What is this?
Packer is a tool for creating identical machine images for multiple platforms from a single source configuration. It is lightweight, runs on every major OS, and builds images for multiple platforms in parallel.
Packer is a tool for creating identical machine images for multiple platforms from a single source configuration. It is lightweight, runs on every major OS, and builds images for multiple platforms in parallel.Is this a CLI tool or something else?It's a command-line tool with a plugin architecture: Packer itself provides the core engine, and platform-specific builders (AWS, Docker, etc.) are added via external plugins.
It's a command-line tool with a plugin architecture: Packer itself provides the core engine, and platform-specific builders (AWS, Docker, etc.) are added via external plugins.How do I get it running?Follow the getting started guide for building a Docker image locally without any paid cloud resources, or the AWS getting started guide to build an image on an external cloud provider.
Follow the getting started guide for building a Docker image locally without any paid cloud resources, or the AWS getting started guide to build an image on an external cloud provider.Do I need cloud accounts or specific plugins to build images?It depends on the target platform: building a Docker image needs only a local Docker install, while building for AWS or other clouds requires credentials for that provider's plugin.
It depends on the target platform: building a Docker image needs only a local Docker install, while building for AWS or other clouds requires credentials for that provider's plugin.Are all the platform plugins actively maintained?Some community-maintained plugins can become unmaintained over time; HashiCorp archives their repos to signal this, though the code, docs, and issue tracking remain available.
Some community-maintained plugins can become unmaintained over time; HashiCorp archives their repos to signal this, though the code, docs, and issue tracking remain available.Who typically uses Packer?DevOps and infrastructure engineers who need to produce consistent machine images (VM images, containers, cloud AMIs) from one configuration for use across different platforms.
DevOps and infrastructure engineers who need to produce consistent machine images (VM images, containers, cloud AMIs) from one configuration for use across different platforms.Does it run on Windows and macOS too, or just Linux?Packer runs on every major operating system, not just Linux.
Packer runs on every major operating system, not just Linux.Can I turn Packer images into Vagrant boxes?Yes, images Packer creates can easily be turned into Vagrant boxes.
Yes, images Packer creates can easily be turned into Vagrant boxes.What is HCP Packer?HCP Packer is a registry that stores Packer image metadata so you can track your image lifecycle, for example building an AWS image and referencing it later in Terraform.
HCP Packer is a registry that stores Packer image metadata so you can track your image lifecycle, for example building an AWS image and referencing it later in Terraform.Where do I find full Packer documentation?Comprehensive documentation is on the Packer website, though docs content has moved to the hashicorp/web-unified-docs repository for contributions.
Comprehensive documentation is on the Packer website, though docs content has moved to the hashicorp/web-unified-docs repository for contributions.What if I want to maintain an archived community plugin?You can reach out to HashiCorp at [email protected] if you're interested in taking over an unmaintained or archived plugin.
You can reach out to HashiCorp at [email protected] if you're interested in taking over an unmaintained or archived plugin.What are similar projects?encore, opentofu, terraform, kamal, salt, terraformer, terraform-provider-aws, yq
encore, opentofu, terraform, kamal, salt, terraformer, terraform-provider-aws, yqWhich topics is it in?builder, devops-tools, terraform, infrastructure-as-code, image, infrastructure, plugin-system, sysadmin, cli-tool, cloud, devops, plugin
builder, devops-tools, terraform, infrastructure-as-code, image, infrastructure, plugin-system, sysadmin, cli-tool, cloud, devops, plugin