Comment 3 for bug 1999680

Yes if you delete /etc/machine-id from a ubuntu the image is broken.
And the issue i linked states that this is on purpose and a wontfix.
> Sorry for the misunderstanding/false information: Indeed /etc/machine-id must at least exist (empty is okay) in order to regenerate it
So this makes that a bug in cloud-init.

I personally care more about that it works and less if it is fixed in ubunut or cloud-init.

Problem is that if you remove /etc/machine-id your ubuntu system is broken.