Creating VMware Ubuntu 20.04 Images with Packer

Packer is a tool used to create automated machine Images.

1. Ensure all Packer files are present and correct in the following folder:

C:\Packer\vsphere\ubuntu20

2. Packer needs a HTTP Server to seed files from. Use another Linux Server to serve these files from. Use the tutorial Python Simple Web Server to create one

3. Once that is done place files in a folder called:

/packer/http

The files that need to be placed in here are:

script (folder)
meta-data
user-data
ubuntu20.json
variables20.json

<font 18px/inherit;;inherit;;inherit>IMPORTANT: Before you run Packer ensure all Network adapters are disabled apart from the wired connection. This includes wireless adapters and VirtualBox adapters</font>

4. Run packer with the following command from the location - C:\Packer\vsphere\ubuntu20:

.\packer.exe build -var-file .\variables20.json .\ubuntu20.json

5. Packer will connect to vCenter and create the VM and convert this to a VMware Template