Thanks Andrew for taking the time to file this bug report. The answer here is that `cloud-init clean` is not meant to clean /etc/machine-id, as it only cleans files that cloud-init itself generated or more in general files that cloud-init fully owns. The machine-id is generated by systemd as part of the boot process, not by cloud-init, and for this reason it is not cleaned.
I'm marking this report as Invalid, but feel free to set it back to New and comment back if you think that further discussion is needed. ** Changed in: cloud-init (Ubuntu) Status: New => Invalid -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1864028 Title: cloud-init clean should zero /etc/machine-id To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/cloud-init/+bug/1864028/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs