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Proxmox

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The Proxmox Packer builder is able to create Proxmox virtual machines and store them as new Proxmox Virtual Machine images.

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Updated 2 years ago

Proxmox ISO

Type: proxmox-iso Artifact BuilderId: proxmox.iso

The proxmox-iso Packer builder is able to create new images for use with Proxmox. The builder takes an ISO image, runs any provisioning necessary on the image after launching it, then creates a virtual machine template. This template can then be used as to create new virtual machines within Proxmox.

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

Configuration Reference

There are many configuration options available for the builder. They are segmented below into two categories: required and optional parameters. Within each category, the available configuration keys are alphabetized.

You may also want to take look at the general configuration references for VirtIO RNG device and PCI Devices configuration references, which can be found further down the page.

In addition to the options listed here, a communicator can be configured for this builder.

If no communicator is defined, an SSH key is generated for use, and is used in the image's Cloud-Init settings for provisioning.

Required:

  • boot_iso (common.ISOsConfig) - Boot ISO attached to the virtual machine.

    JSON Example:

    
    "boot_iso": {
              "type": "scsi",
              "iso_file": "local:iso/debian-12.5.0-amd64-netinst.iso",
              "unmount": true,
              "iso_checksum": "sha512:33c08e56c83d13007e4a5511b9bf2c4926c4aa12fd5dd56d493c0653aecbab380988c5bf1671dbaea75c582827797d98c4a611f7fb2b131fbde2c677d5258ec9"
        }

    HCL2 example:

    
    boot_iso {
      type = "scsi"
      iso_file = "local:iso/debian-12.5.0-amd64-netinst.iso"
      unmount = true
      iso_checksum = "sha512:33c08e56c83d13007e4a5511b9bf2c4926c4aa12fd5dd56d493c0653aecbab380988c5bf1671dbaea75c582827797d98c4a611f7fb2b131fbde2c677d5258ec9"
    }

    See ISOs for additional options.

Optional:

  • boot_key_interval (duration string | ex: "1h5m2s") - Boot Key Interval

  • proxmox_url (string) - URL to the Proxmox API, including the full path, so https://<server>:<port>/api2/json for example. Can also be set via the PROXMOX_URL environment variable.

  • insecure_skip_tls_verify (bool) - Skip validating the certificate.

  • username (string) - Username when authenticating to Proxmox, including the realm. For example user@pve to use the local Proxmox realm. When using token authentication, the username must include the token id after an exclamation mark. For example, user@pve!tokenid. Can also be set via the PROXMOX_USERNAME environment variable.

  • password (string) - Password for the user. For API tokens please use token. Can also be set via the PROXMOX_PASSWORD environment variable. Either password or token must be specifed. If both are set, token takes precedence.

  • token (string) - Token for authenticating API calls. This allows the API client to work with API tokens instead of user passwords. Can also be set via the PROXMOX_TOKEN environment variable. Either password or token must be specifed. If both are set, token takes precedence.

  • node (string) - Which node in the Proxmox cluster to start the virtual machine on during creation.

  • pool (string) - Name of resource pool to create virtual machine in.

  • task_timeout (duration string | ex: "1h5m2s") - task_timeout (duration string | ex: "10m") - The timeout for Promox API operations, e.g. clones. Defaults to 1 minute.

  • vm_name (string) - Name of the virtual machine during creation. If not given, a random uuid will be used.

  • vm_id (int) - vm_id (int) - The ID used to reference the virtual machine. This will also be the ID of the final template. Proxmox VMIDs are unique cluster-wide and are limited to the range 100-999999999. If not given, the next free ID on the cluster will be used.

  • tags (string) - The tags to set. This is a semicolon separated list. For example, debian-12;template.

  • boot (string) - Override default boot order. Format example order=virtio0;ide2;net0. Prior to Proxmox 6.2-15 the format was cdn (c:CDROM -> d:Disk -> n:Network)

  • memory (int) - How much memory (in megabytes) to give the virtual machine. If ballooning_minimum is also set, memory defines the maximum amount of memory the VM will be able to use. Defaults to 512.

  • ballooning_minimum (int) - Setting this option enables KVM memory ballooning and defines the minimum amount of memory (in megabytes) the VM will have. Defaults to 0 (memory ballooning disabled).

  • cores (int) - How many CPU cores to give the virtual machine. Defaults to 1.

  • cpu_type (string) - The CPU type to emulate. See the Proxmox API documentation for the complete list of accepted values. For best performance, set this to host. Defaults to kvm64.

  • sockets (int) - How many CPU sockets to give the virtual machine. Defaults to 1

  • numa (bool) - If true, support for non-uniform memory access (NUMA) is enabled. Defaults to false.

  • os (string) - The operating system. Can be wxp, w2k, w2k3, w2k8, wvista, win7, win8, win10, l24 (Linux 2.4), l26 (Linux 2.6+), solaris or other. Defaults to other.

  • bios (string) - Set the machine bios. This can be set to ovmf or seabios. The default value is seabios.

  • efi_config (efiConfig) - Set the efidisk storage options. See EFI Config.

  • efidisk (string) - This option is deprecated, please use efi_config instead.

  • machine (string) - Set the machine type. Supported values are 'pc' or 'q35'.

  • rng0 (rng0Config) - Configure Random Number Generator via VirtIO. See VirtIO RNG device

  • tpm_config (tpmConfig) - Set the tpmstate storage options. See TPM Config.

  • vga (vgaConfig) - The graphics adapter to use. See VGA Config.

  • network_adapters ([]NICConfig) - The network adapter to use. See Network Adapters

  • disks ([]diskConfig) - Disks attached to the virtual machine. See Disks

  • pci_devices ([]pciDeviceConfig) - Allows passing through a host PCI device into the VM. See PCI Devices

  • serials ([]string) - A list (max 4 elements) of serial ports attached to the virtual machine. It may pass through a host serial device /dev/ttyS0 or create unix socket on the host socket. Each element can be socket or responding to pattern /dev/.+. Example:

    [
  "socket",
  "/dev/ttyS1"
]

  • qemu_agent (boolean) - Enables QEMU Agent option for this VM. When enabled, then qemu-guest-agent must be installed on the guest. When disabled, then ssh_host should be used. Defaults to true.

  • scsi_controller (string) - The SCSI controller model to emulate. Can be lsi, lsi53c810, virtio-scsi-pci, virtio-scsi-single, megasas, or pvscsi. Defaults to lsi.

  • onboot (bool) - Specifies whether a VM will be started during system bootup. Defaults to false.

  • disable_kvm (bool) - Disables KVM hardware virtualization. Defaults to false.

  • template_name (string) - Name of the template. Defaults to the generated name used during creation.

  • template_description (string) - Description of the template, visible in the Proxmox interface.

  • cloud_init (bool) - If true, add an empty Cloud-Init CDROM drive after the virtual machine has been converted to a template. Defaults to false.

  • cloud_init_storage_pool (string) - Name of the Proxmox storage pool to store the Cloud-Init CDROM on. If not given, the storage pool of the boot device will be used.

  • cloud_init_disk_type (string) - The type of Cloud-Init disk. Can be scsi, sata, or ide Defaults to ide.

  • additional_iso_files ([]ISOsConfig) - ISO files attached to the virtual machine. See ISOs.

  • vm_interface (string) - Name of the network interface that Packer gets the VMs IP from. Defaults to the first non loopback interface.

  • qemu_additional_args (string) - Arbitrary arguments passed to KVM. For example -no-reboot -smbios type=0,vendor=FOO. Note: this option is for experts only.

  • iso_file (string) - DEPRECATED. Define Boot ISO config with the boot_iso block instead. Path to the ISO file to boot from, expressed as a proxmox datastore path, for example local:iso/Fedora-Server-dvd-x86_64-29-1.2.iso. Either iso_file OR iso_url must be specifed.

  • iso_storage_pool (string) - DEPRECATED. Define Boot ISO config with the boot_iso block instead. Proxmox storage pool onto which to upload the ISO file.

  • iso_download_pve (bool) - DEPRECATED. Define Boot ISO config with the boot_iso block instead. Download the ISO directly from the PVE node rather than through Packer.

    Defaults to false

  • unmount_iso (bool) - DEPRECATED. Define Boot ISO config with the boot_iso block instead. If true, remove the mounted ISO from the template after finishing. Defaults to false.

  • 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.

ISOs

ISO files attached to the virtual machine.

JSON Example:


    "additional_iso_files": [
        {
              "type": "scsi",
              "iso_file": "local:iso/virtio-win-0.1.185.iso",
              "unmount": true,
              "iso_checksum": "af2b3cc9fa7905dea5e58d31508d75bba717c2b0d5553962658a47aebc9cc386"
        }
     ]

HCL2 example:


    additional_iso_files {
      type = "scsi"
      iso_file = "local:iso/virtio-win-0.1.185.iso"
      unmount = true
      iso_checksum = "af2b3cc9fa7905dea5e58d31508d75bba717c2b0d5553962658a47aebc9cc386"
    }

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.

  • device (string) - DEPRECATED. Assign bus type with type. Optionally assign a bus index with index. Bus type and bus index that the ISO will be mounted on. Can be ideX, sataX or scsiX. For ide the bus index ranges from 0 to 3, for sata from 0 to 5 and for scsi from 0 to 30. Defaulted to ide3 in versions up to v1.8, now defaults to dynamic ide assignment (next available ide bus index after hard disks are allocated)

  • type (string) - Bus type that the ISO will be mounted on. Can be ide, sata or scsi. Defaults to ide.

  • index (string) - Optional: Used in combination with type to statically assign an ISO to a bus index.

  • iso_file (string) - Path to the ISO file to boot from, expressed as a proxmox datastore path, for example local:iso/Fedora-Server-dvd-x86_64-29-1.2.iso. Either iso_file OR iso_url must be specifed.

  • iso_storage_pool (string) - Proxmox storage pool onto which to upload the ISO file.

  • iso_download_pve (bool) - Download the ISO directly from the PVE node rather than through Packer.

    Defaults to false

  • unmount (bool) - If true, remove the mounted ISO from the template after finishing. Defaults to false.

  • keep_cdrom_device (bool) - Keep CDRom device attached to template if unmounting ISO. Defaults to false. Has no effect if unmount is false

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.

  • 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

VGA Config

  • vga (object) - The graphics adapter to use. Example:

    {
  "type": "vmware",
  "memory": 32
}

Optional:

  • type (string) - Can be cirrus, none, qxl,qxl2, qxl3, qxl4, serial0, serial1, serial2, serial3, std, virtio, vmware. Defaults to std.

  • memory (int) - How much memory to assign.

Network Adapters

Network adapters attached to the virtual machine.

Example:

[

    {
      "model": "virtio",
      "bridge": "vmbr0",
      "vlan_tag": "10",
      "firewall": true
    }

]

Optional:

  • model (string) - Model of the virtual network adapter. Can be rtl8139, ne2k_pci, e1000, pcnet, virtio, ne2k_isa, i82551, i82557b, i82559er, vmxnet3, e1000-82540em, e1000-82544gc or e1000-82545em. Defaults to e1000.

  • packet_queues (int) - Number of packet queues to be used on the device. Values greater than 1 indicate that the multiqueue feature is activated. For best performance, set this to the number of cores available to the virtual machine. CPU load on the host and guest systems will increase as the traffic increases, so activate this option only when the VM has to handle a great number of incoming connections, such as when the VM is operating as a router, reverse proxy or a busy HTTP server. Requires virtio network adapter. Defaults to 0.

  • mac_address (string) - Give the adapter a specific MAC address. If not set, defaults to a random MAC. If value is "repeatable", value of MAC address is deterministic based on VM ID and NIC ID.

  • mtu (int) - Set the maximum transmission unit for the adapter. Valid range: 0 - 65520. If set to 1, the MTU is inherited from the bridge the adapter is attached to. Defaults to 0 (use Proxmox default).

  • bridge (string) - Required. Which Proxmox bridge to attach the adapter to.

  • vlan_tag (string) - If the adapter should tag packets. Defaults to no tagging.

  • firewall (bool) - If the interface should be protected by the firewall. Defaults to false.

Disks

Disks attached to the virtual machine.

Example:

[

    {
      "type": "scsi",
      "disk_size": "5G",
      "storage_pool": "local-lvm",
      "storage_pool_type": "lvm"
    }

]

Optional:

  • type (string) - The type of disk. Can be scsi, sata, virtio or ide. Defaults to scsi.

  • storage_pool (string) - Required. Name of the Proxmox storage pool to store the virtual machine disk on. A local-lvm pool is allocated by the installer, for example.

  • storage_pool_type (string) - This option is deprecated.

  • disk_size (string) - The size of the disk, including a unit suffix, such as 10G to indicate 10 gigabytes.

  • cache_mode (string) - How to cache operations to the disk. Can be none, writethrough, writeback, unsafe or directsync. Defaults to none.

  • format (string) - The format of the file backing the disk. Can be raw, cow, qcow, qed, qcow2, vmdk or cloop. Defaults to raw.

  • io_thread (bool) - Create one I/O thread per storage controller, rather than a single thread for all I/O. This can increase performance when multiple disks are used. Requires virtio-scsi-single controller and a scsi or virtio disk. Defaults to false.

  • asyncio (string) - Configure Asynchronous I/O. Can be native, threads, or io_uring. Defaults to io_uring.

  • exclude_from_backup (bool) - Exclude disk from Proxmox backup jobs Defaults to false.

  • discard (bool) - Relay TRIM commands to the underlying storage. Defaults to false. See the Proxmox documentation for for further information.

  • ssd (bool) - Drive will be presented to the guest as solid-state drive rather than a rotational disk.

    This cannot work with virtio disks.

EFI Config

Set the efidisk storage options. This needs to be set if you use ovmf uefi boot (supersedes the efidisk option).

Usage example (JSON):


    {
      "efi_storage_pool": "local",
      "pre_enrolled_keys": true,
      "efi_format": "raw",
      "efi_type": "4m"
    }

Optional:

  • efi_storage_pool (string) - Name of the Proxmox storage pool to store the EFI disk on.

  • efi_format (string) - The format of the file backing the disk. Can be raw, cow, qcow, qed, qcow2, vmdk or cloop. Defaults to raw.

  • pre_enrolled_keys (bool) - Whether Microsoft Standard Secure Boot keys should be pre-loaded on the EFI disk. Defaults to false.

  • efi_type (string) - Specifies the version of the OVMF firmware to be used. Can be 2m or 4m. Defaults to 4m.

VirtIO RNG device

  • rng0 (object): Configure Random Number Generator via VirtIO. A virtual hardware-RNG can be used to provide entropy from the host system to a guest VM helping avoid entropy starvation which might cause the guest system slow down. The device is sourced from a host device and guest, his use can be limited: max_bytes bytes of data will become available on a period ms timer. PVE documentation recommends to always use a limiter to avoid guests using too many host resources.

HCL2 example:


    rng0 {
      source    = "/dev/urandom"
      max_bytes = 1024
      period    = 1000
    }

JSON example:


    {
        "rng0": {
            "source": "/dev/urandom",
            "max_bytes": 1024,
            "period": 1000
        }
    }

Required:

  • source (string) - Device on the host to gather entropy from. /dev/urandom should be preferred over /dev/random as Proxmox PVE documentation suggests. /dev/hwrng can be used to pass through a hardware RNG. Can be one of /dev/urandom, /dev/random, /dev/hwrng.

  • max_bytes (int) - Maximum bytes of entropy allowed to get injected into the guest every period milliseconds. Use a lower value when using /dev/random since can lead to entropy starvation on the host system. 0 disables limiting and according to PVE documentation is potentially dangerous for the host. Recommended value: 1024.

Optional:

  • period (int) - Period in milliseconds on which the the entropy-injection quota is reset. Can be a positive value. Recommended value: 1000.

PCI devices

Allows passing through a host PCI device into the VM. For example, a graphics card or a network adapter. Devices that are mapped into a guest VM are no longer available on the host. A minimal configuration only requires either the host or the mapping key to be specifed.

Note: VMs with passed-through devices cannot be migrated.

HCL2 example:


    pci_devices {
      host          = "0000:0d:00.1"
      pcie          = false
      device_id     = "1003"
      legacy_igd    = false
      mdev          = "some-model"
      hide_rombar   = false
      romfile       = "vbios.bin"
      sub_device_id = ""
      sub_vendor_id = ""
      vendor_id     = "15B3"
      x_vga         = false
    }

JSON example:


    {
      "pci_devices": {
        "host"          : "0000:0d:00.1",
        "pcie"          : false,
        "device_id"     : "1003",
        "legacy_igd"    : false,
        "mdev"          : "some-model",
        "hide_rombar"   : false,
        "romfile"       : "vbios.bin",
        "sub_device_id" : "",
        "sub_vendor_id" : "",
        "vendor_id"     : "15B3",
        "x_vga"         : false
      }
    }

Optional:

  • host (string) - The PCI ID of a host’s PCI device or a PCI virtual function. You can us the lspci command to list existing PCI devices. Either this or the mapping key must be set.

  • device_id (string) - Override PCI device ID visible to guest.

  • legacy_igd (bool) - Pass this device in legacy IGD mode, making it the primary and exclusive graphics device in the VM. Requires pc-i440fx machine type and VGA set to none. Defaults to false.

  • mapping (string) - The ID of a cluster wide mapping. Either this or the host key must be set.

  • pcie (bool) - Present the device as a PCIe device (needs q35 machine model). Defaults to false.

  • mdev (string) - The type of mediated device to use. An instance of this type will be created on startup of the VM and will be cleaned up when the VM stops.

  • hide_rombar (bool) - Specify whether or not the device’s ROM BAR will be visible in the guest’s memory map. Defaults to false.

  • romfile (string) - Custom PCI device rom filename (must be located in /usr/share/kvm/).

  • sub_device_id (string) - Override PCI subsystem device ID visible to guest.

  • sub_vendor_id (string) - Override PCI subsystem vendor ID visible to guest.

  • vendor_id (string) - Override PCI vendor ID visible to guest.

  • x_vga (bool) - Enable vfio-vga device support. Defaults to false.

Boot Command

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.

Optional:

  • 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.

Http directory 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) - Name of the network interface that Packer gets HTTPIP from. Defaults to the first non loopback interface.

Example: Fedora with kickstart

Here is a basic example creating a Fedora 29 server image with a Kickstart file served with Packer's HTTP server. Note that the iso file needs to be manually downloaded.

HCL2

variable "password" {
  type    = string
  default = "supersecret"
}

variable "username" {
  type    = string
  default = "apiuser@pve"
}

source "proxmox-iso" "fedora-kickstart" {
  boot_command = ["<up><tab> ip=dhcp inst.cmdline inst.ks=http://{{ .HTTPIP }}:{{ .HTTPPort }}/ks.cfg<enter>"]
  boot_wait    = "10s"
  disks {
    disk_size         = "5G"
    storage_pool      = "local-lvm"
    type              = "scsi"
  }
  efi_config {
    efi_storage_pool  = "local-lvm"
    efi_type          = "4m"
    pre_enrolled_keys = true
  }
  http_directory           = "config"
  insecure_skip_tls_verify = true
  iso {
    iso_file                 = "local:iso/Fedora-Server-dvd-x86_64-29-1.2.iso"
  }
  network_adapters {
    bridge = "vmbr0"
    model  = "virtio"
  }
  node                 = "my-proxmox"
  password             = "${var.password}"
  proxmox_url          = "https://my-proxmox.my-domain:8006/api2/json"
  ssh_password         = "packer"
  ssh_timeout          = "15m"
  ssh_username         = "root"
  template_description = "Fedora 29-1.2, generated on ${timestamp()}"
  template_name        = "fedora-29"
  username             = "${var.username}"
}

build {
  sources = ["source.proxmox-iso.fedora-kickstart"]
}

JSON

{
  "variables": {
    "username": "apiuser@pve",
    "password": "supersecret"
  },
  "builders": [
    {
      "type": "proxmox-iso",
      "proxmox_url": "https://my-proxmox.my-domain:8006/api2/json",
      "insecure_skip_tls_verify": true,
      "username": "{{user `username`}}",
      "password": "{{user `password`}}",
      "node": "my-proxmox",
      "network_adapters": [
        {
          "model": "virtio",
          "bridge": "vmbr0"
        }
      ],
      "disks": [
        {
          "type": "scsi",
          "disk_size": "5G",
          "storage_pool": "local-lvm"
        }
      ],
      "efi_config": {
          "efi_storage_pool": "local-lvm",
          "pre_enrolled_keys": true,
          "efi_type": "4m"
      },
      "iso": {
          "iso_file": "local:iso/Fedora-Server-dvd-x86_64-29-1.2.iso"
      },
      "http_directory": "config",
      "boot_wait": "10s",
      "boot_command": [
        "<up><tab> ip=dhcp inst.cmdline inst.ks=http://{{.HTTPIP}}:{{.HTTPPort}}/ks.cfg<enter>"
      ],
      "ssh_username": "root",
      "ssh_timeout": "15m",
      "ssh_password": "packer",
      "template_name": "fedora-29",
      "template_description": "Fedora 29-1.2, generated on {{ isotime \"2006-01-02T15:04:05Z\" }}"
    }
  ]
}