"Proficient Packer Automation"
Unlock the full power of infrastructure automation with "Proficient Packer Automation," the definitive guide for engineers, architects, and DevOps practitioners striving for excellence in image building and delivery. Explore the evolution of automated image creation, from foundational Infrastructure as Code principles to advanced DevOps integrations, and see how Packer stands out among modern tooling. The book sets the stage by grounding readers in immutable infrastructure models, security-conscious workflows, and the complexities of multi-cloud environments, ensuring a robust understanding of how Packer delivers rapid, reliable, and compliant machine images at scale.
Dive deep into Packer's architecture with comprehensive coverage of core concepts, template management, extensibility, and sophisticated provisioning strategies. Detailed chapters walk through builders, provisioners, and post-processors, showcasing advanced template authoring with HCL2, dynamic configuration, modularization, and secrets management. Readers will master seamless integration with configuration management tools, implement layered provisioning, and secure every stage of the image lifecycle—from development through vulnerability scanning, artifact signing, and audit reporting.
Designed for scale and resilience, "Proficient Packer Automation" addresses real-world enterprise automation challenges. Learn how to orchestrate massively parallel builds, optimize for cost and global distribution, and enforce end-to-end compliance in production pipelines. With practical patterns for CI/CD, self-service workflows, plugin development, and observability, as well as forward-looking insights and lessons from industry leaders, this book is an indispensable resource for organizations seeking to modernize, safeguard, and future-proof their infrastructure image automation pipelines.