Create and import an on-premises image by using Packer

Example

CentOS 6.9 is used in this example. Perform the following operations to create an on-premises image:

1. Run the egrep "(svm|vmx)" /proc/cpuinfo command to check whether your on-premises server or virtual machine supports Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM).
   If the following command output is returned, KVM is supported:

   pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx pdpe1gb rdtscp lm constant_tsc art arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good nopl xtopology nonstop_tsc aperfmperf tsc_known_freq pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 sdbg fma cx16 xtpr pdcm pcid sse4_1 sse4_2 x2apic movbe popcnt tsc_deadline_timer aes xsave avx f16c rdrand lahf_lm abm 3dnowprefetch epb intel_pt tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid fsgsbase tsc_adjust bmi1 avx2 smep bmi2 erms invpcid mpx rdseed adx smap clflushopt xsaveopt xsavec xgetbv1 xsaves dtherm ida arat pln pts hwp hwp_notify hwp_act_window hwp_epp
   flags        : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov

2. Run the following commands in sequence to install KVM if your on-premises server or virtual machine supports KVM:

   1. sudo apt-get install qemu-kvm qemu virt-manager virt-viewer  libvirt-bin bridge-utils  #Install KVM and related controls.

   2. sudo virt-manager  #Enable virt-manager.

   If you can create a virtual machine on the Graphical User Interface (GUI), KVM is installed.

3. Install Packer.
   For more information, see Use Packer to create a custom image.
4. Run the following commands in sequence to create a Packer template.
   Note The following sample commands are based on the CentOS 6.9 operating system. If you want to create on-premises images for other operating systems, customize the centos.json configuration file. For more information, see Create a Packer template.

   1. cd /usr/local  #Switch the directory.

   2. wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/alibaba/packer-provider/master/examples/alicloud/local/centos.json  #Download the centos.json configuration file that is released by Alibaba Cloud.

   3. wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/alibaba/packer-provider/master/examples/alicloud/local/http/centos-6.9/ks.cfg  #Download the ks.cfg configuration file that is released by Alibaba Cloud.

   4. mkdir -p http/centos-6.9  #Create a directory.

   5. mv ks.cfg http/centos-6.9/  #Move the ks.cfg file to the http/centos-6.9 directory.

5. Run the following commands in sequence to create and import an on-premises image:

   1. export ALICLOUD_ACCESS_KEY=<Your AccessKey ID>      #Import your AccessKey ID.

   2. export ALICLOUD_SECRET_KEY=<Your AccessKey secret>  #Import your AccessKey secret.

   3. packer build centos.json                          #Create an on-premises image and import it to Alibaba Cloud.

   A command output similar to the following one is displayed:

   qemu output will be in this color.
    ==> qemu: Downloading or copying ISO
        qemu: Downloading or copying: http://mirrors.aliyun.com/centos/6.9/isos/x86_64/CentOS-6.9-x86_64-minimal.iso
    ................................................
    ==> qemu: Running post-processor: alicloud-import
        qemu (alicloud-import): Deleting import source https://oss-cn-beijing.aliyuncs.com/packer/centos_x86_64
    Build 'qemu' finished.
    ==> Builds finished. The artifacts of successful builds are:
    --> qemu: Alicloud images were created:
    cn-beijing: XXXXXXXX

6. Wait for a few minutes and go to the Images page in the ECS console to view the custom image in the corresponding region such as China (Beijing).

Create a Packer template

{"variables": {
        "box_basename": "centos-6.9",
        "build_timestamp": "{{isotime \"20060102150405\"}}",
        "cpus": "1",
        "disk_size": "4096",
        "git_revision": "__unknown_git_revision__",
        "headless": "",
        "http_proxy": "{{env `http_proxy`}}",
        "https_proxy": "{{env `https_proxy`}}",
        "iso_checksum_type": "md5",
        "iso_checksum": "af4axxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx192a2",
        "iso_name": "CentOS-6.9-x86_64-minimal.iso",
        "ks_path": "centos-6.9/ks.cfg",
        "memory": "512",
        "metadata": "floppy/dummy_metadata.json",
        "mirror": "http://mirrors.aliyun.com/centos",
        "mirror_directory": "6.9/isos/x86_64",
        "name": "centos-6.9",
        "no_proxy": "{{env `no_proxy`}}",
        "template": "centos-6.9-x86_64",
        "version": "2.1.TIMESTAMP"
      },
    "builders":[
        {
          "boot_command": [
            "<tab> text ks=http://{{ .HTTPIP }}:{{ .HTTPPort }}/{{user `ks_path`}}<enter><wait>"
          ],
          "boot_wait": "10s",
          "disk_size": "{{user `disk_size`}}",
          "headless": "{{ user `headless` }}",
          "http_directory": "http",
          "iso_checksum": "{{user `iso_checksum`}}",
          "iso_checksum_type": "{{user `iso_checksum_type`}}",
          "iso_url": "{{user `mirror`}}/{{user `mirror_directory`}}/{{user `iso_name`}}",
          "output_directory": "packer-{{user `template`}}-qemu",
          "shutdown_command": "echo 'vagrant'|sudo -S /sbin/halt -h -p",
          "ssh_password": "vagrant",
          "ssh_port": 22,
          "ssh_username": "root",
          "ssh_wait_timeout": "10000s",
          "type": "qemu",
          "vm_name": "{{ user `template` }}.raw",
          "net_device": "virtio-net",
          "disk_interface": "virtio",
          "format": "raw"
        }
      ],
    "provisioners": [{
          "type": "shell",
          "inline": [
                "sleep 30",
                "yum install cloud-util cloud-init -y"
              ]
        }],
      "post-processors":[
        {
          "type":"alicloud-import",
          "oss_bucket_name": "packer",
          "image_name": "packer_import",
          "image_os_type": "linux",
          "image_platform": "CentOS",
          "image_architecture": "x86_64",
          "image_system_size": "40",
          "region":"cn-beijing"
        }
      ]
}