docs tweaks

command/build.go

@@ -390,7 +390,7 @@ Options:
   -parallel-builds=1            Number of builds to run in parallel. 1 disables parallelization. 0 means no limit (Default: 0)
   -timestamp-ui                 Enable prefixing of each ui output with an RFC3339 timestamp.
   -var 'key=value'              Variable for templates, can be used multiple times.
-  -var-file=path                JSON file containing user variables.
+  -var-file=path                JSON or HCL2 file containing user variables.
 `
 
 	return strings.TrimSpace(helpText)

command/console.go

@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ Usage: packer console [options] [TEMPLATE]
 
 Options:
   -var 'key=value'       Variable for templates, can be used multiple times.
-  -var-file=path         JSON file containing user variables. [ Note that even in HCL mode this expects file to contain JSON, a fix is comming soon ]
+  -var-file=path         JSON or HCL2 file containing user variables. [ Note that even in HCL mode this expects file to contain JSON, a fix is comming soon ]
 `
 
 	return strings.TrimSpace(helpText)

command/validate.go

@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ Options:
   -except=foo,bar,baz    Validate all builds other than these.
   -only=foo,bar,baz      Validate only these builds.
   -var 'key=value'       Variable for templates, can be used multiple times.
-  -var-file=path         JSON file containing user variables. [ Note that even in HCL mode this expects file to contain JSON, a fix is comming soon ]
+  -var-file=path         JSON or HCL2 file containing user variables. [ Note that even in HCL mode this expects file to contain JSON, a fix is comming soon ]
 `
 
 	return strings.TrimSpace(helpText)

contrib/zsh-completion/_packer

@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ _packer () {
     '-parallel=[(false) Disable parallelization. (Default: false)]'
     '-parallel-builds=[(0) Number of builds to run in parallel. (Defaults to infinite: 0)]'
     '-var[("key=value") Variable for templates, can be used multiple times.]'
-    '-var-file=[(path) JSON file containing user variables.]'
+    '-var-file=[(path) JSON or HCL2 file containing user variables.]'
     '(-)*:files:_files -g "*.json"'
   )
 
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ _packer () {
     '-except=[(foo,bar,baz) Validate all builds other than these.]'
     '-only=[(foo,bar,baz) Validate only these builds.]'
     '-var[("key=value") Variable for templates, can be used multiple times.]'
-    '-var-file=[(path) JSON file containing user variables.]'
+    '-var-file=[(path) JSON or HCL2 file containing user variables.]'
     '(-)*:files:_files -g "*.json"'
   )
 

website/pages/guides/hcl/variables.mdx

@@ -72,14 +72,18 @@ locals {
 
 This defines several variables within your Packer configuration, each showing
 off a different way to set them. The first variable, "weekday", is an empty
-block `{}`. This will work under many simple circumstances, and Packer will
+block `{}`, without a type or a default.
-guess what type the variable should be at runtime.
 
 However, it's generally best to provide the type in your variable definition,
 as you can see in variable "flavor", which we have given a type of "string",
 and variable "exit_codes", which we have given a type of "list(number)",
 meaning it is a list/array of numbers.
 
+When a variable is passed from the cli or environment and the variable's type
+is not set, Packer will expect it to be a string. But if it is passed from a
+var-file where Packer can interpret HCL properly it can be a slice or any
+supported type.
+
 In addition to setting the type, the "flavor" and "exit_codes" variables also
 provide a default. If you set a default value, then you don't need to set the
 variable at run time. Packer will use a provided command-line var,
@@ -87,14 +91,17 @@ var-file, or environment var if it exists, but if not Packer will fall back to
 this default value.
 
 If you do not set a default value, Packer will fail immediately when you try to
-run a build if you have not provided the missing variable via the command-line,
+run a `build` if you have not provided the missing variable via the
-a var-file, or the environment.
+command-line, a var-file, or the environment. The `validate`, `inspect` and
+`console` commands will work, but variables with unknown values will be
+`<unknown>`.
 
 This also defines two locals: `ice_cream_flavor` and `foo`.
 
--> **Note**: that it is _not_ possible to a variable in the definition of
+-> **Note**: that it is _not_ possible to reference a variable in the
-another variable. But it _is_ possible to use locals and variables in the
+definition of another variable. But it _is_ possible to use locals and
-definition of a local, as shown in the ice_cream_flavor definition.
+variables in the definition of a local, as shown in the ice_cream_flavor
+definition.
 
 ## Using Variables and locals in Configuration
 
@@ -119,19 +126,19 @@ build {
     // specialized HCL2 variable syntax. This example shows a combination of
     // an HCL2 variable and the golang template engines built into the
     // execute_command option
-    execute_command = ["/bin/sh", "-c", "echo ${var.sudo_password}| {{.Vars}} {{.Script}}"]
+    execute_command  = ["/bin/sh", "-c", "echo ${var.sudo_password}| {{.Vars}} {{.Script}}"]
     environment_vars = ["HELLO_USER=packeruser", "UUID=${build.PackerRunUUID}"]
-    inline = ["echo the Packer run uuid is $UUID"]
+    inline           = ["echo the Packer run uuid is $UUID"]
   }
   provisioner "shell-local" {
-    inline = ["echo var.flavor is: ${var.flavor}",
+    inline           = ["echo var.flavor is: ${var.flavor}",
-              "echo local.ice_cream_flavor is: ${local.ice_cream_flavor}"]
+                        "echo local.ice_cream_flavor is: ${local.ice_cream_flavor}"]
     valid_exit_codes = var.exit_codes
   }
 }
 ```
 
-As you can see in the example, you can acces your variables directly by
+As you can see in the example, you can access your variables directly by
 giving them the `var.` or `local.` prefix. If you want to embed the variables
 in a string, you can do so with the `${}` HCL interpolation syntax. If you are
 using an option that is a template engine, you still need to use the golang
@@ -178,7 +185,7 @@ build {
     "source.null.example"
   ]
   provisioner "shell-local" {
-    inline = ["echo $PIZZA"]
+    inline           = ["echo $PIZZA"]
     environment_vars = ["PIZZA=${var.pizza}"]
   }
 }
@@ -206,7 +213,7 @@ build {
     "source.null.example"
   ]
   provisioner "shell-local" {
-    inline = ["echo $PIZZA"]
+    inline           = ["echo $PIZZA"]
     environment_vars = ["PIZZA=${var.pizza}"]
   }
 }
@@ -238,7 +245,7 @@ contents:
 
 ```hcl
 sudo_password = "partyparrot"
-weekday = "Sunday"
+weekday       = "Sunday"
 ```
 
 You tell Packer to use this var file using the `-var-file` command line flag.