Windows 2016 vsphere packer template getting stuck

Packer
1

I am getting stuck on Waiting for IP when trying to setup a windows 2016 template in vsphere

any idea?
{
“variables”: {
“vsphere_server”: “”,
“vsphere_user”: “”,
“vsphere_password”: “”,
“vsphere_template_name”: “”,
“vsphere_folder”: “”,
“vsphere_dc_name”: “”,
“vsphere_compute_cluster”: “”,
“vsphere_host”: “”,
“vsphere_portgroup_name”: “”,
“vsphere_datastore”: “”,
“winadmin_password”: “”,
“cpu_num”: “”,
“mem_size”: “”,
“disk_size”: “”,
“os_iso_path”: “”,
“vmtools_iso_path”:""
},
“sensitive-variables”: [“vsphere_password”, “winadmin_password”],
“builders”: [
{
“type”: “vsphere-iso”,
“vcenter_server”: “{{user vsphere_server}}”,
“username”: “{{user vsphere_user}}”,
“password”: “{{user vsphere_password}}”,
“insecure_connection”: “true”,
“vm_name”: “{{user vsphere_template_name}}”,
“folder”: “{{user vsphere_folder}}”,
“datacenter”: “{{user vsphere_dc_name}}”,
“cluster”: “{{user vsphere_compute_cluster}}”,
“host”: “{{user vsphere_host}}”,
“network”: “{{user vsphere_portgroup_name}}”,
“datastore”: “{{user vsphere_datastore}}”,
“convert_to_template”: “true”,
“guest_os_type”: “windows9Server64Guest”,
“communicator”: “winrm”,
“winrm_username”: “Administrator”,
“winrm_password”: “{{user winadmin_password}}”,
“CPUs”: “{{user cpu_num}}”,
“RAM”: “{{user mem_size}}”,
“RAM_reserve_all”: true,
“firmware”: “bios”,
“disk_controller_type”: “lsilogic-sas”,
“boot_order”: “disk,cdrom”,
“disk_size”: “{{user disk_size}}”,
“disk_thin_provisioned”: true,
“network_card”: “vmxnet3”,
“iso_paths”: [
“{{user os_iso_path}}”,
“{{user vmtools_iso_path}}”
],
“floppy_files”: [
“setup/autounattend.xml”,
“setup/setup.ps1”,
“setup/vmtools.cmd”
]
}
],

“provisioners”: [
{
“type”: “windows-shell”,
“inline”: [“dir c:\”]
}
]

2

Hi,

just curious, VMware Tools are installed on your machine when you got stuck at waiting for IP?

Martin

3

did not even get to that stage.

4

Screen Shot 2020-03-25 at 6.13.06 AM
Screen Shot 2020-03-25 at 6.13.06 AM1225×284 41.5 KB

5

Check the VM on vCenter side, whether VM Tools are running. I think that when VM Tools are not running Packer has no way how to get IP for WinRM to connect.

6

vmtools not running. The os is not even running but vm is on

7

What’s the value of vsphere_portgroup_name? In the VMware console can you see the network card and is it connected at boot (with an configured network [using DHCP, I guess])?

8

Do you see OS being installed? As basic prerequisites I think you need to have:

  • VM Tools running
  • DHCP server in subnet where you deploy your template or static IP address assigned
  • access to the template IP from machine where your Packer is running

Hopefully I didn’t forgot anything.

9

no I do not see os being installed. I have my variables file and all is correct. in the VM I see the iso mounted but does not say connected. vlan is fine. the other wunning vms are using same vlan. yes I have dhcp on this subnet

10

vCenter user permissions or any error in the task log?

11

permission not an issue. I am using administrator@vsphere.local. The vm was created in the folder. Problem is I am stuck at a flashing prompt on the vm console

Screen Shot 2020-03-25 at 7.05.05 AM

12

also I dont see a floppy being mounted. here is the vm config

Screen Shot 2020-03-25 at 7.06.11 AM
Screen Shot 2020-03-25 at 7.06.11 AM817×641 55.3 KB

13

I was seeing similar issue, if I remember it right I’ve removed some values from json, but don’t know what it was. Below is part of my working json file.

“builders”: [
{
“type”: “vsphere-iso”,

"vcenter_server": "{{user `vsphere-server`}}",
"username": "{{user `vsphere-user`}}",
"password": "{{user `vsphere-password`}}",
"insecure_connection": "true",

"datacenter": "{{user `vsphere-datacenter`}}",
"cluster": "{{user `vsphere-cluster`}}",
"network": "{{user `vsphere-network`}}",
"datastore": "{{user `vsphere-datastore`}}",
"folder": "{{user `vsphere-folder`}}",

"convert_to_template": "true",

"communicator": "winrm",
"winrm_username": "Administrator",
"winrm_password": "{{user `winadmin-password`}}",

"vm_name": "{{user `vm-name`}}",
"notes": "Build via Packer",

"guest_os_type": "windows9Server64Guest",

"CPUs": "{{user `vm-cpu-num`}}",

“CPU_limit”: -1,
“boot_order”: “disk,cdrom”,
“RAM”: “{{user vm-mem-size}}”,
“RAM_reserve_all”: true,
“firmware”: “bios”,

"disk_controller_type":  "lsilogic-sas",
"disk_size": "{{user `vm-disk-size`}}",
"disk_thin_provisioned": true,

"network_card": "vmxnet3",

“iso_checksum_type”:“sha256”,
“iso_checksum”:“17f8c922e49c55804db7a1b9c41a87209a17b99241643e4c87854ba47ea03165”,
“iso_urls”:"/templates/Svr_Std_2016_64Bit.iso",

"floppy_files": [
    "autounattend.xml"
    ]
  }
],
14

do i nee dthe iso checksum?

15

not sure, didn’t tested without it

16

ok looks like I got the iso name mistype. I got windows installed now but vmware tools not installed. How do I get that installed with packer?

17

Here is a complete example for your case:

18

ok now its getting stuck on WAiting for WinRM to become available. Screen Shot 2020-03-25 at 11.45.21 AM

19

Is telnet for port 5985 working?

20

yes its listening. one other thing is vmware tools is installed. but mouse is not working on the web console