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---
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description: |
Packer must first be installed on the machine you want to run it on. To make
installation easy, Packer is distributed as a binary package for all supported
platforms and architectures. This page will not cover how to compile Packer from
source, as that is covered in the README and is only recommended for advanced
users.
layout: docs
page_title: Install Packer
...
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# Install Packer
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Packer must first be installed on the machine you want to run it on. To make
installation easy, Packer is distributed as a [binary package](/downloads.html)
for all supported platforms and architectures. This page will not cover how to
compile Packer from source, as that is covered in the
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[README](https://github.com/mitchellh/packer/blob/master/README.md) and is only
recommended for advanced users.
## Installing Packer
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To install packer, first find the [appropriate package](/downloads.html) for
your system and download it. Packer is packaged as a "zip" file.
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Next, unzip the downloaded package into a directory where Packer will be
installed. On Unix systems, `~/packer` or `/usr/local/packer` is generally good,
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depending on whether you want to restrict the install to just your user or
install it system-wide. On Windows systems, you can put it wherever you'd like.
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After unzipping the package, the directory should contain a set of binary
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programs, such as `packer`, `packer-build-amazon-ebs`, etc. The final step to
installation is to make sure the directory you installed Packer to is on the
PATH. See [this
page](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/14637979/how-to-permanently-set-path-on-linux)
for instructions on setting the PATH on Linux and Mac. [This
page](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1618280/where-can-i-set-path-to-make-exe-on-windows)
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contains instructions for setting the PATH on Windows.
## Verifying the Installation
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After installing Packer, verify the installation worked by opening a new command
prompt or console, and checking that `packer` is available:
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``` {.text}
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$ packer
usage: packer [--version] [--help] <command> [<args>]
Available commands are:
build build image(s) from template
fix fixes templates from old versions of packer
inspect see components of a template
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validate check that a template is valid
```
If you get an error that `packer` could not be found, then your PATH
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environmental variable was not setup properly. Please go back and ensure that
your PATH variable contains the directory which has Packer installed.
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Otherwise, Packer is installed and you're ready to go!
## Alternative Installation Methods
Installation from binary packages is currently the only officially supported
installation method. The binary packages are guaranteed to be the latest
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available version and match the proper checksums. However, in addition to the
official binaries, there are other unofficial 3rd party methods of installation
managed by the Packer community:
### Homebrew
If you're using OS X and [Homebrew](http://brew.sh), you can install Packer:
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``` {.text}
$ brew install packer
```
### Chocolatey
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If you're using Windows and [Chocolatey](http://chocolatey.org), you can install
Packer from Windows command line (cmd). Remember that this is updated by a 3rd
party, so it may not be the latest available version.
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``` {.text}
$ choco install packer
```