Parallels (MacOS M1 host) Packer + Vagrant of Ubuntu 20.04 arm64. Installed with cloud-init and configured with Ansible.

README.md

parallels Packer (arm64)

A simple Packer + Vagrant install of Ubuntu 20.04 (Focal Fossa) LTS server for arm64, to run from my M1 Mac on Parallels Pro (17.1). Currently on MacOS Monterey.

Packer will run the ansible playbook.yml before the machine is shutdown and exported.

The installation is automated by cloud-init (which reads user-data). The file meta-data just needs to be an empty text file (you need to create this - no blank files or folders allowed in gists).

ubuntu2004/
        ├──http/
        │    ├── meta-data
        │    └── user-data
        ├── .gitignore
        ├── README.md
        ├── playbook.yml
        ├── Ubuntu.pkr.hcl
        └── Vagrantfile

using

git clone https://gist.github.com/craig-m-unsw/f457a9a189cd939a73b7d215c22b96e2 ubuntu2004
cd ubuntu2004
mkdir http
touch http/meta-data
mv user-data http/user-data
cat <<'EOF' >> .gitignore
.vagrant
.DS_Store
output-ubuntu-*
*.log
*.box
EOF

Building:

This will produce ubuntu2004.box, a virtual machine image.

ubnfunc_build () {
    export PACKER_LOG=2
    export PACKER_LOG_PATH=$(pwd)/packer.log
    packer validate Ubuntu.pkr.hcl && packer build Ubuntu.pkr.hcl
};

ubnfunc_build

Running:

The Vagrantfile supports multiple VM, each with own static IP. Edit as needed.

vagrant validate Vagrantfile
vagrant up && vagrant ssh admin
exit

This will start the virtual machine/s and log you into them.

Cleaning:

Rinse and repeat.

ubnfunc_clean () {
    vagrant destroy -f
    vagrant box remove file://ubuntu.box -f
    rm -fv -- packer.log ubuntu2004.box
};

ubnfunc_clean
ubnfunc_build

docs

• https://ubuntu.com/download/server/arm
• https://parallels.github.io/vagrant-parallels/docs/
• https://www.packer.io/docs/builders/parallels
• https://cloudinit.readthedocs.io/en/latest/
• https://www.hashicorp.com/resources/cloudinit-the-good-parts

playbook.yml

---

# playbook for local run by Packer

- name: "ansible playbook for Ubuntu"
  hosts: all
  gather_facts: yes

  vars:
    package_install: [
      { add_item: 'lsof' },
      { add_item: 'dos2unix' },
      { add_item: 'vim' },
      { add_item: 'make' },
      { add_item: 'jq' },
      { add_item: 'tcpdump' },
      { add_item: 'socat' },
      { add_item: 'expect' },
      { add_item: 'sshfs' },
      { add_item: 'gnupg2' },
      { add_item: 'inotify-tools' },
      { add_item: 'apparmor-utils' },
      { add_item: 'monitoring-plugins-common' },
      { add_item: 'monitoring-plugins-basic' },
      { add_item: 'ca-certificates' },
      { add_item: 'lsb-release' },
      { add_item: 'acl' }
    ]
    package_remove: [
      { del_item: 'telnet' }
    ]
    create_folders: [
      { dir: '/opt/data/', mode: '0775', owner: 'root', group: 'root' },
      { dir: '/home/ubuntu/downloads/', mode: '0700', owner: 'ubuntu', group: 'ubuntu' },
      { dir: '/home/ubuntu/upload/', mode: '0700', owner: 'ubuntu', group: 'ubuntu' },
      { dir: '/root/tmp/', mode: '0700', owner: 'root', group: 'root' },
      { dir: '/mnt/sshfs/', mode: '0775', owner: 'root', group: 'root' }
    ]
    newuser_name: "cluster"
    newuser_home: "/opt/cluster"

  tasks:

    - name: "checks and debug"
      block:
        - name: "OS check"
          assert:
            that:
              - ansible_os_family == "Debian"
              - ansible_architecture in ['aarch64']
        - name: "Display hostname"
          debug:
            msg: "inventory_hostname {{ inventory_hostname }}"
        - name: "cloud init files"
          block:
              - name: "wait for cloud-init vmhost.fact"
                wait_for:
                  path: /root/welcome.txt
                  search_regex: Welcome
                become: true
              - name: "wait for cust-blacklist.conf"
                wait_for:
                  path: /etc/modprobe.d/cust-blacklist.conf
                  search_regex: blacklist
              - name: "wait for cloud-init vmhost.fact"
                wait_for:
                  path: /etc/ansible/facts.d/vmhost.fact
        - name: "cloud init mod"
          block:
              - name: "Gather all facts of cloud init"
                cloud_init_data_facts:
                  filter: status
                register: res
                until: "res.cloud_init_data_facts.status.v1.stage is defined and not res.cloud_init_data_facts.status.v1.stage"
                retries: 50
                delay: 5

    - name: "system config"
      block:
        - name: "create new user"
          ansible.builtin.user:
            name: "{{ newuser_name }}"
            comment: "clust user"
            home: "{{ newuser_home }}"
            shell: /usr/bin/bash
            create_home: false
        - name: "homedir for {{ newuser_name }}"
          ansible.builtin.file:
            path: "{{ newuser_home }}"
            state: directory
            mode: "0775"
            owner: "{{ newuser_name}}"
            group: "{{ newuser_name }}"
        - name: "files and folders"
          block:
            - name: "create common folders"
              ansible.builtin.file:
                path: "{{ item.dir }}"
                state: directory
                mode: "{{ item.mode }}"
                owner: "{{ item.owner }}"
                group: "{{ item.group }}"
              with_items: "{{ create_folders }}"
      become: true

    - name: "software"
      block:
        - name: "install OS packages"
          ansible.builtin.package:
            name: "{{ item.add_item }}"
            state: present
          retries: 3
          with_items: "{{ package_install }}"
          become: true
          tags:
            - software
        - name: "remove OS packages"
          ansible.builtin.package:
            name: "{{ item.del_item }}"
            state: absent
          with_items: "{{ package_remove }}"
          become: true
          tags:
            - software
        - name: "patch"
          ansible.builtin.apt:
            name: "*"
            state: latest
          become: true
          tags:
            - software

    - name: "Finish up"
      block:
        - name: "create readme"
          ansible.builtin.copy:
            dest: /home/ubuntu/welcome.txt
            mode: 0644
            content: |
              # --- packer image details ---
              # distro:   {{ ansible_distribution }} {{ ansible_distribution_version }} {{ ansible_architecture }}
              # ansible:  {{ ansible_version }}
              # python:   {{ ansible_playbook_python }}
        - name: "debug note"
          debug:
            msg: "-- playbook.yml has finished --"

Ubuntu.pkr.hcl

# Ubuntu Packer HCL

packer {
  required_version = ">= 1.8.0"
}

variable "iso_checksum" {
  type    = string
  default = "d6fea1f11b4d23b481a48198f51d9b08258a36f6024cb5cec447fe78379959ce"
}

variable "iso_url" {
  type    = string
  default = "https://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/20.04/release/ubuntu-20.04.3-live-server-arm64.iso"
}

# boot_command issues solved by:
# https://github.com/hashicorp/packer/issues/9115

source "parallels-iso" "ubuntu-pa" {
  boot_command         = [ 
    "<tab><tab><tab><tab><tab><c><wait><bs><bs>",
    "linux /casper/vmlinuz --- autoinstall ds=\"nocloud-net;seedfrom=http://{{.HTTPIP}}:{{.HTTPPort}}/\"<enter><wait>",
    "initrd /casper/initrd<enter><wait>",
    "boot<enter>"
  ]
  boot_wait               = "5s"
  communicator            = "ssh"
  cpus                    = "4"
  disk_size               = "32768"
  guest_os_type           = "ubuntu"
  iso_checksum            = "${var.iso_checksum}"
  iso_url                 = "${var.iso_url}"
  memory                  = "4096"
  shutdown_command        = "sudo -S shutdown now"
  ssh_username            = "ubuntu"
  ssh_password            = "ubuntu"
  ssh_port                = "22"
  ssh_timeout             = "2h"
  parallels_tools_mode    = "disable"
  parallels_tools_flavor  = "lin"
  prlctl_version_file     = ".prlctl_version"
  vm_name                 = "ubuntu-pa"
  http_directory          = "http"
}


build {
  sources = ["source.parallels-iso.ubuntu-pa"]
  
  provisioner "shell" {
    inline            = ["sudo -S cloud-init status --wait"]
    timeout           = "15m0s"
  }

  provisioner "ansible-local" {
    playbook_file   = "playbook.yml"
    pause_before    = "10s"
    timeout         = "10m0s"
  }
  
  provisioner "shell" {
    expect_disconnect = true
    inline            = ["sudo -S reboot now"]
    pause_before      = "10s"
    timeout           = "10m0s"
  }

  post-processor "vagrant" {
    keep_input_artifact  = false
    compression_level    = 0
    output               = "ubuntu2004.box"
  }

}

user-data

#cloud-config
autoinstall:
  version: 1
  early-commands:
    - systemctl stop ssh
  locale: en_US.UTF-8
  apt:
    geoip: true
  keyboard:
    layout: en
    variant: us
  storage:
    layout:
      name: lvm
  identity:
    hostname: ubuntu
    username: ubuntu
    # pass is ubuntu
    password: $6$rounds=4096$8dkK1P/oE$2DGKKt0wLlTVJ7USY.0jN9du8FetmEr51yjPyeiR.zKE3DGFcitNL/nF1l62BLJNR87lQZixObuXYny.Mf17K1
  ssh:
    install-server: yes
    allow-pw: true
  packages:
    - basez
    - dialog
    - vim
    - tmux
    - git
    - uuid
    - software-properties-common
    - apt-transport-https
    - python3-pip
    - python3-venv
    - python3-dev
  user-data:
    disable_root: false
    package_update: true
    package_upgrade: true
    write_files:
      - path: /etc/sudoers.d/ubuntu
        owner: 'root:root'
        permissions: '0644'
        defer: true
        content:
          ubuntu ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD:ALL
      - path: /root/welcome.txt
        owner: 'root:root'
        permissions: '0644'
        defer: true
        content:
          Welcome to Ubuntu root.
      - encoding: b64
        path: /etc/modprobe.d/cust-blacklist.conf
        owner: 'root:root'
        permissions: '0644'
        defer: true
        content: YmxhY2tsaXN0IGpveWRldgpibGFja2xpc3Qgc25kX2hkYV9pbnRlbApibGFja2xpc3Qgc25kX2hkYV9jb2RlYwpibGFja2xpc3Qgc25kX2hkYV9jb2RlY19nZW5lcmljCmJsYWNrbGlzdCBzbmRfaGRhX2NvcmUKYmxhY2tsaXN0IHNuZF9wY20KYmxhY2tsaXN0IHNuZF9od2RlcApibGFja2xpc3Qgc25kX3RpbWVyCmJsYWNrbGlzdCBzbmQKYmxhY2tsaXN0IHNvdW5kY29yZQ==
      - encoding: b64
        path: /etc/ansible/facts.d/vmhost.fact
        owner: 'root:root'
        permissions: '0755'
        defer: true
        content: IyEvdXNyL2Jpbi9lbnYgc2gKZWNobyAie1widm0tY2xvdWQtaW5pdFwiIDogXCJ0cnVlXCJ9Ig==
  late-commands:
    - curtin in-target --target=/target -- add-apt-repository --yes --update ppa:ansible/ansible
    - curtin in-target --target=/target -- apt install ansible -y -q
    - mkdir /target/etc/ansible/facts.d
    - 'sed -i "s/dhcp4: true/&\n      dhcp-identifier: mac/" /target/etc/netplan/00-installer-config.yaml'
    - uptime
    - echo finished

Vagrantfile

# Ubuntu Vagrantfile
Vagrant.require_version ">= 2.2.18"

servers=[
    { :hostname => "admin", :ip => "192.168.50.10", :ram => 1024, :cpu => 2 },
    { :hostname => "node1", :ip => "192.168.50.11", :ram => 512, :cpu => 1 },
    { :hostname => "node2", :ip => "192.168.50.12", :ram => 512, :cpu => 1 },
    { :hostname => "node3", :ip => "192.168.50.13", :ram => 512, :cpu => 1 }
]

Vagrant.configure("2") do |config|
    config.vm.box = "ubuntu2004.box"
    config.vm.box_check_update = false

    config.ssh.username = "ubuntu"
    config.ssh.password = "ubuntu"
    config.ssh.insert_key = true
    config.ssh.keep_alive = true
    config.ssh.compression = false
    config.ssh.forward_agent = false

    config.vm.synced_folder ".", "/home/ubuntu/shares",
        type: "rsync",
        disabled: true

    servers.each do |machine|
        config.vm.define machine[:hostname] do |node|
            node.vm.hostname = machine[:hostname]
            node.vm.network "private_network", ip: machine[:ip]
            node.vm.provider "parallels" do |prl|
                prl.memory = machine[:ram]
                prl.cpus = machine[:cpu]
                prl.check_guest_tools = false
            end
        end
    end
end

Dude, I f*cking love you! This gist just rescued me from 16 hours of QEMU and VMware Fusion Tech Preview hell trying to get a basic packer Ubuntu box built on an M1 Mac so I can friggin' iterate on my ansible code locally using Vagrant without firing up cloud machines all over the place.

CAN I BUY YOU A BEER?