RFE: Reference MAAS custom images directly

[Derek DeMoss]

This is mostly a feature request, but related to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/juju/+bug/1880015

I'd like to see the ability to specify a MAAS image directly without having to add metadata to the model. In our environment we have about 7 persistent models and numerous short term models that may need to call out a custom MAAS image.
Actually, I'm not entirely clear on whether or not it can be done, https://discourse.charmhub.io/t/new-feature-in-juju-2-8-add-custom-machine-images-with-the-juju-metadata-command/3171
Implies that similar functionality exists for AWS/Azure/GCE/Vsphere, but seemingly absent for MAAS.

This makes it very difficult to use a Juju+MAAS workflow with custom images, when it seems like that ecosystem should be the most natural one.

The only workaround that I'm currently aware of is to manually deploy the machine with a custom image from MAAS and add it to Juju via `juju add-machine ssh:user@ipaddress`.

With the currently available syntax as an example, perhaps something like
`juju add-machine host1.maas --series custom/centos7.8.2003`
With `centos7.8.2003` being the short name of the image in MAAS (which is currently not visible in the GUI, only the long name is visible).

Or with a long name:
`juju add-machine host1.maas --series "custom/CentOS 7.8.2003 Custom"`

Thank you!

[james beedy (jamesbeedy)]

Possibly you could also use an `--image` argument.....

`juju deploy slurmctld --series centos7 --image "custom/CentOS 7.8.2003 Custom"`

[Derek DeMoss (derek-omnivector)]

Bump. This is still a very important feature to gain for companies wanting a fully Canonical stack.

[John A Meinel (jameinel)]

We are looking at implementing custom image selection in the next 6 months,
probably targeting Juju 3.2

On Mon, Dec 5, 2022 at 12:41 PM Derek DeMoss <email address hidden>
wrote:

> Bump. This is still a very important feature to gain for companies
> wanting a fully Canonical stack.
>
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[Derek DeMoss (derek-omnivector)]

Awesome, thank you John!
I'll relay that to the team to keep an eye out for the final 3.2 feature list.

[Derek DeMoss (derek-omnivector)]

Hey John, just checking up again on this.
Not seeing a milestone for Juju 3.2, does that imply it might be bumped to 3.3 or later?

Thanks!
-Derek

[Derek DeMoss (derek-omnivector)]

Hey @jameinel!
Any word here?

Thank you!
-Derek