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Proxmox Lab: Game of Active Directory - Creating VM Templates

In this module, we'll be taking steps to create some Windows Server 2016 and Windows Server 2019 templates using Packer for use in the Proxmox Game of Active Directory lab
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Proxmox Lab: Game of Active Directory - Creating VM Templates
In: Proxmox, Home Lab, Active Directory, Game of Active Directory, Windows, Attack
ℹ️
This module is part of a larger project on setting up Game of Active Directory (GOAD) on Proxmox alongside our existing lab infrastructure. Click here to be taken back to the project landing page.

Previous Step

Proxmox Lab: Game of Active Directory - Environment Setup
In this module, we’ll be taking steps to set up the initial environment and prepare to deploy Game of Active Directory (GOAD) in our existing Proxmox environment.
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Objectives for this Step

  • Log into the provisioning Linux Container
  • Create packer configurations
  • Automate the creation of Windows ISOs to serve as templates in the environment



Prepare the ISOs

Download ISOs to PVE

Click on your PVE node > "local" > "ISO Images"
Click "Download from URL"



Windows Server ISOs

Microsoft Official Links
Links last verified to be working as of Aug. 23, 2024

Manually enter the file name, as clicking "Query URL" results in an extremely long file name. Click "Download"
Repeat the process for Windows Server 2016



ISOs to Install Drivers on Windows Guests

In this case, you can click "Query URL" and then click "Download"



Build ISO for Unattended Install

ℹ️
These steps need to be done on your provisioning Linux Container
cd /root/GOAD/packer/proxmox/
./build_proxmox_iso.sh
scp ./iso/scripts_withcloudinit.iso root@172.16.1.14:/var/lib/vz/template/iso/

Run scp on the provisioning container to copy scripts_withcloudinit.iso to your PVE node's local ISO storage directory

File was copied via scp
Verifying we see it on the host as well



Stage Packer Environment

ℹ️
These steps need to be done on your provisioning Linux Container
⚠️
We're going to skip the step of creating the dedicated user as done by Mayfly, because in the guide, we end up giving the infra_as_code@pve user full admin anyway, so we can just use the root credentials

Download cloudbase-init

cd /root/GOAD/packer/proxmox/scripts/sysprep/
wget https://cloudbase.it/downloads/CloudbaseInitSetup_Stable_x64.msi



Packer Build Variables

cd /root/GOAD/packer/proxmox/
cp config.auto.pkrvars.hcl.template config.auto.pkrvars.hcl
nano config.auto.pkrvars.hcl
⚠️
Since my environment and your environment are not identical, please take care to ensure you're entering details tailored to your environment
proxmox_url             = "https://172.16.1.14:8006/api2/json"
proxmox_username        = "root@pam"
proxmox_password        = "YOUR_ROOT_PASSWORD_HERE"
proxmox_skip_tls_verify = "true"
proxmox_node            = "proxmox-um690"
proxmox_pool            = "GOAD"
proxmox_iso_storage     = "local"
proxmox_vm_storage      = "local-lvm"

❗Specific changes to note:

  • proxmox_url — this is the IP address of my PVE node
  • root@pam — because we did not create a service account
  • proxmox_password — your root user's password on PVE (not the container)
  • proxmox_node — the hostname of your PVE node
    • You cand find this in the GUI under Datacenter view in the top-left
  • proxmox_pool — using GOAD here, as this is the pool I created earlier
  • proxmox_vm_storage — be sure you're using the correct storage name
    • For example, on my PVE node, I use local-zfs
    • I left it to local-lvm here, because most folks are using the default



Windows ISO Variables

Server 2019

cd /root/GOAD/packer/proxmox/
nano windows_server2019_proxmox_cloudinit.pkvars.hcl
winrm_username        = "vagrant"
winrm_password        = "vagrant"
vm_name               = "WinServer2019x64-cloudinit-qcow2"
template_description  = "Windows Server 2019 64-bit - build 17763.737.190906-2324 - template built with Packer - cloudinit - {{isotime \"2006-01-02 03:04:05\"}}"
iso_file              = "local:iso/windows_server_2019_17763.737_eval_x64.iso"
autounattend_iso      = "./iso/Autounattend_winserver2019_cloudinit.iso"
autounattend_checksum = "sha256:811b24542a4a3c9787745ca1d303220396dc8ac4fb9b268c71ea72ff95267115"
vm_cpu_cores          = "2"
vm_memory             = "4096"
vm_disk_size          = "40G"
vm_sockets            = "1"
os                    = "win10"
vm_disk_format        = "qcow2"

❗Changes to My Variables File

  • iso_file — "local:iso/windows_server_2019_17763.737_eval_x64.iso"
    • This is the name of file I gave the ISO when I downloaded it in an earlier step
  • vm_disk_format — "raw"
    • Because my guest storage is local-zfs and not local-lvm, I need to use the raw storage format
    • I left it as qcow2 in the example above, because that will suit most people



Server 2016

cd /root/GOAD/packer/proxmox/
nano windows_server2016_proxmox_cloudinit.pkvars.hcl
winrm_username = "vagrant"
winrm_password = "vagrant"
vm_name = "WinServer2016x64-cloudinit-qcow2"
template_description = "Windows Server 2016 64-bit - build 14393 - template built with Packer - cloudinit - {{isotime \"2006-01-02 03:04:05\"}}"
iso_file = "local:iso/windows_server_2016_14393_eval_x64.iso"
autounattend_iso = "./iso/Autounattend_winserver2016_cloudinit.iso"
autounattend_checksum = "sha256:848c1e8a6c5de5f3944cecdad8878250daf1d32c4858876c1d3be83bd7cfd610"
vm_cpu_cores = "2"
vm_memory = "4096"
vm_disk_size = "40G"
vm_sockets = "1"
os = "win10"
vm_disk_format = "qcow2"

❗Changes to My Variables File

  • iso_file — "local:iso/windows_server_2016_14393_eval_x64.iso"
    • This is the name of file I gave the ISO when I downloaded it in an earlier step
  • vm_disk_format — "raw"
    • Because my guest storage is local-zfs and not local-lvm, I need to use the raw storage format
    • I left it as qcow2 in the example above, because that will suit most people



Build the Templates

Packer Build File

cd /root/GOAD/packer/proxmox
nano packer.json.pkr.hcl

packer.json.pkr.hcl (click to expand)

packer {
  required_plugins {
    proxmox = {
      version = ">= 1.1.2"
      source  = "github.com/hashicorp/proxmox"
    }
  }
}

source "proxmox-iso" "windows" {
  additional_iso_files {
    device           = "sata3"
    iso_checksum     = "${var.autounattend_checksum}"
    iso_storage_pool = "local"
    iso_url          = "${var.autounattend_iso}"
    unmount          = true
  }
  additional_iso_files {
    device   = "sata4"
    iso_file = "local:iso/virtio-win.iso"
    unmount  = true
  }
  additional_iso_files {
    device   = "sata5"
    iso_file = "local:iso/scripts_withcloudinit.iso"
    unmount  = true
  }
  cloud_init              = true
  cloud_init_storage_pool = "${var.proxmox_vm_storage}"
  communicator            = "winrm"
  cores                   = "${var.vm_cpu_cores}"
  disks {
    disk_size         = "${var.vm_disk_size}"
    format            = "${var.vm_disk_format}"
    storage_pool      = "${var.proxmox_vm_storage}"
    type              = "sata"
  }
  insecure_skip_tls_verify = "${var.proxmox_skip_tls_verify}"
  iso_file                 = "${var.iso_file}"
  memory                   = "${var.vm_memory}"
  network_adapters {
    bridge = "vmbr1"
    model  = "virtio"
    vlan_tag = "10"
  }
  node                 = "${var.proxmox_node}"
  os                   = "${var.os}"
  password             = "${var.proxmox_password}"
  pool                 = "${var.proxmox_pool}"
  proxmox_url          = "${var.proxmox_url}"
  sockets              = "${var.vm_sockets}"
  template_description = "${var.template_description}"
  template_name        = "${var.vm_name}"
  username             = "${var.proxmox_username}"
  vm_name              = "${var.vm_name}"
  winrm_insecure       = true
  winrm_no_proxy       = true
  winrm_password       = "${var.winrm_password}"
  winrm_timeout        = "120m"
  winrm_use_ssl        = true
  winrm_username       = "${var.winrm_username}"
  task_timeout         = "40m"
}

build {
  sources = ["source.proxmox-iso.windows"]

  provisioner "powershell" {
    elevated_password = "vagrant"
    elevated_user     = "vagrant"
    scripts           = ["${path.root}/scripts/sysprep/cloudbase-init.ps1"]
  }

  provisioner "powershell" {
    elevated_password = "vagrant"
    elevated_user     = "vagrant"
    pause_before      = "1m0s"
    scripts           = ["${path.root}/scripts/sysprep/cloudbase-init-p2.ps1"]
  }

}

❗Changes Made to the Configuration

cloud_init_storage_pool = "${var.proxmox_vm_storage}"
  • ${var.proxmox_iso_storage} has been changed to ${var.proxmox_vm_storage}
    • Because proxmox_iso_storage is set in the packer variables as local
    • And, local does not support content type of disk image
  network_adapters {
    bridge = "vmbr1"
    model  = "virtio"
    vlan_tag = "10"
  }
  • bridge = "vmbr3" has been changed to bridge = "vmbr1" to match the setup from the original Proxmox lab



Build Server 2019 Template

cd /root/GOAD/packer/proxmox
packer init .
packer validate -var-file=windows_server2019_proxmox_cloudinit.pkvars.hcl .
packer build -var-file=windows_server2019_proxmox_cloudinit.pkvars.hcl .



Build Server 2016 Template

cd /root/GOAD/packer/proxmox
packer init .
packer validate -var-file=windows_server2016_proxmox_cloudinit.pkvars.hcl .
packer build -var-file=windows_server2016_proxmox_cloudinit.pkvars.hcl .



Troubleshooting Build Errors

Server 2016 — Exit Code 259

💡
Run the build again with logging output by using some runtime environment variables PACKER_LOG and PACKER_LOG_PATH
PACKER_LOG=1 PACKER_LOG_PATH=server_2016_packer.log packer build -var-file=windows_server2016_proxmox_cloudinit.pkvars.hcl .

Example showing re-running of packer build command with log output enabled, logs to ./packer.log

less -R ./server_2016_packer.log

Read the build log file after another failure ...

We can see more detailed error output about what happened before Packer stopped. The script it tried to run exited with error code 259.
💡
Exit code 259 indicates a status of No more data available and is not technically an error. We can tell packer to ignore this error and continue with the build.

This is likely an exit code from the sysprep command at the end of /root/GOAD/packer/proxmox/scripts/sysprep/cloudbase-init-p2.ps1
cd /root/GOAD/packer/proxmox
nano packer.json.pkr.hck
  provisioner "powershell" {
    elevated_password = "vagrant"
    elevated_user     = "vagrant"
    pause_before      = "1m0s"
    scripts           = ["${path.root}/scripts/sysprep/cloudbase-init-p2.ps1"]
    valid_exit_codes  = [0, 259]
  }

Adds in valid_exit_codes = [0, 259] to tell packer to allow 259 as a non-error exit code



Server 2019 — Command Not Found

ℹ️
You might see several of these command not found errors in the output, best answer I can come up with is that the attempt to copy the script files over WinRM did not complete before packer tried to execute them.

Cancel the build with CTRL + C and try again until no errors are present.



Current State of the Lab

You should now have your provisioning CT and two server templates created by Packer





Next Step

Proxmox Lab: Game of Active Directory - Terraform the Lab
In this module, we’ll be taking steps to provision the entire Proxmox Game of Active Directory lab environment using Terraform
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