Cloud-Init with Scott Moser

Episode • Sep 10, 2017 • 49m

Summary

Server administration is a complex endeavor, but there are some tools that can make life easier. If you are running your workload in a cloud environment then cloud-init is here to help. This week Scott Moser explains what cloud-init is, how it works, and how it became the de-facto tool for configuring your Linux servers at boot.

Preface

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Your host as usual is Tobias Macey and today I’m interviewing Scott Moser about cloud-init, a set of python scripts and utilities to make your cloud images be all they can be!

Interview

Introductions
How did you get introduced to Python?
What is cloud-init and how did the project get started?
Why was Python chosen as the language for implementing cloud-init?
How has cloud-init come to be the de-facto utility for managing cloud instances across vendors and distributions?
Are there any viable competitors to cloud-init? coreos-cloudinit, some others.
How much overlap is there between cloud-init and configuration management tools such as SaltStack, Ansible, Chef, etc.
How have you architected cloud-init to allow for compatibility across operating system distributions?
What is the most difficult or complex aspect of building and maintaining cloud-init? [os integration, networking, goal of “do stuff without reboot”]
Given that it is used as a critical component of the production deployment mechanics for a large number of people, how do you ensure an appropriate level of stability and security while developing cloud-init?
How do you think the status of cloud-init as a Canonical project has affected the level of contributions that you receive?
How much of the support and roadmap is contributed by individual vs corporate users such as AWS and Azure?
What are some of the most unexpected or creative uses of cloud-init that you have seen? [https://wiki.ubuntu.com/OpenCompute?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss “disposable use os”]
In your experience, what has been the biggest stumbling block for new users of cloud-init?
Do you have any notable features or improvements planned for the future of cloud-init, or do you feel that it has reached a state of feature-completeness?

Keep In Touch

smoser on GitHub

Picks

Tobias
- mu4e
- isync

Scott
- LXD

Links

The intro and outro music is from Requiem for a Fish The Freak Fandango Orchestra / CC BY-SA

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