Cloud-init user data

Paste a script or a cloud-config file when you create a server and it runs automatically on first boot.

All our images include cloud-init. Put your user data in the User data box of the create-server form, the user_data field of the API, or --user-data in the CLI. The limit is 64 KB.

A shell script

Start with #! and it runs once as root:

user-data.sh

#!/bin/bash
apt-get update
apt-get install -y nginx
echo "Hello from Kasada Hosting" > /var/www/html/index.html

A cloud-config file

Start with #cloud-config to use the YAML format:

cloud-config.yaml

#cloud-config
package_update: true
packages:
  - nginx
  - fail2ban
users:
  - name: deploy
    groups: sudo
    shell: /bin/bash
    sudo: "ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD:ALL"
    ssh_authorized_keys:
      - ssh-ed25519 AAAAC3Nza... deploy@laptop
runcmd:
  - systemctl enable --now nginx
timezone: America/New_York

Install Docker

cloud-config.yaml

#cloud-config
runcmd:
  - curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh
  - usermod -aG docker root

Checking it ran

bash

cloud-init status --wait
sudo cat /var/log/cloud-init-output.log

SSH keys you tick in the form are added alongside any users defined in your cloud-config. User data runs on first boot only, and again after a rebuild if you supply it.

Don't put passwords or secret keys in user data you share — anyone in your organization can see it on the server.

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SSH keys

Firewalls