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Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →A cloud-init image is a Linux machine image that includes cloud-init, software that configures a new instance using information supplied by its environment. The term does not identify a special image file format: the image provides the operating system and base settings, while a datasource provides instance-specific metadata and user-data at launch.
What a cloud-init image contains
Cloud-init is software packaged in a Linux image so it can initialize a machine as it boots. The image may include base configuration, such as the distribution and default user; those settings exist before a particular server starts. The base configuration reference describes these kinds of image-level details.
There is no separate, universally defined “cloud-init image” format in the cloud-init documentation. In practice, the phrase means an image with cloud-init installed and configured to obtain data from a compatible datasource.
How cloud-init configures a server at boot
- The image supplies the starting system. It contains Linux, cloud-init, and any configuration set in advance.
- A datasource provides launch-specific information. A platform may expose metadata and user-data through its metadata service. Metadata commonly identifies the instance or provides a server name; user-data commonly supplies configuration such as files, YAML, or shell scripts. The datasource reference describes the supported environments and data roles.
- Cloud-init combines the settings according to priority. Runtime configuration takes precedence over image configuration, which takes precedence over built-in defaults. User-provided configuration also overrides vendor-data. See the configuration priority documentation.
This separation lets one prepared image be launched with different instance-specific settings, instead of baking every server’s hostname or configuration into a separate image.
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Image configuration, metadata and user-data are different
- Image configuration is prepared before the instance boots. It establishes the base environment and defaults.
- Metadata describes the particular instance or platform context. It may include an instance ID, server name, or display name.
- User-data is supplied for a launch and commonly carries instructions or content such as files, YAML, or scripts.
These inputs are not interchangeable: metadata describes the instance, while user-data is typically where the launch-specific instructions are provided. Their exact contents and delivery method depend on the datasource.
Cloud-provider provisioning versus a local VM
| Environment | Where cloud-init gets data | Networking |
|---|---|---|
| Cloud-provider instance | The provider’s datasource, commonly through a metadata service; the exact fields depend on the platform. Documented environments include Amazon EC2, Azure, Google Compute Engine, OpenStack and VMware. Source: cloud-init datasource reference. | Depends on platform-provided data and configuration. |
| Local VM with NoCloud | Local seed files or a labeled vfat or ISO9660 filesystem; NoCloud can also fetch seed files from a remote server. A filesystem seed must be labeled CIDATA, and its metadata must include an instance-id. Source: cloud-init NoCloud reference. |
Can use supplied network configuration; NoCloud is the option for local provisioning when no cloud metadata service is available. |
| Fallback with the None datasource | On-disk configuration when no viable datasource is available. Source: cloud-init None reference. | Cannot obtain or render networking configuration; cloud-init logs a warning when this datasource is used. |
For a local VM, NoCloud is generally the relevant datasource: it provides a way to deliver seed data without a cloud provider’s metadata service. The None datasource is a fallback, not an equivalent provisioning route, particularly if the VM needs cloud-init to configure networking.
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What happens when cloud-init cannot find a datasource?
Cloud-init generally detects the datasource automatically. If no viable datasource is found, the None datasource can allow on-disk configuration to be used, but it cannot obtain or render network configuration and logs a warning. For a VM that needs instance-specific provisioning, provide a supported datasource—for a local setup, that can be a valid NoCloud seed—rather than relying on this fallback.
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