Creating CentOS server images with Packer
The CentOS images are not available on the AWS Quick Start tab. CentOS publishes official images on the AWS Marketplace, but you need to subscribe to the image to be able to launch it with an automation software, like Terraform. Find the latest available…
“Ran out of time waiting for the server with id” with Windows Server 2016 in Chef Test Kitchen
AWS changed how Windows Server EC2 instances send messages during boot. Windows Server 2012 R2 AWS EC2 instances sent the “Windows is ready” message every time those became available after boot. When a Windows Server 2016 AWS EC2 instance…
Debugging a Packer build
Packer can configure a server instance and create an image of it. If you need to examine what Packer is doing, you can run Packer in debug mode and RDP into the instance to view files and other settings. Open the firewall In the “builders”…
amazon-ebs: Error waiting for SSH: ssh: handshake failed: ssh: unable to authenticate, attempted methods [none publickey], no supported methods remain
When you launch a Linux AWS EC2 instance with Terraform or create a Linux AWS image with Packer, one of the following errors are displayed: amazon-ebs: Error waiting for SSH: ssh: handshake failed: ssh: unable to authenticate, attempted methods [none…
Create a server image with Packer
Packer is a free, open-source application from Hashicorp. It can generate a server image based on an existing one, and configure it for your special needs. You can use the generated image when you launch a server instance in the cloud or on your local…
Find the AWS AMI that a RightScale server template is using
When you use RightScale to launch servers in the cloud, you want to use the same base image to test your Chef cookbooks in Test Kitchen. Packer by Hashicorp is a utility to create custom server images based on cloud images. You supply the image ID and…
Keep multiple versions of applications on Macintosh
Most of the DevOps tools are still in beta versions, many times the new version is not compatible with your existing scripts or have an error that stops your scripts working. To be able to keep multiple versions of the applications and easily switch…