Packer 1.8.0, virtualbox-ovf and started having issues about ' Download failed expected a single file, got multiple'

[breisig]

Overview of the Issue

I have just upgraded from Packer 1.7.10 to 1.8.0 [Under Windows 11] and immediately, I am having issues trying to provision a VM. I am using the virtualbox-ovf in my builds where after upgrading, it says

=> virtualbox-ovf: Retrieving Guest additions
==> virtualbox-ovf: Trying C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox/VBoxGuestAdditions.iso
==> virtualbox-ovf: Trying file://C:/Program%20Files/Oracle/VirtualBox/VBoxGuestAdditions.iso
==> virtualbox-ovf: file://C:/Program%20Files/Oracle/VirtualBox/VBoxGuestAdditions.iso => C:/Program Files/Oracle/VirtualBox/VBoxGuestAdditions.iso
==> virtualbox-ovf: Retrieving OVF/OVA
==> virtualbox-ovf: Trying ./source_images/rocky-8-baseinstall/rocky-8-baseinstall.ova
==> virtualbox-ovf: Trying ./source_images/rocky-8-baseinstall/rocky-8-baseinstall.ova
==> virtualbox-ovf: Download failed expected a single file, got multiple: C:/c/source_images/rocky-8-baseinstall/rocky-8-baseinstall.ova
==> virtualbox-ovf: error downloading OVF/OVA: [expected a single file, got multiple: C:/c/source_images/rocky-8-baseinstall/rocky-8-baseinstall.ova]
==> virtualbox-ovf: Deleting output directory...
Build 'virtualbox-ovf' errored after 116 milliseconds 52 microseconds: error downloading OVF/OVA: [expected a single file, got multiple: C:/c/source_images/rocky-8-baseinstall/rocky-8-baseinstall.ova]

==> Wait completed after 116 milliseconds 52 microseconds

==> Some builds didn't complete successfully and had errors:
--> virtualbox-ovf: error downloading OVF/OVA: [expected a single file, got multiple: C:/c/source_images/rocky-8-baseinstall/rocky-8-baseinstall.ova]

==> Builds finished but no artifacts were created.

However when I downgrade back to Packer 1.7.10, it works without issue.

==> virtualbox-ovf: Retrieving Guest additions
==> virtualbox-ovf: Trying C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox/VBoxGuestAdditions.iso
==> virtualbox-ovf: Trying file://C:/Program%20Files/Oracle/VirtualBox/VBoxGuestAdditions.iso
==> virtualbox-ovf: file://C:/Program%20Files/Oracle/VirtualBox/VBoxGuestAdditions.iso => C:/Program Files/Oracle/VirtualBox/VBoxGuestAdditions.iso
==> virtualbox-ovf: Retrieving OVF/OVA
==> virtualbox-ovf: Trying ./source_images/rocky-8-baseinstall/rocky-8-baseinstall.ova
==> virtualbox-ovf: Trying ./source_images/rocky-8-baseinstall/rocky-8-baseinstall.ova
==> virtualbox-ovf: ./source_images/rocky-8-baseinstall/rocky-8-baseinstall.ova => C:/c/source_images/rocky-8-baseinstall/rocky-8-baseinstall.ova
==> virtualbox-ovf: Importing VM: C:/c/source_images/rocky-8-baseinstall/rocky-8-baseinstall.ova
==> virtualbox-ovf: Mounting ISOs...
    virtualbox-ovf: No ISOs to mount; continuing...
==> virtualbox-ovf: Creating forwarded port mapping for communicator (SSH, WinRM, etc) (host port 2377)
==> virtualbox-ovf: Executing custom VBoxManage commands...
    virtualbox-ovf: Executing: modifyvm packer-localdevelopment --cableconnected1 on
    virtualbox-ovf: Executing: modifyvm packer-localdevelopment --cableconnected2 on
    virtualbox-ovf: Executing: modifyvm packer-localdevelopment --spec-ctrl on
==> virtualbox-ovf: Starting the virtual machine...
    virtualbox-ovf: The VM will be run headless, without a GUI. If you want to
    virtualbox-ovf: view the screen of the VM, connect via VRDP without a password to
    virtualbox-ovf: rdp://127.0.0.1:5946

Reproduction Steps

Upgrading from Packer 1.7.10 to 1.8.0

Packer version

1.8.0

Simplified Packer Template

  "builders": [
    {
      "type": "virtualbox-ovf",
      "source_path": "./source_images/rocky-8-baseinstall/rocky-8-baseinstall.ova",
      "headless": true,

Operating system and Environment details

Windows 11 Pro 64bit

[liaoya]

I have the same issue with 1.8.0. And 1.7.10 is OK.

[AntonioMeireles]

same here fwiw (on a Mac).

[mehaase]

This error message appears to come from go-getter: https://github.com/hashicorp/go-getter/blob/a7e02dae513b778bd3b082a5e65fdefbc29c405a/decompress_tar.go#L50

But that code is 5 years old. I'm not sure what changed to surface this bug.

[nywilken]

Hi @mehaase thanks for calling that out. We have not had a chance to look into this issue just yet. But I believe your suspicion is correct. I see that Packer is using a different version of go-getter than what is being used in the SDK, which is being used by virtualbox builder.

packer/go.mod

Line 20 in 59a7f91

github.com/hashicorp/go-getter/v2 v2.0.1

vs

https://github.com/hashicorp/packer-plugin-sdk/blob/f7d4bf877a45a9d253c548e902d6d1bd7d907d23/go.mod#L32

	github.com/hashicorp/go-getter/v2 v2.0.0

[nywilken]

Hello Folks, I had a chance to dive into this issue further. It appears that go-getter itself contains the regression for ova files.
More specifically it is treating ova files as tar files and causing them to be decompressed. I'm looking into a fix. In the meantime, you can work around this issue by overriding the bundled version of the virtualbox plugin.

You can install the latest version of packer-plugin-virtualbox via the plugins command released in v1.8.0

packer plugins install github.com/hashicorp/packer-plugin-virtualbox v1.0.1

The installed plugin is built with the previous version of go-getter which does not contain this issue. Alternatively if using HCL you can use the packer init command to install and pin the version of the virtualbox plugin by adding the following to the top of your template file.

packer {
  required_plugins {
    virtualbox = {
      version = ">= 1.0.1"
      source  = "github.com/hashicorp/virtualbox"
    }
  }
}

[3nprob]

@nywilken Workaround doesn't work here, errors with Invalid plugin type; Plugin source "github.com/hashicorp/virtualbox" has a type with the prefix "packer-plugin-", which isn't valid. Although that prefix is often used in the names of version control repositories for Packer plugins, plugin source strings should not include it.

Trying packer plugins install github.com/hashicorp/virtualbox v1.0.1 does install the plugin. Subsequent run:

[INFO] github.com/hashicorp/virtualbox v1.0.1 plugin is already correctly installed in "/home/user/.config/packer/plugins/github.com/hashicorp/virtualbox/packer-plugin-virtualbox_v1.0.1_x5.0_linux_amd64"

However, packer build still yields the error above.

It seems that ova json templates are unbuildable on 1.8.0? It would be great with a 1.8.1 release given the above.

[azr]

Oh, I need to update the virtualbox builder as well ! Nope, it is not necessary as the dependency is indirect