How to Upload and Use Custom ISOs on Vultr

Vultr provides a library of standard ISOs and One-Click Apps for deploying popular operating systems and applications. However, you may need to install an operating system or tool that is not included in the library, such as a custom build of Kali Linux, OpenBSD, or pfSense. In such cases, you can upload and use your own custom ISO.

This guide explains how to upload a custom ISO to Vultr, deploy new instances with it, attach or detach it from running instances, and manage ISOs using the Vultr API.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have:

• Have access to the Vultr Customer Portal, Vultr API with a valid API key, or Vultr CLI installed and configured.

Uploading an ISO on Vultr

You can upload a custom ISO to Vultr by providing a publicly accessible URL. Once uploaded, the ISO becomes available in your account and can be used to deploy new instances or attach to existing ones. This feature is useful when you need operating systems or tools not included in Vultr’s public ISO library.

Using Vultr Customer Portal

Follow the steps below to upload an ISO to Vultr using Vultr Customer Portal.

1. Log in to the Vultr Customer Portal.

2. Navigate to Orchestration section under Products and click ISOs.

3. Click Create ISO, and enter the public URL of the ISO image.

4. Click Upload to begin the transfer.

5. Wait for the upload to finish. The time required depends on the size of the ISO and the speed of the source server.

Using Vultr CLI

Follow the steps below to upload an ISO to Vultr using the Vultr CLI.

1. Run the following command to create an ISO from a public URL. Replace <public-url> with the public link to your ISO file.

   console Copy

   $ vultr-cli iso create --url <public-url>
   

   Explain Code

   The response includes details about the ISO. Note the id value for later use.

2. Verify the upload status. Replace <iso-id> with the id you noted earlier.

   console Copy

   $ vultr-cli iso get <iso-id>
   

   Explain Code

   Check the STATUS column in the response and wait until it shows completed before proceeding.

Using Vultr API

Follow the steps below to upload an ISO to Vultr using the Vultr API.

1. Run the following command to create an ISO from a public URL. Replace <public-url> with the direct link to your ISO file.

   console Copy

   $ curl -sS --fail --compressed "https://api.vultr.com/v2/iso" \
     -X POST \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer ${VULTR_API_KEY}" \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     --data '{
       "url" : "<public-url>"
     }' \
     | jq .
   

   Explain Code

   The response includes details about the ISO. Note the id value for later use.

2. Verify the upload status using the following command. Replace <iso-id> with the id you noted earlier.

   console Copy

   $ curl -sS --fail --compressed "https://api.vultr.com/v2/iso/<iso-id>" \
     -X GET \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer ${VULTR_API_KEY}" \
     | jq .
   

   Explain Code

   Check the status field in the response and wait until it shows complete before proceeding.

Deploy a New Instance from a Custom ISO

In this section, you will deploy a new Vultr instance using your Custom ISO.

Using Vultr Customer Portal

1. Navigate to Products and click Compute.

2. Click Deploy.

3. Choose the instance Type, either Shared CPU or Dedicated CPU.

4. Select the deployment Location.

5. Choose an instance Plan that meets your workload requirements.

6. Click Configure Software to open the configuration options.

7. Go to the ISO/iPXE tab and select your Custom ISO.

8. Configure optional Server Settings, such as SSH Keys or a Firewall Group.

9. Enter a Server Hostname and an optional Server Label to identify the instance.

10. Select any optional Additional Features you want to enable.

11. Review the Deploy Summary and click Deploy to provision the instance. Wait until the instance status changes to Running.

12. Click the View Console icon to open the VNC console and complete the installation.

13. After the installation is complete, navigate to the instance information page.

14. Click the Settings tab, and select Custom ISO from the left menu and click Remove ISO to detach the ISO from the instance.

Using Vultr CLI

1. List all available ISOs in your account.

   console Copy

   $ vultr-cli iso list
   

   Explain Code

   Note the id of the ISO you want to use to deploy the instance.

2. Create a new instance using the desired ISO. Replace the placeholders with your region, plan, iso-id, hostname, and label

   console Copy

   $ vultr-cli instance create --region <region> --plan <plan> --iso <iso-id> --label <example-label> --host <example-host>
   

   Explain Code

3. Log in to the Vultr Customer Portal.

4. Navigate to Products and click Compute.

5. Select the newly created instance.

6. Click the View Console icon to open the VNC console and complete the installation.

7. After the installation is complete, navigate to the instance information page.

8. Click the Settings tab, and select Custom ISO from the left menu and click Remove ISO to detach the ISO from the instance.

Using Vultr API

Follow these steps to deploy a Vultr instance using a Custom ISO via the API:

1. List all available ISOs in your account and note the id of the ISO you want to use.

   console Copy

   $ curl -sS --fail --compressed "https://api.vultr.com/v2/iso" \
     -X GET \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer ${VULTR_API_KEY}" \
     | jq '.isos[] | {id, filename, status}'
   

   Explain Code

2. Create a new instance using the ISO. Replace the placeholders with your desired region, plan, hostname, label, and iso-id.

   console Copy

   $ curl -sS --fail --compressed "https://api.vultr.com/v2/instances" \
     -X POST \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer ${VULTR_API_KEY}" \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     --data '{
       "region": "<region>",
       "plan": "<plan>",
       "label": "<example-label>",
       "iso_id": "<iso-id>",
       "backups": "enabled",
       "hostname": "<example-host>",
       "tags": ["a tag", "another"]
     }' | jq .
   

   Explain Code

   Note the id of the newly created instance from the response.

3. Log in to the Vultr Customer Portal.

4. Navigate to Products and click Compute.

5. Select the newly created instance.

6. Click the View Console icon to open the VNC console and complete the installation.

7. After installation, detach the ISO so the instance boots from the installed OS. Replace <instance-id> with the id you copied earlier.

   console Copy

   $ curl -sS --fail --compressed "https://api.vultr.com/v2/instances/<instance-id>/iso/detach" \
     -X POST \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer ${VULTR_API_KEY}"
   

   Explain Code

   The above API request detaches the ISO image from the instance and reboots the instance.

Conclusion

In this guide, you successfully uploaded a custom ISO to Vultr using the Customer Portal, CLI, and API. You deployed new instances booting from the custom ISO, completed the OS installation through the VNC console, and detached the ISO to ensure the instances booted from the installed operating system. These steps enabled you to fully manage custom deployments, streamline instance setup, and maintain greater flexibility over your server environments.