There are times when an email based workflow gets really difficult. One of those times is when discussing projects related to spam and malware detection. noahm@debian.org host stravinsky.debian.org [2001:41b8:202:deb::311:108] SMTP error from remote mail server after end of data: 550-malware detected: Sanesecurity.Phishing.Fake.30934.1.UNOFFICIAL: 550 message rejected submit@bugs.debian.org host stravinsky.debian.org [2001:41b8:202:deb::311:108] SMTP error from remote mail server after end of data: 550-malware detected: Sanesecurity.Phishing.Fake.30934.1.UNOFFICIAL: 550 message rejected This was, in fact, a false positive.

When a Debian cloud VM boots, it typically runs cloud-init at various points in the boot process. Each invocation can perform certain operations based on the host’s static configuration passed by the user, typically either through a well known link-local network service or an attached iso9660 drive image. Some of the cloud-init steps execute before the network comes up, and others at a couple of different points after the network is up.

A coworker asked recently about how people use VMs locally for dev work, so I figured I’d take a few minutes to write up a bit about what I do. There are many use cases for local virtual machines in software development and testing. They’re self-contained, meaning you can make a mess of them without impacting your day-to-day computing environment. They can run different distributions, kernels, and even entirely different operating systems from the one you use regularly.