Knowledge Center

Image

An image can be a set of files generated from the Virtual DSM installation file (.pat), CD/DVD-ROM Image (.iso) or Hard-Disk Image, and can be used for creating virtual machines. At Virtual Machine Manager > Image, you can create images, delete images, as well as modify where the images are stored. Virtual Machine Manager can store different images. When creating a virtual machine, you must specify an image and the storage on which the virtual machine is stored must contain the image. If the storage does not contain the required image, you can download the installation file from Synology server via the wizard, choose it in your Synology NAS, manually upload an installation file from your PC, or copy existing images from other hosts in the cluster.

To create an image:

  1. Choose the type of image by clicking the tabs:
    • ISO File
    • Disk Image
    • DSM Image
  2. Click Add.
  3. The source of installation file can be:
    1. Manually upload an installation image file from your PC.
    2. Choose the file in your Synology NAS directly.
    3. Download the latest Virtual DSM installation file from Synology.
  4. All storage resources on the hosts will be shown. Select the storage on which you want to store the image.

Note:

  • Supported format:
    • ISO File: *.iso.
    • Disk Image: *.vmdk, *.vdi, *.vhd, *.vhdx, *.img, *.qcow2.
    • DSM Image: *.pat.
  • The option Download the Virtual DSM from Synology will fail if your Synology NAS cannot connect to Synology server. If so, click the provided hyperlink to download the Virtual DSM installation file to your PC, and then manually upload the Virtual DSM installation file to your Synology NAS.
  • If you manually upload the installation file from your computer, do not close or refresh the browser during the upload to avoid interrupting the uploading process.

To modify the location of a system image:

  1. Select an image from the list.
  2. Click Action > Edit.
  3. Select the desired storage, and click OK to save the changes.

To delete a system image:

  1. Select one or more images from the list.
  2. Click Delete.

Download Guest Tool:

  1. Go to Image > ISO File.
  2. Click Download Guest Tool, and a pop-up window will show.
  3. Click Download to get the latest Guest Tool for Virtual Machine Manager.

Note:

  • If your Guest Tool is up-to-date, you will not be able to download again.
  • If your Synology NAS cannot connect to Synology server, please visit Synology website, download the Guest Tool, and then upload it to Image.
  • Guest Tool for Virtual Machine Manager provides device drivers required for installing Windows virtual machine. It also includes a more stable QEMU Guest Agent, which facilitates better data consistency of snapshots by freezing access to the filesystem.