Cloud-init Stuck on Boot Waiting for Network

📖 ~1 min read

Table of contents

1. Symptom & Impact
2. Environment & Reproduction
3. Root Cause Analysis
4. Quick Triage
5. Step-by-Step Diagnosis
6. Solution – Primary Fix
7. Solution – Alternative Approaches
8. Verification & Acceptance Criteria
9. Rollback Plan
10. Prevention & Hardening
11. Related Errors & Cross-Refs
12. References & Further Reading

Symptom & Impact

Boot sequence stalls for extended periods, delaying service availability and autoscaling readiness.

Environment & Reproduction

Ubuntu 20.04 cloud images with misconfigured datasource metadata or network dependency chain.

Root Cause Analysis

Cloud-init waits on unreachable metadata endpoints or interfaces that never become ready.

Quick Triage

Review `cloud-init status –long` and boot logs to identify blocked module stage.

Step-by-Step Diagnosis

Inspect datasource config, NIC naming, and routing to metadata service endpoints.

Solution – Primary Fix

Set correct datasource list/network config and clean cloud-init state before controlled reboot.

Solution – Alternative Approaches

Disable unused modules or adjust timeout thresholds for non-cloud deployments.

Verification & Acceptance Criteria

Boot completes within expected SLO and cloud-init reaches `done` consistently.

Rollback Plan

Reinstate previous datasource configuration if image customization introduces startup regressions.

Prevention & Hardening

Template validated cloud-init configs and test boots across target cloud providers.

Related Errors & Cross-Refs

`A start job is running for cloud-init`, metadata timeout, and failed network-config stages.

Related tutorial: View the step-by-step tutorial for Ubuntu 20.04 LTS.

View all Ubuntu 20.04 LTS tutorials on the Tutorials Hub →

Browse all common problems & solutions on the Tutorials Hub.

References & Further Reading

Cloud-init documentation for datasource selection and Ubuntu cloud image tuning.