# Introduction

A private image is an image available only to the user who created it. It contains an OS, preinstalled public applications, and a user's personal applications. A private image can be a system disk image, data disk image, or full-ECS image. It can be created from a cloud server or an external image file.

Creating a private image does not affect the running of services on the cloud server or cause data loss.

This section describes how to create a private image using any of the following methods:

- Creating a System Disk Image from a Windows ECS
- Creating a System Disk Image from a Linux ECS
- Creating a Windows System Disk Image from an External Image File
- Creating a Linux System Disk Image from an External Image File
- Creating a BMS System Disk Image
- Creating a Data Disk Image from an ECS
- Creating a Data Disk Image from an External Image File
- Creating a Full-ECS Image from an ECS
- Creating a Full-ECS Image from a CSBS Backup
- Creating a Full-ECS Image from a CBR Backup

Parent topic: Creating a Private Image