packer plugins install command reference

The packer plugins install command downloads and installs the most recent version of a plugin binary. Refer to Installing Plugins for additional information about installing plugins.

Description

Use the packer plugins install command to manually install plugins instead of specifying plugins in a template and initializing Packer. Refer to the packer init command documentation for information about installing plugins specified in a Packer template during initialization.

Third-party plugin verification

HashiCorp only verifies plugins from GitHub under thehashicorp/* namespace. We recommend that you vet and verify any third-party plugins you want to install.

Installation directory

By default, Packer installs plugins into the plugins directory at $HOME/.config/packer/plugins on Unix and %APPDATA%\packer.d\plugins on Windows, but you can specify a different directory using the `PACKER_PLUGIN_PATH environment variable. Refer to the Packer configuration reference for additional information.

Usage

Use the following syntax to run the packer plugins install command:

Examples

Specify a version number to install a specific version of the plugin. The following example installs the version 1.0.1 of my-plugin from a remote source:

$ packer plugins install github.com/hashicorp/my-plugin 1.0.1

Use the --path option to specify a local plugin binary. The following example installs my-plugin from a local binary:

$ packer plugins install --path my-plugin github.com/hashicorp/my-plugin

Arguments

You can pass the following arguments:

• <plugin-binary-source>: A remote source where the plugin binary is available. To remotely download from a source, the plugin must be hosted on GitHub. For locally-sourced binaries, you must also include the --path option. Refer to Installing Plugins for additional information about installing plugins.
• <plugin version>: A specific version of the plugin to download and install. Packer accepts semantic version numbers that follow the <major>.<minor>.<patch> format. If omitted, the command installs the latest plugin version.

Options

You can use the following options:

--path: Use this option to specify a local plugin binary. You must use this option to install plugins from a local source. --force: Use this option to force Packer to reinstall the plugin.