KubeVirt supports the ability to assign a startup script to a VirtualMachineInstance instance which is executed automatically when the VM initializes.
These scripts are commonly used to automate injection of users and SSH keys into VMs in order to provide remote access to the machine. For example, a startup script can be used to inject credentials into a VM that allows an Ansible job running on a remote host to access and provision the VM.
Startup scripts are not limited to any specific use case though. They can be used to run any arbitrary script in a VM on boot.
Cloud-init
cloud-init is a widely adopted project used for early initialization of a VM. Used by cloud providers such as AWS and GCP, cloud-init has established itself as the defacto method of providing startup scripts to VMs.
KubeVirt supports cloud-init's "NoCloud" and "ConfigDrive" datasources which involve injecting startup scripts into a VM instance through the use of an ephemeral disk. VMs with the cloud-init package installed will detect the ephemeral disk and execute custom userdata scripts at boot.
Sysprep
Sysprep is an automation tool for Windows that automates Windows installation, setup, and custom software provisioning.
The general flow is:
Seal the vm image with the Sysprep tool, for example by running:
!!! Note It is important that there is no answer file detected when the Sysprep Tool is triggered, because Windows Setup searches for answer files at the beginning of each configuration pass and caches it. If that happens, when the OS will start - it will just use the cached answer file, ignoring the one we provide through the Sysprep API. More information can be found here.
Providing an Answer file named autounattend.xml in an attached media. The answer file can be provided in a ConfigMap or a Secret with the key autounattend.xml
!!! Note There are also many easy to find online tools available for creating an answer file.
Cloud-init Examples
User Data
KubeVirt supports the cloud-init NoCloud and ConfigDrive data sources which involve injecting startup scripts through the use of a disk attached to the VM.
In order to assign a custom userdata script to a VirtualMachineInstance using this method, users must define a disk and a volume for the NoCloud or ConfigDrive datasource in the VirtualMachineInstance's spec.
Data Sources
Under most circumstances users should stick to the NoCloud data source as it is the simplest cloud-init data source. Only if NoCloud is not supported by the cloud-init implementation (e.g. coreos-cloudinit) users should switch the data source to ConfigDrive.
Switching the cloud-init data source to ConfigDrive is as easy as changing the volume type in the VirtualMachineInstance's spec from cloudInitNoCloud to cloudInitConfigDrive.
See the examples below for more complete cloud-init examples.
Cloud-init user-data as clear text
In the example below, a SSH key is stored in the cloudInitNoCloud Volume's userData field as clean text. There is a corresponding disks entry that references the cloud-init volume and assigns it to the VM's device.
# Create a VM manifest with the startup script
# a cloudInitNoCloud volume's userData field.
cat << END > my-vmi.yaml
apiVersion: kubevirt.io/v1alpha3
kind: VirtualMachineInstance
metadata:
name: myvmi
spec:
terminationGracePeriodSeconds: 5
domain:
resources:
requests:
memory: 64M
devices:
disks:
- name: containerdisk
disk:
bus: virtio
- name: cloudinitdisk
disk:
bus: virtio
volumes:
- name: containerdisk
containerDisk:
image: kubevirt/cirros-container-disk-demo:latest
- name: cloudinitdisk
cloudInitNoCloud:
userData: |
ssh_authorized_keys:
- ssh-rsa AAAAB3NzaK8L93bWxnyp test@test.com
END
# Post the Virtual Machine spec to KubeVirt.
kubectl create -f my-vmi.yaml
Cloud-init user-data as base64 string
In the example below, a simple bash script is base64 encoded and stored in the cloudInitNoCloud Volume's userDataBase64 field. There is a corresponding disks entry that references the cloud-init volume and assigns it to the VM's device.
Users also have the option of storing the startup script in a Kubernetes Secret and referencing the Secret in the VM's spec. Examples further down in the document illustrate how that is done.
# Create a simple startup script
cat << END > startup-script.sh
#!/bin/bash
echo "Hi from startup script!"
END
# Create a VM manifest with the startup script base64 encoded into
# a cloudInitNoCloud volume's userDataBase64 field.
cat << END > my-vmi.yaml
apiVersion: kubevirt.io/v1alpha3
kind: VirtualMachineInstance
metadata:
name: myvmi
spec:
terminationGracePeriodSeconds: 5
domain:
resources:
requests:
memory: 64M
devices:
disks:
- name: containerdisk
disk:
bus: virtio
- name: cloudinitdisk
disk:
bus: virtio
volumes:
- name: containerdisk
containerDisk:
image: kubevirt/cirros-container-disk-demo:latest
- name: cloudinitdisk
cloudInitNoCloud:
userDataBase64: $(cat startup-script.sh | base64 -w0)
END
# Post the Virtual Machine spec to KubeVirt.
kubectl create -f my-vmi.yaml
Cloud-init UserData as k8s Secret
Users who wish to not store the cloud-init userdata directly in the VirtualMachineInstance spec have the option to store the userdata into a Kubernetes Secret and reference that Secret in the spec.
Multiple VirtualMachineInstance specs can reference the same Kubernetes Secret containing cloud-init userdata.
Below is an example of how to create a Kubernetes Secret containing a startup script and reference that Secret in the VM's spec.
# Create a simple startup script
cat << END > startup-script.sh
#!/bin/bash
echo "Hi from startup script!"
END
# Store the startup script in a Kubernetes Secret
kubectl create secret generic my-vmi-secret --from-file=userdata=startup-script.sh
# Create a VM manifest and reference the Secret's name in the cloudInitNoCloud
# Volume's secretRef field
cat << END > my-vmi.yaml
apiVersion: kubevirt.io/v1alpha3
kind: VirtualMachineInstance
metadata:
name: myvmi
spec:
terminationGracePeriodSeconds: 5
domain:
resources:
requests:
memory: 64M
devices:
disks:
- name: containerdisk
disk:
bus: virtio
- name: cloudinitdisk
disk:
bus: virtio
volumes:
- name: containerdisk
containerDisk:
image: kubevirt/cirros-registry-disk-demo:latest
- name: cloudinitdisk
cloudInitNoCloud:
secretRef:
name: my-vmi-secret
END
# Post the VM
kubectl create -f my-vmi.yaml
Injecting SSH keys with Cloud-init's Cloud-config
In the examples so far, the cloud-init userdata script has been a bash script. Cloud-init has it's own configuration that can handle some common tasks such as user creation and SSH key injection.
Below is an example of using cloud-config to inject an SSH key for the default user (fedora in this case) of a Fedora Atomic disk image.
# Create the cloud-init cloud-config userdata.
cat << END > startup-script
#cloud-config
password: atomic
chpasswd: { expire: False }
ssh_pwauth: False
ssh_authorized_keys:
- ssh-rsa AAAAB3NzaC1yc2EAAAADAQABAAABAQC6zdgFiLr1uAK7PdcchDd+LseA5fEOcxCCt7TLlr7Mx6h8jUg+G+8L9JBNZuDzTZSF0dR7qwzdBBQjorAnZTmY3BhsKcFr8Gt4KMGrS6r3DNmGruP8GORvegdWZuXgASKVpXeI7nCIjRJwAaK1x+eGHwAWO9Z8ohcboHbLyffOoSZDSIuk2kRIc47+ENRjg0T6x2VRsqX27g6j4DfPKQZGk0zvXkZaYtr1e2tZgqTBWqZUloMJK8miQq6MktCKAS4VtPk0k7teQX57OGwD6D7uo4b+Cl8aYAAwhn0hc0C2USfbuVHgq88ESo2/+NwV4SQcl3sxCW21yGIjAGt4Hy7J fedora@localhost.localdomain
END
# Create the VM spec
cat << END > my-vmi.yaml
apiVersion: kubevirt.io/v1alpha3
kind: VirtualMachineInstance
metadata:
name: sshvmi
spec:
terminationGracePeriodSeconds: 0
domain:
resources:
requests:
memory: 1024M
devices:
disks:
- name: containerdisk
disk:
dev: vda
- name: cloudinitdisk
disk:
dev: vdb
volumes:
- name: containerdisk
containerDisk:
image: kubevirt/fedora-atomic-registry-disk-demo:latest
- name: cloudinitdisk
cloudInitNoCloud:
userDataBase64: $(cat startup-script | base64 -w0)
END
# Post the VirtualMachineInstance spec to KubeVirt.
kubectl create -f my-vmi.yaml
# Connect to VM with passwordless SSH key
ssh -i <insert private key here> fedora@<insert ip here>
Inject SSH key using a Custom Shell Script
Depending on the boot image in use, users may have a mixed experience using cloud-init's cloud-config to create users and inject SSH keys.
Below is an example of creating a user and injecting SSH keys for that user using a script instead of cloud-config.
cat << END > startup-script.sh
#!/bin/bash
export NEW_USER="foo"
export SSH_PUB_KEY="ssh-rsa AAAAB3NzaC1yc2EAAAADAQABAAABAQC6zdgFiLr1uAK7PdcchDd+LseA5fEOcxCCt7TLlr7Mx6h8jUg+G+8L9JBNZuDzTZSF0dR7qwzdBBQjorAnZTmY3BhsKcFr8Gt4KMGrS6r3DNmGruP8GORvegdWZuXgASKVpXeI7nCIjRJwAaK1x+eGHwAWO9Z8ohcboHbLyffOoSZDSIuk2kRIc47+ENRjg0T6x2VRsqX27g6j4DfPKQZGk0zvXkZaYtr1e2tZgqTBWqZUloMJK8miQq6MktCKAS4VtPk0k7teQX57OGwD6D7uo4b+Cl8aYAAwhn0hc0C2USfbuVHgq88ESo2/+NwV4SQcl3sxCW21yGIjAGt4Hy7J $NEW_USER@localhost.localdomain"
sudo adduser -U -m $NEW_USER
echo "$NEW_USER:atomic" | chpasswd
sudo mkdir /home/$NEW_USER/.ssh
sudo echo "$SSH_PUB_KEY" > /home/$NEW_USER/.ssh/authorized_keys
sudo chown -R ${NEW_USER}: /home/$NEW_USER/.ssh
END
# Create the VM spec
cat << END > my-vmi.yaml
apiVersion: kubevirt.io/v1alpha3
kind: VirtualMachineInstance
metadata:
name: sshvmi
spec:
terminationGracePeriodSeconds: 0
domain:
resources:
requests:
memory: 1024M
devices:
disks:
- name: containerdisk
disk:
dev: vda
- name: cloudinitdisk
disk:
dev: vdb
volumes:
- name: containerdisk
containerDisk:
image: kubevirt/fedora-atomic-registry-disk-demo:latest
- name: cloudinitdisk
cloudInitNoCloud:
userDataBase64: $(cat startup-script.sh | base64 -w0)
END
# Post the VirtualMachineInstance spec to KubeVirt.
kubectl create -f my-vmi.yaml
# Connect to VM with passwordless SSH key
ssh -i <insert private key here> foo@<insert ip here>
Network Config
A cloud-init network version 1 configuration can be set to configure the network at boot.
Cloud-init user-datamust be set for cloud-init to parse network-config even if it is just the user-data config header:
#cloud-config
Cloud-init network-config as clear text
In the example below, a simple cloud-init network-config is stored in the cloudInitNoCloud Volume's networkData field as clean text. There is a corresponding disks entry that references the cloud-init volume and assigns it to the VM's device.
# Create a VM manifest with the network-config in
# a cloudInitNoCloud volume's networkData field.
cat << END > my-vmi.yaml
apiVersion: kubevirt.io/v1alpha2
kind: VirtualMachineInstance
metadata:
name: myvmi
spec:
terminationGracePeriodSeconds: 5
domain:
resources:
requests:
memory: 64M
devices:
disks:
- name: containerdisk
volumeName: registryvolume
disk:
bus: virtio
- name: cloudinitdisk
volumeName: cloudinitvolume
disk:
bus: virtio
volumes:
- name: registryvolume
containerDisk:
image: kubevirt/cirros-container-disk-demo:latest
- name: cloudinitvolume
cloudInitNoCloud:
userData: "#cloud-config"
networkData: |
network:
version: 1
config:
- type: physical
name: eth0
subnets:
- type: dhcp
END
# Post the Virtual Machine spec to KubeVirt.
kubectl create -f my-vmi.yaml
Cloud-init network-config as base64 string
In the example below, a simple network-config is base64 encoded and stored in the cloudInitNoCloud Volume's networkDataBase64 field. There is a corresponding disks entry that references the cloud-init volume and assigns it to the VM's device.
Users also have the option of storing the network-config in a Kubernetes Secret and referencing the Secret in the VM's spec. Examples further down in the document illustrate how that is done.
# Create a simple network-config
cat << END > network-config
network:
version: 1
config:
- type: physical
name: eth0
subnets:
- type: dhcp
END
# Create a VM manifest with the networkData base64 encoded into
# a cloudInitNoCloud volume's networkDataBase64 field.
cat << END > my-vmi.yaml
apiVersion: kubevirt.io/v1alpha2
kind: VirtualMachineInstance
metadata:
name: myvmi
spec:
terminationGracePeriodSeconds: 5
domain:
resources:
requests:
memory: 64M
devices:
disks:
- name: containerdisk
volumeName: registryvolume
disk:
bus: virtio
- name: cloudinitdisk
volumeName: cloudinitvolume
disk:
bus: virtio
volumes:
- name: registryvolume
containerDisk:
image: kubevirt/cirros-container-disk-demo:latest
- name: cloudinitvolume
cloudInitNoCloud:
userData: "#cloud-config"
networkDataBase64: $(cat network-config | base64 -w0)
END
# Post the Virtual Machine spec to KubeVirt.
kubectl create -f my-vmi.yaml
Cloud-init network-config as k8s Secret
Users who wish to not store the cloud-init network-config directly in the VirtualMachineInstance spec have the option to store the network-config into a Kubernetes Secret and reference that Secret in the spec.
Multiple VirtualMachineInstance specs can reference the same Kubernetes Secret containing cloud-init network-config.
Below is an example of how to create a Kubernetes Secret containing a network-config and reference that Secret in the VM's spec.
# Create a simple network-config
cat << END > network-config
network:
version: 1
config:
- type: physical
name: eth0
subnets:
- type: dhcp
END
# Store the network-config in a Kubernetes Secret
kubectl create secret generic my-vmi-secret --from-file=networkdata=network-config
# Create a VM manifest and reference the Secret's name in the cloudInitNoCloud
# Volume's secretRef field
cat << END > my-vmi.yaml
apiVersion: kubevirt.io/v1alpha2
kind: VirtualMachineInstance
metadata:
name: myvmi
spec:
terminationGracePeriodSeconds: 5
domain:
resources:
requests:
memory: 64M
devices:
disks:
- name: containerdisk
volumeName: registryvolume
disk:
bus: virtio
- name: cloudinitdisk
volumeName: cloudinitvolume
disk:
bus: virtio
volumes:
- name: registryvolume
containerDisk:
image: kubevirt/cirros-registry-disk-demo:latest
- name: cloudinitvolume
cloudInitNoCloud:
userData: "#cloud-config"
networkDataSecretRef:
name: my-vmi-secret
END
# Post the VM
kubectl create -f my-vmi.yaml
Debugging
Depending on the operating system distribution in use, cloud-init output is often printed to the console output on boot up. When developing userdata scripts, users can connect to the VM's console during boot up to debug.
Example of connecting to console using virtctl:
virtctl console <name of vmi>
Device Role Tagging
KubeVirt provides a mechanism for users to tag devices such as Network Interfaces with a specific role. The tag will be matched to the hardware address of the device and this mapping exposed to the guest OS via cloud-init.
This additional metadata will help the guest OS users with multiple networks interfaces to identify the devices that may have a specific role, such as a network device dedicated to a specific service or a disk intended to be used by a specific application (database, webcache, etc.)
This functionality already exists in platforms such as OpenStack. KubeVirt will provide the data in a similar format, known to users and services like cloud-init.
In the example below, a configMap with autounattend.xml file is used to modify the Windows iso image which is downloaded from Microsoft and creates a base installed Windows machine with virtio drivers installed and all the commands executed in post-install.ps1 For the below manifests to work it needs to have win10-iso DataVolume.
From the above example after the sysprep command is executed in the post-install.ps1 and the vm is in shutdown state, A new VM can be launched from the base win10-template with additional changes mentioned from the below unattend.xml in sysprep-config. The new VM can take upto 5 minutes to be in running state since Windows goes through oobe setup in the background with the customizations specified in the below unattend.xml file.