github.com/StackPointCloud/packer@v0.10.2-0.20180716202532-b28098e0f79b/website/source/docs/templates/communicator.html.md (about)

     1  ---
     2  description: |
     3      Communicators are the mechanism Packer uses to upload files, execute scripts,
     4      etc. with the machine being created.
     5  layout: docs
     6  page_title: 'Communicators - Templates'
     7  sidebar_current: 'docs-templates-communicators'
     8  ---
     9  
    10  # Template Communicators
    11  
    12  Communicators are the mechanism Packer uses to upload files, execute
    13  scripts, etc. with the machine being created.
    14  
    15  Communicators are configured within the [builder](/docs/templates/builders.html)
    16  section. Packer currently supports three kinds of communicators:
    17  
    18  -   `none` - No communicator will be used. If this is set, most provisioners
    19      also can't be used.
    20  
    21  -   `ssh` - An SSH connection will be established to the machine. This is
    22      usually the default.
    23  
    24  -   `winrm` - A WinRM connection will be established.
    25  
    26  In addition to the above, some builders have custom communicators they can
    27  use. For example, the Docker builder has a "docker" communicator that uses
    28  `docker exec` and `docker cp` to execute scripts and copy files.
    29  
    30  ## Using a Communicator
    31  
    32  By default, the SSH communicator is usually used. Additional configuration
    33  may not even be necessary, since some builders such as Amazon automatically
    34  configure everything.
    35  
    36  However, to specify a communicator, you set the `communicator` key within
    37  a build. Multiple builds can have different communicators. Example:
    38  
    39  ``` json
    40  {
    41    "builders": [
    42      {
    43        "type": "amazon-ebs",
    44        "communicator": "ssh"
    45      }
    46    ]
    47  }
    48  ```
    49  
    50  After specifying the `communicator`, you can specify a number of other
    51  configuration parameters for that communicator. These are documented below.
    52  
    53  ## SSH Communicator
    54  
    55  The SSH communicator connects to the host via SSH. If you have an SSH agent
    56  configured on the host running Packer, and SSH agent authentication is enabled
    57  in the communicator config, Packer will automatically forward the SSH agent
    58  to the remote host.
    59  
    60  The SSH communicator has the following options:
    61  
    62  -   `ssh_agent_auth` (boolean) - If `true`, the local SSH agent will be used to
    63      authenticate connections to the remote host. Defaults to `false`.
    64  
    65  -   `ssh_bastion_agent_auth` (boolean) - If `true`, the local SSH agent will
    66      be used to authenticate with the bastion host. Defaults to `false`.
    67  
    68  -   `ssh_bastion_host` (string) - A bastion host to use for the actual
    69      SSH connection.
    70  
    71  -   `ssh_bastion_password` (string) - The password to use to authenticate
    72      with the bastion host.
    73  
    74  -   `ssh_bastion_port` (number) - The port of the bastion host. Defaults to `1`.
    75  
    76  -   `ssh_bastion_private_key_file` (string) - A private key file to use
    77      to authenticate with the bastion host.
    78  
    79  -   `ssh_bastion_username` (string) - The username to connect to the bastion
    80      host.
    81  
    82  -   `ssh_disable_agent_forwarding` (boolean) - If true, SSH agent forwarding
    83      will be disabled. Defaults to `false`.
    84  
    85  -   `ssh_file_transfer_method` (`scp` or `sftp`) - How to transfer files, Secure
    86      copy (default) or SSH File Transfer Protocol.
    87  
    88  -   `ssh_handshake_attempts` (number) - The number of handshakes to attempt
    89      with SSH once it can connect. This defaults to `10`.
    90  
    91  -   `ssh_host` (string) - The address to SSH to. This usually is automatically
    92      configured by the builder.
    93  
    94  *   `ssh_keep_alive_interval` (string) - How often to send "keep alive"
    95      messages to the server. Set to a negative value (`-1s`) to disable. Example
    96      value: `10s`. Defaults to `5s`.
    97  
    98  -   `ssh_password` (string) - A plaintext password to use to authenticate
    99      with SSH.
   100  
   101  -   `ssh_port` (number) - The port to connect to SSH. This defaults to `22`.
   102  
   103  -   `ssh_private_key_file` (string) - Path to a PEM encoded private key
   104      file to use to authenticate with SSH.
   105  
   106  -   `ssh_proxy_host` (string) - A SOCKS proxy host to use for SSH connection
   107  
   108  -   `ssh_proxy_password` (string) - The password to use to authenticate with
   109      the proxy server. Optional.
   110  
   111  -   `ssh_proxy_port` (number) - A port of the SOCKS proxy. Defaults to `1080`.
   112  
   113  -   `ssh_proxy_username` (string) - The username to authenticate with the proxy
   114      server. Optional.
   115  
   116  -   `ssh_pty` (boolean) - If `true`, a PTY will be requested for the SSH
   117      connection. This defaults to `false`.
   118  
   119  *   `ssh_read_write_timeout` (string) - The amount of time to wait for a remote
   120      command to end. This might be useful if, for example, packer hangs on
   121      a connection after a reboot. Example: `5m`. Disabled by default.
   122  
   123  -   `ssh_timeout` (string) - The time to wait for SSH to become available.
   124      Packer uses this to determine when the machine has booted so this is
   125      usually quite long. Example value: `10m`.
   126  
   127  -   `ssh_username` (string) - The username to connect to SSH with. Required
   128      if using SSH.
   129  
   130  ## WinRM Communicator
   131  
   132  The WinRM communicator has the following options.
   133  
   134  -   `winrm_host` (string) - The address for WinRM to connect to.
   135  
   136  -   `winrm_insecure` (boolean) - If `true`, do not check server certificate
   137      chain and host name.
   138  
   139  -   `winrm_password` (string) - The password to use to connect to WinRM.
   140  
   141  -   `winrm_port` (number) - The WinRM port to connect to. This defaults to
   142      `5985` for plain unencrypted connection and `5986` for SSL when
   143      `winrm_use_ssl` is set to true.
   144  
   145  -   `winrm_timeout` (string) - The amount of time to wait for WinRM to
   146      become available. This defaults to `30m` since setting up a Windows
   147      machine generally takes a long time.
   148  
   149  -   `winrm_use_ntlm` (boolean) - If `true`, NTLM authentication will be used for WinRM,
   150      rather than default (basic authentication), removing the requirement for basic
   151      authentication to be enabled within the target guest. Further reading for remote
   152      connection authentication can be found [here](https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa384295(v=vs.85).aspx).
   153  
   154  -   `winrm_use_ssl` (boolean) - If `true`, use HTTPS for WinRM.
   155  
   156  -   `winrm_username` (string) - The username to use to connect to WinRM.