#Cloud-init

Cloud images use cloud-init for first-boot setup, including users, SSH keys, packages, and commands. The build uses it to add its SSH key, so cloud-image sources must include a cloud_init block.

Cloud-init is configured in the manifest's YAML tab.

Minimal:

cloud_init:
    user_data: |
        #cloud-config
        ssh_authorized_keys: []

The empty ssh_authorized_keys: [] is fine; the build appends its own key. You can use any other cloud-config directives:

cloud_init:
    user_data: |
        #cloud-config
        ssh_authorized_keys: []
        timezone: America/Chicago
        package_update: true
        packages:
          - htop
          - vim
        runcmd:
          - echo "first boot" > /var/log/firstboot
        write_files:
          - path: /etc/myapp/config
            content: |
              key=value

If you would rather keep cloud-config in a ConfigMap, use user_data_from:

cloud_init:
    user_data_from:
        config_map_ref:
            name: my-cloud-config
            key: user-data

For network-data (rare; needed if you are disabling the cloud's default network setup), use cloud_init.network_data.

Do not put long-running setup in runcmd. Use shell provisioners instead. cloud-init is for boot-time prep; provisioners are for the actual build work.