---
description: |
  The Packer documentation describes how to use Packer and providers reference information for configuring Packer templates.
page_title: Packer documentation
---

# Packer Documentation

[Packer](https://www.packer.io/) is a community tool that enables you to create identical machine images for multiple platforms from a single source template. A common use case is creating "golden images" that teams across an organization can use in cloud infrastructure.

To install Packer and learn the standard Packer workflow, try the [Get Started tutorials](/packer/tutorials).

## HCP Packer

The HCP Packer registry stores metadata about your artifacts. You can use the registry to track information about
artifacts from your Packer builds, clearly designate which artifacts are appropriate for test and production
environments, and query for the right artifacts to use in both Packer and Terraform configurations.

Refer to the following resources to get started: 

- [HCP Packer documentation](/hcp/docs/packer) 
- [HCP Packer tutorials](/packer/tutorials/hcp-get-started)
- [Log into the HCP portal](https://portal.cloud.hashicorp.com)