Proxmox Cloud-Init Tutorial: Automate Your Homelab VM Deployment

Learn how to set up Cloud-Init in Proxmox to automate homelab VM deployment. Save disk space, speed up provisioning, and manage SSH keys, passwords, and networking with ease.

3 min read
#proxmox #cloud-init #vm-provisioning
Cloud-Init Your Homelab VMs Tutorial

Introduction

Are you still using regular VMs instead of Cloud init? Well, I’m here to save your homelab disk space, but it’s not only that. Cloud init VMs also let you configure all your VMs the same way, but you only have to configure it once and the same settings will be used for all of them.

💡 Quick answers: Jump to frequently asked questions about Cloud-Init.

Download & Install Cloud-Init Image in Proxmox

  • Download cloud-init image to your Proxmox instance
Download Cloud-Init image for Proxmox homelab VMs 
wget https://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/noble/20241119/noble-server-cloudimg-amd64.img
  • Resize the downloaded image to your liking, e.g +10G
qemu-img resize noble-server-cloudimg-amd64.img +10G
  • Create a new VM
qm create 4000 --memory 4096 --core 4 --name cloud-init --net0 virtio,bridge=vmbr0

4000 is basically a random ID, you can have it at any ID you like.

Template created will have 4G of RAM and 4 CPU cores allocated.

  • Import the IMG file into created VM
qm disk import 4000 noble-server-cloudimg-amd64.img local-lvm

Swap out local-lvm for the name of storage you’re using

  • Attach new disk to scsi controller
qm set 4000 --scsihw virtio-scsi-pci --scsi0 local-lvm:vm-4000-disk-0

Don’t forget to swap out local-lvm here as well

  • Add Cloud-Init drive
qm set 4000 --ide2 local-lvm:cloudinit
  • Make it bootable and force VM to boot from that disk only
qm set 4000 --boot c --bootdisk scsi0
  • Add Serial Console
qm set 4000 --serial0 socket --vga serial0

Serial Console is required for VNC interaction inside Proxmox web interface

Set Cloud-Init VM Properties in Proxmox

Proxmox cloud-init configuration properties interface
  • User - Username you’d like to use to log into your VM
  • Password - Password you’d like to use to log into your VM, you can leave it empty if you only plan to use the system with SSH.
  • DNS Servers - If you want to use a different DNS server for your VMs, you can set it here
  • SSH Public Key - Your key to log into your VM
  • IP Config - Network interface configuration and static/DHCP IP configuration

Create Full or Linked VM Clones with Cloud-Init

Proxmox Cloud-Init VM clone options full vs linked

Right click your VM template and choose Clone.

Key thing to consider is whether you want to use Full or Linked clone.

Full clone will clone the whole hard-drive attached to a VM into a separate storage

Linked clone will be linked to the same hard-drive but you can’t delete the template until you delete all the VMs attached to it

Test Your Cloud-Init VM Setup in Proxmox

After the clone has been done, you can use your VM as you’d like.

ssh [yourusername]@[yourIP]

Enable Password Login for Cloud-Init VMs in Proxmox

If you want to use password for SSH log-in, you’ll need to configure it in a serial console. It’s easy, just follow along.

cd /etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/

vim 60-cloudimg-settings.conf

or

nano 60-cloudimg-settings.conf

Replace no with yes and restart your SSH service.

sudo systemctl restart ssh

And you’re done.

💡 Frequently Asked Questions

What is Cloud-Init and why should I use it in my homelab?
Cloud-Init is a VM initialization tool that lets you pre-configure settings like users, passwords, SSH keys, and networking once, then apply them automatically to all cloned VMs. It saves disk space, speeds up deployment, and ensures consistent configuration across your homelab.
What is the difference between a Full Clone and a Linked Clone in Proxmox?
A Full Clone creates an entirely separate copy of the VM’s disk, using more storage but allowing full independence from the template. A Linked Clone shares the template’s disk, saving space but requiring the template to remain until all linked VMs are deleted.
Can I use Cloud-Init VMs without SSH keys?
Yes. You can configure Cloud-Init VMs to allow password-based SSH logins by enabling it in the SSH configuration file and restarting the SSH service. However, using SSH keys is recommended for better security.

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