Packer unable to pack aws image into VPC

amazon-web-servicespacker

I am trying to make a packer image, but on our amazon account we DO NOT have a default VPC. It has been removed. And have been getting this error when trying to pack the image:

==> amazon-instance: Inspecting the source AMI...
==> amazon-instance: Creating temporary keypair: packer 54cfd9c9-61ef-5f8f-4091-d27e731a8a4d
==> amazon-instance: Creating temporary security group for this instance...
==> amazon-instance: No default VPC for this user (VPCIdNotSpecified)
==> amazon-instance: Deleting temporary keypair...
Build 'amazon-instance' finished.

Therefore I am supposed to specify a default VPC id or subnet id.

I have tried both, 

{
  "variables": {
    "vpc_id ": "vpc-962438f4",
    "subnet_id": "subnet-1c5d5c68"
    },
  "builders": [{
    "type": "amazon-instance",
    "access_key": "somekey"
    "secret_key": "somekey"
    "account_id": "AccountIDNUMBER"
    "region": "ap-southeast-2",
    "source_ami": "ami-b7eb9e8d",
    "s3_bucket": "layer2amis",
    "x509_cert_path": "packer/cert-x509.pem",
    "x509_key_path": "packer/key-x509.pem",
    "instance_type": "t2.medium",
    "ssh_username": "ubuntu",
    "ssh_timeout": "5m",
    "ami_virtualization_type": "hvm",
    "ami_name": "layer2_stagingserver_{{timestamp}}",
    "bundle_vol_command": "sudo -n /usr/local/ec2/ec2-ami-tools-1.5.3/bin/ec2-bundle-vol -k {{.KeyPath}} -u {{.AccountId}} -c {{.CertPath}} -r {{.Architecture}} -e {{.PrivatePath}}/* -d {{.Destination}} -p {{.Prefix}} --batch --no-filter",
    "bundle_upload_command": "sudo -n /usr/local/ec2/ec2-ami-tools-1.5.3/bin/ec2-upload-bundle -b {{.BucketName}} -m {{.ManifestPath}} -a {{.AccessKey}} -s {{.SecretKey}} -d {{.BundleDirectory}} --region ap-southeast-2 --batch --retry"
  }],
}

The documentation on the web for packer just says vpc_id (string) – If launching into a VPC subnet, Packer needs the VPC ID in order to create a temporary security group within the VPC.

Best Answer

Exactly as you say, there is a vpc_id option that is pointed out in the documentation of the amazon-ebs builder. You have added this option to your Packer JSON file, however, you added it in the wrong place.

The vpc_id option should be added in your builder object and not in the variables object. So it should look something like this:

{
    "variables": {},
    "builders": [{
        "vpc_id": "vpc-12345678",
        "subnet_id": "subnet-1c5d5c68",
        "type": "amazon-instance",
        "access_key": "somekey",
        "secret_key": "somekey",
        "account_id": "AccountIDNUMBER",

        [...]
    }],
}
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