Guest OS Customization for Ubuntu 18.04 Server LiveCD will fail due to conflict between cloud-init and VMware guest OS customization or systemd services execution sequence on booting virtual machine. Follow below workaround on VMware vSphere ESXi 6.5 to set cloud-init or perl scripts as the customization engine when customize guestOS for Ubuntu 18.04 Server LiveCD.
Workaround 1: Set cloud-init as the customization engine
Step 1: Set disable_vmware_customization: falsecloud-init in /etc/cloud/cloud.cfg file.
Step 2: Open /usr/lib/tmpfiles.d/tmp.conf file and prefix # in the line 11.
For example, #D /tmp 1777 root root -
Step 3: Remove /var/lib/cloud/seed/nocloud-net directory.
Step 4: Remove /etc/cloud/cloud.cfg.d/50-curtin-networking.cfg file.
Workaround 2: Set perl script as the customization engine
Step 1: Disable or remove cloud-init with below command.
Disable cloud-init service: sudo touch /etc/cloud/cloud-init.disabled
or
Remove cloud-init package and purge the config files: sudo apt-get purge cloud-init
Step 2: Open /usr/lib/tmpfiles.d/tmp.conf file and prefix # in the line 11.
For example, #D /tmp 1777 root root -
Step 3: If you have open-vm-tools installed, open /lib/systemd/system/open-vm-tools.service file and add After=dbus.service under [Unit].
Reference
VMware Knowledge Base: Guest OS Customization will fail for Ubuntu 18.04 Server LiveCD (54986)
