github.com/aspring/packer@v0.8.1-0.20150629211158-9db281ac0f89/website/source/docs/installation.html.markdown (about)

     1  ---
     2  layout: "docs"
     3  page_title: "Install Packer"
     4  description: |-
     5    Packer must first be installed on the machine you want to run it on. To make installation easy, Packer is distributed as a binary package for all supported platforms and architectures. This page will not cover how to compile Packer from source, as that is covered in the README and is only recommended for advanced users.
     6  ---
     7  
     8  # Install Packer
     9  
    10  Packer must first be installed on the machine you want to run it on.
    11  To make installation easy, Packer is distributed as a [binary package](/downloads.html)
    12  for all supported platforms and architectures. This page will not cover how
    13  to compile Packer from source, as that is covered in the
    14  [README](https://github.com/mitchellh/packer/blob/master/README.md) and is only
    15  recommended for advanced users.
    16  
    17  ## Installing Packer
    18  
    19  To install packer, first find the [appropriate package](/downloads.html)
    20  for your system and download it. Packer is packaged as a "zip" file.
    21  
    22  Next, unzip the downloaded package into a directory where Packer will be
    23  installed. On Unix systems, `~/packer` or `/usr/local/packer` is generally good,
    24  depending on whether you want to restrict the install to just your user
    25  or install it system-wide. On Windows systems, you can put it wherever you'd
    26  like.
    27  
    28  After unzipping the package, the directory should contain a set of binary
    29  programs, such as `packer`, `packer-build-amazon-ebs`, etc. The final step
    30  to installation is to make sure the directory you installed Packer to
    31  is on the PATH. See [this page](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/14637979/how-to-permanently-set-path-on-linux)
    32  for instructions on setting the PATH on Linux and Mac.
    33  [This page](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1618280/where-can-i-set-path-to-make-exe-on-windows)
    34  contains instructions for setting the PATH on Windows.
    35  
    36  ## Verifying the Installation
    37  
    38  After installing Packer, verify the installation worked by opening
    39  a new command prompt or console, and checking that `packer` is available:
    40  
    41  ```text
    42  $ packer
    43  usage: packer [--version] [--help] <command> [<args>]
    44  
    45  Available commands are:
    46      build        build image(s) from template
    47      fix          fixes templates from old versions of packer
    48      inspect      see components of a template
    49      validate     check that a template is valid
    50  ```
    51  
    52  If you get an error that `packer` could not be found, then your PATH
    53  environmental variable was not setup properly. Please go back and ensure
    54  that your PATH variable contains the directory which has Packer installed.
    55  
    56  Otherwise, Packer is installed and you're ready to go!
    57  
    58  ## Alternative Installation Methods
    59  
    60  Installation from binary packages is currently the only officially supported
    61  installation method. The binary packages are guaranteed to be the latest
    62  available version and match the proper checksums. However, in addition to
    63  the official binaries, there are other unofficial 3rd party methods of
    64  installation managed by the Packer community:
    65  
    66  ### Homebrew
    67  
    68  If you're using OS X and [Homebrew](http://brew.sh), you can install Packer:
    69  
    70  ```text
    71  $ brew install packer
    72  ```
    73  
    74  ### Chocolatey
    75  
    76  If you're using Windows and [Chocolatey](http://chocolatey.org), you can install Packer from
    77  Windows command line (cmd). Remember that this is updated by a 3rd party, so
    78  it may not be the latest available version.
    79  
    80  ```text
    81  $ choco install packer
    82  ```