Use Packer with VMware Player to build an OVA

Packer OVA Examples

I ran into a bunch of good examples that other people had luck with:

Packer Configuration Files

Between all of those examples, I created my own configs and made sure they were okay:

<> tree
.
├── ansible
│   ├── main.yml
│   └── requirements.yml
├── centos7.json
├── http
│   └── ks.cfg
├── iso
│   └── CentOS-7-x86_64-Minimal-1708.iso
└── scripts
    └── post-install.sh

First let’s ensure the packer configs are okay:

<> packer validate centos7.json
Template validated successfully.

I also did the same thing on the kickstart file (initially it gave me a warning):

<> ksvalidator http/ks.cfg
The following problem occurred on line 5 of the kickstart file:

Unknown command: unsupported_hardware

But then specifying the correct version got rid of the warnings:

<> ksvalidator -v RHEL7 http/ks.cfg && echo $?
0

I did have to get the latest version of the python module to get the kickstart validation to work (and fix a file to point to the right module: orderedset vs ordered_set, fix is described in python-pykickstart). Here is the version of the module that was installed with pip:

<> pip2 show pykickstart
---
Metadata-Version: 1.1
Name: pykickstart
Version: 3.7
Summary: Python module for manipulating kickstart files
Home-page: http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/pykickstart
Author: Chris Lumens
Author-email: clumens@redhat.com
License: UNKNOWN
Location: /usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages
Requires:
Classifiers:
  Programming Language :: Python :: 3

Packer Errors with VMware Player

I ran into a couple of error during the packer build, here are the ones that I remember:

Missing Vmware-VIX

Initially ran into an error where vmrum was not present (that’s discussed here ). To fix that error, I installed vmware-vix :

<> chmod +x VMware-VIX-1.17.0-6661328.x86_64.bundle
<> sudo ./VMware-VIX-1.17.0-6661328.x86_64.bundle
Extracting VMware Installer...done.
You must accept the VMware VIX API End User License Agreement to
continue.  Press Enter to proceed.

And then I saw the vmrun executable:

<> rehash
<> which vmrun
/usr/bin/vmrun

And just for reference here is the version of vmplayer I was running (this was on ubuntu 16.04):

<> vmware-installer -l
Product Name         Product Version
==================== ====================
vmware-player        14.1.1.7528167
vmware-vix           1.17.0.6661328

Missing qemu-img

Then I saw the following:

<> packer build centos7.json
vmware-iso output will be in this color.

Build 'vmware-iso' errored: Failed creating VMware driver: Unable to initialize any driver for this platform. The errors
from each driver are shown below. Please fix at least one driver
to continue:
* exec: "vmware": executable file not found in $PATH
* exec: "vmware": executable file not found in $PATH
* Neither 'vmware-vdiskmanager', nor 'qemu-img' found in path.
One of these is required to configure disks for VMware Player.
* Neither 'vmware-vdiskmanager', nor 'qemu-img' found in path.
One of these is required to configure disks for VMware Player.

It looks like I was missing qemu-img and(or) vmware-diskmanager (it looks like I could get vmware-diskmanager from the VMware Virtual Disk Development Kit as discussed in this communities forum). For now I installed the qemu-img, cause it was faster:

<> sudo apt install qemu-utils

Missing /etc/vmware/netmap.conf

Then I ran into an issue where it was missing a vmplayer configuration file:

<> packer build centos7.json
vmware-iso output will be in this color.

==> vmware-iso: Downloading or copying ISO
    vmware-iso: Downloading or copying: file:///usr/local/packer/iso/CentOS-7-x86_64-Minimal-1708.iso
==> vmware-iso: Creating virtual machine disk
==> vmware-iso: Building and writing VMX file
==> vmware-iso: Could not find netmap conf file: /etc/vmware/netmap.conf
==> vmware-iso: Deleting output directory...
Build 'vmware-iso' errored: Could not find netmap conf file: /etc/vmware/netmap.conf

==> Some builds didn't complete successfully and had errors:
--> vmware-iso: Could not find netmap conf file: /etc/vmware/netmap.conf

==> Builds finished but no artifacts were created.

So I created a sample file using a copy from How to Manually Configure VMWARE Networking on Linux Command Line site, and it ended up looking like this:

<> cat /etc/vmware/netmap.conf
network0.name = "Bridged"
network0.device = "vmnet0"
network1.name = "HostOnly"
network1.device = "vmnet1"
network2.name = "VMNet2"
network2.device = "vmnet2"
network8.name = "NAT"
network8.device = "vmnet8"

Missing ldconfig

Then I ran into this message:

<> packer build centos7.json
vmware-iso output will be in this color.

==> vmware-iso: Downloading or copying ISO
    vmware-iso: Downloading or copying: file:///usr/local/packer/iso/CentOS-7-x86_64-Minimal-1708.iso
==> vmware-iso: Creating virtual machine disk
==> vmware-iso: Building and writing VMX file
==> vmware-iso: Starting HTTP server on port 8197
==> vmware-iso: Starting virtual machine...
    vmware-iso: The VM will be run headless, without a GUI. If you want to
    vmware-iso: view the screen of the VM, connect via VNC with the password "SXxWhTkw" to
    vmware-iso: vnc://127.0.0.1:5904
==> vmware-iso: Error starting VM: VMware error: /usr/lib/vmware/bin/vmware-vmx: error while loading shared libraries: libXcursor.so.1: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
==> vmware-iso: Waiting 4.655373739s to give VMware time to clean up...
==> vmware-iso: Deleting output directory...
Build 'vmware-iso' errored: Error starting VM: VMware error: /usr/lib/vmware/bin/vmware-vmx: error while loading shared libraries: libXcursor.so.1: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory

I located the file

<> sudo updatedb
<> locate libXcursor.so.1
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libXcursor.so.1
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libXcursor.so.1/libXcursor.so.1
/usr/lib/vmware-installer/2.1.0/lib/lib/libXcursor.so.1
/usr/lib/vmware-installer/2.1.0/lib/lib/libXcursor.so.1/libXcursor.so.1

and created the following file to load the library:

<> cat /etc/ld.so.conf.d/vmware.conf
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libXcursor.so.1
<> sudo ldconfig -v | grep vmware -A 1
/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libXcursor.so.1:
	libXcursor.so.1 -> libXcursor.so.1

Then the VM started.

Incorrect dhcpd.conf file location

Then I ran into one more issue:

<> packer build centos7.json
vmware-iso output will be in this color.

==> vmware-iso: Downloading or copying ISO
    vmware-iso: Downloading or copying: file:///usr/local/packer/iso/CentOS-7-x86_64-Minimal-1708.iso
==> vmware-iso: Creating virtual machine disk
==> vmware-iso: Building and writing VMX file
==> vmware-iso: Starting HTTP server on port 8383
==> vmware-iso: Starting virtual machine...
    vmware-iso: The VM will be run headless, without a GUI. If you want to
    vmware-iso: view the screen of the VM, connect via VNC with the password "9B6EsmKN" to
    vmware-iso: vnc://127.0.0.1:5963
==> vmware-iso: Waiting 10s for boot...
==> vmware-iso: Connecting to VM via VNC (127.0.0.1:5963)
==> vmware-iso: Error detecting host IP: Could not find vmnetdhcp conf file: /etc/vmware/vmnet8/dhcp/dhcp.conf
==> vmware-iso: Stopping virtual machine...
==> vmware-iso: Deleting output directory...
Build 'vmware-iso' errored: Error detecting host IP: Could not find vmnetdhcp conf file: /etc/vmware/vmnet8/dhcp/dhcp.conf

It looks like now the file is located here /etc/vmware/vmnet8/dhcpd/dhcpd.conf (vs /etc/vmware/vmnet8/dhcp/dhcp.conf) , so I just created a sym link to the directory and file:

<> ls -l /etc/vmware/vmnet8/dhcp
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 5 Feb 11 12:39 /etc/vmware/vmnet8/dhcp -> dhcpd
<> ls -l /etc/vmware/vmnet8/dhcp/dhcp.conf
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Feb 11 12:39 /etc/vmware/vmnet8/dhcp/dhcp.conf -> dhcpd.conf

Then it started the install, and I saw the VM running:

<> vmrun -T player list
Total running VMs: 1
/usr/local/packer/output-ova-vmware-iso/packer-centos-7-x86_64.vmx
<> ps -ef | grep vmx
elatov    3592  1372  0 20:22 pts/3    00:00:00 grep --color=auto vmx
elatov   30788     1 99 20:18 ?        00:04:33 /usr/lib/vmware/bin/vmware-vmx -s vmx.noUIBuildNumberCheck=TRUE -# product=4;name=VMware Player;version=14.0.0;buildnumber=6661328;licensename=VMware Player;licenseversion=14.0; -@ duplex=3;msgs=ui /usr/local/packer/output-ova-vmware-iso/packer-centos-7-x86_64.vmx

Checking PXE Boot Install Progress

While the Kickstart install is going, packer was showing this message,

<> packer build centos7.json
vmware-iso output will be in this color.

==> vmware-iso: Downloading or copying ISO
    vmware-iso: Downloading or copying: file:///usr/local/packer/iso/CentOS-7-x86_64-Minimal-1708.iso
==> vmware-iso: Creating virtual machine disk
==> vmware-iso: Building and writing VMX file
==> vmware-iso: Starting HTTP server on port 8863
==> vmware-iso: Starting virtual machine...
    vmware-iso: The VM will be run headless, without a GUI. If you want to
    vmware-iso: view the screen of the VM, connect via VNC with the password "O08ybVbP" to
    vmware-iso: vnc://127.0.0.1:5924
==> vmware-iso: Waiting 10s for boot...
==> vmware-iso: Connecting to VM via VNC (127.0.0.1:5924)
==> vmware-iso: Typing the boot command over VNC...
==> vmware-iso: Waiting for SSH to become available...

So I decided to connect to the VNC service. First I created an SSH tunnel from my Mac:

<> ssh -L 1111:localhost:5924 ub

then on my Mac, I ran this:

<> vncviewer localhost:1111

Then after typing in the password (from the packer output), I saw the install going:

It was good to confirm the install was going.

Issue with Ansible provisioner and Packer

I ran into another issue with the ansible provisioner:

<> packer build centos7.json
vmware-iso output will be in this color.

==> vmware-iso: Downloading or copying ISO
    vmware-iso: Downloading or copying: file:///usr/local/packer/iso/CentOS-7-x86_64-Minimal-1708.iso
==> vmware-iso: Creating virtual machine disk
==> vmware-iso: Building and writing VMX file
==> vmware-iso: Starting HTTP server on port 8844
==> vmware-iso: Starting virtual machine...
    vmware-iso: The VM will be run headless, without a GUI. If you want to
    vmware-iso: view the screen of the VM, connect via VNC with the password "lWgi2eUn" to
    vmware-iso: vnc://127.0.0.1:5970
==> vmware-iso: Waiting 10s for boot...
==> vmware-iso: Connecting to VM via VNC (127.0.0.1:5970)
==> vmware-iso: Typing the boot command over VNC...
==> vmware-iso: Waiting for SSH to become available...
==> vmware-iso: Connected to SSH!
==> vmware-iso: Provisioning with shell script: scripts/post-install.sh
..
..
==> vmware-iso: Provisioning with Ansible...
    vmware-iso: Creating Ansible staging directory...
    vmware-iso: Creating directory: /tmp/packer-provisioner-ansible-local/5a80a166-018b-345f-29cb-6764bc9ad5bb
    vmware-iso: Uploading main Playbook file...
    vmware-iso: Uploading galaxy file...
{
    vmware-iso: Uploading inventory file...
    vmware-iso: Executing Ansible Galaxy: cd /tmp/packer-provisioner-ansible-local/5a80a166-018b-345f-29cb-6764bc9ad5bb && ansible-galaxy install -r /tmp/packer-provisioner-ansible-local/5a80a166-018b-345f-29cb-6764bc9ad5bb/requirements.yml -p /tmp/packer-provisioner-ansible-local/5a80a166-018b-345f-29cb-6764bc9ad5bb/roles
    vmware-iso: - downloading role 'chrony', owned by influxdata
    vmware-iso: - downloading role from https://github.com/influxdata/ansible-chrony/archive/master.tar.gz
    vmware-iso: - extracting influxdata.chrony to /tmp/packer-provisioner-ansible-local/5a80a166-018b-345f-29cb-6764bc9ad5bb/roles/influxdata.chrony
    vmware-iso: - influxdata.chrony (master) was installed successfully
    vmware-iso: Executing Ansible: cd /tmp/packer-provisioner-ansible-local/5a80a166-018b-345f-29cb-6764bc9ad5bb && ANSIBLE_FORCE_COLOR=1 PYTHONUNBUFFERED=1 ansible-playbook /tmp/packer-provisioner-ansible-local/5a80a166-018b-345f-29cb-6764bc9ad5bb/main.yml --extra-vars \"packer_build_name=vmware-iso packer_builder_type=vmware-iso packer_http_addr=172.16.197.1:8844\"  -c local -i /tmp/packer-provisioner-ansible-local/5a80a166-018b-345f-29cb-6764bc9ad5bb/packer-provisioner-ansible-local746234266
    vmware-iso: ERROR! the playbook: packer_builder_type=vmware-iso could not be found
==> vmware-iso: Stopping virtual machine...
==> vmware-iso: Deleting output directory...
Build 'vmware-iso' errored: Error executing Ansible: Non-zero exit status: 1

The issue is specific to my packer version and is discussed here (it’s a pretty recent issue, so I will wait for the next version to see if that fixes it).

Complete Packer Build

As I test I disabled ansible and just used the shell provisioner, and the build succeeded:

<> packer build centos7.json
vmware-iso output will be in this color.

==> vmware-iso: Downloading or copying ISO
    vmware-iso: Downloading or copying: file:///usr/local/packer/iso/CentOS-7-x86_64-Minimal-1708.iso
==> vmware-iso: Creating virtual machine disk
==> vmware-iso: Building and writing VMX file
==> vmware-iso: Starting HTTP server on port 8776
==> vmware-iso: Starting virtual machine...
    vmware-iso: The VM will be run headless, without a GUI. If you want to
    vmware-iso: view the screen of the VM, connect via VNC with the password "jxIgJ53t" to
    vmware-iso: vnc://127.0.0.1:5976
==> vmware-iso: Waiting 10s for boot...
==> vmware-iso: Connecting to VM via VNC (127.0.0.1:5976)
==> vmware-iso: Typing the boot command over VNC...
==> vmware-iso: Waiting for SSH to become available...
==> vmware-iso: Connected to SSH!
==> vmware-iso: Provisioning with shell script: scripts/post-install.sh
    vmware-iso: Loaded plugins: fastestmirror
    vmware-iso: base                                                     | 3.6 kB     00:00
    vmware-iso: extras                                                   | 3.4 kB     00:00
    vmware-iso: updates                                                  | 3.4 kB     00:00
    vmware-iso: (1/4): base/7/x86_64/group_gz                              | 156 kB   00:00
    vmware-iso: (2/4): extras/7/x86_64/primary_db                          | 166 kB   00:00
    vmware-iso: (3/4): updates/7/x86_64/primary_db                         | 6.0 MB   00:00
    vmware-iso: (4/4): base/7/x86_64/primary_db                            | 5.7 MB   00:01
    vmware-iso: Determining fastest mirrors
    vmware-iso:  * base: mirror.den1.denvercolo.net
    vmware-iso:  * extras: mirrors.umflint.edu
    vmware-iso:  * updates: mirrors.oit.uci.edu
    vmware-iso: Resolving Dependencies
    vmware-iso: --> Running transaction check
    vmware-iso: ---> Package ansible.noarch 0:2.4.2.0-2.el7 will be installed
    vmware-iso: --> Processing Dependency: sshpass for package: ansible-2.4.2.0-2.el7.noarch
    vmware-iso: --> Processing Dependency: python2-jmespath for package: ansible-2.4.2.0-2.el7.noarch
    vmware-iso: --> Processing Dependency: python-six for package: ansible-2.4.2.0-2.el7.noarch
    vmware-iso: --> Processing Dependency: python-setuptools for package: ansible-2.4.2.0-2.el7.noarch
    vmware-iso: --> Processing Dependency: python-passlib for package: ansible-2.4.2.0-2.el7.noarch
    vmware-iso: --> Processing Dependency: python-paramiko for package: ansible-2.4.2.0-2.el7.noarch
    vmware-iso: --> Processing Dependency: python-jinja2 for package: ansible-2.4.2.0-2.el7.noarch
    vmware-iso: --> Processing Dependency: python-httplib2 for package: ansible-2.4.2.0-2.el7.noarch
    vmware-iso: --> Processing Dependency: python-cryptography for package: ansible-2.4.2.0-2.el7.noarch
    vmware-iso: --> Processing Dependency: PyYAML for package: ansible-2.4.2.0-2.el7.noarch
    vmware-iso: --> Running transaction check
    vmware-iso: ---> Package PyYAML.x86_64 0:3.10-11.el7 will be installed
    vmware-iso: --> Processing Dependency: libyaml-0.so.2()(64bit) for package: PyYAML-3.10-11.el7.x86_64
    vmware-iso: ---> Package python-httplib2.noarch 0:0.9.2-1.el7 will be installed
    vmware-iso: ---> Package python-jinja2.noarch 0:2.7.2-2.el7 will be installed
    vmware-iso: --> Processing Dependency: python-babel >= 0.8 for package: python-jinja2-2.7.2-2.el7.noarch
    vmware-iso: --> Processing Dependency: python-markupsafe for package: python-jinja2-2.7.2-2.el7.noarch
    vmware-iso: ---> Package python-paramiko.noarch 0:2.1.1-2.el7 will be installed
    vmware-iso: ---> Package python-passlib.noarch 0:1.6.5-2.el7 will be installed
    vmware-iso: ---> Package python-setuptools.noarch 0:0.9.8-7.el7 will be installed
    vmware-iso: --> Processing Dependency: python-backports-ssl_match_hostname for package: python-setuptools-0.9.8-7.el7.noarch
    vmware-iso: ---> Package python-six.noarch 0:1.9.0-2.el7 will be installed
    vmware-iso: ---> Package python2-cryptography.x86_64 0:1.7.2-1.el7_4.1 will be installed
    vmware-iso: --> Processing Dependency: python-pyasn1 >= 0.1.8 for package: python2-cryptography-1.7.2-1.el7_4.1.x86_64
    vmware-iso: --> Processing Dependency: python-idna >= 2.0 for package: python2-cryptography-1.7.2-1.el7_4.1.x86_64
    vmware-iso: --> Processing Dependency: python-cffi >= 1.4.1 for package: python2-cryptography-1.7.2-1.el7_4.1.x86_64
    vmware-iso: --> Processing Dependency: python-ipaddress for package: python2-cryptography-1.7.2-1.el7_4.1.x86_64
    vmware-iso: --> Processing Dependency: python-enum34 for package: python2-cryptography-1.7.2-1.el7_4.1.x86_64
    vmware-iso: ---> Package python2-jmespath.noarch 0:0.9.0-3.el7 will be installed
    vmware-iso: ---> Package sshpass.x86_64 0:1.06-2.el7 will be installed
    vmware-iso: --> Running transaction check
    vmware-iso: ---> Package libyaml.x86_64 0:0.1.4-11.el7_0 will be installed
    vmware-iso: ---> Package python-babel.noarch 0:0.9.6-8.el7 will be installed
    vmware-iso: ---> Package python-backports-ssl_match_hostname.noarch 0:3.4.0.2-4.el7 will be installed
    vmware-iso: --> Processing Dependency: python-backports for package: python-backports-ssl_match_hostname-3.4.0.2-4.el7.noarch
    vmware-iso: ---> Package python-cffi.x86_64 0:1.6.0-5.el7 will be installed
    vmware-iso: --> Processing Dependency: python-pycparser for package: python-cffi-1.6.0-5.el7.x86_64
    vmware-iso: ---> Package python-enum34.noarch 0:1.0.4-1.el7 will be installed
    vmware-iso: ---> Package python-idna.noarch 0:2.4-1.el7 will be installed
    vmware-iso: ---> Package python-ipaddress.noarch 0:1.0.16-2.el7 will be installed
    vmware-iso: ---> Package python-markupsafe.x86_64 0:0.11-10.el7 will be installed
    vmware-iso: ---> Package python2-pyasn1.noarch 0:0.1.9-7.el7 will be installed
    vmware-iso: --> Running transaction check
    vmware-iso: ---> Package python-backports.x86_64 0:1.0-8.el7 will be installed
    vmware-iso: ---> Package python-pycparser.noarch 0:2.14-1.el7 will be installed
    vmware-iso: --> Processing Dependency: python-ply for package: python-pycparser-2.14-1.el7.noarch
    vmware-iso: --> Running transaction check
    vmware-iso: ---> Package python-ply.noarch 0:3.4-11.el7 will be installed
    vmware-iso: --> Finished Dependency Resolution
    vmware-iso:
    vmware-iso: Dependencies Resolved
    vmware-iso:
    vmware-iso: ================================================================================
    vmware-iso:  Package                              Arch    Version            Repository
    vmware-iso:                                                                            Size
    vmware-iso: ================================================================================
    vmware-iso: Installing:
    vmware-iso:  ansible                              noarch  2.4.2.0-2.el7      extras   7.6 M
    vmware-iso: Installing for dependencies:
    vmware-iso:  PyYAML                               x86_64  3.10-11.el7        base     153 k
    vmware-iso:  libyaml                              x86_64  0.1.4-11.el7_0     base      55 k
    vmware-iso:  python-babel                         noarch  0.9.6-8.el7        base     1.4 M
    vmware-iso:  python-backports                     x86_64  1.0-8.el7          base     5.8 k
    vmware-iso:  python-backports-ssl_match_hostname  noarch  3.4.0.2-4.el7      base      12 k
    vmware-iso:  python-cffi                          x86_64  1.6.0-5.el7        base     218 k
    vmware-iso:  python-enum34                        noarch  1.0.4-1.el7        base      52 k
    vmware-iso:  python-httplib2                      noarch  0.9.2-1.el7        extras   115 k
    vmware-iso:  python-idna                          noarch  2.4-1.el7          base      94 k
    vmware-iso:  python-ipaddress                     noarch  1.0.16-2.el7       base      34 k
    vmware-iso:  python-jinja2                        noarch  2.7.2-2.el7        base     515 k
    vmware-iso:  python-markupsafe                    x86_64  0.11-10.el7        base      25 k
    vmware-iso:  python-paramiko                      noarch  2.1.1-2.el7        extras   267 k
    vmware-iso:  python-passlib                       noarch  1.6.5-2.el7        extras   488 k
    vmware-iso:  python-ply                           noarch  3.4-11.el7         base     123 k
    vmware-iso:  python-pycparser                     noarch  2.14-1.el7         base     104 k
    vmware-iso:  python-setuptools                    noarch  0.9.8-7.el7        base     397 k
    vmware-iso:  python-six                           noarch  1.9.0-2.el7        base      29 k
    vmware-iso:  python2-cryptography                 x86_64  1.7.2-1.el7_4.1    updates  502 k
    vmware-iso:  python2-jmespath                     noarch  0.9.0-3.el7        extras    39 k
    vmware-iso:  python2-pyasn1                       noarch  0.1.9-7.el7        base     100 k
    vmware-iso:  sshpass                              x86_64  1.06-2.el7         extras    21 k
    vmware-iso:
    vmware-iso: Transaction Summary
    vmware-iso: ================================================================================
    vmware-iso: Install  1 Package (+22 Dependent packages)
    vmware-iso:
    vmware-iso: Total download size: 12 M
    vmware-iso: Installed size: 60 M
    vmware-iso: Downloading packages:
    vmware-iso: (1/23): libyaml-0.1.4-11.el7_0.x86_64.rpm                  |  55 kB   00:00
    vmware-iso: (2/23): PyYAML-3.10-11.el7.x86_64.rpm                      | 153 kB   00:00
    vmware-iso: (3/23): python-backports-1.0-8.el7.x86_64.rpm              | 5.8 kB   00:00
    vmware-iso: (4/23): python-backports-ssl_match_hostname-3.4.0.2-4.el7. |  12 kB   00:00
    vmware-iso: (5/23): python-cffi-1.6.0-5.el7.x86_64.rpm                 | 218 kB   00:00
    vmware-iso: (6/23): ansible-2.4.2.0-2.el7.noarch.rpm                   | 7.6 MB   00:01
    vmware-iso: (7/23): python-idna-2.4-1.el7.noarch.rpm                   |  94 kB   00:00
    vmware-iso: (8/23): python-babel-0.9.6-8.el7.noarch.rpm                | 1.4 MB   00:01
    vmware-iso: (9/23): python-enum34-1.0.4-1.el7.noarch.rpm               |  52 kB   00:00
    vmware-iso: (10/23): python-jinja2-2.7.2-2.el7.noarch.rpm              | 515 kB   00:00
    vmware-iso: (11/23): python-markupsafe-0.11-10.el7.x86_64.rpm          |  25 kB   00:00
    vmware-iso: (12/23): python-httplib2-0.9.2-1.el7.noarch.rpm            | 115 kB   00:00
    vmware-iso: (13/23): python-ipaddress-1.0.16-2.el7.noarch.rpm          |  34 kB   00:00
    vmware-iso: (14/23): python-setuptools-0.9.8-7.el7.noarch.rpm          | 397 kB   00:00
    vmware-iso: (15/23): python-six-1.9.0-2.el7.noarch.rpm                 |  29 kB   00:00
    vmware-iso: (16/23): python-paramiko-2.1.1-2.el7.noarch.rpm            | 267 kB   00:00
    vmware-iso: (17/23): python-ply-3.4-11.el7.noarch.rpm                  | 123 kB   00:00
    vmware-iso: (18/23): python-passlib-1.6.5-2.el7.noarch.rpm             | 488 kB   00:00
    vmware-iso: (19/23): python2-jmespath-0.9.0-3.el7.noarch.rpm           |  39 kB   00:00
    vmware-iso: (20/23): python-pycparser-2.14-1.el7.noarch.rpm            | 104 kB   00:00
    vmware-iso: (21/23): python2-cryptography-1.7.2-1.el7_4.1.x86_64.rpm   | 502 kB   00:00
    vmware-iso: (22/23): sshpass-1.06-2.el7.x86_64.rpm                     |  21 kB   00:00
    vmware-iso: (23/23): python2-pyasn1-0.1.9-7.el7.noarch.rpm             | 100 kB   00:00
    vmware-iso: --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    vmware-iso: Total                                              6.0 MB/s |  12 MB  00:02
    vmware-iso: Running transaction check
    vmware-iso: Running transaction test
    vmware-iso: Transaction test succeeded
    vmware-iso: Running transaction
    vmware-iso:   Installing : python-six-1.9.0-2.el7.noarch                               1/23
    vmware-iso:   Installing : python2-pyasn1-0.1.9-7.el7.noarch                           2/23
    vmware-iso:   Installing : python-httplib2-0.9.2-1.el7.noarch                          3/23
    vmware-iso:   Installing : python-enum34-1.0.4-1.el7.noarch                            4/23
    vmware-iso:   Installing : python-ipaddress-1.0.16-2.el7.noarch                        5/23
    vmware-iso:   Installing : libyaml-0.1.4-11.el7_0.x86_64                               6/23
    vmware-iso:   Installing : PyYAML-3.10-11.el7.x86_64                                   7/23
    vmware-iso:   Installing : python-backports-1.0-8.el7.x86_64                           8/23
    vmware-iso:   Installing : python-backports-ssl_match_hostname-3.4.0.2-4.el7.noarch    9/23
    vmware-iso:   Installing : python-setuptools-0.9.8-7.el7.noarch                       10/23
    vmware-iso:   Installing : python-babel-0.9.6-8.el7.noarch                            11/23
    vmware-iso:   Installing : python-passlib-1.6.5-2.el7.noarch                          12/23
    vmware-iso:   Installing : python-ply-3.4-11.el7.noarch                               13/23
    vmware-iso:   Installing : python-pycparser-2.14-1.el7.noarch                         14/23
    vmware-iso:   Installing : python-cffi-1.6.0-5.el7.x86_64                             15/23
    vmware-iso:   Installing : python-markupsafe-0.11-10.el7.x86_64                       16/23
    vmware-iso:   Installing : python-jinja2-2.7.2-2.el7.noarch                           17/23
    vmware-iso:   Installing : python-idna-2.4-1.el7.noarch                               18/23
    vmware-iso:   Installing : python2-cryptography-1.7.2-1.el7_4.1.x86_64                19/23
    vmware-iso:   Installing : python-paramiko-2.1.1-2.el7.noarch                         20/23
    vmware-iso:   Installing : python2-jmespath-0.9.0-3.el7.noarch                        21/23
    vmware-iso:   Installing : sshpass-1.06-2.el7.x86_64                                  22/23
    vmware-iso:   Installing : ansible-2.4.2.0-2.el7.noarch                               23/23
    vmware-iso:   Verifying  : python-jinja2-2.7.2-2.el7.noarch                            1/23
    vmware-iso:   Verifying  : python-backports-ssl_match_hostname-3.4.0.2-4.el7.noarch    2/23
    vmware-iso:   Verifying  : sshpass-1.06-2.el7.x86_64                                   3/23
    vmware-iso:   Verifying  : python-setuptools-0.9.8-7.el7.noarch                        4/23
    vmware-iso:   Verifying  : python2-cryptography-1.7.2-1.el7_4.1.x86_64                 5/23
    vmware-iso:   Verifying  : python2-jmespath-0.9.0-3.el7.noarch                         6/23
    vmware-iso:   Verifying  : python-six-1.9.0-2.el7.noarch                               7/23
    vmware-iso:   Verifying  : python-idna-2.4-1.el7.noarch                                8/23
    vmware-iso:   Verifying  : python-markupsafe-0.11-10.el7.x86_64                        9/23
    vmware-iso:   Verifying  : python-ply-3.4-11.el7.noarch                               10/23
    vmware-iso:   Verifying  : python-passlib-1.6.5-2.el7.noarch                          11/23
    vmware-iso:   Verifying  : python-babel-0.9.6-8.el7.noarch                            12/23
    vmware-iso:   Verifying  : python-backports-1.0-8.el7.x86_64                          13/23
    vmware-iso:   Verifying  : python-cffi-1.6.0-5.el7.x86_64                             14/23
    vmware-iso:   Verifying  : python-paramiko-2.1.1-2.el7.noarch                         15/23
    vmware-iso:   Verifying  : python-pycparser-2.14-1.el7.noarch                         16/23
    vmware-iso:   Verifying  : libyaml-0.1.4-11.el7_0.x86_64                              17/23
    vmware-iso:   Verifying  : ansible-2.4.2.0-2.el7.noarch                               18/23
    vmware-iso:   Verifying  : python-ipaddress-1.0.16-2.el7.noarch                       19/23
    vmware-iso:   Verifying  : python-enum34-1.0.4-1.el7.noarch                           20/23
    vmware-iso:   Verifying  : python-httplib2-0.9.2-1.el7.noarch                         21/23
    vmware-iso:   Verifying  : python2-pyasn1-0.1.9-7.el7.noarch                          22/23
    vmware-iso:   Verifying  : PyYAML-3.10-11.el7.x86_64                                  23/23
    vmware-iso:
    vmware-iso: Installed:
    vmware-iso:   ansible.noarch 0:2.4.2.0-2.el7
    vmware-iso:
    vmware-iso: Dependency Installed:
    vmware-iso:   PyYAML.x86_64 0:3.10-11.el7
    vmware-iso:   libyaml.x86_64 0:0.1.4-11.el7_0
    vmware-iso:   python-babel.noarch 0:0.9.6-8.el7
    vmware-iso:   python-backports.x86_64 0:1.0-8.el7
    vmware-iso:   python-backports-ssl_match_hostname.noarch 0:3.4.0.2-4.el7
    vmware-iso:   python-cffi.x86_64 0:1.6.0-5.el7
    vmware-iso:   python-enum34.noarch 0:1.0.4-1.el7
    vmware-iso:   python-httplib2.noarch 0:0.9.2-1.el7
    vmware-iso:   python-idna.noarch 0:2.4-1.el7
    vmware-iso:   python-ipaddress.noarch 0:1.0.16-2.el7
    vmware-iso:   python-jinja2.noarch 0:2.7.2-2.el7
    vmware-iso:   python-markupsafe.x86_64 0:0.11-10.el7
    vmware-iso:   python-paramiko.noarch 0:2.1.1-2.el7
    vmware-iso:   python-passlib.noarch 0:1.6.5-2.el7
    vmware-iso:   python-ply.noarch 0:3.4-11.el7
    vmware-iso:   python-pycparser.noarch 0:2.14-1.el7
    vmware-iso:   python-setuptools.noarch 0:0.9.8-7.el7
    vmware-iso:   python-six.noarch 0:1.9.0-2.el7
    vmware-iso:   python2-cryptography.x86_64 0:1.7.2-1.el7_4.1
    vmware-iso:   python2-jmespath.noarch 0:0.9.0-3.el7
    vmware-iso:   python2-pyasn1.noarch 0:0.1.9-7.el7
    vmware-iso:   sshpass.x86_64 0:1.06-2.el7
    vmware-iso:
    vmware-iso: Complete!
==> vmware-iso: Gracefully halting virtual machine...
    vmware-iso: Waiting for VMware to clean up after itself...
==> vmware-iso: Deleting unnecessary VMware files...
    vmware-iso: Deleting: output-ova-vmware-iso/vmware.log
==> vmware-iso: Compacting the disk image
==> vmware-iso: Cleaning VMX prior to finishing up...
    vmware-iso: Unmounting floppy from VMX...
    vmware-iso: Detaching ISO from CD-ROM device...
    vmware-iso: Disabling VNC server...
==> vmware-iso: Skipping export of virtual machine (export is allowed only for ESXi and the format needs to be specified)...
==> vmware-iso: Running post-processor: shell-local
==> vmware-iso (shell-local): Post processing with local shell script: /tmp/packer-shell112690227
    vmware-iso (shell-local): Opening VMX source: output-ova-vmware-iso/packer-centos-7-x86_64.vmx
    vmware-iso (shell-local): Opening OVA target: output-ova-vmware-iso/test.ova
    vmware-iso (shell-local): Writing OVA package: output-ova-vmware-iso/test.ova
    vmware-iso (shell-local): Transfer Completed
    vmware-iso (shell-local): Completed successfully
Build 'vmware-iso' finished.

==> Builds finished. The artifacts of successful builds are:
--> vmware-iso: VM files in directory: output-ova-vmware-iso
--> vmware-iso:

And I had my OVA created:

<> tree output-ova-vmware-iso
output-ova-vmware-iso
├── disk.vmdk
├── packer-centos-7-x86_64.nvram
├── packer-centos-7-x86_64.vmsd
├── packer-centos-7-x86_64.vmx
├── packer-centos-7-x86_64.vmxf
└── test.ova

Pretty cool. I was also able to query the OVA to see it’s properties:

<> ovftool output-ova-vmware-iso/test.ova
OVF version:   1.0
VirtualApp:    false
Name:          packer-centos-7-x86_64

Download Size:  782.63 MB

Deployment Sizes:
  Flat disks:   16.00 GB
  Sparse disks: 1.55 GB

Networks:
  Name:        nat
  Description: The nat network

Virtual Machines:
  Name:               packer-centos-7-x86_64
  Operating System:   centos7_64guest
  Virtual Hardware:
    Families:         vmx-13
    Number of CPUs:   2
    Cores per socket: 1
    Memory:           512.00 MB

    Disks:
      Index:          0
      Instance ID:    7
      Capacity:       16.00 GB
      Disk Types:     SCSI-lsilogic

    NICs:
      Adapter Type:   E1000
      Connection:     nat

Looks pretty good.

Deploying the OVA on an ESXi Host

As a quick test I deployed the OVA on an ESXi host:

<> ovftool -dm=thin -ds=datastore1 "--net:nat=VM_VLAN3" output-ova-vmware-iso/test.ova "vi://root@hp.kar.int"
Opening OVA source: output-ova-vmware-iso/test.ova
The manifest validates
Enter login information for target vi://hp.kar.int/
Username: root
Password: ********
Opening VI target: vi://root@hp.kar.int:443/
Deploying to VI: vi://root@hp.kar.int:443/
Transfer Completed
Completed successfully

I was able to power on the VM and login with the root user. Here is how the VM looked like in the web-client:

Packer Options

I ended up setting some options in my packer configuration (all the options are covered in VMware Builder (from ISO)):

I disabled the tools_upload_flavor option since I install the open-vm-tools package later on in the provisioning process.
I set the version to 13 to match my ESXi version (which is 6.5) by default it’s 9 (which is ESXi 5.1).
I manually created the OVA with ovftool instead of uploaded it to the ESXi machine, just for testing (and to be able to use it for later use, since I don’t have vCenter and I can’t store templates):
```
  "post-processors": [
  {
    "type": "shell-local",
    "inline": ["ovftool output-ova-vmware-iso/packer-centos-7-x86_64.vmx output-ova-vmware-iso/test.ova"]
  }
  ]
```
I set the guest_os_type to be centos7-64 to make sure it shows up as CentOS 7 and not CentOS 5 (the full list of OS types is available here

That was just some of the options that worked out for me.

Packer with Jenkins

There is no shortage of example Jenkinsfiles out there:

After creating a Jenkins job of your choice and running a successful job (to build and store an OVA image), you might see something like this in your Jenkins Job Results (don’t forget to use stage blocks):