1 files changed, 10 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/cloudinit/util.py b/cloudinit/util.py
index 08cdd8c8..87b0c853 100644
--- a/cloudinit/util.py
+++ b/cloudinit/util.py
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ import glob
 import grp
 import gzip
 import hashlib
+import json
 import os
 import os.path
 import platform
@@ -362,6 +363,15 @@ def multi_log(text, console=True, stderr=True,
             log.log(log_level, text)
 
 
+def load_json(text, root_types=(dict,)):
+    decoded = json.loads(text)
+    if not isinstance(decoded, tuple(root_types)):
+        expected_types = ", ".join([str(t) for t in root_types])
+        raise TypeError("(%s) root types expected, got %s instead"
+                        % (expected_types, type(decoded)))
+    return decoded
+
+
 def is_ipv4(instr):
     """determine if input string is a ipv4 address. return boolean."""
     toks = instr.split('.')