Amazon Linux 2 first boot on Virtual Box

gistfile1.txt

# Download the VDI from https://cdn.amazonlinux.com/os-images/latest/
# Doc is at http://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/amazon-linux-2-virtual-machine.html  
# Be sure you have config/meta-data and config/user-data ready as per the below
# change ec2-user's password to your password

$ cat config/meta-data

local-hostname: amazonlinux.onprem

# eth0 is the default network interface enabled in the image. You can configure
# static network settings with an entry like below.
#network-interfaces: |
#  iface eth0 inet static
#  address 192.168.1.10
#  network 192.168.1.0
#  netmask 255.255.255.0
#  broadcast 192.168.1.255
#  gateway 192.168.1.254



$ cat config/user-data
#cloud-config
# vim:syntax=yaml
users:
# A user by the name ec2-user is created in the image by default.
  - default
# Following entry create user1 and assigns password specified in plain text.
# Please not use of plain text password is not recommended from security best
# practises standpoint
  # - name: user1
  #   groups: sudo
  #   sudo: ['ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD:ALL']
  #   plain_text_passwd: < plain text password here >
  #   lock_passwd: false
# Following entry creates user2 and attaches a hashed passwd to the user. Hashed
# passwords can be generated with:
# python -c 'import crypt,getpass; print crypt.crypt(getpass.getpass())'
  # - name: user2
  #   passwd: < hashed password here >
  #   lock_passwd: false
# Following entry creates user3, disables password based login and enables an SSH public key
  # - name: user3
  #   ssh-authorized-keys:
  #           - < ssh public key here >
  #   lock_passwd: true

chpasswd:
  list: |
    ec2-user:password

# On Mac OS, you can use hdiutil instead of genisoimage
hdiutil makehybrid -o init.iso -hfs -joliet -iso -default-volume-name cidata config

## Then attach the init.iso file to the virtual machine before to boot the VDI.
## Cloud-init configuration happens ar first boot only, you do not need the ISO file for subsequent boots
## If you need to retry, re-try from the originally downloaded VDI 
## Keep a copy of the downloaded VDI if you need to make changes to your root disk image.

I doubt anyone is as lame as I am, but I created the text files using NOTEPAD under Windows Cygwin, and I am pretty sure the non-standard line terminators did bad things.

I deleted the NOTEPAD files and recreated using vi and everything worked as expected.

Got an error running the hdiutil command "-bash: $: command not found". However hdiutil makehybrid -help works fine. Any suggestions

What is the syntax to set SSH keys for the default user, i.e. ec2-user? I tried the following, but it doesn't work:

users:
  - default:
    ssh-authorized-keys:
      - <ssh key>

I've also tried:

users:
  - default:
  - name: ec2-user
    ssh-authorized-keys:
      - <ssh key>

I just end up with an empty authorized_keys file. It works for any other user, though. I've looked but can't find an example of how to do this.

@swampf0etus check the sample config here https://cdn.amazonlinux.com/os-images/2.0.20190612/README.cloud-init

@sebsto Thanks, but I can see where in that example that it applies an ssh key to the ec2-user, I only see one for user3

According to the example I shared, it Looks like you have the indentation incorrect in your second example.
- name line must be indented one level below - default

Using OS X Catalina and the latest VirtualBox (6.1.6) here. I followed the AWS instructions line by line. I changed the VM network adapter from NAT to Bridged and updated the /etc/ssh/sshd_config to allow password login so I can connect from terminal.

Uncomment line 63: PasswordAuthentication yes
Then restart ssh daemon: sudo service ssd restart

In my case, I did not notice that I had created the metadata files with a .TXT extension!!!

@swampf0etus I managed to set the ec2-user ssh key like this

#cloud-config
# vim:syntax=yaml
users:
  - default
  - name: ec2-user
    ssh-authorized-keys:
      - ssh-rsa <key>
chpasswd:
  list: |
    ec2-user:amazon

ssh-authorized-keys:

How did you create/get the public key onto your host?

@icasnerd

In my case I've already had generated key pair in my ~/.ssh host folder (it was convenient to me to reuse the existing key). I just pasted my public key instead of the <key> in the provided YAML sample.
But you can generate new key pair on the host with OpenSSH or PuTTY on windows or ssh-keygen on Linux/MacOS.

For those who want to have a static IP, the network adapter on the VM needs to be bridged and the network interfaces section needs an additional line to specify the DNS name servers:

network-interfaces: |
  iface eth0 inet static
  address 192.168.1.10
  network 192.168.1.0
  netmask 255.255.255.0
  broadcast 192.168.1.255
  gateway 192.168.1.254
  dnsnameservers 192.168.1.254 8.8.8.8.8.4.4

Took me a long while to figure out, so sharing it here.