Updating images across cloud infrastructure is often a tedious and manual task. Packer now makes this easier with HCL2, and can now be used with HCP Packer to build and update golden images in automation.

HCP Packer makes images and iterations available as a data source, enabling you to set up a multi-cloud golden image pipeline that integrates with Terraform. By codifying versions of images as golden images, you will be able to:

• Define golden images using channels: Choose a preferred iteration of an image for testing and production.
• Configure downstream images: By referencing these channel IDs across downstream images, they can be updated automatically when a new build is triggered.
• Integrate with Terraform: Using the HCP Provider for Terraform, the Packer data source allows you to codify images in your Terraform configuration files rather than hard-coding them.

HCP Packer is now in General Availability and is available to practitioners for free. To get started, join our webinar on Wednesday March 23rd at 10:00AM CST, for an educational deep dive on HCP Packer and Terraform.