---
layout: docs
sidebar_current: docs-templates-engine
page_title: Template Engine - Templates
description: |-
  All strings within templates are processed by a common Packer templating
  engine, where variables and functions can be used to modify the value of a
  configuration parameter at runtime.
---

# Template Engine

All strings within templates are processed by a common Packer templating engine,
where variables and functions can be used to modify the value of a configuration
parameter at runtime.

For example, the `{{timestamp}}` function can be used in any string to generate
the current timestamp. This is useful for configurations that require unique
keys, such as AMI names. By setting the AMI name to something like
`My Packer AMI {{timestamp}}`, the AMI name will be unique down to the second.
If you need greater than one second granularity, you should use `{{uuid}}`, as
when you have multiple builders in the same template.

In addition to globally available functions like timestamp shown before, some
configurations have special local variables that are available only for that
configuration. These are recognizable because they're prefixed by a period, such
as `{{.Name}}`.

The complete syntax is covered in the next section, followed by a reference of
globally available functions.

## Syntax

The syntax of templates is extremely simple. Anything template related happens
within double-braces: `{{ }}`. Variables are prefixed with a period and
capitalized, such as `{{.Variable}}` and functions are just directly within the
braces, such as `{{timestamp}}`.

Here is an example from the VMware VMX template that shows configuration
templates in action:

```liquid
.encoding = "UTF-8"
displayName = "{{ .Name }}"
guestOS = "{{ .GuestOS }}"
```

In this case, the "Name" and "GuestOS" variables will be replaced, potentially
resulting in a VMX that looks like this:

```liquid
.encoding = "UTF-8"
displayName = "packer"
guestOS = "otherlinux"
```

## Global Functions

While some configuration settings have local variables specific to only that
configuration, a set of functions are available globally for use in *any string*
in Packer templates. These are listed below for reference.

- `build_name` - The name of the build being run.
- `build_type` - The type of the builder being used currently.
- `isotime [FORMAT]` - UTC time, which can be
    [formatted](https://golang.org/pkg/time/#example_Time_Format). See more
    examples below.
- `lower` - Lowercases the string.
- `pwd` - The working directory while executing Packer.
- `template_dir` - The directory to the template for the build.
- `timestamp` - The current Unix timestamp in UTC.
- `uuid` - Returns a random UUID.
- `upper` - Uppercases the string.

### isotime Format

Formatting for the function `isotime` uses the magic reference date **Mon Jan 2
15:04:05 -0700 MST 2006**, which breaks down to the following:

<table class="table table-bordered table-condensed">
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th>
      </th>
      <th align="center">
        Day of Week
      </th>
      <th align="center">
        Month
      </th>
      <th align="center">
        Date
      </th>
      <th align="center">
        Hour
      </th>
      <th align="center">
        Minute
      </th>
      <th align="center">
        Second
      </th>
      <th align="center">
        Year
      </th>
      <th align="center">
        Timezone
      </th>
    </tr>
  </thead>
  <tr>
    <th>
      Numeric
    </th>
    <td align="center">
      -   
    </td>
    <td align="center">
      01
    </td>
    <td align="center">
      02
    </td>
    <td align="center">
      03 (15)
    </td>
    <td align="center">
      04
    </td>
    <td align="center">
      05
    </td>
    <td align="center">
      06
    </td>
    <td align="center">
      -0700
    </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <th>
      Textual
    </th>
    <td align="center">
      Monday (Mon)
    </td>
    <td align="center">
      January (Jan)
    </td>
    <td align="center">
      -   
    </td>
    <td align="center">
      -   
    </td>
    <td align="center">
      -   
    </td>
    <td align="center">
      -   
    </td>
    <td align="center">
      -   
    </td>
    <td align="center">
      MST
    </td>
  </tr>
</table>

*The values in parentheses are the abbreviated, or 24-hour clock values*

Note that "-0700" is always formatted into "+0000" because `isotime` is always UTC time.

Here are some example formated time, using the above format options:

```liquid
isotime = June 7, 7:22:43pm 2014

{{isotime "2006-01-02"}} = 2014-06-07
{{isotime "Mon 1504"}} = Sat 1922
{{isotime "02-Jan-06 03\_04\_05"}} = 07-Jun-2014 07\_22\_43
{{isotime "Hour15Year200603"}} = Hour19Year201407
```

Please note that double quote characters need escaping inside of templates (in this case, on the `ami_name` value):

```json
{
  "builders": [
    {
      "type": "amazon-ebs",
      "access_key": "...",
      "secret_key": "...",
      "region": "us-east-1",
      "source_ami": "ami-fce3c696",
      "instance_type": "t2.micro",
      "ssh_username": "ubuntu",
      "ami_name": "packer {{isotime \"2006-01-02\"}}"
    }
  ]
}
```

-> **Note:** See the [Amazon builder](/docs/builders/amazon.html) documentation for more information on how to correctly configure the Amazon builder in this example.

## Amazon Specific Functions

Specific to Amazon builders:

- `clean_ami_name` - AMI names can only contain certain characters. This
  function will replace illegal characters with a '-" character. Example usage
  since ":" is not a legal AMI name is: `{{isotime | clean_ami_name}}`.
