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Chapter 5. Running first-boot commands by using cloud-init

You can execute commands during the first start-up and initialization of a virtual machine (VM) by using the runcmd and bootcmd sections of the cloud-init configuration.

  • The bootcmd section executes early in the initialization process and by default runs on every boot.
  • The runcmd section executes near the end of the process and is only executed during the first boot and initialization.

Prerequisites

  • Depending on the requirements of your datasource, edit the user-data file or add the following directive to the cloud.cfg.d directory:

    Note

    All user directives include #cloud-config at the top of the file so that cloud-init recognizes the file as containing user directives. When you include directives in the cloud.cfg.d directory, name the file *.cfg, and always include #cloud-config at the top of the file.

Procedure

  1. Add the sections for bootcmd and runcmd; include commands you want cloud-init to execute. 

    #cloud-config
users:
  - default
  - name: user2
    gecos: User N. Ame
    groups: users
chpasswd:
  list: |
    root:password
    fedora:myfedpassword
    user2:mypassword2
  expire: False
bootcmd:
 - echo New MOTD >> /etc/motd
runcmd:
 - echo New MOTD2 >> /etc/motd
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
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