If you are new to the elastic cloud world, you may be a bit confused by the concept of a cloud image. Think about the process of creating a virtual machine instance (if you haven't done this yet, you will do so in the next chapter). You typically provide a name for the instance as well as the memory size, virtual CPU count, local disk size, and an image. The virtual machine cannot boot without an operating system or something to read from the local disk.
In the past, it was customary to download your favorite operating system as an ISO, a single archive file of an optical disc. After getting your virtual machine booted, you perhaps provided answers during an install menu and went through an install wizard.
It's important to understand that in the elastic cloud world, agility is the priority and we rarely waste time with installers! When one boots...