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 # Packer templates for OpenSLX
 
-TODO 
+Packer-based generation of reference systems using distro's ISOs.
+
+## Dependencies
+
+Packer => 0.12.2
+Download: https://www.packer.io/downloads.html
+
+## Usage
+
+The file 'base.json' contains default variables (VM, SSH) common to all templates.
+Thus it should always be included using packer's '-var-file' option.
+
+Basic usage:
+	packer build -var-file=base.json <template>
+
+Example: build Ubuntu 16.04.2 LTS template using qemu builder
+	packer build -var-file=base.json -only=qemu ubuntu-16.04-amd64.json
+
+Debug:
+	PACKER_LOG=1 PACKER_LOG_FILE=/var/log/packer.log \
+		packer build -debug -only=qemu -var-file=base.json ubuntu-16.04-amd64.json
+
+## Notes
+
+Variables set in base.json can be overriden using packer's '-var' options, e.g.:
+	packer build -var-file=base.json -var='headless=true' <template>
+
+(Make sure you first include base.json before overriding a variable!)
+
+Packer connects to the VM per SSH to provision them after the initial iso installation.
+A default password is defined in base.json and the corresponding SHA-512 hashes are set
+in the kickstart/preseed files. If you change the 'ssh_password' make sure to change the
+hashes in the ks/ps files (generate with 'mkpasswd -m sha-512')!