hashicorp/packer

Packer should be able to prompt for passwords

Open

#8466 opened on Dec 9, 2019

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enhancementhelp wanted

Description

Packer should prompt user to enter password when using a password protected private key file instead of throwing an error message.

Feature Description

nice to have

Use Case(s)

packer validate myfile.yml packer build myfile.yml

Configuration used

... "builders": [ { "type": "provider", "organization_id": "{{ user organization_id }}", "api_token": "{{ user api_token }}", "image": "{{ user image_name }}", "region": "par1", "commercial_type": "GPU1-M", "ssh_private_key_file": "< PATH TO A PASSWORD PROTECTED KEY FILE >", "ssh_username": "root" } ], ...

Contributor guide

Tech stack
go
Domain
clisecurity
Issue type
feature
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
3
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
half day
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
stale
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
clear
Prerequisites
basic Go knowledgeunderstanding of SSH key authentication
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
50
Research direction
Investigate the current handling of password protected private keys in the SSH communicator (likely in packer/communicator/ssh or similar). Look for where the key is loaded (e.g., using crypto/ssh). Implement a prompt for the password using a terminal library like golang.org/x/term. Consider adding a flag like ssh key pass or reading from environment variable. Check existing comments for additional context.