There are multiple ways to create images for use in UEC.

Using vmbuilder

If you would want to author your own image, you can use the vmbuilder utility utility to create an image that will run in Eucalyptus.

1. Create a partition description file called 'part'. The contents describe the size, types, and mount points of your VM disk partitions:

   $ cat > part <<EOF
   root 400
   /mnt/ephemeral 0 /dev/sda2 
   swap 1 /dev/sda3
   EOF

2. Next, create a simple script called 'firstboot' that will be executed the first time your image boots inside Eucalyptus to install an ssh daemon. In a file called 'firstboot' create the shell script:

   $ cat >firstboot <<EOF
   #!/bin/sh
   apt-get -y install openssh-server 
   EOF

3. Then, create the image with vmbuilder passing the name of the script file as an argument so that it can be installed. Note that even though we are asking vmbuilder to create a 'xen' image (this simply just means that the output format of the image is a disk partition), the resulting image will boot in Eucalyptus using KVM.

   $ sudo vmbuilder xen ubuntu --part ./part --firstboot ./firstboot

Eucalyptus procedure

The Eucalyptus project also documents this guide to creating images.