Image Management

VyOS uses an image-based installation that creates a directory for each image on the storage device you select during installation.

The boot device has the following directory structure:

/
/boot
/boot/grub
/boot/2025.07.16-0020-rolling.squashfs

The image directory contains the system kernel, a compressed root filesystem image, and a directory for persistent storage (such as configuration). During boot, the system extracts the OS image into memory and mounts the appropriate live-rw subdirectories to provide persistent storage for system configuration.

This process ensures that the system always boots to a known working state, since the OS image is fixed and non-persistent. You can also install multiple VyOS releases on the same storage device. You can manually select the image at boot if needed, but the system boots the default image by default.

show system image

List all available system images which can be booted on the current system.

vyos@vyos:~$ show system image
Name                     Default boot    Running
-----------------------  --------------  ---------
2025.07.16-0020-rolling  Yes             Yes
1.4.1
1.4.0

delete system image [image-name]

Delete unused images from the system. You can specify an optional image name to delete. Use the show system image command to list available images.

vyos@vyos:~$ delete system image
The following images are installed:
        1: 2025.07.16-0020-rolling (running) (default boot)
        2: 1.4.1
        3: 1.4.0
Select an image to delete: 3
Do you really want to delete the image 1.4.0? [y/N] y
The image "1.4.0" was successfully deleted

show version

Show current system image version.

vyos@vyos:~$ show version
Version:          VyOS 2025.07.16-0020-rolling
Release train:    current
Release flavor:   generic

Built by:         autobuild@vyos.net
Built on:         Wed 16 Jul 2025 00:21 UTC
Build UUID:       20d432ee-6d55-4ebc-8462-46fe836246c9
Build Commit ID:  f7ce0d8a692f2d

Architecture:     x86_64
Boot via:         installed image
System type:      KVM guest
Secure Boot:      n/a (BIOS)

Hardware vendor:  QEMU
Hardware model:   Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996)
Hardware S/N:
Hardware UUID:    b9831d42-c1fe-b2bd-7d3d-49db9418f5c9

Copyright:        VyOS maintainers and contributors

System rollback

To roll back to a previous image, first view the available images by using the show system image command, then select your image with the following command:

set system image default-boot [image-name]

Select the default boot image which will be started on the next boot of the system.

Then reboot the system.

Note

VyOS automatically associates the configuration with each image, so you don’t need to manage this separately. Each image has its own unique configuration copy.

If you have console access, you can also select the boot image by restarting the system and using the GRUB menu at startup.