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XenServer Builder (from an ISO)
The XenServer Packer builder is able to create XenServer virtual machines and export them either as an XVA or a VDI and create VM templates starting from an ISO image.

XenServer Builder (from an ISO)

Type: xenserver-iso

The XenServer Packer builder is able to create XenServer virtual machines and export them either as an XVA or a VDI and create VM templates starting from an ISO image.

The builder builds a virtual machine by creating a new virtual machine from scratch, booting it, installing an OS, provisioning software within the OS, then shutting it down. The result of the XenServer builder is a directory containing all the files necessary to run the virtual machine portably.

Configuration Reference

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

Required:

  • iso_checksum (string) - The checksum for the OS ISO file. Because ISO files are so large, this is required and Packer will verify it prior to booting a virtual machine with the ISO attached. The type of the checksum is specified within the checksum field as a prefix, ex: "md5:{$checksum}". The type of the checksum can also be omitted and Packer will try to infer it based on string length. Valid values are "none", "{$checksum}", "md5:{$checksum}", "sha1:{$checksum}", "sha256:{$checksum}", "sha512:{$checksum}" or "file:{$path}". Here is an example list of valid checksum values:

    • md5:090992ba9fd140077b0661cb75f7ce13
    • 090992ba9fd140077b0661cb75f7ce13
    • sha1:ebfb681885ddf1234c18094a45bbeafd91467911
    • ebfb681885ddf1234c18094a45bbeafd91467911
    • sha256:ed363350696a726b7932db864dda019bd2017365c9e299627830f06954643f93
    • ed363350696a726b7932db864dda019bd2017365c9e299627830f06954643f93
    • file:http://releases.ubuntu.com/20.04/SHA256SUMS
    • file:file://./local/path/file.sum
    • file:./local/path/file.sum
    • none
      • Although the checksum will not be verified when it is set to "none", this is not recommended since these files can be very large and corruption does happen from time to time.

  • iso_url (string) - A URL to the ISO containing the installation image. This URL can be either an HTTP URL or a file URL (or path to a file). If this is an HTTP URL, Packer will download it and cache it between runs.

  • remote_host (string) - The host of the Xenserver / XCP-ng pool primary. Typically, these will be specified through environment variables as seen in the examples.

  • remote_ssh_port (integer) - The port that SSH will be listening on in the Xenserver / XCP-ng pool primary. By default this is 22.

  • remote_username (string) - The XenServer username used to access the remote machine.

  • remote_password (string) - The XenServer password for access to the remote machine.

  • ssh_username (string) - The username to use to SSH into the machine once the OS is installed.

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. See the Ubuntu and centos examples to see how these are used to launch autoinstall and kickstart respectively.

  • 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.

  • clone_template (string) - The template to clone. Defaults to "Other install media", this is "other", but you can get dramatic performance improvements by setting this to the proper value. To view all available values for this run xe template-list. Setting the correct value hints to XenServer how to optimize the virtual hardware to work best with that operating system.

  • disk_name (string) - The name of the hard disk to create for the VM. By default, the name is "Packer-disk".

  • disk_size (integer) - The size, in megabytes, of the hard disk to create for the VM. By default, this is 40000 (about 40 GB).

  • firmware (string) - Whether to use bios or uefi as the boot firmware for the resulting VM. Defaults to bios.

  • floppy_files (array of strings) - A list of files to place onto a floppy disk that is attached when the VM is booted. 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. All files listed in this setting get placed into the root directory of the floppy and the floppy is attached as the first floppy device. Currently, no support exists for creating sub-directories on the floppy. Wildcard characters (*, ?, and []) are allowed. Directory names are also allowed, which will add all the files found in the directory to the floppy.

  • format (string) - Either "xva", "xva_compressed", "vdi_raw" or "none", this specifies the output format of the exported virtual machine. This defaults to "xva". Set to "vdi_raw" to export just the raw disk image. Set to "none" to export nothing; this is only useful with "keep_vm" set to "always" or "on_success".

  • http_directory (string) - Path to a directory to serve using an HTTP server. The files in this directory will be available over HTTP which will be requestable from the virtual machine. This is useful for hosting kickstart files and so on. By default, this is "", which means no HTTP server will be started. The address and port of the HTTP server will be available as variables in boot_command. This is covered in more detail below.

  • http_port_min and http_port_max (integer) - These are the minimum and maximum port to use for the HTTP server started to serve the http_directory. Because Packer often runs in parallel, Packer will choose a randomly available port in this range to run the HTTP server. If you want to force the HTTP server to be on one port, make this minimum and maximum port the same. By default, the values are 8000 and 9000, respectively.

  • install_timeout (string) - The amount of time to wait after booting the VM for the installer to shut itself down. If it doesn't shut down in this time, it is an error. By default, the timeout is "200m", or over three hours.

  • iso_urls (array of strings) - Multiple URLs for the ISO to download. Packer will try these in order. If anything goes wrong attempting to download or while downloading a single URL, it will move on to the next. All URLs must point to the same file (same checksum). By default, this is empty and iso_url is used. Only one of iso_url or iso_urls can be specified.

  • tools_iso_name (string) - Choose the tools iso you want to use. Usually "guest-tools.iso", or "xs-tools.iso". Not setting this variable causes no tools-related ISO to be attached.

  • keep_vm (string) - Determine when to keep the VM and when to clean it up. This can be always, never or on_success. The default is never, and Packer always deletes the VM regardless of whether the process succeeded and an artifact was produced. always asks Packer to leave the VM at the end of the process regardless of success. on_success requests that the VM only be cleaned up if an artifact was produced. The latter is useful for debugging templates that fail.

  • ip_getter (string) - Defines the method by which the IP of the guest machine is identified. Options are: auto, tools, http. The default is auto, which will attempt both methods. tools requires that the guest tools be installed and functional inside the quest machine.

  • skip_set_template (bool) - If you want to get the full XVA, to be able to import the VM directly instead of using the output template, you can set this to true.

  • network_names (array of strings) - A list of networks identified by their name label which will be used for the VM during creation. The first network will correspond to the VM's first network interface (VIF), the second will correspond to the second VIF and so on.

  • export_network_names (array of strings) - A list of networks identified by their name label which will be attached to the export. The first network will correspond to the VM's first network interface (VIF), the second will correspond to the second VIF and so on.

  • 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.

  • platform_args (object of key/value strings) - The platform args. Defaults to

{
  "viridian": "false",
  "nx": "true",
  "pae": "true",
  "apic": "true",
  "timeoffset": "0",
  "acpi": "1",
  "cores-per-socket": "1"
}

  • shutdown_command (string) - The command to use to gracefully shut down the machine once all the provisioning is done. If this is omitted, packer will shut down the VM gracefully through the Xen api's vm shutdown command. Unless you have special requirements this should typically be left to its default.

  • sr_name (string) - The SR to use for storing the disk for the VM that Packer creates. By default, the default SR of the system will be used.

  • sr_iso_name (string) - The SR to use for uploading the provided ISO. By default, the default SR of the system will be used.

  • ssh_host_port_min and ssh_host_port_max (integer) - The minimum and maximum port to use for the SSH port on the host machine which is forwarded to the SSH port on the guest machine. Because Packer often runs in parallel, Packer will choose a randomly available port in this range to use as the host port.

  • 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.

  • tools_iso_name (string) - The name of the XenServer Tools ISO. Defaults to xs-tools.iso.

  • vm_description (string) - The description of the new virtual machine. By default, this is an empty string.

  • vm_name (string) - This is the name of the new virtual machine, without the file extension. By default, this is packer-BUILDNAME-TIMESTAMP, where "BUILDNAME" is the name of the build.

  • vcpus_max (integer) - The maximum number of VCPUs for the VM. By default, this is 1.

  • vcpus_atstartup (integer) - The number of startup VCPUs for the VM. By default, this is 1.

  • vm_memory (integer) - The size, in megabytes, of the amount of memory to allocate for the VM. By default, this is 1024 (1 GB).

  • vm_tags (array of strings) - A list of tags to add to the VM

Differences with other Packer builders

Currently, the XenServer builder has some quirks when compared with other Packer builders.

The builder currently only works remotely.

The installer is expected to shut down the VM to indicate that it has completed. This is in contrast to other builders, which instead detect completion by a successful SSH connection. The reason for this difference is that currently the builder has no way of knowing what the IP address of the VM is without starting it on the HIMN.

Boot Command

The boot_command configuration is very important: it specifies the keys to type when the virtual machine is first booted in order to start the OS installer. This command is typed after boot_wait, which gives the virtual machine some time to actually load the ISO.

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 by character over a VNC connection to the machine, simulating a human actually typing on 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:

  • <bs> - Backspace

  • <del> - Delete

  • <enter> and <return> - Simulates an actual "enter" or "return" keypress.

  • <esc> - Simulates pressing the escape key.

  • <tab> - Simulates pressing the tab key.

  • <f1> - <f12> - Simulates pressing a function key.

  • <up> <down> <left> <right> - Simulates pressing an arrow key.

  • <spacebar> - Simulates pressing the spacebar.

  • <insert> - Simulates pressing the insert key.

  • <home> <end> - Simulates pressing the home and end keys.

  • <pageUp> <pageDown> - Simulates pressing the page up and page down keys.

  • <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:

  • HTTPIP and HTTPPort - The IP and port, respectively of an HTTP server that is started serving the directory specified by the http_directory configuration parameter. If http_directory isn't specified, these will be blank!

See the examples for working boot commands.