It's easy to reporoduce on current master using devstack: vagrant@precise:~/devstack$ nova image-list +--------------------------------------+---------------------------------+--------+--------+ | ID | Name | Status | Server | +--------------------------------------+---------------------------------+--------+--------+ | 684486b3-f77e-46b0-b709-12a8e0a9f0c7 | cirros-0.3.0-x86_64-uec | ACTIVE | | | 973351dd-fd04-4382-9ee9-6ca216ea4f44 | cirros-0.3.0-x86_64-uec-kernel | ACTIVE | | | 5a5ea70a-4e91-4af2-a639-30e86ac7aff6 | cirros-0.3.0-x86_64-uec-ramdisk | ACTIVE | | +--------------------------------------+---------------------------------+--------+--------+ vagrant@precise:~/devstack$ nova boot --flavor=1 --image=684486b3-f77e-46b0-b709-12a8e0a9f0c7 base_vm +------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+ | Property | Value | +------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+ | OS-DCF:diskConfig | MANUAL | | OS-EXT-STS:power_state | 0 | | OS-EXT-STS:task_state | scheduling | | OS-EXT-STS:vm_state | building | | accessIPv4 | | | accessIPv6 | | | adminPass | 9bb4MKy4UjXf | | config_drive | | | created | 2012-09-05T10:42:10Z | | flavor | m1.tiny | | hostId | 475ec55bd30b4320134f868bef40489f7b3cf000d951a319cf000ced | | id | 3f3abae0-c8dc-4334-a742-8998302a13f0 | | image | cirros-0.3.0-x86_64-uec | | key_name | None | | metadata | {} | | name | base_vm | | progress | 0 | | security_groups | [{u'name': u'default'}] | | status | BUILD | | tenant_id | ee9a7e206b454b61a66e6386d596f796 | | updated | 2012-09-05T10:42:10Z | | user_id | f21327bf650349f1af4c744399617b14 | +------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+ vagrant@precise:~/devstack$ nova list +--------------------------------------+---------+--------+------------------+ | ID | Name | Status | Networks | +--------------------------------------+---------+--------+------------------+ | 3f3abae0-c8dc-4334-a742-8998302a13f0 | base_vm | ACTIVE | private=10.0.0.2 | +--------------------------------------+---------+--------+------------------+ vagrant@precise:~/devstack$ nova image-create 3f3abae0-c8dc-4334-a742-8998302a13f0 base_image vagrant@precise:~/devstack$ nova image-list +--------------------------------------+---------------------------------+--------+--------------------------------------+ | ID | Name | Status | Server | +--------------------------------------+---------------------------------+--------+--------------------------------------+ | 94384485-5761-40ff-82bb-5061b3532330 | base_image | SAVING | 3f3abae0-c8dc-4334-a742-8998302a13f0 | | 684486b3-f77e-46b0-b709-12a8e0a9f0c7 | cirros-0.3.0-x86_64-uec | ACTIVE | | | 973351dd-fd04-4382-9ee9-6ca216ea4f44 | cirros-0.3.0-x86_64-uec-kernel | ACTIVE | | | 5a5ea70a-4e91-4af2-a639-30e86ac7aff6 | cirros-0.3.0-x86_64-uec-ramdisk | ACTIVE | | +--------------------------------------+---------------------------------+--------+--------------------------------------+ vagrant@precise:~/devstack$ nova image-list +--------------------------------------+---------------------------------+--------+--------------------------------------+ | ID | Name | Status | Server | +--------------------------------------+---------------------------------+--------+--------------------------------------+ | 94384485-5761-40ff-82bb-5061b3532330 | base_image | ACTIVE | 3f3abae0-c8dc-4334-a742-8998302a13f0 | | 684486b3-f77e-46b0-b709-12a8e0a9f0c7 | cirros-0.3.0-x86_64-uec | ACTIVE | | | 973351dd-fd04-4382-9ee9-6ca216ea4f44 | cirros-0.3.0-x86_64-uec-kernel | ACTIVE | | | 5a5ea70a-4e91-4af2-a639-30e86ac7aff6 | cirros-0.3.0-x86_64-uec-ramdisk | ACTIVE | | +--------------------------------------+---------------------------------+--------+--------------------------------------+ vagrant@precise:~/devstack$ nova boot --flavor=1 --image=94384485-5761-40ff-82bb-5061b3532330 derived_vm +------------------------+--------------------------------------+ | Property | Value | +------------------------+--------------------------------------+ | OS-DCF:diskConfig | MANUAL | | OS-EXT-STS:power_state | 0 | | OS-EXT-STS:task_state | scheduling | | OS-EXT-STS:vm_state | building | | accessIPv4 | | | accessIPv6 | | | adminPass | ci3cRL535GT6 | | config_drive | | | created | 2012-09-05T11:00:42Z | | flavor | m1.tiny | | hostId | | | id | 933cb806-cac4-40b2-965b-65d21190a803 | | image | base_image | | key_name | None | | metadata | {} | | name | derived_vm | | progress | 0 | | security_groups | [{u'name': u'default'}] | | status | BUILD | | tenant_id | ee9a7e206b454b61a66e6386d596f796 | | updated | 2012-09-05T11:00:42Z | | user_id | f21327bf650349f1af4c744399617b14 | +------------------------+--------------------------------------+ vagrant@precise:~/devstack$ nova list +--------------------------------------+------------+--------+------------------+ | ID | Name | Status | Networks | +--------------------------------------+------------+--------+------------------+ | 3f3abae0-c8dc-4334-a742-8998302a13f0 | base_vm | ACTIVE | private=10.0.0.2 | | 933cb806-cac4-40b2-965b-65d21190a803 | derived_vm | ACTIVE | private=10.0.0.3 | +--------------------------------------+------------+--------+------------------+ vagrant@precise:~/devstack$ nova image-delete 94384485-5761-40ff-82bb-5061b3532330 vagrant@precise:~/devstack$ nova image-list +--------------------------------------+---------------------------------+--------+--------+ | ID | Name | Status | Server | +--------------------------------------+---------------------------------+--------+--------+ | 684486b3-f77e-46b0-b709-12a8e0a9f0c7 | cirros-0.3.0-x86_64-uec | ACTIVE | | | 973351dd-fd04-4382-9ee9-6ca216ea4f44 | cirros-0.3.0-x86_64-uec-kernel | ACTIVE | | | 5a5ea70a-4e91-4af2-a639-30e86ac7aff6 | cirros-0.3.0-x86_64-uec-ramdisk | ACTIVE | | +--------------------------------------+---------------------------------+--------+--------+ vagrant@precise:~/devstack$ nova list +--------------------------------------+------------+--------+------------------+ | ID | Name | Status | Networks | +--------------------------------------+------------+--------+------------------+ | 3f3abae0-c8dc-4334-a742-8998302a13f0 | base_vm | ACTIVE | private=10.0.0.2 | | 933cb806-cac4-40b2-965b-65d21190a803 | derived_vm | ACTIVE | private=10.0.0.3 | +--------------------------------------+------------+--------+------------------+ vagrant@precise:~/devstack$ nova image-create 933cb806-cac4-40b2-965b-65d21190a803 eternal_image vagrant@precise:~/devstack$ nova image-list +--------------------------------------+---------------------------------+--------+--------------------------------------+ | ID | Name | Status | Server | +--------------------------------------+---------------------------------+--------+--------------------------------------+ | 684486b3-f77e-46b0-b709-12a8e0a9f0c7 | cirros-0.3.0-x86_64-uec | ACTIVE | | | 973351dd-fd04-4382-9ee9-6ca216ea4f44 | cirros-0.3.0-x86_64-uec-kernel | ACTIVE | | | 5a5ea70a-4e91-4af2-a639-30e86ac7aff6 | cirros-0.3.0-x86_64-uec-ramdisk | ACTIVE | | | 72479ffc-34cd-42e3-b6f2-d8f13784b6d6 | eternal_image | SAVING | 933cb806-cac4-40b2-965b-65d21190a803 | +--------------------------------------+---------------------------------+--------+--------------------------------------+ eternal_image never become active and in compute log you see: 2012-09-05 11:02:04 ERROR nova.openstack.common.rpc.amqp [-] Exception during message handling 2012-09-05 11:02:04 TRACE nova.openstack.common.rpc.amqp Traceback (most recent call last): 2012-09-05 11:02:04 TRACE nova.openstack.common.rpc.amqp File "/opt/stack/nova/nova/openstack/common/rpc/amqp.py", line 275, in _process_data 2012-09-05 11:02:04 TRACE nova.openstack.common.rpc.amqp rval = self.proxy.dispatch(ctxt, version, method, **args) 2012-09-05 11:02:04 TRACE nova.openstack.common.rpc.amqp File "/opt/stack/nova/nova/openstack/common/rpc/dispatcher.py", line 145, in dispatch 2012-09-05 11:02:04 TRACE nova.openstack.common.rpc.amqp return getattr(proxyobj, method)(ctxt, **kwargs) 2012-09-05 11:02:04 TRACE nova.openstack.common.rpc.amqp File "/opt/stack/nova/nova/exception.py", line 117, in wrapped 2012-09-05 11:02:04 TRACE nova.openstack.common.rpc.amqp temp_level, payload) 2012-09-05 11:02:04 TRACE nova.openstack.common.rpc.amqp File "/usr/lib/python2.7/contextlib.py", line 24, in __exit__ 2012-09-05 11:02:04 TRACE nova.openstack.common.rpc.amqp self.gen.next() 2012-09-05 11:02:04 TRACE nova.openstack.common.rpc.amqp File "/opt/stack/nova/nova/exception.py", line 92, in wrapped 2012-09-05 11:02:04 TRACE nova.openstack.common.rpc.amqp return f(*args, **kw) 2012-09-05 11:02:04 TRACE nova.openstack.common.rpc.amqp File "/opt/stack/nova/nova/compute/manager.py", line 181, in decorated_function 2012-09-05 11:02:04 TRACE nova.openstack.common.rpc.amqp pass 2012-09-05 11:02:04 TRACE nova.openstack.common.rpc.amqp File "/usr/lib/python2.7/contextlib.py", line 24, in __exit__ 2012-09-05 11:02:04 TRACE nova.openstack.common.rpc.amqp self.gen.next() 2012-09-05 11:02:04 TRACE nova.openstack.common.rpc.amqp File "/opt/stack/nova/nova/compute/manager.py", line 167, in decorated_function 2012-09-05 11:02:04 TRACE nova.openstack.common.rpc.amqp return function(self, context, *args, **kwargs) 2012-09-05 11:02:04 TRACE nova.openstack.common.rpc.amqp File "/opt/stack/nova/nova/compute/manager.py", line 202, in decorated_function 2012-09-05 11:02:04 TRACE nova.openstack.common.rpc.amqp kwargs['instance']['uuid'], e, sys.exc_info()) 2012-09-05 11:02:04 TRACE nova.openstack.common.rpc.amqp File "/usr/lib/python2.7/contextlib.py", line 24, in __exit__ 2012-09-05 11:02:04 TRACE nova.openstack.common.rpc.amqp self.gen.next() 2012-09-05 11:02:04 TRACE nova.openstack.common.rpc.amqp File "/opt/stack/nova/nova/compute/manager.py", line 196, in decorated_function 2012-09-05 11:02:04 TRACE nova.openstack.common.rpc.amqp return function(self, context, *args, **kwargs) 2012-09-05 11:02:04 TRACE nova.openstack.common.rpc.amqp File "/opt/stack/nova/nova/compute/manager.py", line 1141, in snapshot_instance 2012-09-05 11:02:04 TRACE nova.openstack.common.rpc.amqp self.driver.snapshot(context, instance, image_id) 2012-09-05 11:02:04 TRACE nova.openstack.common.rpc.amqp File "/opt/stack/nova/nova/exception.py", line 117, in wrapped 2012-09-05 11:02:04 TRACE nova.openstack.common.rpc.amqp temp_level, payload) 2012-09-05 11:02:04 TRACE nova.openstack.common.rpc.amqp File "/usr/lib/python2.7/contextlib.py", line 24, in __exit__ 2012-09-05 11:02:04 TRACE nova.openstack.common.rpc.amqp self.gen.next() 2012-09-05 11:02:04 TRACE nova.openstack.common.rpc.amqp File "/opt/stack/nova/nova/exception.py", line 92, in wrapped 2012-09-05 11:02:04 TRACE nova.openstack.common.rpc.amqp return f(*args, **kw) 2012-09-05 11:02:04 TRACE nova.openstack.common.rpc.amqp File "/opt/stack/nova/nova/virt/libvirt/driver.py", line 825, in snapshot 2012-09-05 11:02:04 TRACE nova.openstack.common.rpc.amqp File "/opt/stack/nova/nova/virt/libvirt/driver.py", line 825, in snapshot 2012-09-05 11:02:04 TRACE nova.openstack.common.rpc.amqp image_file) 2012-09-05 11:02:04 TRACE nova.openstack.common.rpc.amqp File "/opt/stack/nova/nova/image/glance.py", line 233, in update 2012-09-05 11:02:04 TRACE nova.openstack.common.rpc.amqp _reraise_translated_image_exception(image_id) 2012-09-05 11:02:04 TRACE nova.openstack.common.rpc.amqp File "/opt/stack/nova/nova/image/glance.py", line 231, in update 2012-09-05 11:02:04 TRACE nova.openstack.common.rpc.amqp image_id, **image_meta) 2012-09-05 11:02:04 TRACE nova.openstack.common.rpc.amqp File "/opt/stack/nova/nova/image/glance.py", line 132, in call 2012-09-05 11:02:04 TRACE nova.openstack.common.rpc.amqp return getattr(client.images, method)(*args, **kwargs) 2012-09-05 11:02:04 TRACE nova.openstack.common.rpc.amqp File "/opt/stack/python-glanceclient/glanceclient/v1/images.py", line 253, in update 2012-09-05 11:02:04 TRACE nova.openstack.common.rpc.amqp 'PUT', url, headers=hdrs, body=image_data) 2012-09-05 11:02:04 TRACE nova.openstack.common.rpc.amqp File "/opt/stack/python-glanceclient/glanceclient/common/http.py", line 189, in raw_request 2012-09-05 11:02:04 TRACE nova.openstack.common.rpc.amqp return self._http_request(url, method, **kwargs) 2012-09-05 11:02:04 TRACE nova.openstack.common.rpc.amqp File "/opt/stack/python-glanceclient/glanceclient/common/http.py", line 158, in _http_request 2012-09-05 11:02:04 TRACE nova.openstack.common.rpc.amqp raise exc.from_response(resp) 2012-09-05 11:02:04 TRACE nova.openstack.common.rpc.amqp Invalid: HTTPBadRequest (HTTP 400) 2012-09-05 11:02:04 TRACE nova.openstack.common.rpc.amqp