hashicorp / hashicorp/packer

Add Support for Automatic OS Detection in Packer Builders

Open
#13,538 3 comments 1 reaction 0 assignees View on GitHub
enhancement
Dominant language
Go
Stars
15.8k
Forks
3.3k
PR merge metrics
PR metrics pending

Description

Packer currently requires users to manually specify several OS-related configuration values such as distribution type, version, architecture, and boot commands, which can be complex and error-prone—especially when working with multiple templates or different Linux distributions. I would like to request a new feature that enables Packer to automatically detect the operating system and version from the provided ISO or boot image, and then apply the appropriate defaults for boot commands and provisioning options. This would simplify template creation, reduce user mistakes, improve build reliability, and make Packer more user-friendly by eliminating the need for lengthy manual boot command definitions.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

Research direction

No files, tests, or entry points are mentioned. Before implementation, clarify the supported distributions, detection signals, fallback behavior, and expected boot-command and provisioning defaults with maintainers; done should include agreed behavior and tests covering the supported cases.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
go
Domain
devops, infrastructure
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
25/100

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