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https://github.com/vmware/photon-packer-templates

VMware Photon Packer Templates
https://github.com/vmware/photon-packer-templates

Last synced: 6 months ago
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VMware Photon Packer Templates

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README 

          
![VMware Photon OS][vmware-photon-logo]



# Packer Templates for VMware Photon OS



VMware Fusion VMware Workstation Pro VirtualBox


Packer

Vagrant



## Introduction



This repository provides infrastructure-as-code examples to automate the creation of [VMware Photon OS][vmware-photon] ( `x86_64` ) machine images as Vagrant boxes using Packer. These Vagrant boxes can be run on VMware Fusion, VMware Workstation Pro, and VirtualBox.



This project is also used to generate the offical [`vmware/photon`][vagrant-boxes-photon] Vagrant boxes.



All examples are authored in the HashiCorp Configuration Language ("HCL2").



The following builds are available:



* VMware Photon OS 4.0 R2 (default)

* VMware Photon OS 4.0 R1

* VMware Photon OS 3.0 R3



## Requirements



* [HashiCorp Packer][packer] 1.8.3 or later

  * Packer Plugin for VMware ( `vmware-iso` ) 1.0.7 or later

  * Packer Plugin for Virtualbox ( `virtualbox-iso` ) 1.0.4 or later (Optional)



      > Required Packer plugins are automatically downloaded and initialized when using the `Makefile`.

      >

      > For dark sites, you may download the plugins and place these same directory as your Packer executable `/usr/local/bin` or `$HOME/.packer.d/plugins`.



* [HashiCorp Vagrant][vagrant-download] 2.3.1 or later



  * Vagrant Plugin for VMware ( `vagrant-vmware-desktop` ) 3.0.1 or later

  * Vagrant [VMware Utility][vagrant-vmware-utility] 1.0.21 or later



* [VMware Fusion][vmware-fusion] 12 (macOS) or [VMware Workstation Pro][vmware-workstation] 16 (Windows and Linux)



* [Virtualbox][virtualbox] 6.1 (Optional)



The following software packages are recommened to be installed on the Packer host:



* Git



  Used for cloning the project repository.For information on installing the Git Command line tools, see [Git][git].



* Microsoft Visual Code

  

  Used for editing configrations. For information on installing Microsoft Visual Studio Code, see [Visual Studio Code][vscode].

  

  The Visual Studio Code extension for Packer 0.3.0 or later is also recommended for syntax support. Learn more on the [Visual Studio Code Marketplace][vscode-packer].



## Get Started



### Step 1 - Clone the Repository



Clone the project repository.



  **Example**:



  ```console

  git clone https://github.com/vmware/photon-packer-templates.git

  ```



  The general directory structure of the repository.



  ```console

  ├── scripts

  │   ├── system

  │   │   └── *.sh

  │   ├── vagrant

  │   │   ├── *.sh

  │   │   └── *.tpl

  │   ├── virtualbox

  │   │   └── *.sh

  │   ├── vmware

  │   │   └── *.sh*

  │   └── *.sh

  ├── output

  │   ├── photon---vagrant-.box

  │   └── manifest.json

  ├── LICENSE

  ├── Makefile

  ├── NOTICE

  ├── override.pkrvars.hcl

  ├── photon--.pkrvars.hcl

  ├── photon.pkr.hcl

  ├── photon.pkrtpl.hcl

  ├── README.md

  └── variables.pkr.hcl

  ```



  The files are distributed in the following directories.

  

* **`output`** - location of the Vagrant boxes and manifest created after the completion of the machine image build.



* **`scripts`** - contains the scripts to initialize and prepare the machine image builds based on the platform for the Vagrant box.



### Step 2 - Update Input Variables



1. Obtain the URL, checksum type (_e.g._, `sha1`), and checksum value for the VMware Photon OS `.iso` image. This will be use in the build input variables.



1. Obtain the `sha256` checksum value for the VirtualBox Guest Additions `.iso` image. This will be use as input variables when building for VirtualBox.



1. Update the contents of the `photon--.pkrvars.hcl` file, as needed.



  ```hcl

  // VMware Photon OS Settings



  os_version         = "4.0"

  os_release         = "R2"

  iso_checksum_type  = "sha1"

  iso_checksum_value = "eeb08738209bf77306268d63b834fd91f6cecdfb"

  iso_url            = "https://packages.vmware.com/photon/4.0/Rev2/iso/photon-4.0-c001795b8.iso"



  // VirtualBox Guest Additions



  guest_additions_url      = "https://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/6.1.40/VBoxGuestAdditions_6.1.40.iso"

  guest_additions_checksum = "d456c559926f1a8fdd7259056e0a50f12339fd494122cf30db7736e2032970c6"

  ```



1. Modify the Overrides (Optional)



  The project sets input defaults in the `variables.pkr.hcl`. You can override the defaults by editing the `override.pkr.hcl` file and uncommenting the relevent overrides.



  ```hcl

  # Override the default input variable values.



  # os_packagelist           = "minimal"

  # vm_name                  = "photon"

  # guest_additions_url      = "https://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/7.0.0/VBoxGuestAdditions_7.0.0.iso"

  # guest_additions_checksum = "f1e214507e4e845e18fdc4ce6ae9ab3aa3514f37d8a702201129c69ea2b3a675"

  # ssh_password             = "VMw@re123!"

  # ssh_timeout              = "15m"

  # boot_wait                = "3s"

  # boot_key_interval        = "10ms"

  # hardware_version_vmw     = 18

  # headless                 = false

  # cpu_count                = 2

  # memory_size              = 1024

  # disk_size                = 20480

  # network_vmw              = nat

  ```



## Build



You can use the included `Makefile` to validate and build the all or specific machine images on macOS and Linux:



```shell

> make



Targets:

  validate

    validate-vmware-iso.vagrant-vmw

    validate-virtualbox-iso.vagrant-vbx

   

  build

    build-vmware-iso.vagrant-vmw

    build-virtualbox-iso.vagrant-vbx

   

  clean

```



* **`validate`** - validates the configuration for all or specific targets.



* **`build`** - runs a build for all or specific targets.



* **`clean`** - removes all artifacts from the the `output` directory **and** removes the `packer_cache` directory. It **does not** remove any registered Vagrant boxes.



All required Packer plugins are automatically initialized when using validate and build options. If the plugins are not present, they will be automatically downloaded and installed.



For dark sites, you may download the plugins and place these same directory as your Packer executable `/usr/local/bin` or `$HOME/.packer.d/plugins`.



**Example**: Build all targets.



```shell

make build 

```



**Example**: Build only the VMware Fusion / Workstation Pro target.



```shell

make build-vmware-iso.vagrant-vmw

```



Alternatively, you can manually initilize, validate, and build on macOS, Linux, and Windows.



**Example**: Initialize for all targets.



* macOS and Linux:



  ```shell

  packer init -var-file=photon-4.0-R2.pkrvars.hcl .

  ```



* Windows:



  ```powershell

  packer init -var-file .\photon-4.0-R2.pkrvars.hcl .

  ```



**Example**: Validate all targets.



* macOS and Linux:



  ```shell

  packer validate -var-file=photon-4.0-R2.pkrvars.hcl .

  ```



* Windows:



  ```powershell

  packer validate -var-file .\photon-4.0-R2.pkrvars.hcl .

  ```



**Example**: Build all targets.



* macOS and Linux:



  ```shell

  packer build --force -var-file=photon-4.0-R2.pkrvars.hcl .

  ```



* Windows:



  ```shell

  packer build --force -var-file .\photon-4.0-R2.pkrvars.hcl .

  ```



**Example**: Build only the VMware Fusion / Workstation Pro target.



* macOS and Linux:



  ```shell

  packer build --force -only=vmware-iso.vagrant-vmw -var-file=photon-4.0-R2.pkrvars.hcl .

  ```



* Windows:



  ```powershell

  packer build --force -only vmware-iso.vagrant-vmw -var-file .\photon-4.0-R2.pkrvars.hcl .

  ```



**Example**: Build only the VirtualBox target.



* macOS and Linux:



  ```shell

  packer build --force -only=virtualbox-iso.vagrant-vbx -var-file=photon-4.0-R2.pkrvars.hcl .

  ```



* Windows



  ```powershell

  packer build --force -only virtualbox-iso.vagrant-vbx -var-file .\photon-4.0-R2.pkrvars.hcl .

  ```



**Example**: Build only the VMware Fusion / Workstation Pro target with an input variable override for the VMware Photon OS Developer package list.



* macOS and Linux:



  ```shell

  packer build --force -var os_packagelist=developer -only=vmware-iso.vagrant-vmw -var-file=photon-4.0-R2.pkrvars.hcl .

  ```



* Windows:



  ```powershell

  packer build --force -var os_packagelist=developer -only vmware-iso.vagrant-vmw -var-file .\photon-4.0-R2.pkrvars.hcl .

  ```



## Run



After you have created the Vagrant boxes for VMware Photon OS, you can bring them up in your provider of choice.



**Example**: VMware Fusion or VMware Workstation Pro



```shell

cd output

vagrant init photon-4.0-R2-minimal-vagrant-vmw.box

vagrant up --provider vmware_desktop

```



**Example**: VirtualBox



```shell

cd output

vagrant init photon-4.0-R2-minimal-vagrant-vbx.box

vagrant up --provider virtualbox

```



**Example**: SSH to the VMware Photon OS box.



```shell

> vagrant ssh

vagrant@photon-minimal [ ~ ]$ 

```



By default, shared folders are disabled between the Vagrant box and the host.



Edit the `Vagrantfile` to manage the share folders.



**Example**: Enable Shared Folders



```shell

Vagrant.configure("2") do |config|

  config.vm.box = "photon-4.0-R2-minimal-vagrant-vmw.box"

  config.vm.synced_folder '.', '/vagrant', disabled: false

end

```



Edit the `Vagrantfile` to modify additional provider configurations, such as CPU and memory.



**Example**: Modify the CPU and Memory Resources



```shell

Vagrant.configure("2") do |config|

  config.vm.box = "photon-4.0-R2-minimal-vagrant-vmw.box"

  config.vm.provider "vmware_desktop" do |v|

    v.vmx["numvcpus"] = "2"

    v.vmx["memsize"] = "2048"

  end

end

```



Learn more about the Vagrant provider configurations:



* [VMware Provider Configuration][vagrant-provider-config-vmware]

* [VirtualBox Provider Configuration][vagrant-provider-config-virtualbox]



[git]: https://git-scm.com

[packer]: https://packer.io

[vagrant-boxes-photon]: https://app.vagrantup.com/vmware/boxes/photon

[vagrant-download]: https://vagrantup.com/downloads

[vagrant-provider-config-vmware]: https://vagrantup.com/docs/providers/vmware/configuration

[vagrant-provider-config-virtualbox]: https://vagrantup.com/docs/providers/virtualbox/configuration

[vagrant-vmware-utility]: https://www.vagrantup.com/vmware/downloads

[virtualbox]: https://virtualbox.org

[vmware-fusion]: https://vmware.com/products/fusion

[vmware-workstation]: https://mware.com/products/workstation-pro

[vmware-photon]: https://vmware.github.io/photon

[vmware-photon-logo]: logo.png

[vscode]: https://code.visualstudio.com

[vscode-packer]: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=4ops.packer