- `output_directory` (string) - This is the path on your local machine (the one running Packer) to the directory where the resulting virtual machine will be created. This may be relative or absolute. If relative, the path is relative to the working directory when packer is executed. If you are running a remote esx build, the output_dir is the path on your local machine (the machine running Packer) to which Packer will export the vm if you have `"skip_export": false`. If you want to manage the virtual machine's path on the remote datastore, use `remote_output_dir`. This directory must not exist or be empty prior to running the builder. By default this is output-BUILDNAME where "BUILDNAME" is the name of the build. - `remote_output_directory` (string) - This is the directoy on your remote esx host where you will save your vm, relative to your remote_datastore. This option's default value is your `vm_name`, and the final path of your vm will be vmfs/volumes/$remote_datastore/$vm_name/$vm_name.vmx where `$remote_datastore` and `$vm_name` match their corresponding template options For example, setting `"remote_output_directory": "path/to/subdir` will create a directory `/vmfs/volumes/remote_datastore/path/to/subdir`. Packer will not create the remote datastore for you; it must already exist. However, Packer will create all directories defined in the option that do not currently exist. This option will be ignored unless you are building on a remote esx host.