github.com/ratanraj/packer@v1.3.2/website/source/intro/getting-started/install.html.md (about) 1 --- 2 layout: intro 3 sidebar_current: intro-getting-started-install 4 page_title: Install Packer - Getting Started 5 description: |- 6 Packer must first be installed on the machine you want to run it on. To make 7 installation easier, Packer is distributed as a binary package for all supported 8 platforms and architectures. This page will not cover how to compile Packer 9 from source, as that is covered in the README and is only recommended for 10 advanced users. 11 --- 12 13 # Install Options 14 15 Packer may be installed in the following ways: 16 17 1. Using a [precompiled binary](#precompiled-binaries); We release binaries 18 for all supported platforms and architectures. This method is recommended for 19 most users. 20 21 2. Installing [from source](#compiling-from-source) This method is only 22 recommended for advanced users. 23 24 3. An unoffical [alternative installation method](#alternative-installation-methods) 25 26 ## Precompiled Binaries 27 28 To install the precompiled binary, [download](/downloads.html) the appropriate 29 package for your system. Packer is currently packaged as a zip file. We do not 30 have any near term plans to provide system packages. 31 32 Next, unzip the downloaded package into a directory where Packer will be 33 installed. On Unix systems, `~/packer` or `/usr/local/packer` is generally good, 34 depending on whether you want to restrict the install to just your user or 35 install it system-wide. If you intend to access it from the command-line, make 36 sure to place it somewhere on your `PATH` before `/usr/sbin`. On Windows 37 systems, you can put it wherever you'd like. The `packer` (or `packer.exe` for 38 Windows) binary inside is all that is necessary to run Packer. Any additional 39 files aren't required to run Packer. 40 41 After unzipping the package, the directory should contain a single binary 42 program called `packer`. The final step to 43 installation is to make sure the directory you installed Packer to is on the 44 PATH. See [this 45 page](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/14637979/how-to-permanently-set-path-on-linux) 46 for instructions on setting the PATH on Linux and Mac. [This 47 page](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1618280/where-can-i-set-path-to-make-exe-on-windows) 48 contains instructions for setting the PATH on Windows. 49 50 ## Compiling from Source 51 52 To compile from source, you will need [Go](https://golang.org) installed and 53 configured properly as well as a copy of [`git`](https://www.git-scm.com/) 54 in your `PATH`. 55 56 1. Clone the Packer repository from GitHub into your `GOPATH`: 57 58 ``` shell 59 $ mkdir -p $(go env GOPATH)/src/github.com/hashicorp && cd $_ 60 $ git clone https://github.com/hashicorp/packer.git 61 $ cd packer 62 ``` 63 64 2. Build Packer for your current system and put the 65 binary in `./bin/` (relative to the git checkout). The `make dev` target is 66 just a shortcut that builds `packer` for only your local build environment (no 67 cross-compiled targets). 68 69 ``` shell 70 $ make dev 71 ``` 72 73 ## Verifying the Installation 74 75 After installing Packer, verify the installation worked by opening a new command 76 prompt or console, and checking that `packer` is available: 77 78 ```text 79 $ packer 80 usage: packer [--version] [--help] <command> [<args>] 81 82 Available commands are: 83 build build image(s) from template 84 fix fixes templates from old versions of packer 85 inspect see components of a template 86 validate check that a template is valid 87 version Prints the Packer version 88 ``` 89 90 If you get an error that `packer` could not be found, then your PATH environment 91 variable was not setup properly. Please go back and ensure that your PATH 92 variable contains the directory which has Packer installed. 93 94 Otherwise, Packer is installed and you're ready to go! 95 96 ## Alternative Installation Methods 97 98 While the binary packages is the only official method of installation, there are 99 alternatives available. 100 101 ### Homebrew 102 103 If you're using OS X and [Homebrew](http://brew.sh), you can install Packer by 104 running: 105 106 $ brew install packer 107 108 ### Chocolatey 109 110 If you're using Windows and [Chocolatey](http://chocolatey.org), you can 111 install Packer by running: 112 113 choco install packer 114 115 ## Troubleshooting 116 117 On some *RedHat*-based Linux distributions there is another tool named `packer` 118 installed by default. You can check for this using `which -a packer`. If you get 119 an error like this it indicates there is a name conflict. 120 121 $ packer 122 /usr/share/cracklib/pw_dict.pwd: Permission denied 123 /usr/share/cracklib/pw_dict: Permission denied 124 125 To fix this, you can create a symlink to packer that uses a different name like 126 `packer.io`, or invoke the `packer` binary you want using its absolute path, 127 e.g. `/usr/local/packer`. 128 129 On *Arch* Linux there is a package named `packer` in the main 130 repository and in the AUR. The package `packer` in the AUR is an old 131 name for a package management tool for Arch, it's not Hashicorp 132 Packer.