diff --git a/src/image/Image.cc b/src/image/Image.cc
index f7eaadcc8e..24923e236b 100644
--- a/src/image/Image.cc
+++ b/src/image/Image.cc
@@ -613,6 +613,12 @@ void Image::disk_attribute(VirtualMachineDisk *    disk,
             disk->replace("PERSISTENT", "YES");
             disk->replace("CLONE", "NO");
             disk->replace("SAVE", "YES");
+          
+            if (template_ptype == "SHAREABLE" &&
+                one_util::tolower(format) == "raw")
+            {
+                disk->replace("SHAREABLE", "YES");
+            }
         }
         else
         {
diff --git a/src/image/ImageManagerActions.cc b/src/image/ImageManagerActions.cc
index 81a27d77f8..aee09750ab 100644
--- a/src/image/ImageManagerActions.cc
+++ b/src/image/ImageManagerActions.cc
@@ -89,8 +89,11 @@ int ImageManager::acquire_image(int vm_id, Image *img, bool attach, string& erro
 {
     int rc = 0;
 
-    ostringstream oss;
+    bool   shareable;
+    string persistent_type;
 
+    ostringstream oss;
+    
     switch(img->get_type())
     {
         case Image::OS:
@@ -108,7 +111,11 @@ int ImageManager::acquire_image(int vm_id, Image *img, bool attach, string& erro
             error = oss.str();
             return -1;
     }
-
+    
+    img->get_template_attribute("PERSISTENT_TYPE", persistent_type);
+        
+    shareable = one_util::toupper(persistent_type) == "SHAREABLE";
+    
     switch (img->get_state())
     {
         case Image::READY:
@@ -153,19 +160,32 @@ int ImageManager::acquire_image(int vm_id, Image *img, bool attach, string& erro
         break;
 
         case Image::USED_PERS:
-        case Image::LOCKED_USED_PERS:
-            oss << "Cannot acquire image " << img->get_oid()
-                << ", it is persistent and already in use";
-
-            error = oss.str();
-            rc    = -1;
-        break;
+            if (!shareable)
+            {
+                oss << "Cannot acquire image " << img->get_oid()
+                    << ", it is persistent and already in use";
 
+                error = oss.str();
+                rc    = -1;
+                break;
+            }
+            // Fallthrough
         case Image::USED:
             img->inc_running(vm_id);
             ipool->update(img);
         break;
 
+        case Image::LOCKED_USED_PERS:
+            if (!shareable)
+            {
+                oss << "Cannot acquire image " << img->get_oid()
+                    << ", it is persistent and already in use";
+
+                error = oss.str();
+                rc    = -1;
+                break;
+            }
+            // Fallthrough
         case Image::LOCKED_USED:
             if (attach)
             {
@@ -230,13 +250,13 @@ void ImageManager::release_image(int vm_id, int iid, bool failed)
     switch (img->get_state())
     {
         case Image::USED_PERS:
-            img->dec_running(vm_id);
+            int num_vms = img->dec_running(vm_id);
 
-            if (failed == true)
+            if (failed)
             {
                 img->set_state(Image::ERROR);
             }
-            else
+            else if (num_vms == 0)
             {
                 img->set_state(Image::READY);
             }
@@ -245,13 +265,13 @@ void ImageManager::release_image(int vm_id, int iid, bool failed)
         break;
 
         case Image::LOCKED_USED_PERS:
-            img->dec_running(vm_id);
+            int num_vms = img->dec_running(vm_id);
 
-            if (failed == true)
+            if (failed)
             {
                 img->set_state(Image::ERROR);
             }
-            else
+            else if (num_vms == 0)
             {
                 img->set_state(Image::LOCKED);
             }
diff --git a/src/vmm/LibVirtDriverKVM.cc b/src/vmm/LibVirtDriverKVM.cc
index 0a72520082..b6b943ea27 100644
--- a/src/vmm/LibVirtDriverKVM.cc
+++ b/src/vmm/LibVirtDriverKVM.cc
@@ -447,6 +447,7 @@ int LibVirtDriver::deployment_description_kvm(
     string  discard         = "";
     string  source          = "";
     string  clone           = "";
+    string  shareable       = "";
     string  ceph_host       = "";
     string  ceph_secret     = "";
     string  ceph_user       = "";
@@ -893,6 +894,7 @@ int LibVirtDriver::deployment_description_kvm(
         discard   = disk[i]->vector_value("DISCARD");
         source    = disk[i]->vector_value("SOURCE");
         clone     = disk[i]->vector_value("CLONE");
+        shareable = disk[i]->vector_value("SHAREABLE");
 
         ceph_host   = disk[i]->vector_value("CEPH_HOST");
         ceph_secret = disk[i]->vector_value("CEPH_SECRET");
@@ -1196,6 +1198,13 @@ int LibVirtDriver::deployment_description_kvm(
             file << "\t\t\t<readonly/>" << endl;
         }
 
+        // ---- shareable attribute for the disk ----
+
+        if (shareable == "YES")
+        {
+            file << "\t\t\t<shareable/>" << endl;
+        }
+
         // ---- Image Format using qemu driver ----
 
         file << "\t\t\t<driver name='qemu' type=";