diff --git a/bin/vm/vm-firstboot.sh b/bin/vm/vm-firstboot.sh
index 8eed4fb..f4220f0 100644
--- a/bin/vm/vm-firstboot.sh
+++ b/bin/vm/vm-firstboot.sh
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@ mv homedir/.git ./
 rm -fr homedir
 
 git checkout .
+git submodule init
+git submodule update
 
 cat <<EOS
 # maybe disallow ubuntu from logging in