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Create cloud-init templates in Proxmox

Sebastian
Sebastian
Writer

arch-linux

Creating the template​

Download an OpenStack compatible cloud image. For example Fedora Cloud Base 36.

wget https://download.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/releases/37/Cloud/x86_64/images/Fedora-Cloud-Base-37-1.7.x86_64.qcow2

Set variables for STORAGE, IMAGE_FILE, TEMPLATE_ID, TEMPLATE_NAME, VM_ID, VM_NAME. Make sure these names and identifiers are unique.

STORAGE='local-lvm'
IMAGE_FILE='Fedora-Cloud-Base-37-1.7.x86_64.qcow2'
TEMPLATE_ID='1000'
TEMPLATE_NAME='fedora-template'
VM_ID='100'
VM_NAME='fedora-server'

Create a new VM to act as a template. Note: --ostype can be l26 for Linux kernel 2.6 or newer or win11 for Windows 11

qm create $TEMPLATE_ID --name $TEMPLATE_NAME --machine q35 --cpu cputype=host --core 2 --memory 2048 --net0 virtio,bridge=vmbr0 --bios ovmf --ostype l26

Add EFI disk.

qm set $TEMPLATE_ID -efidisk0 $STORAGE:0,format=raw,efitype=4m,pre-enrolled-keys=1

Add TPM Module (Only required for Windows 11.)

qm set $TEMPLATE_ID -tpmstate0 $STORAGE:1,version=v2.0

Import the downloaded image to local-lvm storage.

qm importdisk $TEMPLATE_ID $IMAGE_FILE $STORAGE

Attach our cloud-init image as a storage device.

qm set $TEMPLATE_ID --scsihw virtio-scsi-pci --scsi0 $STORAGE:vm-$TEMPLATE_ID-disk-1

Attach a drive for the cloud-init configuration.

qm set $TEMPLATE_ID --ide2 $STORAGE:cloudinit

Configure the VM to boot from our cloud-init image.

qm set $TEMPLATE_ID --boot c --bootdisk scsi0

Add a serial console for remote management with OpenStack.

qm set $TEMPLATE_ID --serial0 socket --vga serial0

Convert the VM into a VM template.

qm template $TEMPLATE_ID

Using the template​

Clone the template into a new VM.

qm clone $TEMPLATE_ID $VM_ID --name $VM_NAME --full true

Resize the storage to your liking. New size can be new absolute size or prepend a + before the amount to add that amount storage in addition to current size.

qm resize $VM_ID scsi0 +20G

Add our public SSH key to the VM's authorized_keys.

qm set $VM_ID --sshkey ~/.ssh/name_ed25519.pub

Configure the the username for the default user.

qm set $VM_ID --ciuser 'fedora'

Configure the the password for the default user.

qm set $VM_ID --cipassword 'SuperSecretPassword'

Start the newly created VM.

qm start $VM_ID