Instructions for using this repo

Things need and steps to follow:

• A modern distribution of linux (Centos7+, Ubuntu 18.04+, RHEL7+, or derivatives of them)
• QEMU/KVM installed - Lots of tutorials on how to install this software around the internet. Specific instructions will vary from distro to distro.
• Packer installed - Easiest to add the repository for the host system's version of linux (ignore that the URL has docker in it).
  • https://developer.hashicorp.com/packer/tutorials/docker-get-started/get-started-install-cli
• Vagrant installed - If the hashicorp repo was added in the previous step, this will be as easy as installing via the repo.
  • https://developer.hashicorp.com/vagrant/downloads
• Download the latest centos7 image from one of the available mirrors. Also grab the sha256sum of the file. It's recommended to use the minimal ISO image. The URL for the iso can be used in the iso_url field if desired. It was easier to download the file locally while doing multiple test builds.
  • Mirror list - http://isoredirect.centos.org/centos/7/isos/x86_64/
• Clone the git repository
• Change iso_url and iso_checksum in the centos.pkr.hcl file as needed to match with the ones downloaded.
• cd into the repository and run packer init centos.pkr.hcl, this will download the most recent version of the qemu plugin. An empty response implies that the plugin is already present.
• Run packer build centos.pkr.hcl and wait. Alternatively, connect to the VNC port packer provides and watch the build.

In the repository are 3 main files for the build

• centos.pkr.hcl - This file is the core packer build file.
• ks.cfg - This is the kickstart file that allows packer to build the os unattended. For a more streamlined system, or alternate environment, modify packages list as desired. Removing everything will result in just the core system being installed. Along with sudo as it's installed in the post processing steps.
• vagrant.rb.j2 - This is the base Vagrantfile that will be stored in the box image.

The full run took about 25-30 minutes from packer build command to vagrant box ready for usage on an Intel i5-7200 laptop.

Once the build has completed, a file name packer-centos-kvm.box will be in the build directory (unless the var.system variable is altered). Add the box to vagrant with vagrant box add --name packer-centos-kvm packer-centos-kvm.box. Change the name and box file as desired/needed. Then navigate to an empty directory and run vagrant init packer-centos-kvm (or use whatever the box was named when adding it). Edit the generated Vagrantfile to add the below somewhere before the end stanza at the bottom of the file and after the config.vm.box line at the top of the file.

  config.vm.provider "libvirt" do |lv|
    # Customize the amount of memory and CPUs on the VM:
    lv.memory = "4096"
    lv.cpus = "2"
  end

This will ensure that the VM is brought up with 4g of ram, and 2 CPUs. Without, the system will have only 1 CPU, and 512M of ram.