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Q&A

Initializing a Windows virtual machine with the VM Initialization Tool

Q: Configuring relevant configurations via cloudbase-init on Windows does not take effect after the virtual machine is started for the first time. Why?

A: This issue may be due to a flaw in cloudbase-init. The cloudbase-init service does not check the disk mounting status during its operation. Sometimes (for example, when the cluster Boost mode is enabled), the virtual machine can be started quickly. In this case, cloudbase-init may initialize the virtual machine before the operating system has mounted all hard drives, leading to a failure in detecting the config drive and ultimately causing configuration failure.

This can be resolved by delaying the start of the Windows service:

First, set the cloudbase-init service startup item to DelayedAutoStart:

Click Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services, right-click on the cloudbase-init service, select Properties, and then change the startup type of the service to Automatic (Delayed Start).
Write to the registry key of the delayed start service which will affect all DelayedAutoStart services:

The registry key is located at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\AutoStartDelay (if it doesn't exist, create a new DWORD 32-bit value). Set the base to decimal and enter the value 4000, which represents a delay of 40 seconds.