Packer

Build identical machine images for multiple platforms

🐧 Linux🍎 Mac🪟 Windows

Reviewed: 2026-06|Tested on: Kubernetes 1.29 · Terraform 1.8 · Ubuntu 22.04

What is this?

Packer automates building identical VM or cloud images from a template.

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Config files for Packer

Where to create or edit the main configuration — paths below match the setup steps.

*.pkr.hcl
Location: Project directory
Image builders, sources, and provisioners

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Step 01

Install Packer

(01)Install Packer

Linux

1wget -O- https://apt.releases.hashicorp.com/gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/hashicorp-archive-keyring.gpg
2echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/hashicorp-archive-keyring.gpg] https://apt.releases.hashicorp.com $(lsb_release -cs) main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/hashicorp.list
3sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y packer

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Step 02

Configure Packer

(01)Configure Packer

Linux

1packer init .
2packer validate .
3packer build .

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Step 03

Verify

(01)Verify installation

Linux

1packer --version