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Import virtual disks | Compute Engine Documentation

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If you have virtual disks in your on-premises environment with software and configurations that you need (sometimes referred to as golden disks or golden images), you can save time by importing those virtual disks into Compute Engine and using the resulting image to create virtual machines. The Migrate to Virtual Machines import tool supports most virtual disk file formats, including VMDK and VHD.

• Enable the VM Migration API on your project. For more information about enabling the VM Migration API, see Enable Migrate to Virtual Machines services.
• Verify that the operating system on the disk is supported by Migrate to Virtual Machines. For more information, see Supported operating systems.
• Verify that the virtual disk image files that you want to import are supported.

You can import virtual disk image files in the following formats using Migrate to Virtual Machines:

• A single virtual machine disk (VMDK) - Recommended option, VMDK files are imported faster Note: Only monolithic VMDK files are supported. If you have a -flat.vmdk file and a .vmdk descriptor file, you can import these files by renaming the -flat.vmdk file to disk.raw, and compressing it as a .tar.gz file.
• QEMU copy-on-write (QCOW)
• QEMU copy-on-write 2 (QCOW2)
• QEMU enhanced disk format (QED)
• VPC
• Virtual disk image (VDI)
• Virtual hard disk v2 (VHDX)
• Virtual hard disk (VHD)

In addition to these formats, a raw file compressed as a .tar.gz is also supported. Verify that the compressed file contains a single file named disk.raw.

You can import disk images with Arm architecture to the following regions:

To import a virtual disk image to a Compute Engine image using Migrate to Virtual Machines, use the following steps:

1. Prepare a virtual disk image file for import
2. Choose a target project
3. Import a virtual disk image to Compute Engine

To import a virtual disk image to a Compute Engine image, you must first prepare the virtual disk image file for import. The following sections discuss these tasks in detail.

To import a virtual disk image to a Compute Engine image, you must first add the virtual disk image file to Cloud Storage. For more information, see Upload objects from a file system. For better performance, we recommend that you upload the virtual disk image file to a bucket in the same cloud region in which you want to create the image.

To import a virtual disk image to a Compute Engine image, grant permissions as described in the following table.

To host the Compute Engine image, you must create or choose a target project. A target project defines the destination project for a Compute Engine image. For more information on creating or choosing a target project, see Adding a target project.

You can import a virtual disk image to Compute Engine using the Google Cloud console, Google Cloud CLI, or REST API commands.

To import a virtual disk image to Compute Engine using the Google Cloud console, use the following steps.

1. Open the Migrate to Virtual Machines page in the Google Cloud console.
   Go to the Migrate to Virtual Machines page
2. Select the Image Imports tab.
3. Click Create Image.
4. Define the characteristics of the image. The following table lists the parameters that you can set for your image. Section title Field name Description General Name The name of the image that you want to create. For more information on the naming rules, see Naming convention. Image import ID An ID that represents the image import resource. When you import an image to Compute Engine, Migrate to Virtual Machines first creates an image import resource. The image import resource represents the image import process. You can use the Image import ID to get the link to the image that was imported as part of the image import process. Source Cloud Storage file The file from which you want to import the image. Click Browse to view the list of buckets in your current project, and select the file from which you want to import the image.
   If you want to import an image from a bucket from another project, you must enter the path in the format bucket/folder/file. To get the path of an object inside a bucket, see View object metadata. When you copy the path, make sure that you don't copy the gs:// prefix.
   Note that you can only import images from .vmdk and .tar.gz files. Region The region in which you want to create the image. For a list of supported regions, see Regions and zones. Target project The target project in which you want to create the image. If you've not already added a target project, do so using the instructions given in Add a target project. Family (Optional) Select the image family. Compute Engine provides image families to help you make sure that your automation systems can reference the latest images. As an administrator, you can group a set of images as an image family. For more information, see Public image families. Description (Optional) Add a description for the image. Skip OS adaptation To skip OS adaptation, click the Skip OS adaptation toggle to the on position.
   To function properly on Google Cloud, VMs created from imported images require changes to be made to their configuration. These changes are referred to as OS adaptations. Migrate to Virtual Machines performs OS adaptations automatically in the image import process. For more information, see Adapt VM instances to run on Google Cloud. Generalize To generalize the image, click the Generalize toggle to the on position. When you create an instance from an image, Windows adds some unique information to the instance. Generalize is a process that removes this information so that you can create multiple instances from the same image. Licenses License type Compute Engine supports pay as you go (PAYG) licenses and bring your own licenses (BYOL) for your deployed VMs. The default license type for a migrated VM is assigned by Migrate to Virtual Machines based on the migrated operating system, as described in Supported operating systems.
   If your operating system supports multiple license types, you can override the default license type to explicitly specify a license type of PAYG or BYOL.
   Note: Some operating system types, such as CentOS and Debian, don't support a license. Other operating systems only support one type of license. Attempting to set an unsupported license type causes an error when you attempt to import the image. Additional licenses Additional licenses You can add up to 10 additional licenses to the VM instance created from the imported image using a valid URL format. For example, you can add additional licenses using the following URL format:
   

   https://www.googleapis.com/compute/beta/projects/windows-sql-cloud/global/licenses/sql-server-2012-enterprise

   Labels To organize your project, add labels as key-value pairs to your resources. See Organize resources using labels. Encryption Google-managed encryption key Choose this option to use Google-owned and Google-managed encryption keys to encrypt your data during the import process. For more information, see encrypts data when it is at rest. Customer managed encryption key Choose this option to use customer-managed encryption keys (CMEK) to encrypt your data during the import process, and the data of the image created by the import process. If you have specific compliance or regulatory requirements related to the keys that protect your data, you can use CMEK to encrypt and decrypt your data. These encryption keys are created, managed, and owned by you. For more information, see Protect resources by using Cloud KMS keys.
   When you add a CMEK, you must grant permissions as described in the following table. Role Permissions required Description Cloud VM Migration Service Account roles/vmmigration.serviceAgen Grant this permission to the Compute Engine service account to encrypt data of the image created during the import process. Compute Engine Service Agent roles/compute.serviceAgent Grant this permission to the Migrate to Virtual Machines service agent to encrypt the data during the import process.
5. Select Create.

To import a virtual disk image to Compute Engine using the Google Cloud CLI, use the following request.

gcloud compute migration image-imports create IMAGE_NAME \
--source-file=SOURCE_FILE \
--location=REGION_ID \
--target-project=projects/HOST_PROJECT_ID/locations/global/targetProjects/TARGET_PROJECT

Replace the following:

• IMAGE_NAME: the name of the image that you want to create. For more information on the naming rules, see Naming convention.
• SOURCE_FILE: the file from which you want to import the image. Enter the path in the format gs://bucket/folder/file. To get the path of an object inside a bucket, see View object metadata. Note that you can only import images from .vmdk and .tar.gz files.
• REGION_ID: the region in which you want the image import process to run. The image is created in the closest multi-region. If you want the image to be created in a region, make sure that singleRegionStorage is set to true. For a list of supported regions, see Regions and Zones.
• HOST_PROJECT_ID: the name of the host project from which you want to migrate the virtual disk image.
• TARGET_PROJECT: the target project in which you want to create the image. If you've not already added a target project, do so using the instructions given in Add a target project.

For more information, see gcloud compute migration image-imports.

To import a virtual disk image to Compute Engine using the REST API, use the following steps.

1. Create an image import resource using the following request.

   POST https://vmmigration.googleapis.com/v1/projects/HOST_PROJECT_ID/locations/REGION_ID/imageImports?imageImportId=IMPORT_NAME
   {
   "cloudStorageUri": "SOURCE_FILE",
   "diskImageTargetDefaults": {
   "imageName": "IMAGE_NAME",
   "targetProject": "projects/HOST_PROJECT_ID/locations/global/targetProjects/TARGET_PROJECT",
   ...
   }
   }
   

   Replace the following:

   • HOST_PROJECT_ID: the name of the host project from which you want to migrate the virtual disk image.
   • REGION_ID: the region in which you want the image import process to run. The image is created in the closest multi-region. If you want the image to be created in a region, make sure that singleRegionStorage is set to true. For a list of supported regions, see Regions and Zones.
   • SOURCE_FILE: the file from which you want to import the image. Enter the path in the format gs://bucket/folder/file. To get the path of an object inside a bucket, see View object metadata. Note that you can only import images from .vmdk and .tar.gz files.
   • IMAGE_NAME: the name of the image that you want to create. For more information on the naming rules, see Naming convention.
   • TARGET_PROJECT: the target project in which you want to create the image. If you've not already added a target project, do so using the instructions given in Add a target project.

   In this example, IMPORT_NAME is an ID that represents the image import resource. When you import an image to Compute Engine, Migrate to Virtual Machines creates an first creates an image import resource. The image import resource represents the image import process. You can use the IMPORT_NAME to get the link to the image that was imported as part of the image import process.

   See the following table for the full list of image import create request fields supported fields.

   Field name Description cloudStorageUri string
   The path of the file from which you want to import the image. Enter the path in the format gs://bucket/folder/file. To get the path of an object inside a bucket, see View object metadata.
   Note that you can only import images from .vmdk and .tar.gz files. diskImageTargetDefaults.targetProject string
   The path of the TargetProject. The target project in which you want to create the image. For more information, see target project API reference. For example,
   projects/HOST_PROJECT_ID/locations/global/targetProjects/TARGET_PROJECT
   In the example, replace the following:
   • HOST_PROJECT_ID: the name of the host project from which you want to migrate the virtual disk image.
   • TARGET_PROJECT: the target project in which you want to create the image.
   diskImageTargetDefaults.imageName string
   The name of the image to be created. For more information on the naming rules, see resource naming convention. diskImageTargetDefaults.description string
   (Optional) A description of the image. diskImageTargetDefaults.familyName string
   (Optional) Select the image family. Compute Engine provides image families to help you make sure that your automation systems can reference the latest images. As an administrator, you can group a set of images as an image family. For more information, see Public image families. For more information, see Public image families. diskImageTargetDefaults.labels map (key: string, value: string)
   To organize your project, add labels as key-value pairs to your resources. See Labeling resources. diskImageTargetDefaults.additionalLicenses string[]
   You can add up to 10 additional licenses to the VM instance created from the imported image using a valid URL format. For example, you can add additional licenses using the following URL format:
   

   https://www.googleapis.com/compute/beta/projects/windows-sql-cloud/global/licenses/sql-server-2012-enterprise

   diskImageTargetDefaults.singleRegionStorage boolean
   Set this flag to true if you want the image storageLocations to be a region. If you set this flag to false, the closest multi-region is selected. diskImageTargetDefaults.dataDiskImageImport boolean
   Set this flag to true if you want to skip OS adaptation.
   To function properly on Google Cloud, VMs created from imported images require changes to be made to their configuration. These changes are referred to as OS adaptations. Migrate to Virtual Machines performs OS adaptations automatically in the image import process. For more information, see Adapt VM instances to run on Google Cloud. diskImageTargetDefaults.osAdaptationParameters.licenseType string
   The license type you want to use for your image. Compute Engine supports pay as you go (PAYG) licenses and bring your own licenses (BYOL) for your deployed VMs. The default license type for a migrated VM is assigned by Migrate to Virtual Machines based on the migrated operating system, as described in Supported operating systems.
   If your operating system supports multiple license types, you can override the default license type to explicitly specify a license type of PAYG or BYOL.
   Note: Some operating system types, such as CentOS and Debian, don't support a license. Other operating systems only support one type of license. Attempting to set an unsupported license type causes an error when you attempt to import the image. diskImageTargetDefaults.osAdaptationParameters.generalize boolean
   Set this flag to true if you want to generalize the image.
   When you create an instance from an image, Windows adds some unique information to the instance. Generalize is a process that removes this information so that you can create multiple instances from the same image. diskImageTargetDefaults.encryption string
   The Google-owned and Google-managed encryption key that you want to use to encrypt your data during the import process. For more information, see encrypts data when it is at rest. encryption string
   Choose this option to use customer-managed encryption keys (CMEK) to encrypt your data during the import process, and the data of the image created during the import process. If you have specific compliance or regulatory requirements related to the keys that protect your data, you can use CMEK to encrypt and decrypt your data. These encryption keys are created, managed, and owned by you. For more information, see Protect resources by using Cloud KMS keys.
   When you add a CMEK, you must grant permissions as described in the following table. Role Permissions required Description Cloud VM Migration Service Account roles/vmmigration.serviceAgent Grant this permission to the Compute Engine service account to encrypt data of the image created during the import process. Compute Engine Service Agent roles/compute.serviceAgent Grant this permission to the Migrate to Virtual Machines service agent to encrypt the data during the import process.

   You should see a response similar to the following sample response.

   {
     "name": "projects/HOST_PROJECT_ID/locations/REGION_ID/operations/OPERATION_ID",
     "metadata": {
       "createTime": "2023-10-31T09:12:26.94928636Z",
       "target": "projects/HOST_PROJECT_ID/locations/us-central1/imageImports/IMPORT_NAME",
       "verb": "create",
       "apiVersion": "v1",
       "@type": "type.googleapis.com/google.cloud.vmmigration.v1.OperationMetadata"
     }
   }
   

2. Check if the image import job is complete by polling the operation using the following command.

   GET https://vmmigration.googleapis.com/v1/projects/HOST_PROJECT_ID/locations/REGION_ID/operations/OPERATION_ID
   

   Replace the following:

   • HOST_PROJECT_ID: the name of the host project from which you are migrating the virtual disk image.
   • REGION_ID: the region in which you want the image import process to run. The image is created in the closest multi-region. If you want the image to be created in a region, make sure that singleRegionStorage is set to true. For a list of supported regions, see Regions and Zones.
   • OPERATION_ID: the operation ID of the migrate job.

   You should see an operation completion response similar to the following sample response.

     {
       "done": true,
       "name": "projects/HOST_PROJECT_ID/locations/REGION_ID/operations/OPERATION_ID",
       "response": {
         "@type": "type.googleapis.com/google.cloud.vmmigration.v1.ImageImport",
         "name": "projects/<HOST_PROJECT_ID>/locations/us-central1/imageImports/IMPORT_NAME",
         "cloudStorageUri": "SOURCE_FILE",
         "createTime": "2023-10-31T09:04:04.413664947Z",
         "diskImageTargetDefaults": {
           "imageName": "IMAGE_NAME",
           "targetProject": "projects/HOST_PROJECT_ID/locations/global/targetProjects/TARGET_PROJECT"
         },
         "recentImageImportJobs": [
           {
             "name": "projects/HOST_PROJECT_ID/locations/us-central1/imageImports/IMPORT_NAME/imageImportJobs/image-import-job",
             "diskImageTargetDetails": {
              "imageName": "IMAGE_NAME",
              "targetProject": "projects/HOST_PROJECT_ID/locations/global/targetProjects/TARGET_PROJECT"
           },
            "state": "PENDING"
          }
         ]
       },
       "metadata": {
         "createTime": "2023-10-31T09:04:04.416740716Z",
         "endTime": "2023-10-31T09:05:36.79987142Z",
         "target": "projects/HOST_PROJECT_ID/locations/us-central1/imageImports/IMPORT_NAME",
         "verb": "create",
         "apiVersion": "v1",
         "@type": "type.googleapis.com/google.cloud.vmmigration.v1.OperationMetadata"
       }
     }
   

3. Monitor the image import job for completion using the following command.

   GET https://vmmigration.googleapis.com/v1/projects/HOST_PROJECT_ID/locations/REGION_ID/imageImports/IMPORT_NAME/imageImportJobs/image-import-job
   

   Replace the following:

   • HOST_PROJECT_ID: the name of the host project from which you are migrating the virtual disk image.
   • REGION_ID: the region in which you want the image import process to run. The image is created in the closest multi-region. If you want the image to be created in a region, make sure that singleRegionStorage is set to true. For a list of supported regions, see Regions and Zones.
   • IMPORT_NAME: the ID that represents the image import resource. When you import an image to Compute Engine, Migrate to Virtual Machines creates an first creates an image import resource. The image import resource represents the image import process. You can use the IMPORT_NAME to get the link to the image that was imported as part of the image import process.

   You should see a job completion response similar to the following sample response.

   {
     "createTime":"2023-10-31T09:12:27.053788394Z",
     "createdResources":[
       "https://www.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/USER_PROJECT/global/images/IMAGE_NAME"
     ],
     "diskImageTargetDetails": {
       "imageName":"IMAGE_NAME",
       "targetProject":"projects/HOST_PROJECT_ID/locations/global/targetProjects/TARGET_PROJECT"
     },
     "endTime":"2023-10-31T09:16:50.224865783Z",
     "name":"projects/HOST_PROJECT_ID/locations/us-central1/imageImports/IMPORT_NAME/imageImportJobs/image-import-job",
     "state":"SUCCEEDED"
   }
   

Except as otherwise noted, the content of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License, and code samples are licensed under the Apache 2.0 License. For details, see the Google Developers Site Policies. Java is a registered trademark of Oracle and/or its affiliates.

Last updated 2025-08-07 UTC.

[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Hard to understand","hardToUnderstand","thumb-down"],["Incorrect information or sample code","incorrectInformationOrSampleCode","thumb-down"],["Missing the information/samples I need","missingTheInformationSamplesINeed","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-08-07 UTC."],[[["Migrate to Virtual Machines allows importing on-premises virtual disks (golden disks/images) into Compute Engine to create virtual machines, supporting various formats like VMDK, VHD, QCOW, and raw files."],["Before importing, enable the VM Migration API, ensure the operating system is supported, and confirm the virtual disk format is compatible."],["The import process involves preparing the virtual disk file, uploading it to Cloud Storage, granting necessary permissions, and selecting a target project."],["You can initiate the import process through the Google Cloud console, Google Cloud CLI, or REST API, defining parameters such as the image name, source file, region, target project, and optional configurations like OS adaptation and license types."],["The import procedure creates an image import resource to track progress, and once the import is complete, you can monitor the status, and will have access to the link of the imported image."]]],[]]

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