Installing and configuring cloud-init on IBM i

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Cloud-init is a script that enables virtual machine activation and initialization, and is widely used for OpenStack.

Before you capture a virtual machine, install the cloud-init initialization package.

  1. Download and install the required license programs at http://www-304.ibm.com/servers/eserver/ess/index.wss:
    • 5770DG1 with *ALL option
    • 5770SS1 with Option 30 and 33
    • 5770SC1 *BASE and option 1
  2. Use yum to install required rpm packages by following the steps in https://bitbucket.org/ibmi/opensource/src/master/docs/yum/
    • python2-ibm_db-2.0.5.8
    • python2-six-1.10.0-1
    • python2-2.7.15-1
    • cloud-init-1.2-0
    Note: The listed version of rpm packages is the minimum supported version.
  3. Install all required PTFs, as listed in the blog Install and enable cloud-init on IBM i.
  4. Capture a virtual machine.
    • For IBM i 7.2 and 7.3 on POWER8® and later, cloud-init is enabled automatically.
    • For IBM i 7.2 and 7.3 on POWER7® and earlier versions, make sure that cloud-init is properly enabled on IBM i manually.
    Enabling cloud-init on IBM i (required only for IBM i 7.2 and 7.3 on POWER7 and earlier versions)
    To enable cloud-init on an IBM i machine manually, run CALL PGM(QSYS/QAENGCHG) PARM(*ENABLECI) on the virtual machine.
    Note: This command must be run with a user profile that has the following access privileges:
    • *ALLOBJ
    • *AUDIT
    • *IOSYSCFG
    • *JOBCTL
    • *SAVSYS
    • *SECADM
    • *SERVICE
    • *SPLCTL

    After completing installation, power off the virtual machine, and it will be ready for capture.

  5. For more information on IBM i cloud-init see, Cloud-init support for IBM i .
For more information about cloud-init, including usage examples, refer to the cloud-init documentation.