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Build a Windows lab with VirtualBox, Packer and Vagrant, adding sysprep (part 2)

In my former article I elaborated on how to create a lab with Windows servers quickly using Vagrant, Packer and Virtualbox. What I did not realize at that time is that the box I created had 2 issues:

  • The box is not sysprepped. The sysprep is mandatory if you want to create a Domain Controller and are adding boxes to the domain. You’ll end up with 2 boxes with the same SID.
  • The MAC address is cloned for every Vagrant machine that is based on the box. This becomes a problem if you want to place the hosts in a bridged network.

Sysprep

Then I went and Googled (after trying in vain myself) and found this repository: https://github.com/mefellows/packer-community-templates. Someone has already done it.

Step 1:
Here is a link to the json file: https://gist.github.com/jacqinthebox/cd3dcbf4b220c70de956.
Copy this file to the packer-windows folder and save it as ‘windows_2012_r2_sysprep.json’

Step 2
Make sure you copy the Autounattend_sysprep.xml file from \packer-community-templates\answer_files\2012_r2 to the \packer-windows\answer_files\2012_r2 folder.

Now you can run packer build -only virtualbox-iso windows_2012_r2_sysprep.json. And grab a coffee.

MAC address

The MAC address can be set in the Vagrant file for each machine. First you need to know what the name is of the network interface for the bridge.

2015-09-17_22-02-19

Then you can insert the name of the nic in the Vagrantfile like this (see the marked lines):

Vagrant.require_version ">= 1.6.2"

$root_provision_script = <<'ROOT_PROVISION_SCRIPT'
& $env:windir\system32\tzutil /s "W. Europe Standard Time"

ROOT_PROVISION_SCRIPT

Vagrant.configure("2") do |config|
    config.vm.define "dsc01"
    config.vm.box = "windows_2012_r2"
    config.vm.hostname = "dsc01" 
    config.vm.provider :virtualbox do |v, override|
        v.gui = true
    end
end

	config.vm.network :forwarded_port, guest: 3389, host: 3391, id: "rdp", auto_correct: true
	config.vm.network :forwarded_port, guest: 22, host: 2223, id: "ssh", auto_correct: true
   	config.vm.network "public_network", :bridge => 'Qualcomm Atheros AR8151 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller (NDIS 6.30)', :mac => "5CA1AB1E0001"
        config.vm.provision "shell", inline: $root_provision_script
    
end

So there it is.




Create a lab on Azure with Vagrant and Powershell

If you want to spin up a lab quickly to test things in a Windows environment, you can use an Azure trial account. It is possible to create trial accounts indefinitely so it will cost you nothing. So, let’s go.

For this scenario, I am assuming you are on Windows. By the way, I did the same on a Macbook but instead of Powershell I used the Azure CLI for Mac (runs on Node.js). Check this.

Step 1. Create an Azure trial account

Create a trial account on Azure here.
You will need to supply your credit card info and you should use an mail address that has not been used before for a trial. I am on Google Apps, so I can create mail addresses as much as I like.

Step 2. Install Azure Powershell

You’ll need Azure Powershell to query the available images.
Install the Azure Powershell with the msi (or Web Platform Installer).
I’ve been trying to install the SDK with OneGet, but it seems to be not available.

This gives you a brand new shell.
2015-08-12_09-47-21
 
 
 
 
Not happy with it because it doen’t have a cursor. Let’s fix that:

[Console]::CursorSize = 25

Step 3. Add your Azure credentials

Type

add-AzureAccount

and enter your credentials

add-azure

Next, get the publishsettings.

Get-AzurePublishSettingsFile

add-azure4.

Save your publishsettings (e.g. on c:\temp) and import them:

Import-AzurePublishSettingsFile c:\temp\%your trial account%-credentials.publishsettings

Step 4. Generate certificates

I would advise to use Cmder with msysgit integration, if you don’t already. Cmder is my go to terminal emulator. I use it for Powershell, Git Bash and ordinary DOS. So install Cmder with Chocolatey.

  • First create a pem certificate which is conveniently valid for 10 years. This contains a public key and private key.
  • Then create a pfx certicate based on this pem certifcate.
  • From the pfx, generate a cer to upload to Azure.

openssl req -x509 -nodes -days 3650 -newkey rsa:2048 -keyout azurecert.pem -out azurecert.pem

openssl pkcs12 -export -out azurecert.pfx -in azurecert.pem -name "Vagrant Azure Cert"

openssl x509 -inform pem -in azurecert.pem -outform der -out azurecert.cer

Thanks to this article.

Step 5. Upload the cer file to Azure

I can’t figure out how this works with Powershell, so log on to your subscription and add the .cer file:

2015-08-13_06-49-41

First go to settings, then to Management Certificates and upload your .cer file.

cert-blur-bla

Step 6. Install the Vagrant Plugin for Azure

https://github.com/MSOpenTech/vagrant-azure

vagrant plugin install vagrant-azure
vagrant box add azure https://github.com/msopentech/vagrant-azure/raw/master/dummy.box

Now take a look at the Vagrant file for this box. It is located here: C:\Users\yourname\.vagrant.d\boxes\azure\0\azure\Vagrantfile.
In this file you can define some constants that will be applied to every Azure box you create. I’ve changed ‘azure.vm.size’ from ‘Small’ to ‘Medium’ and added ‘azure.vm.location’ = West Europe.

#
# -*- mode: ruby -*-
# vi: set ft=ruby :

# Vagrantfile API/syntax version. Don't touch unless you know what you're doing!
VAGRANTFILE_API_VERSION = '2'

Vagrant.configure(VAGRANTFILE_API_VERSION) do |config|
  # All Vagrant configuration is done here. The most common configuration
  # options are documented and commented below. For a complete reference,
  # please see the online documentation at vagrantup.com.

  config.vm.provider :azure do |azure|
    azure.vm_size = 'Medium'
    azure.vm_location = 'West Europe' # e.g., West US
  end
end

Step 7. Create a new Vagrant file for your Azure box

Now it’s time to create the Azure Vagrant box. Without much further ado, this is my Vagrantfile:

# --
Vagrant.configure('2') do |config|
    config.vm.box = 'azure'

    config.vm.provider :azure do |azure, override|
        azure.mgmt_certificate = 'insert path to you pem certifcate'
        azure.mgmt_endpoint = 'https://management.core.windows.net'
        azure.subscription_id = 'insert your Azure subscription ID'
        azure.vm_image = 'a699494373c04fc0bc8f2bb1389d6106__Windows-Server-2012-R2-20150726-en.us-127GB.vhd'
        azure.vm_name = 'box01' # max 15 characters. contains letters, number and hyphens. can start with letters and can end with letters and numbers

        azure.vm_password = 'Vagrant!' # min 8 characters. should contain a lower case letter, an uppercase letter, a number and a special character

        azure.storage_acct_name = 'azureboxesstorage2015' # optional. A new one will be generated if not provided.
        azure.cloud_service_name = 'azureboxes' # same as vm_name. leave blank to auto-generate
        azure.vm_location = 'West Europe' # e.g., West US

    azure.tcp_endpoints = '3389:53390' # opens the Remote Desktop internal port that listens on public port 53389. Without this, you cannot RDP to a Windows VM.
    end
end

The Vagrantfile is of based on the Vagrantfile supplied by https://github.com/MSOpenTech/vagrant-azure.

You can get a list of available Azure VM images by logging on to your Azure subscription with Powershell and issue the following command:


Get-AzureVMImage | where-object { $_.Label -like "Windows Server 2012 R2 *" }| select imagename,imagefamily

Step 8. Vagrant up

Now it’s time to issue a Vagrant up.

This is will generate some error messages because the vm needs to initialize (I assume).

azure-2015-fout

Just issue an vagrant up again until it says: The machine is already created.

Then you can go ahead and RDP into your new VM:

vagrant-rdp-werkt

So there you go, now you are all set to deploy Azure images until the cloud bursts.