add support for overlayroot (and crypt)

[ubuntu-server-builder]

This bug was originally filed in Launchpad as LP: #1276648

Launchpad details

affected_projects = []
assignee = None
assignee_name = None
date_closed = None
date_created = 2014-02-05T15:28:35.877259+00:00
date_fix_committed = None
date_fix_released = None
id = 1276648
importance = low
is_complete = False
lp_url = https://bugs.launchpad.net/cloud-init/+bug/1276648
milestone = None
owner = hazmat
owner_name = Kapil Thangavelu
private = False
status = triaged
submitter = hazmat
submitter_name = Kapil Thangavelu
tags = []
duplicates = []

Launchpad user Kapil Thangavelu(hazmat) wrote on 2014-02-05T15:28:35.877259+00:00

Cloud-init needs support for enabling and configuring overlayroot (and crypt) so that this can be turned on at instance start.

[ubuntu-server-builder]

Launchpad user Wzrd1(stephen-p-villano) wrote on 2014-03-25T22:55:08.271987+00:00

Would this cause an error during an update-grub? I get /usr/sbin/grub-probe: error: failed to get canonical path of `overlayroot' on my test box.
The system boots OK in spite of that and it's running kernel 3.13.0-19-generic now.

[ubuntu-server-builder]

Launchpad user Wzrd1(stephen-p-villano) wrote on 2014-03-27T19:32:40.776421+00:00

An update.
I'm unable to update the kernel with overlayroot in place.
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-3.13.0-19-generic
cryptsetup: WARNING: failed to detect canonical device of /media/root-ro/
cryptsetup: WARNING: could not determine root device from /etc/fstab

update-grub
/usr/sbin/grub-probe: error: failed to get canonical path of `overlayroot'.

[holmanb]

Which stage of cloud-init would you propose this get enabled during?

Cloud-init allows the user to log in before the final stage. This means that the modules in the final stage would not modify the base system if enabled prior to ssh, which would not match current expectation. However enabling in the final stage would mean that the user might be able to ssh in before overlay root is enabled, which would not make sense either.

I'm not sure that I see a clear way to implement this request, and with little activity on this request since it was made 10 years ago it doesn't seem like a high priority one to implement.