This project builds CentOS boxes with Packer and Kickstart for use with Vagrant. Packer templates are provided for creating a minimal base box, and other boxes based on this base box. By reusing base boxes instead of provisioning each box from scratch, build time is significantly reduced (similar to layered Docker image builds).
An interesting box to build is a development environment that is provisioned with Ansible. The resulting box is suited for offline use (behind the corporate firewall).
See the centos7 branch for Puppet, Weblogic 12c and Oracle 12c boxes (development is discontinued by me).
Download the following files to the iso directory:
When using different versions, adapt the file names and SHA256 checksums in templates/centos8-basebox.json accordingly.
A GNU Makefile is provided for convenience and for managing dependencies between images and source files. The Makefile provides the following targets:
all: build all boxes and add to vagrant
boxes: build all boxes
basebox: build mimimal base box
add: add boxes to vagrant
remove: remove boxes from vagrant
list: list vagrant boxes
clean: remove generated boxes
clobber: remove generated boxes and caches
Type make help for this help. Type
$ make boxes
to build all boxes.
The base box is a minimal image created from an ISO image installer with Packer and Kickstart. See also Kickstart tjps.
The following software is installed:
- Latest system updates
- VirtualBox Guest Additions
- Vagrant user and insecure key for vagrant provisioning
- Local packages and customizations (specified in the
scriptsdirectory)
Password for root and vagrant users is vagrant.
The image contains small filesystems /, /home, /tmp, /var and swap.
Post-provisioning scripts should create or extend filesystems before
installing large software packages (see LVM tips. Alternatively, modify the partition
layout in http/centos8-basebox.ks.
System updates are performed from the Kickstart provisioning process, in order to compile VirtualBox guest additions against the latest kernel from the from Packer shell provisioning scripts.
This image contains a base box with Ansible installed.
An Ansible provisiong run is executed from Packer for configuring the image, using the Ansible playbook from the Vagrant example Ansible configuration. This allows development and testing of manifests in the Vagrant box and packaging the final result with Packer.
Run a playbook from the command line as as follows:
$ cd /vagrant/ansible
$ ansible-playbook playbook.yml
See the development box for a more elaborate Ansible example.
This image is based on the Ansible box. It contains a Java / Angular / Python / Docker / Minikube development environment.
An Ansible provisioning run is executed from Packer for configuring the image and tooling using the Ansible code base from the Vagrant development box example configuration. This allows development and testing of playbooks in the Vagrant box and packaging the final result with packer.
See README.md for providing external dependencies of the development box.
Pre-packaged box with Oracle 19c Enterprise Edition database server. See Oracle tips for details.
Go to
Oracle 19c database donwloads (OTN)
and download the file oracle-database-ee-19c-1.0-1.x86_64.rpm from to the directoryoracle19c/stage.
The directory vagrant contains example Vagrant configurations
for running the Packer generated boxes with Vagrant.
The directory vagrant/centos8-basebox contains a Vagranfile for running the CentOS 8 base box.
The directory vagrant/centos8-ansible contains a Vagranfile for provisioning boxes with Ansible.
The directory vagrant/centos8-devbox contains a Vagranfile for provisioning development environments.
The following example playbooks are available:
devbox.yml: Java / Angular / Python / Docker development environment and misc toolsdocker.yml: install Docker and donwload imagesdocker-oracle.yml: loads Oracle docker images for Oracle RDBMS development.gnome.yml: configure graphical environmentlocal.yml: customize certificates, network access and toolingminikube.yml: runs Minikube Kubernetes cluster on Dockernginx.yml: configure Nginx
The directory vagrant/centos8-oracle19c contains a Vagrantfile for running the Oracle 19c database box.