Proxmox Import And Use Cloud Images

Published: 2021-11-13

Intro

In this post I will cover the process to import and use cloud based images in Proxmox. Cloud based images are handy because they are configurable on boot via cloud-init. I will use the image created in this post in a future post on how to deploy VMs in Proxmox via Terraform.

The following software was used in this post.

  • Proxmox - 7.0-11
  • Ubuntu - 20.04

Image Prep

Prior to uploading the cloud images to the Proxmox host, I will be downloading them to an Ubuntu host to install the qemu-guest-agent. The guest agent allows for introspection into the guest from the host and better integrations to control the guest shutdown, restart etc..

The libguestfs-tools package allows you to install packages into an image without booting it up. The libguestfs-tools package conflicts with Proxmox. For this reason, I am using my Ubuntu host to complete this step.

Lets get started by downloading a cloud image.

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curl -O http://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/releases/focal/release/ubuntu-20.04-server-cloudimg-amd64.img

Now install libguestfs-tools.

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sudo apt install libguestfs-tools -y

Install the qemu-guest-agent into the image.

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sudo virt-customize -a focal-server-cloudimg-amd64.img --install qemu-guest-agent

# output
[   0.0] Examining the guest ...
[  27.1] Setting a random seed
virt-customize: warning: random seed could not be set for this type of guest
[  27.3] Setting the machine ID in /etc/machine-id
[  27.4] Installing packages: qemu-guest-agent
[ 130.6] Finishing off

Once the package is installed, copy the image to the Proxmox host.

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scp ubuntu-20.04-server-cloudimg-amd64.img <user>@<host>:/tmp/

Proxmox Host

Create a new VM that will be used as the base for future images.

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qm create 9001 \
  --name ubuntu-2004-cloud-init --numa 0 --ostype l26 \
  --cpu cputype=host --cores 2 --sockets 1 \
  --memory 2048  \
  --net0 virtio,bridge=vmbr0

Import the cloud image to a storage pool.

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qm importdisk 9001 /tmp/ubuntu-20.04-server-cloudimg-amd64.img local-lvm
  
# output
Successfully imported disk as 'unused0:local-lvm:vm-9001-disk-0'

Attach the disk to the VM as a SCSI drive.

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qm set 9001 --scsihw virtio-scsi-pci --scsi0 local-lvm:vm-9001-disk-0

# output
update VM 9001: -scsi0 local-lvm:vm-9001-disk-0 -scsihw virtio-scsi-pci

Create a cloud-init CDROM drive. This allows you to assign configuration to the VM on boot.

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qm set 9001 --ide2 local-lvm:cloudinit

# output
update VM 9001: -ide2 local-lvm:cloudinit
  Logical volume "vm-9001-cloudinit" created.

Make the VM disk bootable.

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qm set 9001 --boot c --bootdisk scsi0

# output
update VM 9001: -boot c -bootdisk scsi0

Assign a serial console to the VM. This required by some cloud-init images.

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qm set 9001 --serial0 socket --vga serial0

# output
update VM 9001: -serial0 socket -vga serial0

Enable the guest agent.

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qm set 9001 --agent enabled=1

# output
update VM 9001: -agent enabled=1

Convert the VM to a template. The template will be used to clone future VMs.

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qm template 9001

# output
Renamed "vm-9001-disk-0" to "base-9001-disk-0" in volume group "pve"
Logical volume pve/base-9001-disk-0 changed.
WARNING: Combining activation change with other commands is not advised.

Create VM

Now that the VM template is built, lets create a VM from the template.

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qm clone 9001 999 \
  --name ubuntu-test \
  --full \
  --storage local-lvm

# output
create full clone of drive ide2 (local-lvm:vm-9001-cloudinit)
  Logical volume "vm-999-cloudinit" created.

Assign an SSH key to the VM that will be applied via cloud-init on boot.

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qm set 999 --sshkey ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub

# output
update VM 999: -sshkeys ssh-rsa...

For this test I will assign an IP address to the VM that will be applied via cloud-init on boot.

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qm set 999 --ipconfig0 ip=192.168.255.60/24,gw=192.168.255.1
  
# output
update VM 999: -ipconfig0 ip=192.168.255.60/24,gw=192.168.255.1

Start the VM.

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qm start 999

# output
generating cloud-init ISO

Once the VM has booted, SSH to the VM with the SSH key previously defined and the default username, ubuntu in the case of Ubuntu cloud images.

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ssh [email protected]

# Accept hostkey
The authenticity of host '192.168.255.60 (192.168.255.60)' cant be established.
ECDSA key fingerprint is SHA256:4iiOYYaI1uS7cH1YqIByhZfTAJSgwtiQtLSMkkUHAdc.
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no/[fingerprint])? yes

ubuntu@ubuntu-test:~$

Clean Up

Shutdown and delete the VM.

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qm stop 999 && qm destroy 999

Remove the orginal cloud image

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rm /tmp/ubuntu-20.04-server-cloudimg-amd64.img

Outro

In this post, I covered the process to import an Ubuntu cloud image as a VM template, deploy a VM from the template and configure the VM via cloud-init.