Terminal.skills
Skills/packer
>

packer

HashiCorp Packer for building automated machine images. Use when the user needs to create AMIs, Docker images, or GCP images using HCL templates with provisioners for consistent, reproducible infrastructure images.

#packer#machine-images#ami#docker#infrastructure
terminal-skillsv1.0.0
Works with:claude-codeopenai-codexgemini-clicursor
Source

Usage

$
✓ Installed packer v1.0.0

Getting Started

  1. Install the skill using the command above
  2. Open your AI coding agent (Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, or Cursor)
  3. Reference the skill in your prompt
  4. The AI will use the skill's capabilities automatically

Example Prompts

  • "Deploy the latest build to the staging environment and run smoke tests"
  • "Check the CI pipeline status and summarize any recent failures"

Information

Version
1.0.0
Author
terminal-skills
Category
DevOps
License
Apache-2.0

Documentation

Packer automates the creation of machine images for multiple platforms from a single source configuration.

Installation

bash
# Install Packer
wget -O- https://apt.releases.hashicorp.com/gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/hashicorp-archive-keyring.gpg
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
sudo apt update && sudo apt install packer

# Verify
packer version

AWS AMI Builder

hcl
# aws-ubuntu.pkr.hcl — Build Ubuntu AMI with Nginx
packer {
  required_plugins {
    amazon = {
      version = ">= 1.2.0"
      source  = "github.com/hashicorp/amazon"
    }
  }
}

variable "aws_region" {
  type    = string
  default = "us-east-1"
}

variable "app_version" {
  type = string
}

source "amazon-ebs" "ubuntu" {
  ami_name      = "app-{{timestamp}}"
  instance_type = "t3.medium"
  region        = var.aws_region

  source_ami_filter {
    filters = {
      name                = "ubuntu/images/hvm-ssd/ubuntu-jammy-22.04-amd64-server-*"
      root-device-type    = "ebs"
      virtualization-type = "hvm"
    }
    most_recent = true
    owners      = ["099720109477"]
  }

  ssh_username = "ubuntu"

  tags = {
    Name        = "app-${var.app_version}"
    Environment = "production"
    Builder     = "packer"
  }
}

build {
  sources = ["source.amazon-ebs.ubuntu"]

  provisioner "shell" {
    inline = [
      "sudo apt-get update",
      "sudo apt-get install -y nginx curl jq",
      "sudo systemctl enable nginx"
    ]
  }

  provisioner "file" {
    source      = "files/nginx.conf"
    destination = "/tmp/nginx.conf"
  }

  provisioner "shell" {
    inline = [
      "sudo mv /tmp/nginx.conf /etc/nginx/sites-available/default",
      "sudo nginx -t"
    ]
  }

  provisioner "shell" {
    inline = ["sudo apt-get clean", "sudo rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*"]
  }

  post-processor "manifest" {
    output     = "manifest.json"
    strip_path = true
  }
}

Docker Builder

hcl
# docker-app.pkr.hcl — Build Docker image with Packer
source "docker" "app" {
  image  = "python:3.12-slim"
  commit = true

  changes = [
    "EXPOSE 8080",
    "WORKDIR /app",
    "CMD [\"python\", \"app.py\"]"
  ]
}

build {
  sources = ["source.docker.app"]

  provisioner "shell" {
    inline = [
      "pip install --no-cache-dir flask gunicorn",
      "mkdir -p /app"
    ]
  }

  provisioner "file" {
    source      = "app/"
    destination = "/app/"
  }

  post-processor "docker-tag" {
    repository = "myregistry.com/myapp"
    tags       = ["latest", var.app_version]
  }

  post-processor "docker-push" {
    login          = true
    login_server   = "myregistry.com"
    login_username = var.registry_user
    login_password = var.registry_pass
  }
}

GCP Image Builder

hcl
# gcp-image.pkr.hcl — Build GCP Compute Engine image
source "googlecompute" "ubuntu" {
  project_id   = var.gcp_project
  source_image = "ubuntu-2204-jammy-v20240101"
  zone         = "us-central1-a"
  machine_type = "e2-medium"
  ssh_username = "packer"
  image_name   = "app-{{timestamp}}"

  image_labels = {
    environment = "production"
    builder     = "packer"
  }
}

build {
  sources = ["source.googlecompute.ubuntu"]

  provisioner "shell" {
    scripts = [
      "scripts/base-setup.sh",
      "scripts/install-app.sh"
    ]
    environment_vars = [
      "APP_VERSION=${var.app_version}"
    ]
  }

  provisioner "ansible" {
    playbook_file = "ansible/configure.yml"
  }
}

Multi-Builder Template

hcl
# multi-platform.pkr.hcl — Build for AWS and GCP simultaneously
variable "app_version" {
  type    = string
  default = "1.0.0"
}

source "amazon-ebs" "base" {
  ami_name      = "app-${var.app_version}-{{timestamp}}"
  instance_type = "t3.medium"
  region        = "us-east-1"
  source_ami_filter {
    filters = { name = "ubuntu/images/hvm-ssd/ubuntu-jammy-22.04-amd64-server-*" }
    most_recent = true
    owners      = ["099720109477"]
  }
  ssh_username = "ubuntu"
}

source "googlecompute" "base" {
  project_id   = var.gcp_project
  source_image = "ubuntu-2204-jammy-v20240101"
  zone         = "us-central1-a"
  ssh_username = "packer"
  image_name   = "app-${var.app_version}-{{timestamp}}"
}

build {
  sources = [
    "source.amazon-ebs.base",
    "source.googlecompute.base"
  ]

  provisioner "shell" {
    script = "scripts/setup.sh"
  }
}

Common Commands

bash
# Validate template
packer validate .

# Build image
packer build .
packer build -var "app_version=2.0.0" aws-ubuntu.pkr.hcl

# Build specific source only
packer build -only="amazon-ebs.ubuntu" .

# Initialize plugins
packer init .

# Format HCL files
packer fmt .

# Inspect template
packer inspect .

# Debug mode
PACKER_LOG=1 packer build .