80 lines
3.3 KiB
Markdown
80 lines
3.3 KiB
Markdown
---
|
|
layout: "intro"
|
|
page_title: "Vagrant Boxes"
|
|
prev_url: "/intro/getting-started/parallel-builds.html"
|
|
next_url: "/intro/getting-started/next.html"
|
|
next_title: "Next Steps"
|
|
description: |-
|
|
Packer also has the ability to take the results of a builder (such as an AMI or plain VMware image) and turn it into a Vagrant box.
|
|
---
|
|
|
|
# Vagrant Boxes
|
|
|
|
Packer also has the ability to take the results of a builder (such as
|
|
an AMI or plain VMware image) and turn it into a [Vagrant](http://www.vagrantup.com)
|
|
box.
|
|
|
|
This is done using [post-processors](/docs/templates/post-processors.html).
|
|
These take an artifact created by a previous builder or post-processor and
|
|
transforms it into a new one. In the case of the Vagrant post-processor, it
|
|
takes an artifact from a builder and transforms it into a Vagrant box file.
|
|
|
|
Post-processors are a generally very useful concept. While the example on
|
|
this getting-started page will be creating Vagrant images, post-processors
|
|
have many interesting use cases. For example, you can write a post-processor
|
|
to compress artifacts, upload them, test them, etc.
|
|
|
|
Let's modify our template to use the Vagrant post-processor to turn our
|
|
AWS AMI into a Vagrant box usable with the [vagrant-aws plugin](https://github.com/mitchellh/vagrant-aws). If you followed along in the previous page and setup DigitalOcean,
|
|
Packer can't currently make Vagrant boxes for DigitalOcean, but will be able
|
|
to soon.
|
|
|
|
## Enabling the Post-Processor
|
|
|
|
Post-processors are added in the `post-processors` section of a template, which
|
|
we haven't created yet. Modify your `example.json` template and add the section.
|
|
Your template should look like the following:
|
|
|
|
```javascript
|
|
{
|
|
"builders": ["..."],
|
|
"provisioners": ["..."],
|
|
"post-processors": ["vagrant"]
|
|
}
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
In this case, we're enabling a single post-processor named "vagrant". This
|
|
post-processor is built-in to Packer and will create Vagrant boxes. You
|
|
can always create [new post-processors](/docs/extend/post-processor.html), however.
|
|
The details on configuring post-processors is covered in the
|
|
[post-processors](/docs/templates/post-processors.html) documentation.
|
|
|
|
Validate the configuration using `packer validate`.
|
|
|
|
## Using the Post-Processor
|
|
|
|
Just run a normal `packer build` and it will now use the post-processor.
|
|
Since Packer can't currently make a Vagrant box for DigitalOcean anyways,
|
|
I recommend passing the `-only=amazon-ebs` flag to `packer build` so it only
|
|
builds the AMI. The command should look like the following:
|
|
|
|
```text
|
|
$ packer build -only=amazon-ebs example.json
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
As you watch the output, you'll notice at the end in the artifact listing
|
|
that a Vagrant box was made (by default at `packer_aws.box` in the current
|
|
directory). Success!
|
|
|
|
But where did the AMI go? When using post-processors, Vagrant removes
|
|
intermediary artifacts since they're usually not wanted. Only the final
|
|
artifact is preserved. This behavior can be changed, of course. Changing
|
|
this behavior is covered [in the documentation](/docs/templates/post-processors.html).
|
|
|
|
Typically when removing intermediary artifacts, the actual underlying
|
|
files or resources of the artifact are also removed. For example, when
|
|
building a VMware image, if you turn it into a Vagrant box, the files of
|
|
the VMware image will be deleted since they were compressed into the Vagrant
|
|
box. With creating AWS images, however, the AMI is kept around, since Vagrant
|
|
needs it to function.
|