packer-cn/website/source/intro/use-cases.html.md

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description: |
    By now you should know what Packer does and what the benefits of image creation
    are. In this section, we'll enumerate *some* of the use cases for Packer. Note
    that this is not an exhaustive list by any means. There are definitely use cases
    for Packer not listed here. This list is just meant to give you an idea of how
    Packer may improve your processes.
layout: intro
next_title: Supported Platforms
next_url: '/intro/platforms.html'
page_title: Use Cases
prev_url: '/intro/why.html'
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# Use Cases

By now you should know what Packer does and what the benefits of image creation
are. In this section, we'll enumerate *some* of the use cases for Packer. Note
that this is not an exhaustive list by any means. There are definitely use cases
for Packer not listed here. This list is just meant to give you an idea of how
Packer may improve your processes.

### Continuous Delivery

Packer is lightweight, portable, and command-line driven. This makes it the
perfect tool to put in the middle of your continuous delivery pipeline. Packer
can be used to generate new machine images for multiple platforms on every
change to Chef/Puppet.

As part of this pipeline, the newly created images can then be launched and
tested, verifying the infrastructure changes work. If the tests pass, you can be
confident that that image will work when deployed. This brings a new level of
stability and testability to infrastructure changes.

### Dev/Prod Parity

Packer helps [keep development, staging, and production as similar as
possible](http://www.12factor.net/dev-prod-parity). Packer can be used to
generate images for multiple platforms at the same time. So if you use AWS for
production and VMware (perhaps with [Vagrant](https://www.vagrantup.com)) for
development, you can generate both an AMI and a VMware machine using Packer at
the same time from the same template.

Mix this in with the continuous delivery use case above, and you have a pretty
slick system for consistent work environments from development all the way
through to production.

### Appliance/Demo Creation

Since Packer creates consistent images for multiple platforms in parallel, it is
perfect for creating
[appliances](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_appliance) and disposable
product demos. As your software changes, you can automatically create appliances
with the software pre-installed. Potential users can then get started with your
software by deploying it to the environment of their choice.

Packaging up software with complex requirements has never been so easy. Or
enjoyable, if you ask me.