cloud-init 25.1.2 documentation (original) (raw)
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Cloud-init is the industry standard multi-distribution method for cross-platform cloud instance initialization. It is supported across all major public cloud providers, provisioning systems for private cloud infrastructure, and bare-metal installations.
During boot, cloud-init identifies the cloud it is running on and initializes the system accordingly. Cloud instances will automatically be provisioned during first boot with networking, storage, SSH keys, packages and various other system aspects already configured.
Cloud-init provides the necessary glue between launching a cloud instance and connecting to it so that it works as expected.
For cloud users, cloud-init provides no-install first-boot configuration management of a cloud instance. For cloud providers, it provides instance setup that can be integrated with your cloud.
If you would like to read more about what cloud-init is, what it does and how it works, check out our high-level introductionto the tool.
Tutorials
Get started - a hands-on introduction to cloud-init for new users
How-to guides
Step-by-step guides covering key operations and common tasks
Reference
Technical information - specifications, APIs, architecture
Explanation
Discussion and clarification of key topics
Having trouble? We would like to help
- Check out our tutorials if you’re new to
cloud-init - Try the FAQ for answers to some common questions
- You can also search the
cloud-initmailing list archive - Find a bug? Report bugs on GitHub Issues
Project and community¶
Cloud-init is an open source project that warmly welcomes community projects, contributions, suggestions, fixes and constructive feedback.
- Read our Code of Conduct
- Ask questions in the
#cloud-initIRC channel on Libera - Follow announcements or ask a question on the cloud-init Discourse forum
- Join the cloud-init mailing list
- Contribute on GitHub
- Release schedule