Anka VM Create

Type: veertu-anka-vm-create

Packer 3.x will no longer support Anka 2.x. You can still however use the Packer 2.x release for support.

The veertu-anka-vm-create Packer builder is able to create new Anka VM Templates for use with the Anka Virtualization package and the Anka Build Cloud. The builder takes the path to macOS installer .app and installs that macOS version inside of an Anka VM Template.

The builder does not manage templates. Once a template is created, it is up to you to use it or delete it.

Interrupted or failed builds: With Packer's -on-error=ask, choosing [a] abort without cleanup leaves the created VM on disk for inspection (no anka delete). Choosing [c] clean up still removes it. See issue #94.

Configuration Reference

There are many configuration options available for the builder. They are segmented below into two categories: required and optional parameters.

Required Configuration

• installer (String) The path to a macOS installer. This process takes about 20 minutes.

  • Starting in 3.1.2: This can also be set to 'latest' or a specific macOS version in order to have Anka attempt downloading the installer for you (vm_name will be set to anka-packer-base-${installer}).

• type (String) Must be veertu-anka-vm-create.

Optional Configuration

• vm_name (String) The name for the VM that is created. One is generated with installer data if not provided (anka-packer-base-{{ installer.OSVersion }}-{{ installer.BundlerVersion }}).

• vcpu_count (String) The number of vCPU cores, defaults to 2.

  This change gears us up for Anka 3.0 release when cpu_count will be vcpu_count. For now this is still CPU and not vCPU.

• ram_size (String) The size in "[0-9]+G" format, defaults to 4G.

• disk_size (String) The size in "[0-9]+G" format, defaults to 40G.

  We will automatically resize the internal disk for you by executing diskutil apfs resizeContainer disk0s2 0 inside of the VM

• stop_vm (Boolean) Whether or not to stop the vm after it has been created, defaults to false.

• use_anka_cp (Boolean) Use built in anka cp command. You shouldn't need this option. Defaults to false.

• anka_password (String) Sets the password for the vm. Can also be set with ANKA_DEFAULT_PASSWD env var. Defaults to admin.

• anka_user (String) Sets the username for the vm. Can also be set with ANKA_DEFAULT_USER env var. Defaults to anka.

• boot_delay (String) The time to wait before running packer provisioner commands, defaults to 7s.

• wait_for_networking (Boolean) When enabled (the default), after boot_delay the builder runs anka run with a short shell loop that pings 8.8.8.8 until one reply succeeds (up to 120 attempts, one second apart) so basic guest connectivity is up before Packer continues—for example before shell provisioners that curl the internet. Set to false to skip that step. The check runs after boot_delay and does not change boot_delay itself. If your environment blocks ICMP to 8.8.8.8, set this to false and use another strategy (such as a longer boot_delay or a provisioner that retries).

• log_level (String) The log level for Anka. This currently only supports debug and is only useful for VM creation failures.

• hw_uuid (String) (Anka 2 only) The Hardware UUID you wish to set (usually generated with uuidgen).

• port_forwarding_rules (Struct)

  If port forwarding rules are already set and you want to not have them fail the packer build, use packer build --force.

  • port_forwarding_guest_port (Int)
  • port_forwarding_host_port (Int)
  • port_forwarding_rule_name (String)

• display_controller (string) The display controller to set (run anka modify VMNAME set display --help to see available options).

Example

Here is an example:

variable "vm_name" {
  type = string
  default = "anka-packer-base-macos"
}

variable "installer" {
  type = string
  default = "/Applications/Install macOS Big Sur.app/"
}

variable "vcpu_count" {
  type = string
  default = ""
}

source "veertu-anka-vm-create" "base" {
  installer = "${var.installer}"
  vm_name = "${var.vm_name}"
  vcpu_count = "${var.vcpu_count}"
}

build {
  sources = [
    "source.veertu-anka-vm-create.base"
  ]

  provisioner "shell" {
    inline = [
      "echo hello world",
      "echo llamas rock"
    ]
  }
}