Secure configuration of cloud computing nodes

A method comprising:

• receiving, at data processing hardware, a request from a user system to create and configure a node in a cloud computing network, the request comprising attributes associated with the node to be created and configured;
• verifying, by the data processing hardware, that the user system is authorized to create and configure the node;
• and
• in response to verifying that the user system is authorized to create and configure the node:
• creating, by the data processing hardware, the node;
• identifying, by the data processing hardware, configuration actions to perform on the created node based at least in part on the attributes associated with the created node;
• sending, by the data processing hardware, a configuration command corresponding to one or more of the identified configuration actions to the created node, wherein the created node executes the configuration command upon receipt of the configuration command to perform the corresponding configuration actions;
• receiving, at the data processing hardware, from the created node, reporting information related to the execution of the configuration command by the created node;
• determining, by the data processing hardware, whether the configuration command was executed successfully by the created node based on the reporting information;
• and
• when the configuration command was not executed successfully, notifying, by the data processing hardware, an administrative component associated with the created node that the created node was not configured successfully.