HashiCrop packer Template of Arm64 Debian 12 (bookworm)

This repo contains a packer template for building an ARM64 Vagrant Base Box of Debian 12.5.0 (aka Bookworm) that was built on 🍎 MacOS & M3 (aka Apple Silicon).

You can also find these boxes on Vagrant cloud:

• vagrantup.com/aphorise/boxes/debian12-arm64

For x86-64 / AMD64 builds see: github.com/aphorise/hashicorp.packer-debian12-bookworm.

Prerequisites

Ensure that you already have the following applications installed & working:

• 🍎 macOS (aka OSX) Fusion 13 for Apple Silicon (M1, M2 / M3).
• Vagrant
• Packer

Usage

1. Verify or set sha512 that's used in "iso_checksum": "sha512:...". Version specific values of SHASUM can be found on the URL path for that version - eg:

   • https://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/release/:warning:12.5.0⚠️/arm64/iso-cd/SHA512SUMS

2. Make all changes as required (eg: d-i mirror/country string Netherlands in ui-input.http/pressed_debian12-bookworm.cfg) and thereafter commence with build using packer CLI:

   packer validate debian12-bookworm.json ;
   # // if output: Template validated successfully.
   packer build debian12-bookworm.json

3. Add Box & Test using Vagrant when box is produced:

   vagrant box add --name debian_arm vmware-debian-arm64-12.5.0.box ;
   vagrant init debian_arm ;
   vagrant up ;
   # // when done:
   vagrant destroy -f && vagrant box remove debian_arm

The resulting Vagrant Base *.box file will be produced in the root of the repository (if no issues / errors).

Install Notes

brew tap hashicorp/tap ;
brew install hashicorp/tap/hashicorp-vagrant && brew install hashicorp/tap/packer ;
vagrant plugin install vagrant-vmware-desktop ;
packer plugins install github.com/hashicorp/vmware && packer plugins install github.com/hashicorp/vagrant ;

Last Run

  # Build 'vmware-iso.vmware-debian-arm64-12.5.0' finished after 8 minutes 39 seconds.

date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S' && uname -a && sw_vers && \
 /Applications/VMware\ Fusion.app/Contents/Library/vmware-vmx-stats -v && \
 packer version && vagrant version ;
  # 2024-04-11 12:53:19
  # Darwin ... 23.4.0 Darwin Kernel Version 23.4.0: Wed Feb 21 21:44:54 PST 2024; root:xnu-10063.101.15~2/RELEASE_ARM64_T6030 arm64 arm Darwin
  # ProductName:		macOS
  # ProductVersion:		14.4
  # BuildVersion:		23E214
  # VMware Fusion Information:
  # VMware Fusion 13.5.0 build-22583790 STATS
  # Installed Version: 2.4.0
  # Latest Version: 2.4.1

Reference & Credits:

Accreditation of other material used:

• aphorise/hashicorp.packer-debian10-buster - x86 / AMD64 based Debian Bullseye.
• hashicorp/packer-plugin-vmware/example/ - official packer vmware plugin example.
• vmware-iso: Allow Architecture configuration for arm64/aarch64 #45

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