Describing a cloud server with metadata

You can set and retrieve custom descriptive fields on your Cloud Servers instances by using metadata.

Metadata are key/value pairs that can be assigned to a server during creation, or at any point during the lifetime of the server. Both the key field (sometimes called name) and the value field can be up to 255 characters in length.

Metadata can be useful for adding descriptive tags to your servers, storing information about their configuration, and more.

Metadata stored on your server is visible only to your account members that would normally be able to see the server details, and to Rackspace Support. We recommend that you follow normal information security best practices and do not store sensitive information such as passwords, API keys, or confidential company information in metadata.

Metadata can also be created and stored on Cloud Images (such as snapshots of your Cloud Server). For more information about working with Cloud Images metadata (also known image properties), see Image properties.

Currently, the OpenStack command-line nova utility or the API must be used to view, set, or delete metadata on a cloud server. For more information on using the API to work with server metadata, see the metadata operations in the Next Gen Cloud Servers API Developer Guide.

See also

Using flavors to create a new cloud server Changing the characteristics of a cloud server Monitoring events on your cloud server Creating a cloud server in a region Handling host-related issues Operating a cloud server with nova-agent Configuring disks for a cloud server Managing access with SSH keys Synchronizing time with NTP Describing a cloud server with metadata: Setting and updating metadata Showing metadata

Understanding flavor classes: Flavor classes for virtual cloud servers Flavor classes for OnMetal cloud servers Choosing a flavor class Checking for regional availability of flavor classes Controlling cloud server initiation: Controlling boot behavior with cloud-init Controlling boot behavior with a config drive Controlling boot behavior with personality

Understanding Cloud Servers introduces key ideas. To learn how to put these ideas to work, start at Actions for Cloud Servers.