This article is the sixth day of the second SoftLayer Advent Calendar 2014.

SoftLayer has a feature that allows you to save instances as Image Templates. In AWS, you will not be charged if you stop the instance, but in SoftLayer, you will be charged without any problem. Therefore, if you leave the instance that you no longer use as it is, you will be charged, so we recommend that you save it as an Image Template when you do not need it.

I'd like to explain from the state where Image Templates have already been created.

Current Image Templates

Image Templates are displayed from the portal's menu by following these steps: Device > manage >images

A list of currently saved images is displayed. Instances that are no longer in use are displayed here when you save them in image.

Share Image Templates with others

SoftLayer has the ability to share this image with other users. Steps to share

1. Can you tell me the account of the user you want to share?
2. Click the image you want to share to display the detail screen
3. Enter the SL number in (1) and click "share".
4. The account of the registered user in (2) is displayed.

That's all there is to it.

Order an instance from Image Templates

The user who shared it with me is Device > manage >images The image you shared in the list will appear in the list. This time we shared the pbox-server, so the PBOX-server is displayed on the screen.

To create an instance from this image, select "Order Monthly Virtual Server" from "action" of the migi and a monthly virtual server will be created. If you want an hourly server, choose Hourly's Virtual Server.

It was easy to create a virtual server from a template image. The server created from image is already configured, so it can be run immediately. It is convenient to have frequently used servers as a template. Also, when deploying an application, it is very convenient because you can build an environment in no time.