To enable you to easily connect to your VM, the guest setup process will inject the SSH key from your user account into the VM. See Edit your user account details.
To work with first-boot automation, create a VM by selecting the template as usual.
To define a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) before deploying the VM, enter it on the General tab. Otherwise, the platform may define one based on the configuration options. See Guest setup#Set fully qualified domain name.
Screenshot: Entering the VM Name and FQDN
You can also enter a configuration definition for cloud-init or another compatible script on the Abiquo VM Bootstrap script tab.
Screenshot: An example of a cloud-config script for cloud-init.
You can additionally enter and edit Keys and/or Values on the Variables tab.
Screenshot: Enter or edit VM variables
For more information, see VM variables.
When you save the VM, Abiquo stores the bootstrap script configuration and variables in the Abiquo VM metadata. Note that there may be a bootstrap script or VM variables that the administrator has predefined in the template. See Modify a VM template#Variables tab.
You can also manage cloud-init metadata using the Abiquo API. See Manage virtual machine metadata via API
When you deploy the VM, the template's cloud-init process will run and it will configure the VM according to your guest setup options and definition.