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Create a Golden Image

Why Golden Images Matter

A golden image is your "master copy" — every VM you deploy from it will be an exact clone. This means:

  • Everything you install gets replicated. If you install RustDesk, Chrome, and your creative suite into the golden image, every VM spun up from it has those applications ready to go.
  • Everything you forget gets replicated too. If you skip Windows updates, misconfigure a setting, or leave test files on the desktop, every VM inherits those issues.
  • Changes require a new golden image. Need a different version of Houdini? Want to add a new application? You'll need to either update your golden image and redeploy, or install manually on each VM.

Before you clone, ask yourself:

  • Are all necessary drivers installed and working?
  • Is my VDI solution (RustDesk, etc.) configured correctly?
  • Have I installed the core applications my users need?
  • Are Windows updates applied?
  • Is the system configured the way I want it (display settings, power settings, etc.)?
  • Have I removed any temporary files or test data?

Taking an extra 15 minutes to get your golden image right saves hours of troubleshooting and redeployment later. Treat it like baking a master template — once it's in production, that's what everyone gets.

Now that Windows is configured with drivers and RustDesk, create a golden image for fast deployment of future VMs.

Step 1: Stop the VM

1. Find and stop VM resource
  1. Open the Resources table on your VM workload

golden image resource

  1. Find the VirtualMachine resource, open the actions menu and click Stop

golden image resource

Step 2: Clone the System Disk

1. Clone System Disk Data Volume
  1. Find the Data Volume with "system" in the name. As you defined when creating your workload template
  2. Click the Actions dropdown
  3. Select Clone

golden image resource

Tip

To learn more about our available actions, see our resource actions documentation

Step 3: Name Your Golden Image

1. Name Your Golden Image
  1. Enter a name (e.g., windows-template)
  2. Select the namespace you'd like the Data Volume to be cloned to
  3. The size will be automatically detected
  4. Click to start the clone

golden image resource

Note

Cloning can take several minutes depending on disk size. You will see a progress wheel providing you with the current clones progress percentage. You may need to refresh the page to see the updated status — we're aware this sometimes misses update cycles.

Step 4: Verify the Clone

Once complete, your golden image appears in the list. This image contains:

  • Windows with all updates applied during setup
  • VirtIO drivers installed
  • RustDesk configured and ready

Tip

Cloned Data Volumes will also appear in the Genesis storage page in the Data Volumes tab.