Using Packer to Create an AMI

1. In a new browser tab, navigate to https://packer.io/downloads.html.

2. Right-click the 64-bit link in the Linux section, and choose Copy link address.

3. Paste the link address into a text file, as we'll need it a little later.

4. In the AWS browser tab, navigate to Cloud9.

5. Click Open IDE.

6. In the Cloud9 terminal, become the root user:

   sudo su
   

7. Change directory to /usr/local/bin:

   cd /usr/local/bin
   

8. Download the Packer installer, replacing <PACKER_LINK> with the one you copied earlier:

   wget <PACKER_LINK>
   

9. Extract the file:

   unzip packer_1.5.5_linux_amd64.zip
   

10. Remove the Packer ZIP file:

    rm packer_1.5.5_linux_amd64.zip
    

11. Exit the root user session:

    exit
    

12. Verify Packer works:

    packer --version
    

1. In Cloud9, click File > New File.

2. Click File > Save As.

3. Name your file "packer.json".

4. Provide the following JSON for your file, replacing <USERNAME> with a username of your choosing:

   {
     "variables": {
       "instance_size": "t2.small",
       "ami_name": "ami-<USERNAME>",
       "base_ami": "ami-1853ac65",
       "ssh_username": "ec2-user",
       "vpc_id": "",
       "subnet_id": ""
     },
     "builders": [
       {
         "type": "amazon-ebs",
         "region": "us-east-1",
         "source_ami": "{{user `base_ami`}}",
         "instance_type": "{{user `instance_size`}}",
         "ssh_username": "{{user `ssh_username`}}",
         "ssh_timeout": "20m",
         "ami_name": "{{user `ami_name`}}",
         "ssh_pty" : "true",
         "vpc_id": "{{user `vpc_id`}}",
         "subnet_id": "{{user `subnet_id`}}",
         "tags": {
           "Name": "App Name",
           "BuiltBy": "Packer"
         }
       }
     ],
     "description": "AWS image",
     "provisioners": [
       {
         "type": "shell",
         "inline": [
           "sudo yum update -y",
           "sudo yum install -y git"
         ]
       }
     ]
   }
   

5. Save the file, then install the Amazon plugin to create custom images on AWS:

   packer plugins install github.com/hashicorp/amazon
   

6. Validate the packer.json file by running the following command in the terminal window at the bottom of the page:

   packer validate packer.json
   

We need to obtain our variable values for the command at the end of this step.

base_ami

1. In a new browser tab, navigate to EC2.
2. Click Launch Instance.
3. Copy the AMI ID at the end of the "Amazon Linux AMI" line, and paste it into a text file.

vpc_id

1. Navigate to VPC > Your VPCs.
2. Copy the VPC ID, and paste it into a text file.

subnet_id

1. Click Subnets in the left-hand menu.
2. Check the box to the left of the name for the first subnet in the list.
3. Ensure Auto-assign Public IP is set to yes for this subnet.
4. Copy the Subnet ID, and paste it into a text file.

Run the Command

1. Use the values you gathered to populate the following command in the Cloud9 terminal:

   packer build -var 'ami_name=ami-<USERNAME>' -var 'base_ami=<AMI_ID>' -var 'vpc_id=<VPC_ID>' -var 'subnet_id=<SUBNET_ID>' packer.json
   

2. Once the command has completed, copy the AMI ID from the output.

3. In another browser tab, navigate to EC2 > AMIs to verify your new AMI is listed.

1. Click Launch.
2. Check the box to select a t2.small instance type.
3. Click Next: Configure Instance Details > Next: Add Storage > Next: Add Tags.
4. Add a tag:
   • Key: Name
   • Value: test-ami
5. Click Next: Configure Security Group > Review and Launch > Launch.
6. Choose Proceed without a key pair and check the box to acknowledge.
7. Click Launch Instances.
8. On the next screen, you should see a green box saying "Your instances are now launching". Click the instance ID number provided next to the text "The following instance launches have been initiated:"
9. Watch your AMI progress to a "Running" instance state. You may need to click the refresh icon in the top-right to show the updated state.