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docs	Parallels Builder (from a PVM)

Parallels Builder (from a PVM)

Type: parallels-pvm

This Parallels builder is able to create Parallels Desktop for Mac virtual machines and export them in the PVM format, starting from an existing PVM (exported virtual machine image).

The builder builds a virtual machine by importing an existing PVM file. It then boots this image, runs provisioners on this new VM, and exports that VM to create the image. The imported machine is deleted prior to finishing the build.

Basic Example

Here is a basic example. This example is functional if you have an PVM matching the settings here.

{
  "type": "parallels-pvm",
  "parallels_tools_flavor": "lin"
  "source_path": "source.pvm",
  "ssh_username": "packer",
  "ssh_password": "packer",
  "ssh_wait_timeout": "30s",
  "shutdown_command": "echo 'packer' | sudo -S shutdown -P now"
}

It is important to add a shutdown_command. By default Packer halts the virtual machine and the file system may not be sync'd. Thus, changes made in a provisioner might not be saved.

Configuration Reference

There are many configuration options available for the Parallels builder. They are organized below into two categories: required and optional. Within each category, the available options are alphabetized and described.

Required:

source_path (string) - The path to a PVM directory that acts as the source of this build.
ssh_username (string) - The username to use to SSH into the machine once the OS is installed.
parallels_tools_flavor (string) - The flavor of the Parallels Tools ISO to install into the VM. Valid values are "win", "lin", "mac", "os2" and "other". This can be ommited only if parallels_tools_mode is "disable".

Optional:

boot_command (array of strings) - This is an array of commands to type when the virtual machine is first booted. The goal of these commands should be to type just enough to initialize the operating system installer. Special keys can be typed as well, and are covered in the section below on the boot command. If this is not specified, it is assumed the installer will start itself.
boot_wait (string) - The time to wait after booting the initial virtual machine before typing the boot_command. The value of this should be a duration. Examples are "5s" and "1m30s" which will cause Packer to wait five seconds and one minute 30 seconds, respectively. If this isn't specified, the default is 10 seconds.
floppy_files (array of strings) - A list of files to put onto a floppy disk that is attached when the VM is booted for the first time. This is most useful for unattended Windows installs, which look for an Autounattend.xml file on removable media. By default no floppy will be attached. The files listed in this configuration will all be put into the root directory of the floppy disk; sub-directories are not supported.
reassign_mac (boolean) - If this is "false" the MAC address of the first NIC will reused when imported else a new MAC address will be generated by Parallels. Defaults to "false".
output_directory (string) - This is the path 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. 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.
parallels_tools_guest_path (string) - The path in the VM to upload Parallels Tools. This only takes effect if parallels_tools_mode is not "disable". This is a configuration template that has a single valid variable: Flavor, which will be the value of parallels_tools_flavor. By default the upload path is set to prl-tools-{{.Flavor}}.iso.
parallels_tools_mode (string) - The method by which Parallels Tools are made available to the guest for installation. Valid options are "upload", "attach", or "disable". The functions of each of these should be self-explanatory. The default value is "upload".
prlctl (array of array of strings) - Custom prlctl commands to execute in order to further customize the virtual machine being created. The value of this is an array of commands to execute. The commands are executed in the order defined in the template. For each command, the command is defined itself as an array of strings, where each string represents a single argument on the command-line to prlctl (but excluding prlctl itself). Each arg is treated as a configuration template, where the Name variable is replaced with the VM name. More details on how to use prlctl are below.
prlctl_version_file (string) - The path within the virtual machine to upload a file that contains the prlctl version that was used to create the machine. This information can be useful for provisioning. By default this is ".prlctl_version", which will generally upload it into the home directory.
shutdown_command (string) - The command to use to gracefully shut down the machine once all the provisioning is done. By default this is an empty string, which tells Packer to just forcefully shut down the machine.
shutdown_timeout (string) - The amount of time to wait after executing the shutdown_command for the virtual machine to actually shut down. If it doesn't shut down in this time, it is an error. By default, the timeout is "5m", or five minutes.
ssh_key_path (string) - Path to a private key to use for authenticating with SSH. By default this is not set (key-based auth won't be used). The associated public key is expected to already be configured on the VM being prepared by some other process (kickstart, etc.).
ssh_password (string) - The password for ssh_username to use to authenticate with SSH. By default this is the empty string.
ssh_port (integer) - The port that SSH will be listening on in the guest virtual machine. By default this is 22.
ssh_wait_timeout (string) - The duration to wait for SSH to become available. By default this is "20m", or 20 minutes. Note that this should be quite long since the timer begins as soon as the virtual machine is booted.
vm_name (string) - This is the name of the virtual machine when it is imported as well as the name of the PVM directory when the virtual machine is exported. By default this is "packer-BUILDNAME", where "BUILDNAME" is the name of the build.

Parallels Tools

After the virtual machine is up and the operating system is installed, Packer uploads the Parallels Tools into the virtual machine. The path where they are uploaded is controllable by parallels_tools_path, and defaults to "prl-tools.iso". Without an absolute path, it is uploaded to the home directory of the SSH user. Parallels Tools ISO's can be found in: "/Applications/Parallels Desktop.app/Contents/Resources/Tools/"

Boot Command

The boot_command specifies the keys to type when the virtual machine is first booted. This command is typed after boot_wait.

As documented above, the boot_command is an array of strings. The strings are all typed in sequence. It is an array only to improve readability within the template.

The boot command is "typed" character for character using the prltype (part of prl-utils, see Parallels Builder) command connected to the machine, simulating a human actually typing the keyboard. There are a set of special keys available. If these are in your boot command, they will be replaced by the proper key:

<enter> and <return> - Simulates an actual "enter" or "return" keypress.
<esc> - Simulates pressing the escape key.
<tab> - Simulates pressing the tab key.
<wait> <wait5> <wait10> - Adds a 1, 5 or 10 second pause before sending any additional keys. This is useful if you have to generally wait for the UI to update before typing more.

In addition to the special keys, each command to type is treated as a configuration template. The available variables are:

prlctl Commands

In order to perform extra customization of the virtual machine, a template can define extra calls to prlctl to perform. prlctl is the command-line interface to Parallels Desktop. It can be used to configure the virtual machine, such as set RAM, CPUs, etc.

Extra prlctl commands are defined in the template in the prlctl section. An example is shown below that sets the memory and number of CPUs within the virtual machine:

{
  "prlctl": [
    ["set", "{{.Name}}", "--memsize", "1024"],
    ["set", "{{.Name}}", "--cpus", "2"]
  ]
}

The value of prlctl is an array of commands to execute. These commands are executed in the order defined. So in the above example, the memory will be set followed by the CPUs.

Each command itself is an array of strings, where each string is an argument to prlctl. Each argument is treated as a configuration template. The only available variable is Name which is replaced with the unique name of the VM, which is required for many prlctl calls.

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