packer

command module
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Published: Aug 8, 2015 License: MPL-2.0 Imports: 23 Imported by: 0

README

Packer

Build Status Windows Build Status

Packer is a tool for building identical machine images for multiple platforms from a single source configuration.

Packer is lightweight, runs on every major operating system, and is highly performant, creating machine images for multiple platforms in parallel. Packer comes out of the box with support for the following platforms:

  • Amazon EC2 (AMI). Both EBS-backed and instance-store AMIs
  • DigitalOcean
  • Docker
  • Google Compute Engine
  • OpenStack
  • Parallels
  • QEMU. Both KVM and Xen images.
  • VirtualBox
  • VMware

Support for other platforms can be added via plugins.

The images that Packer creates can easily be turned into Vagrant boxes.

Quick Start

Note: There is a great introduction and getting started guide for those with a bit more patience. Otherwise, the quick start below will get you up and running quickly, at the sacrifice of not explaining some key points.

First, download a pre-built Packer binary for your operating system or compile Packer yourself.

After Packer is installed, create your first template, which tells Packer what platforms to build images for and how you want to build them. In our case, we'll create a simple AMI that has Redis pre-installed. Save this file as quick-start.json. Be sure to replace any credentials with your own.

{
  "builders": [{
    "type": "amazon-ebs",
    "access_key": "YOUR KEY HERE",
    "secret_key": "YOUR SECRET KEY HERE",
    "region": "us-east-1",
    "source_ami": "ami-de0d9eb7",
    "instance_type": "t1.micro",
    "ssh_username": "ubuntu",
    "ami_name": "packer-example {{timestamp}}"
  }]
}

Next, tell Packer to build the image:

$ packer build quick-start.json
...

Packer will build an AMI according to the "quick-start" template. The AMI will be available in your AWS account. To delete the AMI, you must manually delete it using the AWS console. Packer builds your images, it does not manage their lifecycle. Where they go, how they're run, etc. is up to you.

Documentation

Full, comprehensive documentation is viewable on the Packer website:

http://www.packer.io/docs

Developing Packer

If you wish to work on Packer itself or any of its built-in providers, you'll first need Go installed (version 1.4+ is required). Make sure Go is properly installed, including setting up a GOPATH.

Next, install the following software packages, which are needed for some dependencies:

Then, install Gox, which is used as a compilation tool on top of Go:

$ go get -u github.com/mitchellh/gox

Next, clone this repository into $GOPATH/src/github.com/mitchellh/packer. Install the necessary dependencies by running make updatedeps and then just type make. This will compile some more dependencies and then run the tests. If this exits with exit status 0, then everything is working!

$ make updatedeps
...
$ make
...

To compile a development version of Packer and the built-in plugins, run make dev. This will put Packer binaries in the bin folder:

$ make dev
...
$ bin/packer
...

If you're developing a specific package, you can run tests for just that package by specifying the TEST variable. For example below, only packer package tests will be run.

$ make test TEST=./packer
...
Acceptance Tests

Packer has comprehensive acceptance tests covering the builders of Packer.

If you're working on a feature of a builder or a new builder and want verify it is functioning (and also hasn't broken anything else), we recommend running the acceptance tests.

Warning: The acceptance tests create/destroy/modify real resources, which may incur real costs in some cases. In the presence of a bug, it is technically possible that broken backends could leave dangling data behind. Therefore, please run the acceptance tests at your own risk. At the very least, we recommend running them in their own private account for whatever builder you're testing.

To run the acceptance tests, invoke make testacc:

$ make testacc TEST=./builder/amazon/ebs
...

The TEST variable is required, and you should specify the folder where the backend is. The TESTARGS variable is recommended to filter down to a specific resource to test, since testing all of them at once can sometimes take a very long time.

Acceptance tests typically require other environment variables to be set for things such as access keys. The test itself should error early and tell you what to set, so it is not documented here.

Documentation

Overview

This is the main package for the `packer` application.

Directories

Path Synopsis
builder
amazon/chroot
The chroot package is able to create an Amazon AMI without requiring the launch of a new instance for every build.
The chroot package is able to create an Amazon AMI without requiring the launch of a new instance for every build.
amazon/ebs
The amazonebs package contains a packer.Builder implementation that builds AMIs for Amazon EC2.
The amazonebs package contains a packer.Builder implementation that builds AMIs for Amazon EC2.
amazon/instance
The instance package contains a packer.Builder implementation that builds AMIs for Amazon EC2 backed by instance storage, as opposed to EBS storage.
The instance package contains a packer.Builder implementation that builds AMIs for Amazon EC2 backed by instance storage, as opposed to EBS storage.
googlecompute
The googlecompute package contains a packer.Builder implementation that builds images for Google Compute Engine.
The googlecompute package contains a packer.Builder implementation that builds images for Google Compute Engine.
vmware/common
These functions are compatible with WS 9 and 10 on *NIX These functions are compatible with WS 9 and 10 on *NIX
These functions are compatible with WS 9 and 10 on *NIX These functions are compatible with WS 9 and 10 on *NIX
ssh
communicator
ssh
helper
plugin
The plugin package provides the functionality to both expose a Packer plugin binary and to connect to an existing Packer plugin binary.
The plugin package provides the functionality to both expose a Packer plugin binary and to connect to an existing Packer plugin binary.
rpc
plugin
post-processor
vagrant
vagrant implements the packer.PostProcessor interface and adds a post-processor that turns artifacts of known builders into Vagrant boxes.
vagrant implements the packer.PostProcessor interface and adds a post-processor that turns artifacts of known builders into Vagrant boxes.
vagrant-cloud
vagrant_cloud implements the packer.PostProcessor interface and adds a post-processor that uploads artifacts from the vagrant post-processor to Vagrant Cloud (vagrantcloud.com) or manages self hosted boxes on the Vagrant Cloud
vagrant_cloud implements the packer.PostProcessor interface and adds a post-processor that uploads artifacts from the vagrant post-processor to Vagrant Cloud (vagrantcloud.com) or manages self hosted boxes on the Vagrant Cloud
provisioner
chef-client
This package implements a provisioner for Packer that uses Chef to provision the remote machine, specifically with chef-client (that is, with a Chef server).
This package implements a provisioner for Packer that uses Chef to provision the remote machine, specifically with chef-client (that is, with a Chef server).
chef-solo
This package implements a provisioner for Packer that uses Chef to provision the remote machine, specifically with chef-solo (that is, without a Chef server).
This package implements a provisioner for Packer that uses Chef to provision the remote machine, specifically with chef-solo (that is, without a Chef server).
powershell
This package implements a provisioner for Packer that executes shell scripts within the remote machine.
This package implements a provisioner for Packer that executes shell scripts within the remote machine.
puppet-masterless
This package implements a provisioner for Packer that executes Puppet on the remote machine, configured to apply a local manifest versus connecting to a Puppet master.
This package implements a provisioner for Packer that executes Puppet on the remote machine, configured to apply a local manifest versus connecting to a Puppet master.
puppet-server
This package implements a provisioner for Packer that executes Puppet on the remote machine connecting to a Puppet master.
This package implements a provisioner for Packer that executes Puppet on the remote machine connecting to a Puppet master.
salt-masterless
This package implements a provisioner for Packer that executes a saltstack highstate within the remote machine
This package implements a provisioner for Packer that executes a saltstack highstate within the remote machine
shell
This package implements a provisioner for Packer that executes shell scripts within the remote machine.
This package implements a provisioner for Packer that executes shell scripts within the remote machine.
windows-shell
This package implements a provisioner for Packer that executes shell scripts within the remote machine.
This package implements a provisioner for Packer that executes shell scripts within the remote machine.

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