The source block

Note: This page is about HCL2 Packer templates. HCL2 templates were first introduced as a beta feature into Packer version 1.5. As of v1.7, HCL2 support is no longer in beta, and is the preferred way to write Packer configuration. For the old-style stable configuration language see template docs. As of v1.6.2, you can convert your legacy JSON template into an HCL2 config file using the hcl2_upgrade command.

A source block nested in a build block allows you to use an already defined source and to "fill in" those fields which aren't already set in the top-level source block.

Build-level source blocks are implemented by merging their contents with the corresponding top-level source block, and a packer build will fail when it encounters the ambiguity that arises when a source parameter is defined twice. For example, in the below example, if the top-level "lxd.arch" source block also defined an output_image field (or if one of the build-level source blocks redefined and image field), Packer would error.

# file: builds.pkr.hcl
source "lxd" "arch" {
  image = "archlinux"
}

build {
  # Use the singular `source` block set specific fields.
  # Note that fields cannot be overwritten, in other words, you cannot
  # set the 'image' field from the top-level source block in here, as well as
  # the 'name' and 'output_image' fields cannot be set in the top-level source block.
  source "lxd.arch" {
    # Setting the name field allows to rename the source only for this build section.
    name = "nomad"
    output_image = "nomad"
  }

  provisioner "shell" {
    inline = [ "echo installing nomad" ]
  }
}

build {
  source "lxd.arch" {
    name = "consul"
    output_image = "consul"
  }

  provisioner "shell" {
    inline = [ "echo installing consul" ]
  }
}