Packer Waiting for SSH

Question

I am new to Packer. I have researched this issue(above) in great detail. I am currently trying to create an UBuntu 32 bit VM. I am running Packer on a WIndows 10 OS. Once the installation is complete and the VM reboots and I am then prompted with GUI to login on my VM while packer still running my host Windows says it's waiting for SSH to become available. How may I best enable ssh for Packer to use to connect with my vm. Here is my json.template

{
    "builders": [
      {
        "type": "virtualbox-iso",
        "vm_name": "{{ user `alias` }}",
        "vboxmanage": [          
            [ "modifyvm", "{{.Name}}", "--cpus", "1" ],
            [ "modifyvm", "{{.Name}}", "--memory", "{{user `ram`}}" ],
            [ "modifyvm", "{{.Name}}", "--clipboard", "bidirectional" ],             
            [ "modifyvm", "{{.Name}}", "--draganddrop", "bidirectional" ], 
            [ "modifyvm", "{{.Name}}", "--audio", "none" ],
            [ "modifyvm", "{{.Name}}", "--nic1", "intnet"], 
            [ "modifyvm", "{{.Name}}","--nic2", "null"],
            [ "modifyvm", "{{.Name}}","--vram", "16"],
            [ "modifyvm", "{{.Name}}","--mouse", "usbtablet"]              
          ],
        "guest_os_type": "Ubuntu",
        "iso_url": "{{ user `iso_url` }}",
        "iso_checksum": "{{ user `iso_checksum` }}",
        "iso_checksum_type": "md5",
        "disk_size": "{{ user `disk_size` }}",
        "ssh_username": "{{ user `ssh_username` }}",
        "ssh_password": "{{ user `ssh_password` }}",
        "ssh_timeout": "{{ user `ssh_timeout` }}",
        "guest_additions_mode": "attach",
        "headless": "{{ user `headless` }}", 
        "boot_wait": "3s",
        "boot_command": [
          "<enter><wait><esc><enter><wait>",
          "/install/vmlinuz<wait>",
          " {{user `preseed_path`}}",
          " debian-installer/locale=en_US console-setup/ask_detect=false<wait>",
          " console-setup/layoutcode=us<wait>",
          " keyboard-configuration/layoutcode=us<wait>",
          " passwd/user-password={{ user `ssh_password` }}<wait>",
          " passwd/user-password-again={{ user `ssh_password` }}<wait>",
          " finish-install/reboot_in_progress=note<wait>",
          " netcfg/use_autoconfig=false<wait>",
          " cdrom-detect/eject boolean=false<wait>",
          " initrd=/install/initrd.gz<wait>",
           "<enter><wait>"
        ],
        "shutdown_command": "sudo shutdown -h now"
      }
    ],
    "post-processors": [
      {
        "type": "vagrant",
        "output": "C://{{ user `box_name` }}.box"
      }
    ],
    "variables": {
      "headless": "false",
      "iso_checksum": "7",
      "iso_url": "{{file path}}",
      "disk_size": "256000",
      "alias": "packervm",
      "box_name": "ubuntu_custom",
      "ssh_timeout": "20m",
      "ssh_username": "{{username}}",
      "ssh_password": "{{password}}",
      "preseed_path":"file=/cdrom/preseed/preseed.cfg",
      "ram": "2048"
    }
  }

P.S Yes I have looked at templates before coming to here and asking this question.

Unfortunately, I am not permitted to do so. Might there be something in the file I should look into? — Sam, Jun 06 '18 at 17:58

score 3 · Answer 1 · answered Jun 07 '18 at 21:59

3

Actually, I got it. It was a combination of setting ssh_port to 22, setting ssh_address to my vm's address, setting ssh_skip_nat_mapping to true and than changing my nic card from internal network to hostonly and then configuring it.

answered Jun 07 '18 at 21:59

Sam

145
2
14

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 06 '18 at 18:03

0

You overwrite Packers setup of network and thus the host won't be able to reach the guest. To fix it remove the two following lines:

[ "modifyvm", "{{.Name}}", "--nic1", "intnet"], 
[ "modifyvm", "{{.Name}}","--nic2", "null"],

answered Jun 06 '18 at 18:03

Rickard von Essen

4,110
2
23
27

Packer Waiting for SSH

2 Answers2