Ubuntu 22.04 Helper script not compatible with packer template

[zaczekvol]

Description

When building runner image from below helper script
https://github.com/actions/runner-images/blob/main/helpers/CreateAzureVMFromPackerTemplate.ps1

we are getting errors from packer validate about missing parameters for Azure Compute Gallery. But these parameters are not specified in the helper script:

Validating packer template...
Error: 3 error(s) occurred:

• A resource_group must be specified for shared_image_gallery_destination

• An image_name must be specified for shared_image_gallery_destination

• An image_version must be specified for shared_image_gallery_destination and must follow the Major(int).Minor(int).Patch(int) format

  on /home/runner/work/platform-github-runners/platform-github-runners/images/ubuntu/templates/ubuntu-22.04.pkr.hcl line 188:
  (source code not available)

Exception: /home/runner/work/platform-github-runners/platform-github-runners/helpers/GenerateResourcesAndImage.ps1:224
Line |
224 | throw "Packer template validation failed."
| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| Packer template validation failed.
Error: Error: The process '/usr/bin/pwsh' failed with exit code 1

Platforms affected

• Azure DevOps
• GitHub Actions - Standard Runners
• GitHub Actions - Larger Runners

Runner images affected

• Ubuntu 22.04
• Ubuntu 24.04
• macOS 13
• macOS 13 Arm64
• macOS 14
• macOS 14 Arm64
• macOS 15
• macOS 15 Arm64
• Windows Server 2019
• Windows Server 2022
• Windows Server 2025

Image version and build link

2.325.0

Is it regression?

yes, the last version of the template that works https://github.com/actions/runner-images/blob/0f4b96df94cac45f1cfd89787208a244f2dab6be/images/ubuntu/templates/ubuntu-22.04.pkr.hcl

Expected behavior

Script builds the image

Actual behavior

Scripts throw an error during packer validate step

Repro steps

1. Run CreateAzureVMFromPackerTemplate.ps1 with the required set of inputs

[RaviAkshintala]

@zaczekvol Thank you for bringing this issue to our attention. We will look into this issue and will update you after investigating.

[vidyasagarnimmagaddi]

Hi @zaczekvol ,The latest image has been rolled out i.e, 20250609.1 .
Could you please try to build the image , and revert if any issue.
Provide simple workflow / logs to resolve the issue. thanks

[zaczekvol]

The error is the same, because it is related to helper script and packer template, rather than the image. Is there a chance we can revert the packer template to the last working version or update the helper script?

[vidyasagarnimmagaddi]

Hi @zaczekvol , We are not facing issue , while building image , Please share workflow / error logs /build to analyze the issue from our end , thanks

[zaczekvol]

Hi @vidyasagarnimmagaddi , have you tried to build with
https://github.com/actions/runner-images/blob/main/helpers/GenerateResourcesAndImage.ps1 ?
I still have the issue. The arguments are not valid for the packer template.

I believe this commit broke it:
be36d1d

[maximelentz]

Hi,

I'm facing the same issue even if I properly set my envrionment variables, and agree with @zaczekvol about the breaking commit.

According to the documentation, shared_image_gallery_destination block isn't mandatory.

Could you please make it the use of shared_image_gallery_destination optional, and add the following variables to packer validate and packer build commands for those who want to use it ?

"-var=gallery_name=<>" `
"-var=gallery_resource_group_name=<>" `
"-var=gallery_image_name=<>" `
"-var=gallery_image_version=<>" `
"-var=gallery_storage_account_type=<>" 

BTW, if the point of shared_image_gallery_destination is to avoid creating and generalizing a new VM before publishing the image to the SIG, it would slightly simplify my build pipeline :)

Thanks

[Alexey-Ayupov]

Hello @zaczekvol, new parameters have been added to the packer template to allow saving the generated image directly to the shared image gallery. This was done to support our new approach to the image generation process.
I tested GenerateResourcesAndImage.ps1 and could only reproduce the issue when one of the shared_image_gallery_destination variables was defined (e.g. $env:GALLERY_NAME = "some_gallery_name").

Please make sure none of the ($env:GALLERY_NAME, $env:GALLERY_RG_NAME, $env:GALLERY_IMAGE_NAME, $env:GALLERY_IMAGE_VERSION, $env:GALLERY_STORAGE_ACCOUNT_TYPE) specified variables are set.

To validate the script I used the next snippet

- name: Build image on hosted runner
        run: |
          Import-Module .\helpers\GenerateResourcesAndImage.ps1
          $tags = @{test = '01'}
          GenerateResourcesAndImage `
              -SubscriptionId ${{ secrets.AZURE_SUBSCRIPTION }} `
              -ResourceGroupName ${{ secrets.AZURE_RESOURCE_GROUP }} `
              -AzureLocation ${{ secrets.AZURE_LOCATION }} `
              -ImageType 'Ubuntu2204' `
              -AzureClientId ${{ secrets.CLIENT_ID }} `
              -AzureClientSecret ${{ secrets.CLIENT_SECRET }} `
              -AzureTenantId ${{ secrets.AZURE_TENANT }} `
              -RestrictToAgentIpAddress `
              -ManagedImageName 'some-managed-image-name' `
              -Tags $tags `
              -OnError "cleanup"
        env:
          PACKER_LOG: 1
          PACKER_LOG_PATH: ${{ runner.temp }}/packer-log.txt
          RUN_VALIDATION_FLAG: true
          TEMP_RESOURCE_GROUP_NAME: ${{ env.TempResourceGroupName }}

@maximelentz , we made the above variables optional from the start. If all variables except subscription_id in the shared_image_gallery_destination block are null or empty (""), the packer will not use this block. Unfortunately, we cannot create a universal script that would cover all possible image generation options, but we try to keep helper scripts in working order.

[maximelentz]

@Alexey-Ayupov Thanks for your feedback. I had an environment variable named GALLERY_NAME, renamed it, and it solved template validation and build. :)

[zaczekvol]

Hi @Alexey-Ayupov , thanks very much, this also helped in my case.
I made GALLERY_NAME empty just for the build step, as GALLERY_NAME was set globally and being used in other steps.

      - name: Build
        uses: azure/powershell@v2
        env:
           GALLERY_NAME: