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Improve Documentation for Build-level Source Block
The docs for top-level and build-level source blocks did not make it clear enough, early enough in the page, how packer merges their contents and fails when ambiguities  arise from redefinition. I know the info it there, but it's at the end and I feel that my modification shortens the page overall while putting the most useful info front and center. 

Also, there is simply an error in the note at the end of this page, which further confuses the situation for new readers trying to use HCL and reuse source blocks. It's referring to a non-existent amazon source which is probably a past copy/paste error. 

It took me a day to get re-usable source blocks working, bc I skimmed the page at first (I know slap my wrist), but didn't really grasp what it was saying in the Note at the end, and found it confusing. It wasn't until I found the Issues and PRs related to this feature getting added last April/May that I realized how it was implemented that I started to grasp what this was saying.
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README.md

Packer

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Packer is a tool for building identical machine images for multiple platforms from a single source configuration.

Packer is lightweight, runs on every major operating system, and is highly performant, creating machine images for multiple platforms in parallel. Packer comes out of the box with support for many platforms, the full list of which can be found at https://www.packer.io/docs/builders.

Support for other platforms can be added via plugins.

The images that Packer creates can easily be turned into Vagrant boxes.

Quick Start

Note: There is a great introduction and getting started guide for those with a bit more patience. Otherwise, the quick start below will get you up and running quickly, at the sacrifice of not explaining some key points.

First, download a pre-built Packer binary for your operating system or compile Packer yourself.

After Packer is installed, create your first template, which tells Packer what platforms to build images for and how you want to build them. In our case, we'll create a simple AMI that has Redis pre-installed. Save this file as quick-start.json. Export your AWS credentials as the AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID and AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY environment variables.

{
  "variables": {
    "access_key": "{{env `AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID`}}",
    "secret_key": "{{env `AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY`}}"
  },
  "builders": [{
    "type": "amazon-ebs",
    "access_key": "{{user `access_key`}}",
    "secret_key": "{{user `secret_key`}}",
    "region": "us-east-1",
    "source_ami": "ami-af22d9b9",
    "instance_type": "t2.micro",
    "ssh_username": "ubuntu",
    "ami_name": "packer-example {{timestamp}}"
  }]
}

Next, tell Packer to build the image:

$ packer build quick-start.json
...

Packer will build an AMI according to the "quick-start" template. The AMI will be available in your AWS account. To delete the AMI, you must manually delete it using the AWS console. Packer builds your images, it does not manage their lifecycle. Where they go, how they're run, etc., is up to you.

Documentation

Comprehensive documentation is viewable on the Packer website:

https://www.packer.io/docs

Developing Packer

See CONTRIBUTING.md for best practices and instructions on setting up your development environment to work on Packer.

Unmaintained Plugins

As contributors' circumstances change, development on a community maintained plugin can slow. When this happens, the Packer team may mark a plugin as unmaintained, to clearly signal the plugin's status to users.

What does unmaintained mean?

  1. The code repository and all commit history will still be available.
  2. Documentation will remain on the Packer website.
  3. Issues and pull requests are monitored as a best effort.
  4. No active development will be performed by the Packer team.

If anyone form them community is interested in maintaining a community supported plugin, please feel free to submit contributions via a pull- request for review; reviews are generally prioritized over feature work when possible. For a list of open plugin issues and pending feature requests see the Packer Issue Tracker.