The users directive in cloud-init is not very intuitive, so it deserves some explanation. To begin, name defines the username of the new user, gecos defines the “real name,” and group adds the openbsd user to the wheel group, which is a group with certain administrative rights (e.g., the ability to become the superuser with the use of su, if they have a valid password and root happens to be unlocked).
The cloud-init utility creates users with locked passwords by default to force users to adopt SSH key authentication instead of regular passwords. You are supposed to use the ssh_authorized_keys parameter to provide your SSH public key. Because this article is didactic in nature, I have chosen to simplify, set a password with plain_text_ password, and unlock it with lock_passwd:…
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ADMIN Network & Security (Digital) - 1 Issue, November/December 2024