---
name: vpc-vsi_is_getting_started_vpc_stock_images
title: Getting started with Stock images on VPC
description: A stock image is the out-of-the-box operating system that is customized for IBM Cloud® Virtual Servers for Virtual Private Cloud environments. It is used to deploy virtual servers or bare metal servers by using different architecture types.
last-updated: 2026-07-24
---

> ## Documentation Index
> The table of contents for this documentation set is at https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/vpc?format=markdown
> The index for all IBM Cloud docs is at: https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use these files to discover more information as needed.

# Getting started with Stock images on VPC
{: #getting-started-images-on-vpc-stock}

A stock image is the out-of-the-box operating system that is customized for IBM Cloud® Virtual Servers for Virtual Private Cloud environments. It is used to deploy virtual servers or bare metal servers by using different architecture types.
{: shortdesc}

The image that you select determines the operating system that is provisioned for your instance. If the image you select is an operating system bundle stock image, the software that is part of that bundle is also included in your instance.

## Images on VPC - Stock images
{: #images-on-vpc-stock-images}

When you provision a virtual server on your VPC, you need to select an image to determine the operating system for the server. The following groups of operating system stock images are available:

* [x86 virtual server images](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/vpc?topic=vpc-about-images&format=markdown)
* [Deprecated]{: tag-deprecated} [s390x virtual server images](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/vpc?topic=vpc-vsabout-images&format=markdown)
* [Bare metal server images](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/vpc?topic=vpc-bare-metal-image&format=markdown)

All available stock images can be found in the [IBM Cloud console](https://cloud.ibm.com/login){: external}. Go to the **Navigation menu** ![Navigation menu icon](../icons/icon_hamburger.svg) **> Infrastructure** ![VPC icon](../../icons/vpc.svg) **> Compute** **> Images** **> Stock images**.
You can also programmatically list images by calling the `/images` method in the [VPC API](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/apis/vpc/latest#list-images), or running the `is images` command from the [IBMCLOUD CLI](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/vpc?topic=vpc-vpc-reference&format=markdown#images-list).

When you use an IBM stock image, you must apply the most recent security patches and any updates that are provided by the operating system vendor. After you provision a virtual server, it is your responsibility to continue to regularly make package updates for the operating system. If you are using the RHEL AI stock image, you can't apply updates to an existing virtual server instance. You must provision a new virtual server instance with the most recent image.
{: important}

When you provision a boot volume, its capacity must match or exceed the size of the stock image. Most stock images require a 100 GB boot volume. Some Linux stock images can be installed on a boot volume with capacity of as little as 10 GB, while some Windows stock images require a minimum of 40 GB.

To create a virtual server with a stock image, see one of the following topics:
* [Creating a virtual server instance in the console](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/vpc?topic=vpc-creating-virtual-servers&interface=ui&format=markdown#creating-virtual-servers-ui)
* [Creating a virtual server instance from the CLI - provision with a stock or custom image](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/vpc?topic=vpc-creating-virtual-servers&interface=cli&format=markdown#instance-create-from-image-cli)
* [Creating a virtual server instance with the API - provision with a stock or custom image](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/vpc?topic=vpc-creating-virtual-servers&interface=api&format=markdown#create-instance-stock-custom-image-api)
* [Creating an instance with Terraform](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/vpc?topic=vpc-creating-virtual-servers&interface=terraform&format=markdown#create-instance-using-terraform)