HashiCorp Packer Installation Guide

Packer is an open-source tool by HashiCorp that enables you to create identical machine images for multiple platforms from a single source configuration. It automates the creation of any type of machine image.

Prerequisites

• A 64-bit operating system
• Minimum 1GB RAM
• Administrative/sudo privileges
• Internet connection for downloading packages
• Cloud provider credentials (if building cloud images)

Installation Instructions

# Add HashiCorp GPG key
wget -O- https://apt.releases.hashicorp.com/gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/hashicorp-archive-keyring.gpg
 
# Add HashiCorp repository
echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/hashicorp-archive-keyring.gpg] https://apt.releases.hashicorp.com $(lsb_release -cs) main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/hashicorp.list
 
# Update and install Packer
sudo apt update
sudo apt install packer

Verifying Installation

# Check Packer version
packer version
 
# View available commands
packer -help

Basic Configuration

1. Create a Basic Template

Create example.pkr.hcl:

packer {
  required_plugins {
    amazon = {
      version = ">= 1.0.0"
      source  = "github.com/hashicorp/amazon"
    }
  }
}
 
source "amazon-ebs" "ubuntu" {
  ami_name      = "learn-packer-linux-aws"
  instance_type = "t2.micro"
  region        = "us-west-2"
  source_ami_filter {
    filters = {
      name                = "ubuntu/images/*ubuntu-focal-20.04-amd64-server-*"
      root-device-type    = "ebs"
      virtualization-type = "hvm"
    }
    most_recent = true
    owners      = ["099720109477"]
  }
  ssh_username = "ubuntu"
}
 
build {
  sources = [
    "source.amazon-ebs.ubuntu"
  ]
}

2. Initialize Plugins

# Initialize Packer configuration
packer init .
 
# Format configuration files
packer fmt .

Building Images

1. Validate Configuration

# Validate template
packer validate .

2. Build Image

# Build image
packer build .
 
# Build with variables
packer build -var 'aws_access_key=YOUR_KEY' .

Environment Setup

1. Cloud Provider Authentication

# AWS credentials
export AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID="your_access_key"
export AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY="your_secret_key"
export AWS_DEFAULT_REGION="your_region"
 
# Azure credentials
export ARM_SUBSCRIPTION_ID="your_subscription_id"
export ARM_CLIENT_ID="your_client_id"
export ARM_CLIENT_SECRET="your_client_secret"
export ARM_TENANT_ID="your_tenant_id"

2. Logging Configuration

# Enable detailed logging
export PACKER_LOG=1
export PACKER_LOG_PATH="packer.log"

Best Practices

1. Template Organization

   • Use variables for reusable values
   • Implement modular configurations
   • Version control your templates

2. Security

   • Use environment variables for secrets
   • Implement minimal access permissions
   • Regularly update base images

3. Build Optimization

   • Use provisioner scripts efficiently
   • Implement parallel builds where possible
   • Clean up temporary files

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

1. Authentication Errors

   • Verify cloud credentials
   • Check environment variables
   • Validate IAM permissions

2. Build Failures

   # Debug mode
   packer build -debug .
    
   # On error
   export PACKER_LOG=1
   packer build .

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3. Network Issues

   • Check VPC/subnet configurations
   • Verify security group rules
   • Ensure internet connectivity

Error Resolution

1. Plugin Issues

   # Clean plugin cache
   rm -rf ~/.packer.d/plugins
   packer init -upgrade .

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2. SSH Problems

   • Verify SSH username
   • Check security group rules
   • Validate key pairs

Additional Resources

• Official Packer Documentation
• Packer GitHub Repository
• HashiCorp Learn - Packer
• Community Templates