packer lxc failing to create container

[Dialgatrainer02]

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Overview of the Issue

when i run packer build . i get errors saying it couldnt create the vm

and im unsure why i can create containers using
sudo lxc-create -t download -n packer-test -- -d alpine -a amd64

Reproduction Steps

install lxc
git clone https://github.com/jpancoast/image-builder.git
cd ./image-builder/lxc/examples/alpine
sudo packer init .
sudo chmod +x build.sh
sudo bash build.sh

Packer version

From packer version

Packer v1.10.2-dev

Your version of Packer is out of date! The latest version
is 1.10.2. You can update by downloading from www.packer.io/downloads

Simplified Packer Template

If the file is longer than a few dozen lines, please include the URL to the
gist of the log or use the Github detailed
format
instead of posting it directly in the issue.
git clone https://github.com/jpancoast/image-builder.git this is my first time using packer so just coping a git repo

Operating system and Environment details

OS, Architecture, and any other information you can provide about the
environment.

arch linux (just for testing)
x86_64
packer and lxc on latest versions

Log Fragments and crash.log files

Include appropriate log fragments. If the log is longer than a few dozen lines,
please include the URL to the gist of the log or
use the Github detailed format instead of posting it directly in the issue.
https://gist.github.com/Dialgatrainer02/c28b16d8a7ab72424323b91e3294d38e

Set the env var PACKER_LOG=1 for maximum log detail.

[lbajolet-hashicorp]

Hi @Dialgatrainer02,

With the information provided it's a bit hard for us to understand what the bug is, or if this is even a Packer or a LXC plugin issue that we can act on.

To be sure, are you able to manually create a LXC container with the image you're building upon? That would be a first starting point in order to rule out problems like an unavailable image or a permission problem.

Please note that I'm very much not a LXC expert, so please bear with me on that one. I see the template you're using refers to a configuration file located in /etc/lxc/default.conf, have you created the template in this location? That might very well be the problem here if not.

Thanks in advance for elaborating on this problem!

[Dialgatrainer02]

my /etc/lxc/default.conf is

lxc.net.0.type = veth
lxc.net.0.link = lxcbr0
lxc.net.0.flags = up
lxc.net.0.hwaddr = 00:16:3e:xx:xx:xx

i am trying to make an alpine image and i can successfully make it using the command: sudo lxc-create -t download -n packer-lxc -- -d alpine -a amd64
and selecting 3.19

i just tried to do lxc start on the container using: sudo lxc-start packer-lxc and it gave an error

lxc-start: packer-lxc: ../src/lxc/lxccontainer.c: wait_on_daemonized_start: 837 Received container state "ABORTING" instead of "RUNNING"
lxc-start: packer-lxc: ../src/lxc/tools/lxc_start.c: lxc_start_main: 307 The container failed to start
lxc-start: packer-lxc: ../src/lxc/tools/lxc_start.c: lxc_start_main: 310 To get more details, run the container in foreground mode
lxc-start: packer-lxc: ../src/lxc/tools/lxc_start.c: lxc_start_main: 312 Additional information can be obtained by setting the --logfile and --logpriority options

running with -F gives me

lxc-start: packer-lxc: ../src/lxc/network.c: netdev_configure_server_veth: 735 No such file or directory - Failed to attach "vethqKJUfy" to bridge "lxcbr0", bridge interface doesn't exist
lxc-start: packer-lxc: ../src/lxc/network.c: lxc_create_network_priv: 3463 No such file or directory - Failed to create network device
lxc-start: packer-lxc: ../src/lxc/start.c: lxc_spawn: 1847 Failed to create the network
lxc-start: packer-lxc: ../src/lxc/start.c: __lxc_start: 2114 Failed to spawn container "packer-lxc"
lxc-start: packer-lxc: ../src/lxc/tools/lxc_start.c: lxc_start_main: 307 The container failed to start
lxc-start: packer-lxc: ../src/lxc/tools/lxc_start.c: lxc_start_main: 312 Additional information can be obtained by setting the --logfile and --logpriority options

it seems to be having networking issues
ip link show

1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000
    link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
4: wlan0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc noqueue state UP mode DORMANT group default qlen 1000
    link/ether f8:e4:e3:8d:56:8f brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff

[lbajolet-hashicorp]

Thanks for the quick confirmation.

The sudo part worries me, were you running packer as superuser as well? This could be a permission problem.
Docker has the same kind of problem as you need to add yourself to a group in order for the daemon to spawn a container, otherwise you get a permission error.

I would also suggest taking a look at the options offered by the builder in order to get more troubleshooting information, typically as pointed out by LXC here through the --logfile option. I believe you can set it with the start_options argument for the source.

[Dialgatrainer02]

i am running packer build and init with sudo and ill look into getting a logfile

[lbajolet-hashicorp]

Regarding your bridge interface not existing, there's an issue on LXC that hints at the potential problem, I suggest taking a look at the (former) maintainer's suggestion: lxc/lxc#1218 (comment)

[github-actions]

This issue has been migrated to hashicorp/packer-plugin-lxc#76 due to the Packer Plugin split.

Please follow the new issue for updates.

[lbajolet-hashicorp]

On another note, since this is a LXC-specific bug, I'm transferring the issue to the plugin for further discussion.

[Dialgatrainer02]

okay thanks for the help

[github-actions]

I'm going to lock this issue because it has been closed for 30 days ⏳. This helps our maintainers find and focus on the active issues.
If you have found a problem that seems similar to this, please open a new issue and complete the issue template so we can capture all the details necessary to investigate further.