Question: EOF error with Windows Server 2022 build.

[cbnioan]

Hello everyone,

I’m encountering an EOF issue with my deployment in Packer, and it’s becoming a persistent problem. I’ve been trying to resolve it for a week but haven’t had any success.

Here is my packer file

packer {
  required_version = ">= 1.9.4"
    required_plugins {
      vsphere = {
         source  = "github.com/hashicorp/vsphere"
         version = ">= 1.2.2"
      }
    }
}

    # ansible = {
    #   source  = "github.com/hashicorp/ansible"
    #   version = ">= 1.1.0"

source "vsphere-iso" "ws2022" {

  // vSphere Settings

  vcenter_server = "vcntr-vroot.local"
  username       = "[email protected]"
  password       = var.vcenter_password
  datacenter     = "LAB1"
  cluster        = "CLUSTER1"
  host           = "esxi04-vroot.local"
  datastore      = "_ESXI04_DS_SSD_RAID1"
  folder         = "Templates/Test"

  insecure_connection = "true"

  vm_name = "win2022standard"
  CPUs                 = "2"
  cpu_cores            = "4"  
  RAM                  = "16096"
  disk_controller_type = ["pvscsi"]
  storage {
    disk_size             = "327680"
    disk_thin_provisioned = true
  }
    boot_command = [
    "<esc><wait><esc><wait><f6><wait><esc><wait>",
    "<bs><bs><bs><bs><bs>"
  ]

  network_adapters {
    network = "Isolated_STG"
    network_card = "vmxnet3"
  }
  
  ip_wait_timeout = "3600s"
  ip_settle_timeout = "3600s"
  
  iso_paths = [ 
      "[_ESXI04_DS_SSD_RAID1] ISO/SW_DVD9_Win_Server_STD_CORE_2022_2108.34_64Bit_English_DC_STD_MLF_X23-76432.ISO",
      "[_ESXI04_DS_SSD_RAID1] ISO/VMware-tools-windows-12.4.0-23259341.iso"  
  ]


 communicator   = "winrm"
 winrm_password = "PASSWORD"
 winrm_username = "Administrator"
 winrm_insecure = "true"
 winrm_timeout  = "3m"
 winrm_host = "10.1.115.159"
 firmware = "bios"
 http_directory = "resources"
 shutdown_timeout          = "2h"
 ssh_clear_authorized_keys = true
 ssh_username              = "root"
cd_files = [
    "resources/configs/autounattend.xml",
    "resources/scripts/win-update.ps1",
    "resources/scripts/install-vmware-tools-from-iso.ps1",
    ]

}


build {
  name = "win2022"

  sources = ["source.vsphere-iso.ws2022"]

provisioner "windows-shell" {
    inline = ["ipconfig"]
  }

provisioner "windows-restart" {
 pause_before    = "30m"
 restart_timeout = "30m"
 }

 provisioner "powershell" {
  scripts = ["resources/scripts/install-vmware-tools-from-iso.ps1"]
}

 provisioner "powershell" {
   scripts = ["resources/scripts/win-update.ps1"]
}

provisioner "windows-restart" {
  restart_timeout = "30m"
}

provisioner "powershell" {
  scripts = ["resources/scripts/adjustments.ps1"]
}

provisioner "powershell" {
scripts = ["resources/scripts/cleanup.ps1"]
}

provisioner "windows-restart" {
restart_timeout = "30m"
}

#   provisioner "ansible" {
#     user                   = var.build_username
#     galaxy_file            = "${path.cwd}/ansible/windows-requirements.yml"
#     galaxy_force_with_deps = true
#     use_proxy              = false
#     playbook_file          = "${path.cwd}/ansible/windows-playbook.yml"
#     roles_path             = "${path.cwd}/ansible/roles"
#     ansible_env_vars = [
#       "ANSIBLE_CONFIG=${path.cwd}/ansible/ansible.cfg"
#     ]
#     extra_arguments = [
#       "--extra-vars", "use_proxy=false",
#       "--extra-vars", "ansible_connection=winrm",
#       "--extra-vars", "ansible_user='${var.build_username}'",
#       "--extra-vars", "ansible_password='${var.build_password}'",
#       "--extra-vars", "ansible_port='${var.communicator_port}'",
#       "--extra-vars", "build_username='${var.build_username}'",
#     ]
#}
}  

Here is my auto unattended file

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<unattend xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:unattend">
    <settings pass="windowsPE">
        <component name="Microsoft-Windows-International-Core-WinPE" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
            <SetupUILanguage>
                <UILanguage>en-US</UILanguage>
            </SetupUILanguage>
            <InputLocale>en-US</InputLocale>
            <SystemLocale>en-US</SystemLocale>
            <UILanguage>en-US</UILanguage>
            <UserLocale>en-US</UserLocale>
        </component>
        <component name="Microsoft-Windows-Setup" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
            <DiskConfiguration>
                <Disk wcm:action="add">
                    <CreatePartitions>
                        <CreatePartition wcm:action="add">
                            <Size>250</Size>
                            <Order>1</Order>
                            <Type>Primary</Type>
                        </CreatePartition>
                        <CreatePartition wcm:action="add">
                            <Order>2</Order>
                            <Extend>true</Extend>
                            <Type>Primary</Type>
                        </CreatePartition>
                    </CreatePartitions>
                    <ModifyPartitions>
                        <ModifyPartition wcm:action="add">
                            <Order>1</Order>
                            <PartitionID>1</PartitionID>
                            <Format>NTFS</Format>
                            <Label>Boot</Label>
                            <Active>true</Active>
                        </ModifyPartition>
                        <ModifyPartition wcm:action="add">
                            <Order>2</Order>
                            <PartitionID>2</PartitionID>
                            <Format>NTFS</Format>
                            <Label>System</Label>
                        </ModifyPartition>
                    </ModifyPartitions>
                    <DiskID>0</DiskID>
                    <WillWipeDisk>true</WillWipeDisk>
                </Disk>
            </DiskConfiguration>
            <ImageInstall>
                <OSImage>
                    <InstallFrom>
                        <MetaData wcm:action="add">
                            <Key>/IMAGE/NAME</Key>
                            <Value>Windows Server 2022 SERVERSTANDARD</Value>
                        </MetaData>
                    </InstallFrom>
                    <InstallTo>
                        <DiskID>0</DiskID>
                        <PartitionID>2</PartitionID>
                    </InstallTo>
                    <WillShowUI>OnError</WillShowUI>
                    <InstallToAvailablePartition>false</InstallToAvailablePartition>
                </OSImage>
            </ImageInstall>
            <UserData>
                <AcceptEula>true</AcceptEula>
                <ProductKey>
                    <WillShowUI>Never</WillShowUI>
                    <Key>VDYBN-27WPP-V4HQT-9VMD4-VMK7H</Key>
                </ProductKey>
            </UserData>
        </component>
    </settings>
    <settings pass="specialize">
        <component name="Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
            <TimeZone>GMT Standard Time</TimeZone>
            <DisableAutoDaylightTimeSet>false</DisableAutoDaylightTimeSet>
        </component>
        <component name="Microsoft-Windows-TerminalServices-LocalSessionManager" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
            <fDenyTSConnections>false</fDenyTSConnections>
        </component>
        <component name="Networking-MPSSVC-Svc" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
            <FirewallGroups>
                <FirewallGroup wcm:action="add" wcm:keyValue="RemoteDesktop">
                    <Active>true</Active>
                    <Group>Remote Desktop</Group>
                    <Profile>all</Profile>
                </FirewallGroup>
            </FirewallGroups>
        </component>
        <component name="Microsoft-Windows-TerminalServices-RDP-WinStationExtensions" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
            <SecurityLayer>2</SecurityLayer>
            <UserAuthentication>1</UserAuthentication>
        </component>
        <component name="Microsoft-Windows-ServerManager-SvrMgrNc" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
            <DoNotOpenServerManagerAtLogon>true</DoNotOpenServerManagerAtLogon>
        </component>
    </settings>
    <settings pass="oobeSystem">
        <component name="Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
            <AutoLogon>
                <Username>Administrator</Username>
                <Enabled>true</Enabled>
                <LogonCount>2</LogonCount>
                <Password>
                    <Value>PASSWORD</Value>
                    <PlainText>true</PlainText>
                </Password>
            </AutoLogon>
            <FirstLogonCommands>
                <SynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>1</Order>
                    <CommandLine>powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File f:\install-vmware-tools-from-iso.ps1</CommandLine>
                    <Description>Enable WinRM service</Description>
                    <RequiresUserInput>true</RequiresUserInput>
                </SynchronousCommand>
            </FirstLogonCommands>
            <UserAccounts>
                <AdministratorPassword>
                    <Value>PASSWORD</Value>
                    <PlainText>true</PlainText>
                </AdministratorPassword>
                <LocalAccounts>
                    <LocalAccount wcm:action="add">
                        <Name>Admin</Name>
                        <Group>Administrators</Group>
                        <Password>
                            <Value>PASSWORD</Value>
                            <PlainText>true</PlainText>
                        </Password>
                    </LocalAccount>
                    <LocalAccount wcm:action="add">
                        <Name>User</Name>
                        <Group>Users</Group>
                        <Password>
                            <Value>password</Value>
                            <PlainText>true</PlainText>
                        </Password>
                    </LocalAccount>
                </LocalAccounts>
            </UserAccounts>
        </component>
    </settings>
    <cpi:offlineImage cpi:source="wim:c:/wims/install.wim#Windows Server 2022 SERVERDATACENTER" xmlns:cpi="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:cpi" />
</unattend>

i got this issue everytime :

==> win2022.vsphere-iso.ws2022: Typing boot command...
==> win2022.vsphere-iso.ws2022: Waiting for IP...
==> win2022.vsphere-iso.ws2022: Clearing boot order...
==> win2022.vsphere-iso.ws2022: Powering off virtual machine...
==> win2022.vsphere-iso.ws2022: Destroying VM...
==> win2022.vsphere-iso.ws2022: Removing [_ESXI04_DS_SSD_RAID1] packer_cache/packer3590941043.iso...
    win2022.vsphere-iso.ws2022: Closing sessions ....
Build 'win2022.vsphere-iso.ws2022' errored after 1 minute 27 seconds: Post "https://vcntr-vroot.local/sdk": unexpected EOF

Further information :
packer version : Packer v1.11.1
Packer OS : Ubuntu
Target OS : Windows Server 2022 Standard
ESXI Server : VMware ESXi, 7.0.3, 19482537

Can anyone help me figure this out?

[tenthirtyam]

Please enable the packer logging and post the log in a Gist. This should show where it's failing.

[tenthirtyam]

Additionally, check the vCenter Server for an error as well.

[cbnioan]

Hello, i have attached the packer logs
packerlog.txt

[tenthirtyam]

Sorry for the delay. Any progress since?

[tenthirtyam]

This issue has not received any update and will be closed in 7 days if it does not receive any activity by then.

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