Important:

Windows does not support this function.

VM cloud-init is used to automatically configure newly-created virtual machines. IEC uses the cloudInitNoCloud storage in the KubeVirt module, which can imitate the traditional cloud-init process but does not require the support of a cloud service provider and can be directly embedded the User Data and Network Data of the virtual machine.

Prerequisites

To use the cloud-init, create a virtual machine by using an image that has cloud-init enabled and has been set up. Therefore, cloud-init can be executed normally during first startup. For images that are not set up, do the following to complete the settings:

1. Create a virtual machine (e.g. ubuntu-22.04-server-cloudimg-amd64.img)
2. Set up cloud-config using the following user data.
3. Start the VM and connect to the VM by using VNC. Log in to the VM with the username test. The password is test, too.
4. Check if the cloud-config has been set up successfully:
   • Check if the /var/boot_time.txt file has been created
   • Check if network data has been set

User Data

User data is the most common cloud-init data source which is used to early initialization of virtual machines including setting up user accounts, installing software, starting services, etc.

Here is an example of cloud-init cloud-config userdata:

#cloud-config
hostname: test-den-vm
password: init
users:
  - default
  - name: test
    gecos: Foo Bar
    shell: /bin/bash
    sudo: ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD:ALL
    lock_passwd: false
chpasswd:
  list: |
    test:test
  expire: False
bootcmd:
  - echo "This is run at boot time" > /var/boot_time.txt

• #cloud-config: Specify the YAML format used for user data.
• users: Define and modify system users.
• lock_passwd: Allows users to log in with password.
• ssh_authorized_keys: If you have set an SSH Key in the configurations of a virtual machine, it will automatically be written.
• chpasswd: Change user password.
• bootcmd: Execute commands when the system boots.
• package_update and package_upgrade: update and upgrade system software packages.
• runcmd: Execute the command.
• write_files: Create or modify files.
• hostname: Set the system host name.

Network data

Network data is used to specify network configuration, such as IP address, gateway, DNS settings, etc.

Here is an example of cloud-init cloud-config network data:

network:
  version: 2
  ethernets:
    ens1:
      dhcp4: true
    enp3s0:
      addresses:
        - 172.27.112.133/20
      routes:
        - to: default
          via: 172.27.127.254
      nameservers:
        addresses:
          - 192.168.99.16
          - 192.168.99.14
      dhcp4: false

For more details about using cloud-init package, you may find more useful information and resources at the following resources:

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux > 8 > Configuring and managing cloud-init for RHEL 8
• Cloud-init 24.4 Documentation > Reference > All cloud config examples