DevTools

Packer CLI

HashiCorp Packer commands for machine image building.

27 commands

Windows MacOS Linux

#image-building #automation

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Build Management

Build image from HCL template

packer build template.pkr.hcl

packer build -var 'region=us-east-1' template.pkr.hcl # Build with variable override

packer build -var-file=vars.pkrvars.hcl template.pkr.hcl # Build with variable file

packer build -only='amazon-ebs.ubuntu' template.pkr.hcl # Build only specific source

packer build -except='docker.test' template.pkr.hcl # Build all except specific source

packer build -parallel-builds=1 template.pkr.hcl # Limit parallel builds

packer build -on-error=ask template.pkr.hcl # Prompt on error for debugging

Validation

Validate template syntax

packer validate template.pkr.hcl

packer validate -var 'region=us-east-1' template.pkr.hcl # Validate with variables

Format template to canonical style

packer fmt template.pkr.hcl

Check if template needs formatting

packer fmt -check template.pkr.hcl

Format all templates recursively

packer fmt -recursive .

Inspection

Show template components and variables

packer inspect template.pkr.hcl

Open interactive console for template

packer console template.pkr.hcl

Show installed Packer version

packer version

Plugins

packer plugins install github.com/hashicorp/amazon # Install Amazon plugin

packer plugins install github.com/hashicorp/docker # Install Docker plugin

List installed plugins

packer plugins installed

packer plugins remove github.com/hashicorp/azure # Remove a plugin

Install plugins required by template

packer init template.pkr.hcl

HCL2

Convert JSON template to HCL2

packer hcl2_upgrade template.json

packer build -var 'ami_name=my-image' . # Build all HCL files in directory

Validate all HCL files in directory

packer validate .

Format all HCL files in directory

packer fmt .

Quick Commands

Build machine image from HCL template

packer build template.pkr.hcl

Validate template syntax and configuration