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Packer Automation for geckoforge Testing

Date: December 15, 2025
Purpose: Fully automated VM building with Packer

What is Packer?

HashiCorp Packer automates machine image creation across platforms (VirtualBox, AWS, Azure, etc.). For geckoforge, it can:

✅ Automate VM creation - No manual clicking through installer
✅ Reproducible builds - Same VM every time
✅ Fast iteration - Rebuild VM in ~30 minutes
✅ Multi-platform - Build for VirtualBox, VMware, or cloud
✅ CI/CD ready - Integrate with GitHub Actions

Prerequisites

1. Install Packer

# On Ubuntu/WSL2
curl -fsSL https://apt.releases.hashicorp.com/gpg | sudo apt-key add -
sudo apt-add-repository "deb [arch=amd64] https://apt.releases.hashicorp.com $(lsb_release -cs) main"
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install packer

# Verify
packer version

2. Install VirtualBox

Already installed for testing.

3. Get ISO Checksum

cd ~/Downloads
sha256sum openSUSE-Leap-15.6-DVD-x86_64-Current.iso

# Copy checksum and update packer/opensuse-leap-geckoforge.pkr.hcl

Packer Template Structure

geckoforge/
├── packer/
│   ├── opensuse-leap-geckoforge.pkr.hcl  # Main template
│   ├── http/
│   │   └── autoyast.xml                  # Automated install config
│   └── scripts/
│       ├── install-guest-additions.sh
│       └── setup-geckoforge.sh
└── output-virtualbox/                    # Built VM output
    └── geckoforge-test.ova

Build VM with Packer

Basic Build

cd ~/Documents/Vaidya-Solutions-Code/geckoforge

# Validate template
packer validate packer/opensuse-leap-geckoforge.pkr.hcl

# Build VM
packer build packer/opensuse-leap-geckoforge.pkr.hcl

Build time: ~30-40 minutes

  • Download ISO: ~5 min (if not cached)
  • Install openSUSE: ~15 min
  • Provisioning: ~10 min
  • Export OVA: ~5 min

Custom Variables

# Build with custom settings
packer build \
  -var 'memory=16384' \
  -var 'cpus=8' \
  -var 'ssh_username=jay' \
  packer/opensuse-leap-geckoforge.pkr.hcl

Import Built VM

# Import OVA into VirtualBox
VBoxManage import output-virtualbox/geckoforge-test.ova \
  --vsys 0 \
  --vmname "geckoforge-test"

# Or use GUI
# VirtualBox → File → Import Appliance → Select .ova

Advanced: Add geckoforge Setup to Build

Option 1: Bake Into Image

Add to packer template provisioners:

# In opensuse-leap-geckoforge.pkr.hcl
provisioner "file" {
  source      = "../"
  destination = "/home/jay/geckoforge"
}

provisioner "shell" {
  inline = [
    "cd /home/jay/geckoforge",
    "./scripts/firstrun-user.sh",
    "cd home",
    "home-manager switch --flake ."
  ]
}

Pros: VM ready to use immediately
Cons: Slower builds, harder to iterate on configs

Option 2: Shared Folder (Recommended)

Keep base VM minimal, mount geckoforge as shared folder:

# After importing VM
VBoxManage sharedfolder add "geckoforge-test" \
  --name "geckoforge" \
  --hostpath "/home/jay/Documents/Vaidya-Solutions-Code/geckoforge" \
  --automount

Pros: Fast iteration, live updates
Cons: Manual mount setup after build

Automated Testing Pipeline

1. Build Base VM (Once)

packer build packer/opensuse-leap-geckoforge.pkr.hcl
VBoxManage import output-virtualbox/geckoforge-test.ova

2. Configure Shared Folder

VBoxManage sharedfolder add "geckoforge-test" \
  --name "geckoforge" \
  --hostpath "$(pwd)" \
  --automount

3. Start VM + Run Tests

#!/usr/bin/env bash
# test-automation.sh

VM="geckoforge-test"
SNAPSHOT="base"

# Restore to base snapshot
VBoxManage snapshot "$VM" restore "$SNAPSHOT"

# Start VM (headless)
VBoxManage startvm "$VM" --type headless

# Wait for boot
sleep 60

# SSH and run tests
ssh -p 2222 jay@localhost << 'EOF'
  cd /media/sf_geckoforge
  ./scripts/firstrun-user.sh
  cd home
  home-manager switch --flake .
  
  # Test VS Code
  code --version
  
  # Test languages
  node --version
  python3 --version
  go version
EOF

# Capture exit code
TEST_RESULT=$?

# Shutdown VM
VBoxManage controlvm "$VM" poweroff

# Report
if [ $TEST_RESULT -eq 0 ]; then
  echo "✅ Tests passed"
else
  echo "❌ Tests failed"
  exit 1
fi

4. CI/CD Integration (GitHub Actions)

# .github/workflows/test-vm.yml
name: Test geckoforge VM

on:
  pull_request:
  push:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
      
      - name: Install Packer
        run: |
          curl -fsSL https://apt.releases.hashicorp.com/gpg | sudo apt-key add -
          sudo apt-add-repository "deb [arch=amd64] https://apt.releases.hashicorp.com $(lsb_release -cs) main"
          sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install packer
      
      - name: Install VirtualBox
        run: |
          sudo apt-get install -y virtualbox
      
      - name: Build VM
        run: |
          cd packer
          packer build opensuse-leap-geckoforge.pkr.hcl
      
      - name: Test VM
        run: |
          ./test-automation.sh
      
      - name: Upload artifacts
        if: failure()
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v3
        with:
          name: test-logs
          path: |
            *.log
            output-virtualbox/

Benefits of Packer Approach

vs. Manual Setup

  • ⏱️ 40 min automated vs. 2 hours manual
  • 🔄 Reproducible - same VM every time
  • 🤖 Scriptable - integrate with CI/CD
  • 📦 Distributable - export OVA, share with team

vs. Custom ISO

  • ✅ Works in WSL2 - no kernel restrictions
  • ✅ Faster - no ISO building step
  • ✅ Official base - uses openSUSE's tested ISO
  • ✅ Flexible - easy to customize provisioning

Troubleshooting

Packer Hangs at Boot

Check boot_wait and boot_command in template. May need adjustment for your ISO version.

SSH Timeout

# Increase timeout in template
ssh_timeout = "60m"  # Default is 30m

VirtualBox Guest Additions Fail

# Ensure kernel-devel installed in autoyast.xml
<package>kernel-devel</package>
<package>gcc</package>
<package>make</package>

Next Steps

  1. ✅ Update ISO checksum in packer template
  2. ✅ Test build: packer build packer/opensuse-leap-geckoforge.pkr.hcl
  3. ✅ Import VM: VBoxManage import output-virtualbox/geckoforge-test.ova
  4. ✅ Add shared folder: Configure geckoforge repo mount
  5. ✅ Test manually: Boot VM, run scripts
  6. ✅ Automate: Use test-automation.sh script
  7. ✅ CI/CD: Add GitHub Actions workflow

Resources

Ready to build your first automated VM! 🚀