Access the Metadata service API

In addition to being consumed by cloud-init, the Metadata service can also be accessed through an API. The API is available on industry standard link-local IP addresses (169.254.169.254 and fd00:a9fe:a9fe::1) and returns only instance data and user data for that Compute Instance. For more details on using the API, see Use the Metadata service API.

1. Log in to a Compute Instance that has been deployed in a supported data center using a supported distribution image.

2. Generate your API token by running the command below:

   curl -X PUT -H "Metadata-Token-Expiry-Seconds: 3600" http://169.254.169.254/v1/token
   

   Instead of receiving the token as an output string, you can save it directly to the $TOKEN environmental variable:

   export TOKEN=$(curl -X PUT -H "Metadata-Token-Expiry-Seconds: 3600" http://169.254.169.254/v1/token)
   

3. Query one of the following API endpoints to receive data from the API. If you did not save the API token to the $TOKEN variable, replace $TOKEN in the commands below with your token.

   • /v1/instance: Output information about your Compute Instance, including plan resources.

     curl -H "Metadata-Token: $TOKEN" http://169.254.169.254/v1/instance
     

   • /v1/network: Output information about your Compute Instance's IP addresses.

     curl -H "Metadata-Token: $TOKEN" http://169.254.169.254/v1/network
     

   • /v1/user-data: Output your user data.

     curl -H "Metadata-Token: $TOKEN" http://169.254.169.254/v1/user-data | base64 --decode