1
    └── Boot:    source_type=image · source_id=<image_id>

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Overview

Component	Description
Image upload	Uploads a local image file to the STACKIT Image Service
Boot config	Configures UEFI and Secure Boot flags via config block
Labels	Attaches key-value labels for resource management

In this example	Not in this example
Upload a custom image	Image sharing across projects
UEFI and Secure Boot settings	Auto-scaling / multiple VMs
Boot a server from the image	Storage encryption
Image labels	DNS / Load Balancer

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Prerequisites

Tool	Version
Terraform	>= 1.5.7
STACKIT CLI	latest
STACKIT account	Project access

Required STACKIT permissions

The service account used by Terraform must have the following roles assigned in the target project:

Service	Role	Required for
Compute / Image	editor	Upload and manage custom images
Compute	editor	Create servers, networks, key pairs

Assign roles via the STACKIT Portal (Project → Access → Service Accounts) or the CLI:

stackit project role assign \
  --project-id <project-id> \
  --role compute.editor \
  --service-account-email <sa-email>

Image file

The image file must exist locally before running terraform apply. It is not included in this repository and must never be committed.

Place your image file in the images/ directory:

images/
└── custom-image.qcow2   ← your local image file (gitignored)

Supported formats: qcow2, raw, iso

The most common format for Linux-based virtual machine images is qcow2.

Service account

Create a service account and download its key:

stackit iam service-account create \
  --project-id <project-id> \
  --name "tf-image-upload-sa"

mkdir -p keys
stackit iam service-account key create \
  --project-id <project-id> \
  --service-account-email <sa-email> \
  --output-format json > keys/sa-key.json

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Deployment

1. Place the image file

cp /path/to/your/image.qcow2 images/custom-image.qcow2

2. Configure variables

cp examples/terraform.tfvars.example terraform.tfvars
# Fill in: project_id, image_name, image_file_path

Find your project ID:

stackit project list

3. Deploy

terraform init
terraform plan
terraform apply

Duration: depends on image size and upload speed. A 2 GB image typically takes 1–3 minutes.

4. Outputs

terraform output

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Validation

After a successful terraform apply, verify the image in STACKIT:

# List images in your project
stackit image list --project-id <project-id>

# Show details for the uploaded image
stackit image show --project-id <project-id> --image-id $(terraform output -raw image_id)

The checksum_digest output can be used to verify the uploaded image matches your local file:

# qcow2 image checksum (SHA-256)
sha256sum images/custom-image.qcow2
terraform output checksum_digest

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File Structure

iaas-image-upload/
├── .terraform-version              # Terraform version pin (v1.5.7)
├── .gitignore
├── 000-provider.tf                  # stackitcloud/stackit provider
├── 010-variables.tf                 # All variables with descriptions and defaults
├── 020-image.tf                     # stackit_image resource
├── 030-outputs.tf                   # Image ID, name, scope, checksum, server outputs
├── 040-server.tf                    # Optional: server + network from the uploaded image
├── examples/
│   └── terraform.tfvars.example   # Example variable values (safe to commit)
├── images/                         # Place your image file here (gitignored)
│   └── .gitkeep
└── keys/                           # SA key JSON — gitignored

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UEFI and Secure Boot

Variable	Default	Description
uefi	true	Enables UEFI boot; set to false for legacy BIOS images
secure_boot	false	Enables Secure Boot; requires uefi = true

Most modern Linux distributions support UEFI. If your image was built for BIOS boot only, set uefi = false and secure_boot = false.

Secure Boot requires a signed bootloader. Enable it only if your image explicitly supports it.

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Deploy a server from the uploaded image

04-server.tf creates a server that boots directly from the uploaded image. The source_id is wired to stackit_image.custom_image.image_id — no manual copy-paste of the image UUID needed.

Provide your SSH public key in terraform.tfvars:

ssh_public_key = "ssh-ed25519 AAAA... your-key-comment"

Extend 04-server.tf with stackit_network and stackit_network_interface resources if network connectivity is required.

The default SSH user depends on the operating system of your image (e.g. debian, ubuntu, root).

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Security

File	Git status	Contains
terraform.tfvars	gitignored	Project ID, sensitive config
keys/	gitignored	Service account JSON key
images/	gitignored	Local image files

Never commit image files, service account keys, or terraform.tfvars to the repository.

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Cleanup

terraform destroy

Removes the uploaded image from STACKIT. This does not affect any running instances that were created from the image.

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References

• STACKIT Terraform Provider — stackit_image
• STACKIT Developer Documentation
• STACKIT CLI