I think we should use the same version of Debian for the builtin template as the system vm template is using. Seems good to standardise around that. It will lower future update/grade efforts.
On Mon, Oct 12, 2026 at 11:41 AM Rene Peinthor <[email protected]> wrote: > > Fully in favor of this. > > Actually I recently started replacing this image for testing with an > Alpine Linux image for Linstor integration tests. > The faster booting and shutdown brought down the Linstor test runtime by 2-3x. > > On Mon, Oct 12, 2026 at 11:15 AM Kiran Chavala <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > > Subject: [DISCUSS] Replacing the default built-in CentOS template in > > CloudStack > > > > Hi all, > > > > I'd like to start a discussion on replacing the default built-in template > > that ships with every CloudStack installation. > > > > The original GitHub discussion is here, and you're welcome to comment there > > as well: > > https://github.com/apache/cloudstack/discussions/13797 > > > > Today, the built-in templates registered for each hypervisor are quite > > outdated: > > > > - KVM: CentOS 5.5 (64-bit) no GUI > > > > http://download.cloudstack.org/releases/2.2.0/eec2209b-9875-3c8d-92be-c001bd8a0faf.qcow2.bz2 > > - XenServer: CentOS 5.6 (64-bit) no GUI > > http://download.cloudstack.org/templates/builtin/centos56-x86_64.vhd.bz2 > > - vSphere: CentOS 5.3 (64-bit) no GUI > > http://download.cloudstack.org/releases/2.2.0/CentOS5.3-x86_64.ova > > > > These templates are no longer practical, even for basic testing: > > > > 1. The VM deploys, but the SSH service doesn't work, so it's of little use > > for validating a fresh installation. > > 2. They're starting to break outright on newer hypervisors. On ACS 4.22 > > with XenServer 8.4, deploying a VM from the default CentOS template fails > > with "Cannot find Template CentOS 7 on XenServer host", because XenServer > > 8.4 has deprecated the CentOS 7 guest template (tracked in > > https://github.com/apache/cloudstack/issues/13798). > > > > What I'd like to see is a new default template that is: > > > > - current, and in line with what users actually run today > > - small in footprint, so it downloads quickly and can be used for quick > > testing right after installation > > - functional for the core guest features: root password reset, SSH keys, > > user data, and cloud-init > > > > Candidates I've looked at: > > > > - macchinina (https://github.com/NuxRo/macchinina) > > - Alpine Linux cloud images (https://alpinelinux.org/cloud/) > > - CirrOS (https://github.com/cirros-dev/cirros) > > - Debian cloud images (https://cloud.debian.org/images/cloud/) > > - Ubuntu minimal cloud images ( > > https://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/minimal/releases/) > > - AlmaLinux Generic Cloud ( > > https://wiki.almalinux.org/cloud/Generic-cloud.html) > > - Rocky Linux (https://wiki.rockylinux.org/rocky/image/) > > - Fedora Cloud (https://fedoraproject.org/cloud/download/) > > > > My personal preference is between two options: > > > > 1. macchinina: built for CloudStack testing, but it needs a refresh and > > someone to maintain it going forward. > > 2. Alpine cloud image: very small and well maintained upstream. We'd need > > to run tests to confirm password, SSH key, and user-data behaviour across > > hypervisors. > > > > Most of the mainstream distro cloud images are in the 500-600 MB range, > > which goes against the "quick test after install" goal. > > > > I'd love to hear the community's views on: > > > > - which image (or images) you'd prefer as the default > > - any hypervisor-specific concerns (KVM / XenServer-XCP-ng / VMware) > > > > > > If there's rough consensus, I'm happy to follow up with a PR and testing > > across hypervisors. > > > > Thanks, > > Kiran Chavala -- Daan
