Packer provisioners Ansible must be installed on the image you're provisioning. Is that the issue? Is amazon-ebs not Windows specific? It supports the powershell provisioner. First you need copy your script file from local machine to remote with file provisioner, then run it with shell provisioner. Packer itself is a tool for building identical machine images for multiple platforms from a single source configuration. These actions can include compressing the image, uploading Mar 27, 2020 · Hi @allaboutsunil, Packer does not support executing a provisioner from a remote machine. Builders allow integrations to external platforms, - Selection from HashiCorp Packer in Production [Book] The `hcp-sbom` Packer provisioner uploads a CycloneDX- or SPDX JSON-formatted software bill of materials record to HCP Packer. The provisioner is designed to communicate with machines running WinRM. They perform the major work of making Aug 28, 2018 · Packer provisioners allow you to configure your machine image using traditional configuration management tools like Puppet, Chef, Ansible or just plain shell scripts (Bash or PowerShell). Provisioners use builtin and third-party software to install and configure the machine image after booting. One tool that has revolutionized how we create and manage machine images is HashiCorp Packer. Packer has the following types of builders: Plugins: Plugins that you install have their own associated set of builders. Finally, your Packer build will be much smoother if the Answer File handles or disables Windows updates The `only` and `except` keywords are filters for Packer builds. Info: Boxstarter will log all package activity output to $env:LocalAppData\Boxstarter\boxstarter. Learn how to use `only` and `except` to selectively run provisioners and post-processors. In the above example, we use the built-in shell provisioner that comes with Packer to update the linux system via sudo apt-get update Packer can create Azure virtual machine images through variety of ways depending on the strategy that you want to use for building the images. Introduction A Packer template contains a series of declarations and commands for Packer to follow. Aug 27, 2021 · What is Packer – Packer (HashiCorp) is an open source tool for creating identical machine images for multiple platforms from a single source configuration. com/packer/docs/provisioners/file#sources) the destination directory must exist before the copy can occur. Packer Templates for commonly used Providers. Here’s a breakdown of a basic Packer template structure: The windows-shell Packer provisioner runs commands on a Windows machine using cmd. Creating Mar 9, 2018 · In which directory are you executing the packer build command? This plugin provides a simple provisioner, that retrieves objects from s3 and stores them at the given destination. Perfect for students and professionals in DevOps and cloud computing. The Ansible Provisioner requires that your playbooks are accessible from the machine running Packer. Handling races and locks is most practically handled (in my experience) by just reordering the automation of the provisioners; but in cases when you hit a race or lock and provisioners can't be reordered, sleep can help. Do you want to learn more about getting started with Packer? Jan 31, 2018 · Packer's shell provisioner can run the bash with sudo privileges. Nov 23, 2017 · Provisioners Once Packer detects that WinRM is up and running, it knows that the build stage is complete and moves on to the provisioners component. within our image. xml /quiet /generalize /oobe /shutdown” I wasnt able to get packer to work doing this, in server 2025 it just does nothing. Packer is an open source tool that allows IT operators to standardize and automate the process of building system images. Packer provides two types of provisioners that work with Ansible. For the full list of available features for this plugin see docs. If you want to be able to use provisioners, the Answer file must also contain a script that sets up SSH or WinRM so that Packer can connect to the instance. The example below is fully functional. But builders themselves, rather than the Packer core, must determine when to invoke the provisioners since only the builder knows when the machine is running and ready for communication. Learn to use Packer in Docker and Azure, understanding provisioner timing and service management in different environments. I need that script to do the following: Get a Windows AVD image from the Azur… Mar 31, 2014 · Packer can even build images for multiple providers using multiple provisioners (like shell scripts, Ansible playbooks, Salt states, Chef cookbooks, Puppet manifests or other popular provisioners), all with one set of configuration and instructions. Shell Provisioner This topic provides overview information about Packer templates, which are configuration files that determine Packer behavior. Azure provides new users a $200 credit for the first 30 days; after which you will incur costs for VMs built and stored using Packer. Not sure if there is a current card/solution for this, but I am experiencing issues with my packer provisioners not completing/skipping to the next provisioner before completing. Here's what that looks like using a Shell provisioner. We recommend implementing the following workflow: Use the file provisioner to upload files Use the shell provisioner to move the files into the proper place, set permissions, and perform other tasks. May 20, 2024 · A Packer template is a JSON file that tells Packer what builders, provisioners, and post-processors to use when creating a machine image. Apr 16, 2025 · My Packer template has several powershell provisioners that rely on scripts from an Azure Files network share. Post-processors are extremely varied in their function; they can compress your artifact, upload your artifact into a cloud, or create a file that describes the artifact and Packer is a tool for creating identical machine images for multiple platforms from a single source configuration. Dec 16, 2018 · How do you load another common script for a provisioner such as . Apr 23, 2023 · HashiCorp Packer is a tool for creating machine images that can be used with various cloud providers, virtualization platforms, or container systems. Whether you’re building AMIs for AWS, Docker images for containerized applications, or VM templates for on-premises infrastructure, Packer 1 Comment MarMan Over a year ago environment_vars works just for the shell provisioner, not for the file: packer. VirtualBox (on Windows or Linux) – Fully Automated with Packer & PowerShell remoting • B. Learn how to configure provisioners in JSON templates. Building Windows images? You probably want to use the PowerShell or Windows Shell provisioners. The Chef multi-component plugin can be used with HashiCorp Packer to create custom images. For complex provisioning, you The `breakpoint` provisioner pauses a build until you press the Enter key. The windows-shell Packer provisioner runs commands on a Windows machine using cmd. This ask I am Feb 27, 2025 · Troubleshoot common Packer issues, including build failures, authentication problems, provisioner errors, network connectivity issues, and performance bottlenecks. sh", } ], Jan 11, 2016 · What is Packer Packer is a tool for automating the creation of identical virtual machine images for multiple platforms from a single source configuration. Aug 7, 2018 · Packer connects via WinRM and moves on to the Provisioners Section. […] 4 The Power of Provisioners So far, we have covered the basics of Packer templates and builders with a basic provisioner. yml -i <host_type>/hosts. 4 days ago · Provisioners give Terraform practitioners a way to prep their infrastructure for use by installing software and deploying applications. For example, EC2, VMware, and VirtualBox use their own separate sets of builders. Provisioners are also optional within a template. Learn how to use HCL expressions in Packer templates. exe /unattend:E:\sysprep. The file Packer provisioner uploads files to machines built by Packer. Basic Example The example below is fully functional. - hashicorp/packer Jun 8, 2018 · The packer inspect command takes a template and outputs the various components a template defines. 6 images. ResourceManagement. . JSON templates are files that configure the Packer components that create one or more machine images. This example uses access and secret keys, but you can also define IAM credentials and SSO. The shell Packer provisioner runs shell scripts on the machine Packer builds. Apr 17, 2021 · Complete packer JSON file : aws_packer. In packer-windoze this is a simple local shell command ansible-playbook main. I have to make a decision based on the input parameter. You can open a feature request on the Packer github, and in the meantime you can work around this by setting the permissions via a script in the shell provisioner. Its portfolio includes a wide variety of frozen and refrigerated food products. The Ansible Local provisioner allows Packer to execute ansible on the builder using playbooks which are present on the build host. Mar 14, 2014 · A Packer provisioner is simply a configuration template that is added to the json configuration file. This can help you quickly learn about a template without having to dive into the JSON itself. Packer goes into shutdown mode but the VM doesnt shutdown, infact sysprep doesnt even run. Some builders in Packer perform helper tasks, such as running provisioners. qemu The Qemu Packer builder is able to create KVM virtual machine images. json and paste the following content. Jun 28, 2025 · HashiCorp Packer Tutorial: Automate AWS AMI and Docker Image Creation with Real Examples In today’s DevOps world, consistency and automation are paramount. 5. To build your AMI, Packer launches a build instance that runs the base image, connects to it to execute your build scripts, then takes a snapshot of your instance to create the AMI. Aug 12, 2020 · A paragraph or two about the issue you're experiencing. Apr 2, 2015 · Packer isn't aware of the ramifications of every process you've declared. Provisioning Packer has built-in support for provisioning using the Provisioner plugins. May 17, 2016 · What do you mean "doesn't ship with packer"? In my snippet above I'm using amazon-ebs, I didn't install any custom provisioners, just straight packer. Nov 15, 2025 · Packer lets us create machine images for a variety of platforms through code. Mar 15, 2015 · I'll put the reboot provisioner in the order it needs to be. Shell provisioning is the easiest way to get software installed and configured on a machine. We'd like to explain why someone should consider adding Packer made images and dive into the variety of ways it benefits a Windows server DevOps environment. Packer standardizes and automates the process of building system and container images. And the HCL expressions provide access to data exported by data sources and transforms and combines the data into other values. According to their documentation (https://developer. While provisioners are run against an instance while it is running, post-processors run only after Packer saves the instance as an image. Post-processors run after builders and provisioners. So we would like to introduce a new feature soon to be able to 'connect' in the middle of a build. For local example in this post, it will produce OVA file to import, on cloud it will generate custom AMI under your AWS account. Provisioners: ansible - The Packer provisioner runs Ansible playbooks. Provisioners install and configure software prior to turning a machine into an image. Part of the image creation process involves provisioning the machine, which can be done with a variety of provisioners, including Ansible. Templates define the following instructions for Packer: Which plugins, such as builders, provisioners, and post-processors to use How to configure the plugins In what The Puppet multi-component plugin can be used with HashiCorp Packer to create custom images. To do so, we'll configure Provisioners. But before any provisioners run, they all perform validation checks -- one of which in the file provisioner is a check that makes sure the file exists on your local filesystem. The `windows-restart` provisioner restarts a Windows machine and waits for it to come back up. This command is extra useful when used Mar 6, 2020 · Hi all, I am attempting to add an ansible local provisioner to the MAAS Cent OS 7 packer build file and it crashes every time with a “Build ‘qemu’ errored: unexpected EOF” and “panic: runtime error: invalid memory addre… The Packer documentation describes how to use Packer and providers reference information for configuring Packer templates. I tried something like "provisioners": { "type": "shell Jul 22, 2023 · Windows VM: Passing HCL variables to PowerShell script that has required parameters I am trying to pass variable values to a Packer script. Aug 5, 2021 · The thing is that Packer sorts of expects to log in to an instance once — in the beginning — and there is no internal/native way to 'reconnect' that feel great. Learn how to configure JSON templates. The “provisioners” section of the configuration file takes an array of json objects which means that you aren’t stuck with just one kind of provisioner. Azure uses a combination of OAuth and Active Directory to authorize requests to the ARM API Nov 17, 2024 · A Packer Template is the starting point for creating images. Shell Provisioner Next we need to do things on the server (otherwise, what's the point?). Same builder (Amazon EBS), with some small variations in AMI names, and almost the same provisioner (Ansible Remote) - We can run the above Ansible provisioner in Packer with a little helper script (or just this command directly): Type: qemu Artifact BuilderId: transcend. The builder builds a virtual machine by creating a new virtual machine from scratch, booting it, installing an OS, rebooting the machine with the boot media as the virtual hard drive, provisioning software within the OS, then shutting it down. - hashicorp/packer Packer plugin for Ansible Provisioner. Jun 10, 2020 · So how are you supposed to create specialized environments without Terraform provisioners? The answer is Packer’s own provisioners. It can be used for multiple platforms from a single source template. It dynamically creates an Ansible inventory file configured to use SSH, runs an SSH server, executes ansible-playbook, and marshals Ansible plays through the SSH server to the machine being provisioned by Packer. Use the `breakpoint` provisioner to help you debug errors. In fact, when building images, Packer can use tools like Chef or Puppet to install Oct 2, 2019 · There are ways to restrict provisioners to certain builds, covered in more detail in the packer documentation. This doesnt happen during every run but it does happen frequently Packer Plugin SDK This SDK enables building Packer plugins. sh should accept input parameter which I send during packer build. It may be easier to use the inventory directory instead: provisioner "ansible" { Type: azure-arm Artifact BuilderId: Azure. sh basedir/base: base. Packer has a builder for Azure that allows you to define Azure resources, such as the service principal credentials created in the preceding step. Enter your own values for the following: Jan 11, 2022 · How to run packer provisioner shell script as 'root' Asked 3 years, 10 months ago Modified 3 years, 10 months ago Viewed 3k times Jul 15, 2025 · In Packer, conditional statements are mainly used in the builders and provisioners sections of the template. These may include Ansible, Chef, Puppet, Shell scripts, Powershell, etc. Oct 3, 2022 · For this blog post I want to cover how the Technical Marketing team for Ansible orchestrates a pipeline for demos and workshops with Ansible and how we integrate that with custom AMIs (Amazon Machine Images) created with Packer. The `provisioners` block contains provisioners that Packer uses to install and configure software on machines. Jun 20, 2019 · Please excuse my ignorance I am new to using Packer. Packer is lightweight, creating machine images for multiple platforms in parallel. Learn how to create custom provisioners that extend Packer functionality. Create a file named windows. In addition to the builders, Packer also uses provisioners to install and configure software inside the machine image. Learn how to use the `hcp-sbom` provisioner. Dec 1, 2017 · Objective is my provision. We will use shell Provisioner to install or execute our own script while creating machine images. Explore how to use Ansible provisioner with Packer for automating infrastructure configuration and management. Packers Retail is dedicated to serve all the major supermarket chains, independent grocery stores, supermarkets, restaurants, and wholesalers. Jul 24, 2015 · Adding conditionals in Packer provisioners? Asked 10 years, 4 months ago Modified 10 years, 3 months ago Viewed 3k times The `winrm` communicator establishes a WinRM connection, letting Packer upload files or execute scripts on the machine it creates. Feb 24, 2022 · Packer Packer is an open-source tool. Packer can create golden images to use in image pipelines. Feb 10, 2022 · However, this can also become tricky since Packer normally generates an inventory file with an entry for the instance being provisioned. \\nIn my experience, you also have to maintain Oct 26, 2020 · HashiCorp Packer Provisioning Shell Provisioner Virtualbox Builder Create your Source Image So far we created a Docker image but did not do much with it. This would allow changing SSH settings or reboot after an installation. Contribute to hashicorp/packer-plugin-ansible development by creating an account on GitHub. You can handle the reboot in packer so that it's abstracted as packer aims to be - and handle waiting for the OS to become available again before proceeding. We use provisioners and Packer templates to do the actual work to create the final image. Learn how to use the `shell-local` provisioner to run a shell script on your build server, desktop, or other local machine. Operating system and Environment details Windows, Azure, Azure Devops build pipeline Log Fragments and crash. Mar 29, 2020 · Packer provisioners execute after the initial build process completes, and allow customization of the OS. Post-processors are optional, and you can use them to upload artifacts, re-package files, and more. The `shell-local` Packer provisioner runs shell scripts on the machine where Packer is running. 5 Simplified Packer Buildfile The file provisioner above is really the only thing required. file: The file builder creates an artifact from a file. May 25, 2021 · Packer provisioners run in order, as you expected. Learn how to use the `windows-restart` provisioner. Jun 10, 2019 · For provisioners, we can either put them in a separate file and then somehow inject it into the main tempalte OR if we can pass in the Provisioners in the form of a json array through a user variable from a variables file? Some of my provisioners are powershell scripts, ansible and windows restart. io and I'm worried I might be missing something So, in packer, I can add: many builders, have a Nov 11, 2023 · Explore Packer provisioners in our guide, enhancing Udacity's "Deploying a Web Server in Azure" course. Allowing for the image creation process to execute in parallel for multiple machine images. Oftentimes, you may well be provisioning Packer images for that same Ansible workstation; in this lab, we'll explore how to use your existing Ansible setup to provision your Mar 20, 2025 · Troubleshooting Packer issues: fix build failures, authentication errors, provisioner problems, optimize performance, and debug logs for efficient DevOps automation. VMImage Packer supports building Virtual Hard Disks (VHDs) and Managed Images in Azure Resource Manager. You can only upload files to locations that the provisioning user (generally not root) has permission to access. However, it’s tedious to document and even worse to execute, making sure the template is identical every time (except for your new updates of course). Provisioners are an array of provisioners that Packer will use to install, configure, etc. html I have what seems to be like a valid use case for an unsupported - afaik - scenario, using packer. The share is mapped to the VM using the following sequence Aug 5, 2020 · In the template, you define builders and provisioners that carry out the actual build process. ini -vv. Sep 25, 2020 · Provisioners are components of Packer that install and configure software within a running machine prior to that machine being turned into a static image. The ask is really quite simple, in the variable file I define a number of items. May 27, 2025 · f4bcdad0-1d62-44e0-892a-6c0f0f7fbd20 This is from David’s personal LLM stack: ⸻ Below are two full, headless, zero-touch lab build solutions for BadSuccessor: • A. Packer is a tool for creating identical machine images for multiple platforms from a single source configuration. [profile test] aws_access_key_id Sep 14, 2020 · There’s no way to do this within the file provisioner. Packer uses configuration management provisioners that can run installation steps during the build process before creating a system disk image that you can reuse. You may have difficulties adapting the host entry for the instance being provisioned to the existing inventory file. Ansible Ansible runs playbooks on localhost (inside Docker container). A common use case is creating images that can be used later in cloud infrastructure. json file which defines the builders and provisioners used by Packer basedir: common-vars. It defines the desired configuration and settings, including builders, provisioners, and post-processors. Packer uploads the contents of In the output, you will find the Provisioning with shell script that confirms that the Packer ran the provision step. sh "provisioners": [ { "type": "shell", "script": "scripts/scr. json config Jun 17, 2018 · I'm creating about 10-12 Packer templates which almost all work the same way. Nov 28, 2019 · Packer is a useful tool for creating pre-built machine images. I am particularly interested in the provisioners Communicators are remote-access programs Packer uses to perform actions, such as upload files and execute scripts, on the machines Packer creates. Oct 25, 2016 · Some best practices around building Windows based Packer images. json As a summary, Packer is really cool tool to use to automate the process of creating custom images and it can be used for Dockers as well. The script for this tutorial updates the default instance software, installs necessary apps, and creates a user with your SSH key created above. While there are several avenues for provisioning infrastructure deployed with Terraform, Packer and Cloud-Init give practitioners repeatability in image deployment or built-in tools. Apr 19, 2023 · I would like to take a variable that's defined in a variable file in packer and pass it into Ansible. Packer plugin for Ansible Provisioner. Ansible Remote that assumes that Ansible is available on the provisioning host and Ansible Local that assumes that Ansible is available in the template being build. -> Building Windows images? You probably want to use the PowerShell or Windows Shell provisioners. Jan 23, 2019 · Introduction We all know the immense pain of managing Windows Server VM templates, regardless of the platform you’re using. In the last tutorial, you updated your template to build multiple images in parallel. Supported platforms include: AWS EC2 AMI, DigitalOcean, Docker, Google Compute Engine, OpenStack, Parallels, QEMU, VirtualBox, VMware. We use Ansible for provisioning. For more information on the other methods of delivering provisioning instructions to your image, visit the Packer provisioners documentation. Packer needs the Answer File to handle any questions that would normally be answered interactively during a Windows installation. Apr 14, 2020 · Packer version From 1. Sep 17, 2025 · Packer Packer is used to build image from a base image, perform provisions and store (commit) the final image. Add more provisioners The shell provisioner demonstrated above is extremely powerful and flexible. Visit the AWS AMI page to verify that Packer successfully built your AMI. Learn about Packer provisioners. Packers Retail Utilizing over 400,000 square feet of storage space and an extensive distribution network, Packers Provision is the leading distributor of frozen, refrigerated, and dry food products in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. Sure, you can build them once then update them manually on a schedule. The command will tell you things like what variables a template accepts, the builders it defines, the provisioners it defines and the order they'll run, and more. hashicorp. Refer to the post-processor and post-processors blocks documentation to learn more about working with post-processors. They perform the major work of making the Apr 23, 2023 · HashiCorp Packer is a tool for creating machine images that can be used with various cloud providers, virtualization platforms, or container systems. To be brief I think I may be doing this wrong or my syntax is wrong or both. Apr 23, 2023 · In HashiCorp Packer, post-processors are used to perform additional actions after the machine image has been created by the builder and provisioners. Contribute to workloads/packer-templates development by creating an account on GitHub. Notice how Packer also outputs the first inline command (Installing Redis). Packer does not replace configuration management like Chef or Puppet. The basic syntax for a conditional statement in Packer is often based on the if - else logic. json packer-build. Use the shell provisioner to install and configure software on a machine. Jan 31, 2018 · Creating an AMI with Packer First a directory structure was created with a base directory containing a common variable file and a bash script that will kick off a packer build, sub-directories are named for the image that will be built and contain the . Packer is a tool that lets you create identical machine images for multiple platforms from a single source template. It allows us to create machine images. While it's usually associated with creating Linux images for a variety of platforms, it also has first class support for Windows. This allows Packer's users to use both the officially-supported builders, provisioners, and post-processors, and custom in-house solutions. log files The log shows the copy successfully completing but the files are not present in the destination directory. The easiest it to run shell/bash scripts. AWS (EC2) – Terraform & Cloud-Init, Automated Domain Build & Exploit Both provide complete, reproducible AD domains, lab user, and Oct 9, 2023 · Packer provisioners Provisioners are important components of Packer that install and configure software within a running machine prior to that machine being turned into a static image. In any event, first off, aside from the documentation, can anyone recommend to me some packer provisioner examples? I am currently running a Packer build against our VMware environment to roll out CentOS-7. log on the guest. io/docs/provisioners/file. EPISODE 26We'll refactor our Minecraft Packer template to use some of the best practices around leveraging the File provisioner to deploy files to our remote Review configuration This configuration modifies an existing Windows base image managed by AWS. Apr 6, 2021 · Shell - Provisioners | Packer by HashiCorp The shell Packer provisioner provisions machines built by Packer using shell scripts. To set up our image we can use a range of so called provisioners that will execute scripts inside our image. The result of the Qemu builder is a Apr 6, 2021 · Shell - Provisioners | Packer by HashiCorp The shell Packer provisioner provisions machines built by Packer using shell scripts. packer build -var role=abc test. json I am able to get the user variable in json file however I am unable to pass it provision script. You can either define credentials in your AWS config file. The Windows base image does not automatically allow ingress traffic, which Packer requires in order to connect to the Apr 11, 2023 · shutdown_command = “C:\Windows\system32\sysprep\sysprep. The documentation includes a page for each type of post-processor. scripts/common/import. May 20, 2024 · This chapter dives into the essential aspects of Packer that deal with the customization and optimization of machine images after their initial creation — provisioners and post-processors. vvt rxnu xazyv cdgoy mpk guqy rrsi ehdt ofknrg jyvai afmfc rswqsca llpanr cspjih pfoufnj