From f02e5cde25d2af70f3d3409b80361b7b114e714d Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Mitchell Hashimoto Date: Sat, 8 Jun 2013 13:11:38 -0700 Subject: [PATCH] website: what is packer --- website/source/docs/what-is-packer.html.markdown | 11 +++++++++-- website/source/layouts/docs.erb | 1 - 2 files changed, 9 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-) diff --git a/website/source/docs/what-is-packer.html.markdown b/website/source/docs/what-is-packer.html.markdown index 0fb2e9f1d..f8fbfc43d 100644 --- a/website/source/docs/what-is-packer.html.markdown +++ b/website/source/docs/what-is-packer.html.markdown @@ -7,7 +7,9 @@ layout: "docs" Packer is a tool for creating identical machine images for multiple platforms from a single source configuration. Packer is lightweight, runs on every major operating system, and is highly performant, creating machine images for -multiple platforms in parallel. +multiple platforms in parallel. Packer does not replace configuration management +like Chef or Puppet. In fact, when building images, Packer is able to use tools +like Chef or Puppet to install software onto the image. A _machine image_ is a single static unit that contains a pre-configured operating system and installed software which is used to quickly create new running machines. @@ -18,7 +20,8 @@ VMDK/VMX files for VMware, OVF exports for VirtualBox, etc. Historically, creating these images has been a predominantly manual process. Any existing automated tools were able to create only one type of image. Packer, on the other hand, is able to automatically -create any type of image, all from a single source configuration. +create any type of image, all from a single source configuration. This unlocks +untapped potential in developing, testing, and deploying applications. Pre-baked machine images have a lot of advantages, but we've been unable to benefit from them because they have been too tedious to create and manage. @@ -45,3 +48,7 @@ they'll be caught early, rather than several minutes after a machine is launched can be quickly launched and smoke tested to verify that things appear to be working. If they are, you can be confident that any other machines launched from that image will function properly. + +Packer makes it extremely easy to take advantage of all these benefits. + +What are you waiting for? Let's get started! diff --git a/website/source/layouts/docs.erb b/website/source/layouts/docs.erb index f3d380d58..018c5f9e8 100644 --- a/website/source/layouts/docs.erb +++ b/website/source/layouts/docs.erb @@ -25,7 +25,6 @@