Merge pull request #8616 from hashicorp/packer-plugin-path

add PACKER_PLUGIN_PATH for plugin discovery

config.go

@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ func (c *config) Discover() error {
 		return nil
 	}
 
-	// First, look in the same directory as the executable.
+	// Next, look in the same directory as the executable.
 	exePath, err := osext.Executable()
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Printf("[ERR] Error loading exe directory: %s", err)
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ func (c *config) Discover() error {
 		}
 	}
 
-	// Next, look in the plugins directory.
+	// Next, look in the default plugins directory inside the configdir/.packer.d/plugins.
 	dir, err := packer.ConfigDir()
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Printf("[ERR] Error loading config directory: %s", err)
@@ -155,6 +155,22 @@ func (c *config) Discover() error {
 		return err
 	}
 
+	// Check whether there is a custom Plugin directory defined. This gets
+	// absolute preference.
+	if packerPluginPath := os.Getenv("PACKER_PLUGIN_PATH"); packerPluginPath != "" {
+		sep := ":"
+		if runtime.GOOS == "windows" {
+			// on windows, PATH is semicolon-separated
+			sep = ";"
+		}
+		plugPaths := strings.Split(packerPluginPath, sep)
+		for _, plugPath := range plugPaths {
+			if err := c.discoverExternalComponents(plugPath); err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
 	// Finally, try to use an internal plugin. Note that this will not override
 	// any previously-loaded plugins.
 	if err := c.discoverInternalComponents(); err != nil {

config_test.go

@@ -12,8 +12,107 @@ import (
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/hashicorp/packer/packer"
+	"github.com/hashicorp/packer/packer/plugin"
 )
 
+func newConfig() config {
+	var conf config
+	conf.PluginMinPort = 10000
+	conf.PluginMaxPort = 25000
+	conf.Builders = packer.MapOfBuilder{}
+	conf.PostProcessors = packer.MapOfPostProcessor{}
+	conf.Provisioners = packer.MapOfProvisioner{}
+
+	return conf
+}
+func TestDiscoverReturnsIfMagicCookieSet(t *testing.T) {
+	config := newConfig()
+
+	os.Setenv(plugin.MagicCookieKey, plugin.MagicCookieValue)
+	defer os.Unsetenv(plugin.MagicCookieKey)
+
+	err := config.Discover()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Should not have errored: %s", err)
+	}
+
+	if len(config.Builders) != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("Should not have tried to find builders")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestEnvVarPackerPluginPath(t *testing.T) {
+	// Create a temporary directory to store plugins in
+	dir, _, cleanUpFunc, err := generateFakePlugins("custom_plugin_dir",
+		[]string{"packer-provisioner-partyparrot"})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Error creating fake custom plugins: %s", err)
+	}
+
+	defer cleanUpFunc()
+
+	// Add temp dir to path.
+	os.Setenv("PACKER_PLUGIN_PATH", dir)
+	defer os.Unsetenv("PACKER_PLUGIN_PATH")
+
+	config := newConfig()
+
+	err = config.Discover()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Should not have errored: %s", err)
+	}
+
+	if len(config.Provisioners) == 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("Should have found partyparrot provisioner")
+	}
+	if _, ok := config.Provisioners["partyparrot"]; !ok {
+		t.Fatalf("Should have found partyparrot provisioner.")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestEnvVarPackerPluginPath_MultiplePaths(t *testing.T) {
+	// Create a temporary directory to store plugins in
+	dir, _, cleanUpFunc, err := generateFakePlugins("custom_plugin_dir",
+		[]string{"packer-provisioner-partyparrot"})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Error creating fake custom plugins: %s", err)
+	}
+
+	defer cleanUpFunc()
+
+	pathsep := ":"
+	if runtime.GOOS == "windows" {
+		pathsep = ";"
+	}
+
+	// Create a second dir to look in that will be empty
+	decoyDir, err := ioutil.TempDir("", "decoy")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Failed to create a temporary test dir.")
+	}
+	defer os.Remove(decoyDir)
+
+	pluginPath := dir + pathsep + decoyDir
+
+	// Add temp dir to path.
+	os.Setenv("PACKER_PLUGIN_PATH", pluginPath)
+	defer os.Unsetenv("PACKER_PLUGIN_PATH")
+
+	config := newConfig()
+
+	err = config.Discover()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Should not have errored: %s", err)
+	}
+
+	if len(config.Provisioners) == 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("Should have found partyparrot provisioner")
+	}
+	if _, ok := config.Provisioners["partyparrot"]; !ok {
+		t.Fatalf("Should have found partyparrot provisioner.")
+	}
+}
+
 func TestDecodeConfig(t *testing.T) {
 
 	packerConfig := `
@@ -145,18 +244,13 @@ func TestLoadSingleComponent(t *testing.T) {
 
 }
 
-/* generateFakePackerConfigData creates a collection of mock plugins along with a basic packerconfig.
+func generateFakePlugins(dirname string, pluginNames []string) (string, []string, func(), error) {
-The return packerConfigData is a valid packerconfig file that can be used for configuring external plugins, cleanUpFunc is a function that should be called for cleaning up any generated mock data.
+	dir, err := ioutil.TempDir("", dirname)
-This function will only clean up if there is an error, on successful runs the caller
-is responsible for cleaning up the data via cleanUpFunc().
-*/
-func generateFakePackerConfigData() (packerConfigData string, cleanUpFunc func(), err error) {
-	dir, err := ioutil.TempDir("", "random-testdata")
 	if err != nil {
-		return "", nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to create temporary test directory: %v", err)
+		return "", nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to create temporary test directory: %v", err)
 	}
 
-	cleanUpFunc = func() {
+	cleanUpFunc := func() {
 		os.RemoveAll(dir)
 	}
 
@@ -165,19 +259,36 @@ func generateFakePackerConfigData() (packerConfigData string, cleanUpFunc func()
 		suffix = ".exe"
 	}
 
-	plugins := [...]string{
+	plugins := make([]string, len(pluginNames))
-		filepath.Join(dir, "packer-builder-cloud-xyz"+suffix),
+	for i, plugin := range pluginNames {
-		filepath.Join(dir, "packer-provisioner-super-shell"+suffix),
+		plug := filepath.Join(dir, plugin+suffix)
-		filepath.Join(dir, "packer-post-processor-noop"+suffix),
+		plugins[i] = plug
-	}
+		_, err := os.Create(plug)
-	for _, plugin := range plugins {
-		_, err := os.Create(plugin)
 		if err != nil {
 			cleanUpFunc()
-			return "", nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to create temporary plugin file (%s): %v", plugin, err)
+			return "", nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to create temporary plugin file (%s): %v", plug, err)
 		}
 	}
 
+	return dir, plugins, cleanUpFunc, nil
+}
+
+/* generateFakePackerConfigData creates a collection of mock plugins along with a basic packerconfig.
+The return packerConfigData is a valid packerconfig file that can be used for configuring external plugins, cleanUpFunc is a function that should be called for cleaning up any generated mock data.
+This function will only clean up if there is an error, on successful runs the caller
+is responsible for cleaning up the data via cleanUpFunc().
+*/
+func generateFakePackerConfigData() (packerConfigData string, cleanUpFunc func(), err error) {
+	_, plugins, cleanUpFunc, err := generateFakePlugins("random-testdata",
+		[]string{"packer-builder-cloud-xyz",
+			"packer-provisioner-super-shell",
+			"packer-post-processor-noop"})
+
+	if err != nil {
+		cleanUpFunc()
+		return "", nil, err
+	}
+
 	packerConfigData = fmt.Sprintf(`
 	{
 		"PluginMinPort": 10,

website/source/docs/extending/plugins.html.md

@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ Once the plugin is named properly, Packer automatically discovers plugins in
 the following directories in the given order. If a conflicting plugin is found
 later, it will take precedence over one found earlier.
 
+
 1.  The directory where `packer` is, or the executable directory.
 
 2.  The `$HOME/.packer.d/plugins` directory, if `$HOME` is defined (unix)
@@ -62,6 +63,14 @@ later, it will take precedence over one found earlier.
 
 5.  The current working directory.
 
+6. The directory defined in the env var `PACKER_PLUGIN_PATH`. There can be more
+than one directory defined; for example, `~/custom-dir-1:~/custom-dir-2`.
+Separate directories in the PATH string using a colon (`:`) on posix systems and
+a semicolon (`;`) on windows systems. The above example path would be able to
+find a provisioner named `packer-provisioner-foo` in either
+`~/custom-dir-1/packer-provisioner-foo` or
+`~/custom-dir-2/packer-provisioner-foo`.
+
 The valid types for plugins are:
 
 -   `builder` - Plugins responsible for building images for a specific

website/source/docs/other/environment-variables.html.md

@@ -39,6 +39,14 @@ each can be found below:
     connections on your local host. The default is 10,000. See the [core
     configuration page](/docs/other/core-configuration.html).
 
+-   `PACKER_PLUGIN_PATH` - a PATH variable for finding third-party packer
+plugins. For example: `~/custom-dir-1:~/custom-dir-2`.
+Separate directories in the PATH string using a colon (`:`) on posix systems and
+a semicolon (`;`) on windows systems. The above example path would be able to
+find a provisioner named `packer-provisioner-foo` in either
+`~/custom-dir-1/packer-provisioner-foo` or
+`~/custom-dir-2/packer-provisioner-foo`.
+
 -   `CHECKPOINT_DISABLE` - When Packer is invoked it sometimes calls out to
     [checkpoint.hashicorp.com](https://checkpoint.hashicorp.com/) to look for
     new versions of Packer. If you want to disable this for security or privacy