vSphere ISO

Type: vsphere-iso

Artifact BuilderId: jetbrains.vsphere

This builder starts from a guest operating system ISO file and builds a virtual machine image on a vSphere cluster or an ESXi host using the vSphere API.

Examples

• Basic examples are available in the examples directory of the GitHub repository.

• Additional examples are available in the vmware-samples/packer-examples-for-vsphere GitHub repository maintained by VMware by Broadcom.

Configuration Reference

HTTP Configuration

Packer will create an http server serving http_directory when it is set, a random free port will be selected and the architecture of the directory referenced will be available in your builder.

Example usage from a builder:

wget http://{{ .HTTPIP }}:{{ .HTTPPort }}/foo/bar/preseed.cfg

Optional:

• http_directory (string) - Path to a directory to serve using an HTTP server. The files in this directory will be available over HTTP that will be requestable from the virtual machine. This is useful for hosting kickstart files and so on. By default this is an empty string, which means no HTTP server will be started. The address and port of the HTTP server will be available as variables in boot_command. This is covered in more detail below.

• http_content (map[string]string) - Key/Values to serve using an HTTP server. http_content works like and conflicts with http_directory. The keys represent the paths and the values contents, the keys must start with a slash, ex: /path/to/file. http_content is useful for hosting kickstart files and so on. By default this is empty, which means no HTTP server will be started. The address and port of the HTTP server will be available as variables in boot_command. This is covered in more detail below. Example:

    http_content = {
      "/a/b"     = file("http/b")
      "/foo/bar" = templatefile("${path.root}/preseed.cfg", { packages = ["nginx"] })
    }
  

• http_port_min (int) - These are the minimum and maximum port to use for the HTTP server started to serve the http_directory. Because Packer often runs in parallel, Packer will choose a randomly available port in this range to run the HTTP server. If you want to force the HTTP server to be on one port, make this minimum and maximum port the same. By default the values are 8000 and 9000, respectively.

• http_port_max (int) - HTTP Port Max

• http_bind_address (string) - This is the bind address for the HTTP server. Defaults to 0.0.0.0 so that it will work with any network interface.

• http_interface (string) - The network interface (for example, en0, ens192, etc.) that the HTTP server will use to serve the http_directory. The plugin will identify the IP address associated with this network interface and bind to it.

• http_ip (string) - The IP address to use for the HTTP server to serve the http_directory.

• The options http_bind_address and http_interface are mutually exclusive.
• Both http_bind_address and http_interface have higher priority than http_ip.
• The http_bind_address is matched against the IP addresses of the host's network interfaces. If no match is found, the plugin will terminate.
• Similarly, http_interface is compared with the host's network interfaces. If there's no corresponding network interface, the plugin will also terminate.
• If neither http_bind_address, http_interface, and http_ip are provided, the plugin will automatically find and use the IP address of the first non-loopback interface for http_ip.

Connection Configuration

Optional:

• vcenter_server (string) - The fully qualified domain name or IP address of the vCenter Server instance.

• username (string) - The username to authenticate with the vCenter Server instance.

• password (string) - The password to authenticate with the vCenter Server instance.

• insecure_connection (bool) - Do not validate the certificate of the vCenter Server instance. Defaults to false.

  Note: This option is beneficial in scenarios where the certificate is self-signed or does not meet standard validation criteria.

• datacenter (string) - The name of the datacenter object in the vSphere inventory.

  Note: Required if more than one datacenter object exists in the vSphere inventory.

Location Configuration

Optional:

• vm_name (string) - The name of the virtual machine.

• folder (string) - The virtual machine folder where the virtual machine is created.

• cluster (string) - The cluster where the virtual machine is created. Refer to the Working With Clusters And Hosts section for more details.

• host (string) - The ESXi host where the virtual machine is created. A full path must be specified if the ESXi host is in a folder. For example folder/host. Refer to the Working With Clusters And Hosts section for more details.

• resource_pool (string) - The resource pool where the virtual machine is created. If this is not specified, the root resource pool associated with the host or cluster is used.

  Note: The full path to the resource pool must be provided. For example, a simple resource pool path might resemble rp-packer and a nested path might resemble 'rp-packer/rp-linux-images'.

• datastore (string) - The datastore where the virtual machine is created. Required if host is a cluster, or if host has multiple datastores.

• set_host_for_datastore_uploads (bool) - The ESXI host used for uploading files to the datastore. Defaults to false.

• create_snapshot (bool) - Create a snapshot of the virtual machine to use as a base for linked clones. Defaults to false.

• snapshot_name (string) - The name of the snapshot when create_snapshot is true. Defaults to Created By Packer.

• convert_to_template (bool) - Convert the virtual machine to a template after the build is complete. Defaults to false. If set to true, the virtual machine can not be imported into a content library.

• export (*common.ExportConfig) - The configuration for exporting the virtual machine to an OVF. The virtual machine is not exported if export configuration is not specified.

• content_library_destination (*common.ContentLibraryDestinationConfig) - Import the virtual machine as a VM template or OVF template to a content library. The template will not be imported if no content library import configuration is specified. If set, convert_to_template must be set to false.

• local_cache_overwrite (bool) - Overwrite files in the local cache if they already exist. Defaults to false.

• remote_cache_cleanup (bool) - Cleanup items added to the remote cache after the build is complete. Defaults to false.

  Note: If the local cache overwrite flag is set to true, RemoteCacheOverwrite will implicitly be set to true. This is to ensure consistency between the local and remote cache.

• remote_cache_overwrite (bool) - Overwrite files in the remote cache if they already exist. Defaults to false.

• remote_cache_datastore (string) - The remote cache datastore to use for the build. If not set, the datastore of the virtual machine is used.

• remote_cache_path (string) - The directory path on the remote cache datastore to use for the build. If not set, the default path is packer_cache/.

Hardware Configuration

Optional:

• CPUs (int32) - The number of virtual CPUs cores for the virtual machine.

• cpu_cores (int32) - The number of virtual CPU cores per socket for the virtual machine.

• CPU_reservation (int64) - The CPU reservation in MHz.

• CPU_limit (int64) - The upper limit of available CPU resources in MHz.

• CPU_hot_plug (bool) - Enable CPU hot plug setting for virtual machine. Defaults to false

• RAM (int64) - The amount of memory for the virtual machine in MB.

• RAM_reservation (int64) - The guaranteed minimum allocation of memory for the virtual machine in MB.

• RAM_reserve_all (bool) - Reserve all allocated memory. Defaults to false.

  Note: May not be used together with RAM_reservation.

• RAM_hot_plug (bool) - Enable memory hot add setting for virtual machine. Defaults to false.

• video_ram (int64) - The amount of video memory in KB. Defaults to 4096 KB.

  Note: Refer to the vSphere documentation for supported maximums.

• displays (int32) - The number of video displays. Defaults to 1.

  `-> Note: Refer to the vSphere documentation for supported maximums.

• pci_passthrough_allowed_device ([]PCIPassthroughAllowedDevice) - Configure Dynamic DirectPath I/O PCI Passthrough for virtual machine. Refer to the vSphere documentation

• vgpu_profile (string) - vGPU profile for accelerated graphics. Refer to the NVIDIA GRID vGPU documentation for examples of profile names. Defaults to none.

• NestedHV (bool) - Enable nested hardware virtualization for the virtual machine. Defaults to false.

• firmware (string) - The firmware for the virtual machine.

  The available options for this setting are: 'bios', 'efi', and 'efi-secure'.

  Note: Use efi-secure for UEFI Secure Boot.

• force_bios_setup (bool) - Force entry into the BIOS setup screen during boot. Defaults to false.

• vTPM (bool) - Enable virtual trusted platform module (TPM) device for the virtual machine. Defaults to false.

• precision_clock (string) - The virtual precision clock device for the virtual machine. Defaults to none.

  The available options for this setting are: none, ntp, and ptp.

Create Configuration

Optional:

• vm_version (uint) - Specifies the virtual machine hardware version. Defaults to the most current virtual machine hardware version supported by the ESXi host. Refer to KB 315655 for more information on supported virtual hardware versions.

• guest_os_type (string) - The guest operating system identifier for the virtual machine. Defaults to otherGuest.

  To get a list of supported guest operating system identifiers for your ESXi host, run the following PowerShell command using VMware.PowerCLI:

  Connect-VIServer -Server "vcenter.example.com" -User "administrator@vsphere.local" -Password "password"
  $esxiHost = Get-VMHost -Name "esxi-01.example.com"
  $environmentBrowser = Get-View -Id $esxiHost.ExtensionData.Parent.ExtensionData.ConfigManager.EnvironmentBrowser
  $vmxVersion = ($environmentBrowser.QueryConfigOptionDescriptor() | Where-Object DefaultConfigOption).Key
  $osDescriptor = $environmentBrowser.QueryConfigOption($vmxVersion, $null).GuestOSDescriptor
  $osDescriptor | Select-Object Id, Fullname
  

• network_adapters ([]NIC) - The network adapters for the virtual machine.

  Note: If no network adapter is defined, all network-related operations are skipped.

• usb_controller ([]string) - The USB controllers for the virtual machine.

  The available options for this setting are: usb and xhci.

  • usb: USB 2.0
  • xhci: USB 3.0

  Note: A maximum of one of each controller type can be defined.

• notes (string) - The annotations for the virtual machine.

• destroy (bool) - Destroy the virtual machine after the build completes. Defaults to false.

ISO Configuration

By default, Packer will symlink, download or copy image files to the Packer cache into a "hash($iso_url+$iso_checksum).$iso_target_extension" file. Packer uses hashicorp/go-getter in file mode in order to perform a download.

go-getter supports the following protocols:

• Local files
• Git
• Mercurial
• HTTP
• Amazon S3

Examples: go-getter can guess the checksum type based on iso_checksum length, and it is also possible to specify the checksum type.

In JSON:

    "iso_checksum": "946a6077af6f5f95a51f82fdc44051c7aa19f9cfc5f737954845a6050543d7c2",
    "iso_url": "ubuntu.org/.../ubuntu-14.04.1-server-amd64.iso"

    "iso_checksum": "file:ubuntu.org/..../ubuntu-14.04.1-server-amd64.iso.sum",
    "iso_url": "ubuntu.org/.../ubuntu-14.04.1-server-amd64.iso"

    "iso_checksum": "file://./shasums.txt",
    "iso_url": "ubuntu.org/.../ubuntu-14.04.1-server-amd64.iso"

    "iso_checksum": "file:./shasums.txt",
    "iso_url": "ubuntu.org/.../ubuntu-14.04.1-server-amd64.iso"

In HCL2:

    iso_checksum = "946a6077af6f5f95a51f82fdc44051c7aa19f9cfc5f737954845a6050543d7c2"
    iso_url = "ubuntu.org/.../ubuntu-14.04.1-server-amd64.iso"

    iso_checksum = "file:ubuntu.org/..../ubuntu-14.04.1-server-amd64.iso.sum"
    iso_url = "ubuntu.org/.../ubuntu-14.04.1-server-amd64.iso"

    iso_checksum = "file://./shasums.txt"
    iso_url = "ubuntu.org/.../ubuntu-14.04.1-server-amd64.iso"

    iso_checksum = "file:./shasums.txt",
    iso_url = "ubuntu.org/.../ubuntu-14.04.1-server-amd64.iso"

Required:

• iso_checksum (string) - The checksum for the ISO file or virtual hard drive file. The type of the checksum is specified within the checksum field as a prefix, ex: "md5:{$checksum}". The type of the checksum can also be omitted and Packer will try to infer it based on string length. Valid values are "none", "{$checksum}", "md5:{$checksum}", "sha1:{$checksum}", "sha256:{$checksum}", "sha512:{$checksum}" or "file:{$path}". Here is a list of valid checksum values:

  • md5:090992ba9fd140077b0661cb75f7ce13
  • 090992ba9fd140077b0661cb75f7ce13
  • sha1:ebfb681885ddf1234c18094a45bbeafd91467911
  • ebfb681885ddf1234c18094a45bbeafd91467911
  • sha256:ed363350696a726b7932db864dda019bd2017365c9e299627830f06954643f93
  • ed363350696a726b7932db864dda019bd2017365c9e299627830f06954643f93
  • file:http://releases.ubuntu.com/20.04/SHA256SUMS
  • file:file://./local/path/file.sum
  • file:./local/path/file.sum
  • none Although the checksum will not be verified when it is set to "none", this is not recommended since these files can be very large and corruption does happen from time to time.

• iso_url (string) - A URL to the ISO containing the installation image or virtual hard drive (VHD or VHDX) file to clone.

Optional:

• iso_urls ([]string) - Multiple URLs for the ISO to download. Packer will try these in order. If anything goes wrong attempting to download or while downloading a single URL, it will move on to the next. All URLs must point to the same file (same checksum). By default this is empty and iso_url is used. Only one of iso_url or iso_urls can be specified.

• iso_target_path (string) - The path where the iso should be saved after download. By default will go in the packer cache, with a hash of the original filename and checksum as its name.

• iso_target_extension (string) - The extension of the iso file after download. This defaults to iso.

CD-ROM Configuration

For each ISO defined in the CD-ROM configuration, a CD-ROM device is added.

If the iso_url is defined in addition to the iso_paths, the iso_url is added to the virtual machine first. This keeps the iso_url first in the boot order by default, allowing the boot ISO to be defined by the iso_url and the VMware Tools ISO added from ESXi host.

HCL Example:

  iso_urls = [
    "windows-server.iso",
    "https://example.com/isos/windows-server.iso"
  ]

  iso_paths = [
    "[] /usr/lib/vmware/isoimages/windows.iso"
  ]

JSON Example:

  "iso_urls": [
    "windows-server.iso",
    "https://example.com/isos/windows-server.iso"
  ],
  "iso_paths": [
      "[] /usr/lib/vmware/isoimages/windows.iso"
  ],

An iso (CD) containing custom files can be made available for your build.

By default, no extra CD will be attached. All files listed in this setting get placed into the root directory of the CD and the CD is attached as the second CD device.

This config exists to work around modern operating systems that have no way to mount floppy disks, which was our previous go-to for adding files at boot time.

Optional:

• cd_files ([]string) - A list of files to place onto a CD that is attached when the VM is booted. This can include either files or directories; any directories will be copied onto the CD recursively, preserving directory structure hierarchy. Symlinks will have the link's target copied into the directory tree on the CD where the symlink was. File globbing is allowed.

  Usage example (JSON):

  "cd_files": ["./somedirectory/meta-data", "./somedirectory/user-data"],
  "cd_label": "cidata",
  

  Usage example (HCL):

  cd_files = ["./somedirectory/meta-data", "./somedirectory/user-data"]
  cd_label = "cidata"
  

  The above will create a CD with two files, user-data and meta-data in the CD root. This specific example is how you would create a CD that can be used for an Ubuntu 20.04 autoinstall.

  Since globbing is also supported,

  cd_files = ["./somedirectory/*"]
  cd_label = "cidata"
  

  Would also be an acceptable way to define the above cd. The difference between providing the directory with or without the glob is whether the directory itself or its contents will be at the CD root.

  Use of this option assumes that you have a command line tool installed that can handle the iso creation. Packer will use one of the following tools:

  • xorriso
  • mkisofs
  • hdiutil (normally found in macOS)
  • oscdimg (normally found in Windows as part of the Windows ADK)

• cd_content (map[string]string) - Key/Values to add to the CD. The keys represent the paths, and the values contents. It can be used alongside cd_files, which is useful to add large files without loading them into memory. If any paths are specified by both, the contents in cd_content will take precedence.

  Usage example (HCL):

  cd_files = ["vendor-data"]
  cd_content = {
    "meta-data" = jsonencode(local.instance_data)
    "user-data" = templatefile("user-data", { packages = ["nginx"] })
  }
  cd_label = "cidata"
  

• cd_label (string) - CD Label

• cdrom_type (string) - The type of controller to use for the CD-ROM device. Defaults to ide.

  The available options for this setting are: ide and sata.

• iso_paths ([]string) - A list of paths to ISO files in either a datastore or a content library that will be attached to the virtual machine.

  HCL Example:

  iso_paths = [
    "[nfs] iso/ubuntu-server-amd64.iso",
    "Example Content Library/ubuntu-server-amd64/ubuntu-server-amd64.iso"
  ]
  

  JSON Example:

  "iso_paths": [
    "[nfs] iso/ubuntu-server-amd64.iso",
    "Example Content Library/ubuntu-server-amd64/ubuntu-server-amd64.iso"
  ]
  

  Two ISOs are referenced:

  1. An ISO in the "iso" folder of the "nfs" datastore with the file name of "ubuntu-server-amd64.iso". "ubuntu-server-amd64.iso".
  2. An ISO in the "Example Content Library" content library with the item name of "ubuntu-server-amd64".

  Note: All files in a content library have an associated item name. To determine the file name, view the datastore backing the content library or use the govc vSphere CLI.

• remove_cdrom (bool) - Remove all CD-ROM devices from the virtual machine when the build is complete. Defaults to false.

• reattach_cdroms (int) - The number of CD-ROM devices to reattach to the final build artifact. Range: 0 - 4. Defaults to 0.

  Note: If set to 0, the step is skipped. When set to a value in the range, remove_cdrom is ignored and the CD-ROM devices are kept without any attached media.

Floppy Configuration

Optional:

• floppy_img_path (string) - Datastore path to a floppy image that will be mounted to the virtual machine. Example: [datastore] iso/foo.flp.

• floppy_files ([]string) - A list of local files to be mounted to the virtual machine's floppy drive.

• floppy_dirs ([]string) - A list of directories to copy files from.

• floppy_content (map[string]string) - Key/Values to add to the floppy disk. The keys represent the paths, and the values contents. It can be used alongside floppy_files or floppy_dirs, which is useful to add large files without loading them into memory. If any paths are specified by both, the contents in floppy_content will take precedence.

  HCL Example:

  floppy_content = {
    "meta-data" = jsonencode(local.instance_data)
    "user-data" = templatefile("user-data", { packages = ["nginx"] })
  }
  

• floppy_label (string) - The label to use for the floppy disk that is attached when the virtual machine is booted. This is most useful for cloud-init, Kickstart or other early initialization tools, which can benefit from labelled floppy disks. By default, the floppy label will be 'packer'.

Network Adapter Configuration

If no adapter is defined, network tasks (communicators, most provisioners) will not work, so it's advised to define one.

Example configuration with two network adapters:

HCL Example:

    network_adapters {
        network = "VM Network"
        network_card = "vmxnet3"
    }
    network_adapters {
        network = "OtherNetwork"
        network_card = "vmxnet3"
    }

JSON Example:

    "network_adapters": [
      {
        "network": "VM Network",
        "network_card": "vmxnet3"
      },
      {
        "network": "OtherNetwork",
        "network_card": "vmxnet3"
      }
    ],

Required:

• network_card (string) - The virtual machine network card type. For example vmxnet3.

Optional:

• network (string) - The network to which the virtual machine will connect.

  For example:

  • Name: <NetworkName>
  • Inventory Path: /<DatacenterName>/<FolderName>/<NetworkName>
  • Managed Object ID (Port Group): Network:network-<xxxxx>
  • Managed Object ID (Distributed Port Group): DistributedVirtualPortgroup::dvportgroup-<xxxxx>
  • Logical Switch UUID: <uuid>
  • Segment ID: /infra/segments/<SegmentID>

  Note: If more than one network resolves to the same name, either the inventory path to network or an ID must be provided.

  Note: If no network is specified, provide host to allow the plugin to search for an available network.

• mac_address (string) - The network card MAC address. For example 00:50:56:00:00:00.

• passthrough (*bool) - Enable DirectPath I/O passthrough for the network device. Defaults to false.

• remove_network_adapter (bool) - Remove all network adapters from template. Defaults to false.

Storage Configuration

The following example that will create a 15GB and a 20GB disk on the virtual machine. The second disk will be thin provisioned:

HCL Example:

    storage {
        disk_size = 15000
    }
    storage {
        disk_size = 20000
        disk_thin_provisioned = true
    }

JSON Example:

    "storage": [
      {
        "disk_size": 15000
      },
      {
        "disk_size": 20000,
        "disk_thin_provisioned": true
      }
    ],

The following example will use two PVSCSI controllers and two disks on each controller.

HCL Example:

     disk_controller_type = ["pvscsi", "pvscsi"]
        storage {
           disk_size = 15000,
           disk_controller_index = 0
        }
        storage {
           disk_size = 15000
           disk_controller_index = 0
        }
        storage {
           disk_size = 15000
           disk_controller_index = 1
        }
        storage {
           disk_size = 15000
           disk_controller_index = 1
        }

JSON Example:

    "disk_controller_type": ["pvscsi", "pvscsi"],
    "storage": [
      {
        "disk_size": 15000,
        "disk_controller_index": 0
      },
      {
        "disk_size": 15000,
        "disk_controller_index": 0
      },
      {
        "disk_size": 15000,
        "disk_controller_index": 1
      },
      {
        "disk_size": 15000,
        "disk_controller_index": 1
      }
    ],

Required:

• disk_size (int64) - The size of the disk in MiB.

Optional:

• disk_thin_provisioned (bool) - Enable thin provisioning for the disk. Defaults to false.

• disk_eagerly_scrub (bool) - Enable eager scrubbing for the disk. Defaults to false.

• disk_controller_index (int) - The assigned disk controller for the disk. Defaults to the first controller, (0).

• disk_controller_type ([]string) - The disk controller type. One of lsilogic, lsilogic-sas, pvscsi, nvme, scsi, or sata. Defaults to lsilogic. Use a list to define additional controllers. Refer to SCSI, SATA, and NVMe Storage Controller Conditions, Limitations, and Compatibility for additional information.

• storage ([]DiskConfig) - A collection of one or more disks to be provisioned. Refer to the Storage Configuration section for additional information.

Flag Configuration

Optional:

• vbs_enabled (bool) - Enable Virtualization Based Security option for virtual machine. Defaults to false. Requires vvtd_enabled and NestedHV to be set to true. Requires firmware to be set to efi-secure.

• vvtd_enabled (bool) - Enable IO/MMU option for virtual machine. Defaults to false.

Boot Configuration

The boot configuration is very important: boot_command specifies the keys to type when the virtual machine is first booted in order to start the OS installer. This command is typed after boot_wait, which gives the virtual machine some time to actually load.

The boot_command is an array of strings. The strings are all typed in sequence. It is an array only to improve readability within the template.

There are a set of special keys available. If these are in your boot command, they will be replaced by the proper key:

• <bs> - Backspace

• <del> - Delete

• <enter> <return> - Simulates an actual "enter" or "return" keypress.

• <esc> - Simulates pressing the escape key.

• <tab> - Simulates pressing the tab key.

• <f1> - <f12> - Simulates pressing a function key.

• <up> <down> <left> <right> - Simulates pressing an arrow key.

• <spacebar> - Simulates pressing the spacebar.

• <insert> - Simulates pressing the insert key.

• <home> <end> - Simulates pressing the home and end keys.

• <pageUp> <pageDown> - Simulates pressing the page up and page down keys.

• <menu> - Simulates pressing the Menu key.

• <leftAlt> <rightAlt> - Simulates pressing the alt key.

• <leftCtrl> <rightCtrl> - Simulates pressing the ctrl key.

• <leftShift> <rightShift> - Simulates pressing the shift key.

• <leftSuper> <rightSuper> - Simulates pressing the ⌘ or Windows key.

• <wait> <wait5> <wait10> - Adds a 1, 5 or 10 second pause before sending any additional keys. This is useful if you have to generally wait for the UI to update before typing more.

• <waitXX> - Add an arbitrary pause before sending any additional keys. The format of XX is a sequence of positive decimal numbers, each with optional fraction and a unit suffix, such as 300ms, 1.5h or 2h45m. Valid time units are ns, us (or µs), ms, s, m, h. For example <wait10m> or <wait1m20s>.

• <XXXOn> <XXXOff> - Any printable keyboard character, and of these "special" expressions, with the exception of the <wait> types, can also be toggled on or off. For example, to simulate ctrl+c, use <leftCtrlOn>c<leftCtrlOff>. Be sure to release them, otherwise they will be held down until the machine reboots. To hold the c key down, you would use <cOn>. Likewise, <cOff> to release.

• {{ .HTTPIP }} {{ .HTTPPort }} - The IP and port, respectively of an HTTP server that is started serving the directory specified by the http_directory configuration parameter. If http_directory isn't specified, these will be blank!

• {{ .Name }} - The name of the VM.

Example boot command. This is actually a working boot command used to start an CentOS 6.4 installer:

In JSON:

"boot_command": [

       "<tab><wait>",
       " ks=http://{{ .HTTPIP }}:{{ .HTTPPort }}/centos6-ks.cfg<enter>"
    ]

In HCL2:

boot_command = [

       "<tab><wait>",
       " ks=http://{{ .HTTPIP }}:{{ .HTTPPort }}/centos6-ks.cfg<enter>"
    ]

The example shown below is a working boot command used to start an Ubuntu 12.04 installer:

In JSON:

"boot_command": [

    "<esc><esc><enter><wait>",
    "/install/vmlinuz noapic ",
    "preseed/url=http://{{ .HTTPIP }}:{{ .HTTPPort }}/preseed.cfg ",
    "debian-installer=en_US auto locale=en_US kbd-chooser/method=us ",
    "hostname={{ .Name }} ",
    "fb=false debconf/frontend=noninteractive ",
    "keyboard-configuration/modelcode=SKIP keyboard-configuration/layout=USA ",
    "keyboard-configuration/variant=USA console-setup/ask_detect=false ",
    "initrd=/install/initrd.gz -- <enter>"

]

In HCL2:

boot_command = [

    "<esc><esc><enter><wait>",
    "/install/vmlinuz noapic ",
    "preseed/url=http://{{ .HTTPIP }}:{{ .HTTPPort }}/preseed.cfg ",
    "debian-installer=en_US auto locale=en_US kbd-chooser/method=us ",
    "hostname={{ .Name }} ",
    "fb=false debconf/frontend=noninteractive ",
    "keyboard-configuration/modelcode=SKIP keyboard-configuration/layout=USA ",
    "keyboard-configuration/variant=USA console-setup/ask_detect=false ",
    "initrd=/install/initrd.gz -- <enter>"

]

For more examples of various boot commands, see the sample projects from our community templates page.

Packer sends each character to the virtual machine with a default delay of 100ms between groups. The delay alleviates possible issues with latency and CPU contention. If you notice missing keys, you can tune this delay by specifying boot_keygroup_interval in your template.

HCL Example:

source "vsphere-iso" "example" {
    boot_keygroup_interval = "500ms"
    # ...
}

JSON Example:

{
  "builders": [
    {
      "type": "vsphere-iso",
      "boot_keygroup_interval": "500ms"
    }
  ]
}

Optional:

• boot_order (string) - The priority of boot devices. Defaults to disk,cdrom.

  The available boot devices are: floppy, cdrom, ethernet, and disk.

  Note: If not set, the boot order is temporarily set to disk,cdrom for the duration of the build and then cleared upon build completion.

• boot_keygroup_interval (duration string | ex: "1h5m2s") - Time to wait after sending a group of key pressses. The value of this should be a duration. Examples are 5s and 1m30s which will cause Packer to wait five seconds and one minute 30 seconds, respectively. If this isn't specified, a sensible default value is picked depending on the builder type.

• boot_wait (duration string | ex: "1h5m2s") - The time to wait after booting the initial virtual machine before typing the boot_command. The value of this should be a duration. Examples are 5s and 1m30s which will cause Packer to wait five seconds and one minute 30 seconds, respectively. If this isn't specified, the default is 10s or 10 seconds. To set boot_wait to 0s, use a negative number, such as "-1s"

• boot_command ([]string) - This is an array of commands to type when the virtual machine is first booted. The goal of these commands should be to type just enough to initialize the operating system installer. Special keys can be typed as well, and are covered in the section below on the boot command. If this is not specified, it is assumed the installer will start itself.

Wait Configuration

Optional:

• ip_wait_timeout (duration string | ex: "1h5m2s") - Amount of time to wait for VM's IP, similar to 'ssh_timeout'. Defaults to 30m (30 minutes). See the Golang ParseDuration documentation for full details.

• ip_settle_timeout (duration string | ex: "1h5m2s") - Amount of time to wait for VM's IP to settle down, sometimes VM may report incorrect IP initially, then its recommended to set that parameter to apx. 2 minutes. Examples 45s and 10m. Defaults to 5s(5 seconds). Refer to the Golang ParseDuration documentation for full details.

• ip_wait_address (*string) - Set this to a CIDR address to cause the service to wait for an address that is contained in this network range. Defaults to "0.0.0.0/0" for any ipv4 address. Examples include:

  • empty string ("") - remove all filters
  • 0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0/0 - allow only ipv6 addresses
  • 192.168.1.0/24 - only allow ipv4 addresses from 192.168.1.1 to 192.168.1.254

Export Configuration

You can export an image in Open Virtualization Format (OVF) to the Packer host.

HCL Example:

    # ...
    vm_name = "example-ubuntu"
    # ...
    export {
      force = true
      output_directory = "./output-artifacts"
    }

JSON Example:

...

    "vm_name": "example-ubuntu",

...

    "export": {
      "force": true,
      "output_directory": "./output-artifacts"
    },

The above configuration would create the following files:

./output-artifacts/example-ubuntu-disk-0.vmdk
./output-artifacts/example-ubuntu.mf
./output-artifacts/example-ubuntu.ovf

Optional:

• name (string) - The name of the exported image in Open Virtualization Format (OVF).

  Note: The name of the virtual machine with the .ovf extension is used if this option is not specified.

• force (bool) - Forces the export to overwrite existing files. Defaults to false. If set to false, an error is returned if the file(s) already exists.

• image_files (bool) - Include additional image files that are that are associated with the virtual machine. Defaults to false. For example, .nvram and .log files.

• manifest (string) - The hash algorithm to use when generating a manifest file. Defaults to sha256.

  The available options for this setting are: 'none', 'sha1', 'sha256', and 'sha512'.

  --> Tip: Use none to disable the creation of a manifest file.

• options ([]string) - Advanced image export options. Available options include:

  • mac - MAC address is exported for each Ethernet device.
  • uuid - UUID is exported for the virtual machine.
  • extraconfig - Extra configuration options are exported for the virtual machine.
  • nodevicesubtypes - Resource subtypes for CD/DVD drives, floppy drives, and SCSI controllers are not exported.

  For example, adding the following export configuration option outputs the MAC addresses for each Ethernet device in the OVF descriptor:

  HCL Example:

  ...
    export {
      options = ["mac"]
    }
  

  JSON: Example:

  ...
    "export": {
      "options": ["mac"]
    },
  

• output_format (string) - The output format for the exported virtual machine image. Defaults to ovf. Available options include ovf and ova.

  When set to ova, the image is first exported using Open Virtualization Format (.ovf) and then converted to an Open Virtualization Archive (.ova) using the VMware Open Virtualization Format Tool (ovftool). The intermediate files are removed after the conversion.

  Note: To use the ova format option, VMware ovftool must be installed on the Packer host and accessible in either the system PATH or the user's PATH.

Output Configuration

Optional:

• output_directory (string) - The directory where artifacts from the build, such as the virtual machine files and disks, will be output to. The path to the directory may be relative or absolute. If relative, the path is relative to the working directory Packer is run from. This directory must not exist or, if created, must be empty prior to running the builder. By default this is "output-" where "buildName" is the name of the build.

• directory_permission (os.FileMode) - The permissions to apply to the "output_directory", and to any parent directories that get created for output_directory. By default this is "0750". You should express the permission as quoted string with a leading zero such as "0755" in JSON file, because JSON does not support octal value. In Unix-like OS, the actual permission may differ from this value because of umask.

Content Library Configuration

Create a content library item in a content library whose content is a VM template or an OVF template created from the virtual machine image after the build is complete.

The template is stored in a existing or newly created library item.

Optional:

• library (string) - The name of the content library in which the new content library item containing the template will be created or updated. The content library must be of type Local to allow deploying virtual machines.

• name (string) - The name of the content library item that will be created or updated. For VM templates, the name of the item should be different from vm_name and the default is vm_name + timestamp when not set. VM templates will be always imported to a new library item. For OVF templates, the name defaults to vm_name when not set, and if an item with the same name already exists it will be then updated with the new OVF template, otherwise a new item will be created.

  Note: It's not possible to update existing content library items with a new VM template. If updating an existing content library item is necessary, use an OVF template instead by setting the ovf option as true.

• description (string) - A description for the content library item that will be created. Defaults to "Packer imported vm_name VM template".

• cluster (string) - The cluster where the VM template will be placed. If cluster and resource_pool are both specified, resource_pool must belong to cluster. If cluster and host are both specified, the ESXi host must be a member of the cluster. This option is not used when importing OVF templates. Defaults to cluster.

• folder (string) - The virtual machine folder where the VM template will be placed. This option is not used when importing OVF templates. Defaults to the same folder as the source virtual machine.

• host (string) - The ESXi host where the virtual machine template will be placed. If host and resource_pool are both specified, resource_pool must belong to host. If host and cluster are both specified, host must be a member of the cluster. This option is not used when importing OVF templates. Defaults to host.

• resource_pool (string) - The resource pool where the virtual machine template will be placed. Defaults to resource_pool. If resource_pool is unset, the system will attempt to choose a suitable resource pool for the VM template.

• datastore (string) - The datastore for the virtual machine template's configuration and log files. This option is not used when importing OVF templates. Defaults to the storage backing associated with the content library.

• destroy (bool) - Destroy the virtual machine after the import to the content library. Defaults to false.

• ovf (bool) - Import an OVF template to the content library item. Defaults to false.

• skip_import (bool) - Skip the import to the content library item. Useful during a build test stage. Defaults to false.

• ovf_flags ([]string) - Flags to use for OVF package creation. The supported flags can be obtained using ExportFlag.list. If unset, no flags will be used. Known values: EXTRA_CONFIG, PRESERVE_MAC.

VM Template

HCL Example:

    content_library_destination {
            library = "Example Content Library"
    }

JSON Example:

    "content_library_destination" : {
        "library": "Example Content Library"
    }

OVF Template

HCL Example:

    content_library_destination {
            library = "Example Content Library"
            ovf = true
    }

JSON Example:

    "content_library_destination" : {
        "library": "Example Content Library",
        "ovf": true
    }

Extra Configuration

Optional:

• configuration_parameters (map[string]string) - A map of key-value pairs to sent to the extraConfig. in the vSphere API's VirtualMachineConfigSpec.

  HCL Example:

    configuration_parameters = {
      "disk.EnableUUID" = "TRUE"
      "svga.autodetect" = "TRUE"
      "log.keepOld"     = "15"
    }
  

  JSON Example:

    "configuration_parameters": {
      "disk.EnableUUID": "TRUE",
      "svga.autodetect": "TRUE",
      "log.keepOld": "15"
    }
  

  Note: Configuration keys that would conflict with parameters that are explicitly configurable through other fields in the ConfigSpec`` object are silently ignored. Refer to the [VirtualMachineConfigSpec`](https://dp-downloads.broadcom.com/api-content/apis/API_VWSA_001/8.0U3/html/ReferenceGuides/vim.vm.ConfigSpec.html) in the vSphere API documentation.

• tools_sync_time (bool) - Enable time synchronization with the ESXi host where the virtual machine is running. Defaults to false.

• tools_upgrade_policy (bool) - Automatically check for and upgrade VMware Tools after a virtual machine power cycle. Defaults to false.

Communicator Configuration

Optional:

Common

• communicator (string) - Packer currently supports three kinds of communicators:

  • none - No communicator will be used. If this is set, most provisioners also can't be used.

  • ssh - An SSH connection will be established to the machine. This is usually the default.

  • winrm - A WinRM connection will be established.

  In addition to the above, some builders have custom communicators they can use. For example, the Docker builder has a "docker" communicator that uses docker exec and docker cp to execute scripts and copy files.

• pause_before_connecting (duration string | ex: "1h5m2s") - We recommend that you enable SSH or WinRM as the very last step in your guest's bootstrap script, but sometimes you may have a race condition where you need Packer to wait before attempting to connect to your guest.

  If you end up in this situation, you can use the template option pause_before_connecting. By default, there is no pause. For example if you set pause_before_connecting to 10m Packer will check whether it can connect, as normal. But once a connection attempt is successful, it will disconnect and then wait 10 minutes before connecting to the guest and beginning provisioning.

SSH

• ssh_host (string) - The address to SSH to. This usually is automatically configured by the builder.

• ssh_port (int) - The port to connect to SSH. This defaults to 22.

• ssh_username (string) - The username to connect to SSH with. Required if using SSH.

• ssh_password (string) - A plaintext password to use to authenticate with SSH.

• ssh_ciphers ([]string) - This overrides the value of ciphers supported by default by Golang. The default value is [ "aes128-gcm@openssh.com", "chacha20-poly1305@openssh.com", "aes128-ctr", "aes192-ctr", "aes256-ctr", ]

  Valid options for ciphers include: "aes128-ctr", "aes192-ctr", "aes256-ctr", "aes128-gcm@openssh.com", "chacha20-poly1305@openssh.com", "arcfour256", "arcfour128", "arcfour", "aes128-cbc", "3des-cbc",

• ssh_clear_authorized_keys (bool) - If true, Packer will attempt to remove its temporary key from ~/.ssh/authorized_keys and /root/.ssh/authorized_keys. This is a mostly cosmetic option, since Packer will delete the temporary private key from the host system regardless of whether this is set to true (unless the user has set the -debug flag). Defaults to "false"; currently only works on guests with sed installed.

• ssh_key_exchange_algorithms ([]string) - If set, Packer will override the value of key exchange (kex) algorithms supported by default by Golang. Acceptable values include: "curve25519-sha256@libssh.org", "ecdh-sha2-nistp256", "ecdh-sha2-nistp384", "ecdh-sha2-nistp521", "diffie-hellman-group14-sha1", and "diffie-hellman-group1-sha1".

• ssh_certificate_file (string) - Path to user certificate used to authenticate with SSH. The ~ can be used in path and will be expanded to the home directory of current user.

• ssh_pty (bool) - If true, a PTY will be requested for the SSH connection. This defaults to false.

• ssh_timeout (duration string | ex: "1h5m2s") - The time to wait for SSH to become available. Packer uses this to determine when the machine has booted so this is usually quite long. Example value: 10m. This defaults to 5m, unless ssh_handshake_attempts is set.

• ssh_disable_agent_forwarding (bool) - If true, SSH agent forwarding will be disabled. Defaults to false.

• ssh_handshake_attempts (int) - The number of handshakes to attempt with SSH once it can connect. This defaults to 10, unless a ssh_timeout is set.

• ssh_bastion_host (string) - A bastion host to use for the actual SSH connection.

• ssh_bastion_port (int) - The port of the bastion host. Defaults to 22.

• ssh_bastion_agent_auth (bool) - If true, the local SSH agent will be used to authenticate with the bastion host. Defaults to false.

• ssh_bastion_username (string) - The username to connect to the bastion host.

• ssh_bastion_password (string) - The password to use to authenticate with the bastion host.

• ssh_bastion_interactive (bool) - If true, the keyboard-interactive used to authenticate with bastion host.

• ssh_bastion_private_key_file (string) - Path to a PEM encoded private key file to use to authenticate with the bastion host. The ~ can be used in path and will be expanded to the home directory of current user.

• ssh_bastion_certificate_file (string) - Path to user certificate used to authenticate with bastion host. The ~ can be used in path and will be expanded to the home directory of current user.

• ssh_file_transfer_method (string) - scp or sftp - How to transfer files, Secure copy (default) or SSH File Transfer Protocol.

  NOTE: Guests using Windows with Win32-OpenSSH v9.1.0.0p1-Beta, scp (the default protocol for copying data) returns a a non-zero error code since the MOTW cannot be set, which cause any file transfer to fail. As a workaround you can override the transfer protocol with SFTP instead ssh_file_transfer_method = "sftp".

• ssh_proxy_host (string) - A SOCKS proxy host to use for SSH connection

• ssh_proxy_port (int) - A port of the SOCKS proxy. Defaults to 1080.

• ssh_proxy_username (string) - The optional username to authenticate with the proxy server.

• ssh_proxy_password (string) - The optional password to use to authenticate with the proxy server.

• ssh_keep_alive_interval (duration string | ex: "1h5m2s") - How often to send "keep alive" messages to the server. Set to a negative value (-1s) to disable. Example value: 10s. Defaults to 5s.

• ssh_read_write_timeout (duration string | ex: "1h5m2s") - The amount of time to wait for a remote command to end. This might be useful if, for example, packer hangs on a connection after a reboot. Example: 5m. Disabled by default.

• ssh_remote_tunnels ([]string) -

• ssh_local_tunnels ([]string) -

• ssh_private_key_file (string) - Path to a PEM encoded private key file to use to authenticate with SSH. The ~ can be used in path and will be expanded to the home directory of current user.

Windows Remote Management (WinRM)

• winrm_username (string) - The username to use to connect to WinRM.

• winrm_password (string) - The password to use to connect to WinRM.

• winrm_host (string) - The address for WinRM to connect to.

  NOTE: If using an Amazon EBS builder, you can specify the interface WinRM connects to via ssh_interface

• winrm_no_proxy (bool) - Setting this to true adds the remote host:port to the NO_PROXY environment variable. This has the effect of bypassing any configured proxies when connecting to the remote host. Default to false.

• winrm_port (int) - The WinRM port to connect to. This defaults to 5985 for plain unencrypted connection and 5986 for SSL when winrm_use_ssl is set to true.

• winrm_timeout (duration string | ex: "1h5m2s") - The amount of time to wait for WinRM to become available. This defaults to 30m since setting up a Windows machine generally takes a long time.

• winrm_use_ssl (bool) - If true, use HTTPS for WinRM.

• winrm_insecure (bool) - If true, do not check server certificate chain and host name.

• winrm_use_ntlm (bool) - If true, NTLMv2 authentication (with session security) will be used for WinRM, rather than default (basic authentication), removing the requirement for basic authentication to be enabled within the target guest. Further reading for remote connection authentication can be found here.

Working with Clusters and Hosts

Standalone ESXi Hosts

Only use the host option. Optionally, specify a resource_pool:

HCL Example:

  host = ""esxi-01.example.com""
  resource_pool = "example_resource_pool"

JSON Example:

  "host": "esxi-01.example.com",
  "resource_pool": "example_resource_pool",

Clusters with Distributed Resource Scheduler Enabled

Only use the cluster option. Optionally, specify a resource_pool:

HCL Example:

  cluster = "cluster-01"
  resource_pool = "example_resource_pool"

JSON Example:

  "cluster": "cluster-01",
  "resource_pool": "example_resource_pool",

Clusters without Distributed Resource Scheduler Enabled

Use the cluster and hostparameters:

HCL Example:

  cluster = "cluster-01"
  host = "esxi-01.example.com"

JSON Example:

  "cluster": "cluster-01",
  "host": "esxi-01.example.com",

Privileges

It is recommended to create a custom vSphere role with the required privileges to integrate Packer with vSphere. Accounts or groups can be added to the role to ensure that Packer has least privilege access to the infrastructure.

For example, a named service account (e.g. svc-packer-vsphere@example.com).

Clone the default Read-Only vSphere role and add the following privileges, which are based on the capabilities of the vsphere-iso plugin:

Global permissions are required for the content library based on the hierarchical inheritance of permissions. Once the custom vSphere role is created, assign Global Permissions in vSphere to the accounts or groups used for the Packer to vSphere integration, if using the content library.

For example:

1. Log in to the vCenter Server at https://<management_vcenter_server_fqdn>/ui as administrator@vsphere.local.
2. Select Menu > Administration.
3. In the left pane, select Access control > Global permissions and click the Add permissions icon.
4. In the Add permissions dialog box, enter the service account (e.g.svc-packer-vsphere@example.com), select the custom role (e.g. Packer to vSphere Integration Role) and the Propagate to children check box, and click OK.

In an environment with many vCenter Server instances, such as management and workload, in enhanced linked-mode, you may wish to further reduce the scope of access across the vSphere infrastructure if you do not want Packer to have access to the management vCenter Server instance, but only allow access to workload vCenter Server instances.

For example:

1. From the Hosts and clusters inventory, select management vCenter Server to restrict scope, and click the Permissions tab.
2. Select the service account with the custom role assigned and click the Change role icon.
3. In the Change role dialog box, from the Role drop-down menu, select No Access, select the Propagate to children check box, and click OK.