---
layout: "inner"
page_title: "Community"
description: |-
  Packer is an open source project with a growing community.
---

<h1>Community</h1>
<p>
  Packer is an open source project with a growing community. There are
  active, dedicated users willing to help you through various mediums.
</p>
<p>
  <strong>IRC:</strong> <code>#packer-tool</code> on Freenode
</p>
<p>
  <strong>Announcement list:</strong>
  <a href="https://groups.google.com/group/hashicorp-announce">HashiCorp Announcement Google Group</a>
</p>
<p>
  <strong>Discussion list:</strong>
  <a href="https://groups.google.com/group/packer-tool">Packer Google Group</a>
</p>
<p>
  <strong>Bug Tracker:</strong>
  <a href="https://github.com/hashicorp/packer/issues">Issue tracker
  on GitHub</a>. Please only use this for reporting bugs. Do not ask
  for general help here. Use IRC or the mailing list for that.
</p>
<p>
  <strong>Training:</strong>
  Paid <a href="https://www.hashicorp.com/training.html">HashiCorp training courses</a>
  are also available in a city near you. Private training courses are also available.
</p>
<h1>People</h1>
<p>
  The following people are some of the faces behind Packer. They each
  contribute to Packer in some core way. Over time, faces may appear and
  disappear from this list as contributors come and go. In addition to
  the faces below, Packer is a project by
  <a href="https://www.hashicorp.com">HashiCorp</a>, so many HashiCorp
  employees actively contribute to Packer.
</p>
<div class="people">
  <div class="person">
    <img class="pull-left" src="https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/54079122b67de9677c1f93933ce8b63a.png?s=125">
    <div class="bio">
      <h3>Mitchell Hashimoto (<a href="https://github.com/mitchellh">@mitchellh</a>)</h3>
      <p>
        Mitchell Hashimoto is the creator of Packer. He developed the
        core of Packer as well as the Amazon, VirtualBox, and VMware
        builders. In addition to Packer, Mitchell is the creator of
        <a href="https://www.vagrantup.com">Vagrant</a>. He is self
        described as "automation obsessed."
      </p>
    </div>
  </div>
  <div class="person">
    <img class="pull-left" src="https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/2acc31dd6370a54b18f6755cd0710ce6.png?s=125">
    <div class="bio">
      <h3>Jack Pearkes (<a href="https://github.com/pearkes">@pearkes</a>)</h3>
      <p>
        <a href="http://jack.ly/">Jack Pearkes</a> created and maintains the DigitalOcean builder
        for Packer. Outside of Packer, Jack is an avid open source
        contributor and software consultant.
      </p>
    </div>
  </div>
  <div class="person">
    <img class="pull-left" src="https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/2f7fc9cb7558e3ea48f5a86fa90a78da.png?s=125">
    <div class="bio">
      <h3>Mark Peek (<a href="https://github.com/markpeek">@markpeek</a>)</h3>
      <p>
        In addition to Packer, Mark Peek helps maintain
        various open source projects such as
        <a href="https://github.com/cloudtools">cloudtools</a> and
        <a href="https://github.com/ironport">IronPort Python libraries</a>.
        Mark is also a <a href="https://FreeBSD.org">FreeBSD committer</a>.
      </p>
    </div>
  </div>
  <div class="person">
    <img class="pull-left" src="https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/1fca64df3d7db1e2f258a8956d2b0aff.png?s=125">
    <div class="bio">
      <h3>Ross Smith II (<a href="https://github.com/rasa" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">@rasa</a>)</h3>
      <p>
        <a href="http://smithii.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Ross Smith</a> maintains our
        VMware builder on Windows, and provides other valuable assistance. Ross is an
        open source enthusiast, published author, and freelance consultant.
      </p>
    </div>
  </div>
  <div class="person">
    <img class="pull-left" src="https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/c9f6bf7b5b865012be5eded656ebed7d.png?s=125">
    <div class="bio">
      <h3>Rickard von Essen<br/>(<a href="https://github.com/rickard-von-essen" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">@rickard-von-essen</a>)</h3>
      <p>
        Rickard von Essen maintains our Parallels Desktop builder. Rickard is an
        polyglot programmer and consults on Continuous Delivery.
      </p>
    </div>
  </div>
  <div class="person">
    <img class="pull-left" src="https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/f1695dcf6a21f90f5db84b2eee2cbdbe?s=125">
    <div class="bio">
      <h3>Matt Hooker (<a href="https://github.com/mwhooker" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">@mwhooker</a>)</h3>
      <p><a href="https://twitter.com/mwhooker" target="_blank" rel="nofollow
        noopener noreferrer">Matt</a> maintains Packer for HashiCorp. After
        picking up Chef for a job, he decided that continually provisioning the
        same machine was bound for trouble. Luckily Packer had just been created,
        and was the answer to his prayers. Now he works on it professionally, and
        couldn't be happier.
      </p>
    </div>
  </div>
  <div class="clearfix">
  </div>
</div>