v2.1.0: `Error: null value is not allowed: [{{} export} {{} directory_permission}]`

[stackthecat]

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Packer Version

1.15.0

Packer Plugin Version

v2.0.1

Plugin Builder

• vsphere-iso
• vsphere-clone
• vsphere-supervisor

Plugin Post-Processor

• vsphere
• vsphere-template

vSphere Version

8.0.3

Description

Since the lastest release of vmware packer plugin v2.0.1 we cannot build template anymore with packer.
We had to use previsous version v2.0.0 in order to get effective build with packer.
Although we have in our configuration explicit version plugin defined on v2.0.0, packer installs automatically v2.0.1.
We had to manually perform installation of plugin with command :

packer plugins install github.com/hashicorp/vsphere v2.0.0

Packer Configuration

packer {
required_version = ">= 1.15.0"
required_plugins {
vsphere = {
source = "github.com/hashicorp/vsphere"
version = ">= 2.1.0"
}
}
}

Debug Output

PACKER_LOG=1 packer build -force -var-file=file/pkrvars.hcl -var vsphere_username="user" -var vsphere_password="password" -var build_password="password" -var build_password_encrypted="$6$random_string" -var build_ssh_public_key="ssh-rsa random_string" -var build_username="user" -var iso_file="Rocky-9.4-x86_64-dvd.iso" -var vm_ip_address="192.168.0.230" .
2026/02/18 12:58:47 [INFO] Packer version: 1.13.1 [go1.23.2 linux amd64]
2026/02/18 12:58:47 [INFO] PACKER_CONFIG env var not set; checking the default config file path
2026/02/18 12:58:47 [INFO] PACKER_CONFIG env var set; attempting to open config file: /root/.packerconfig
2026/02/18 12:58:47 [WARN] Config file doesn't exist: /root/.packerconfig
2026/02/18 12:58:47 [INFO] Setting cache directory: /root/.cache/packer
2026/02/18 12:58:47 [TRACE] listing potential installations for "github.com/hashicorp/vsphere" that match ">= 2.0.0". plugingetter.ListInstallationsOptions{PluginDirectory:"/root/.config/packer/plugins", BinaryInstallationOptions:plugingetter.BinaryInstallationOptions{APIVersionMajor:"5", APIVersionMinor:"0", OS:"linux", ARCH:"amd64", Ext:"", Checksummers:[]plugingetter.Checksummer{plugingetter.Checksummer{Type:"sha256", Hash:(*sha256.digest)(0xc00007c880)}}, ReleasesOnly:false}}
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] Found the following "github.com/hashicorp/vsphere" installations: [{/root/.config/packer/plugins/github.com/hashicorp/vsphere/packer-plugin-vsphere_v2.1.0_x5.0_linux_amd64 v2.1.0 x5.0}]
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [INFO] found external [clone iso supervisor] builders from vsphere plugin
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [INFO] found external [-packer-default-plugin-name- template] post-processors from vsphere plugin
2026/02/18 12:58:48 found external [virtualmachine] datasource from vsphere plugin
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] listing potential installations for that match "". plugingetter.ListInstallationsOptions{PluginDirectory:"/root/.config/packer/plugins", BinaryInstallationOptions:plugingetter.BinaryInstallationOptions{APIVersionMajor:"5", APIVersionMinor:"0", OS:"linux", ARCH:"amd64", Ext:"", Checksummers:[]plugingetter.Checksummer{plugingetter.Checksummer{Type:"sha256", Hash:(*sha256.digest)(0xc000146300)}}, ReleasesOnly:false}}
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [INFO] found external [clone iso supervisor] builders from vsphere plugin
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [INFO] found external [-packer-default-plugin-name- template] post-processors from vsphere plugin
2026/02/18 12:58:48 found external [virtualmachine] datasource from vsphere plugin
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for vm_boot_wait, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for common_ip_wait_timeout, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for vsphere_datastore, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for vsphere_resource_pool, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for vm_cpu_cores, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for vm_network_card, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for common_content_library, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for common_content_library_skip_export, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for build_ssh_private_key, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for communicator_proxy_host, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for vm_firmware, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for common_vm_version, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for common_content_library_enabled, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for iso_content_library_item, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for common_http_ip, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for build_ssh_public_key, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for vsphere_set_host_for_datastore_uploads, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for vm_cdrom_count, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for vm_disk_thin_provisioned, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for communicator_proxy_password, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for vm_network_device, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for vm_ip_netmask, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for vm_disk_lvm, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for vsphere_folder, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for vm_guest_os_name, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for vm_guest_os_cloudinit, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for vm_disk_use_swap, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for communicator_proxy_username, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for communicator_timeout, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for vsphere_endpoint, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for vm_guest_os_timezone, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for common_ovf_export_overwrite, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for common_iso_datastore, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for build_password_encrypted, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for vm_ip_address, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for vsphere_network, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for common_ip_settle_timeout, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for additional_packages, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for vm_disk_device, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for vsphere_insecure_connection, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for vm_guest_os_language, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for common_content_library_destroy, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for vm_boot_order, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for build_password, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for vsphere_username, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for common_shutdown_timeout, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for build_username, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for iso_datastore_path, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for common_http_port_min, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for vm_ip_gateway, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for vm_mem_size, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for vm_disk_size, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for vm_disk_controller_type, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for common_content_library_ovf, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for common_iso_content_library, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for common_http_port_max, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for vsphere_cluster, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for vm_cpu_hot_add, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for common_tools_upgrade_policy, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for common_template_conversion, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for template_type, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for common_ovf_export_enabled, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for vsphere_datacenter, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for vm_guest_os_family, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for vm_cpu_count, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for common_iso_content_library_enabled, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for vm_dns_list, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for common_remove_cdrom, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for vm_destroy_after_build, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for common_data_source, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for vm_disk_partitions, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for vsphere_password, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for vsphere_host, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for vm_template_folder, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for iso_file, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for communicator_proxy_port, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for vm_guest_os_keyboard, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for vm_guest_os_version, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for vm_guest_os_type, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for vm_mem_hot_add, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for vm_cdrom_type, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for vm_disk_type, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] validateValue: not active for communicator_port, so skipping
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] Using protobuf for communication with plugins
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [INFO] Starting external plugin /root/.config/packer/plugins/github.com/hashicorp/vsphere/packer-plugin-vsphere_v2.1.0_x5.0_linux_amd64 start builder --protobuf iso
2026/02/18 12:58:48 Starting plugin: /root/.config/packer/plugins/github.com/hashicorp/vsphere/packer-plugin-vsphere_v2.1.0_x5.0_linux_amd64 []string{"/root/.config/packer/plugins/github.com/hashicorp/vsphere/packer-plugin-vsphere_v2.1.0_x5.0_linux_amd64", "start", "builder", "--protobuf", "iso"}
2026/02/18 12:58:48 Waiting for RPC address for: /root/.config/packer/plugins/github.com/hashicorp/vsphere/packer-plugin-vsphere_v2.1.0_x5.0_linux_amd64
2026/02/18 12:58:48 Received unix RPC address for /root/.config/packer/plugins/github.com/hashicorp/vsphere/packer-plugin-vsphere_v2.1.0_x5.0_linux_amd64: addr is /tmp/packer-plugin3544094815
2026/02/18 12:58:48 packer-plugin-vsphere_v2.1.0_x5.0_linux_amd64 plugin: 2026/02/18 12:58:48 Plugin address: unix /tmp/packer-plugin3544094815
2026/02/18 12:58:48 packer-plugin-vsphere_v2.1.0_x5.0_linux_amd64 plugin: 2026/02/18 12:58:48 Waiting for connection...
2026/02/18 12:58:48 packer-plugin-vsphere_v2.1.0_x5.0_linux_amd64 plugin: 2026/02/18 12:58:48 Serving a plugin connection...
2026/02/18 12:58:48 packer-plugin-vsphere_v2.1.0_x5.0_linux_amd64 plugin: 2026/02/18 12:58:48 [TRACE] starting builder iso
2026/02/18 12:58:48 packer-plugin-vsphere_v2.1.0_x5.0_linux_amd64 plugin: 2026/02/18 12:58:48 [DEBUG] - common: sending ConfigSpec as protobuf
2026/02/18 12:58:48 [DEBUG] - common: receiving ConfigSpec as protobuf

on file.hcl line 56:
(source code not available)

2026/02/18 12:58:48 [INFO] (telemetry) Finalizing.
Error: null value is not allowed: [{{} export} {{} directory_permission}]

on file.pkr.hcl line 56:
(source code not available)

2026/02/18 12:58:48 waiting for all plugin processes to complete...
2026/02/18 12:58:48 /root/.config/packer/plugins/github.com/hashicorp/vsphere/packer-plugin-vsphere_v2.1.0_x5.0_linux_amd64: plugin process exited

Panic Output

No response

Expected Behavior

Build a complete template withtout any probleme

Actual Behavior

following message error:

Error: null value is not allowed: [{{} export} {{} directory_permission}]

Steps to Reproduce

Install packer plugin v2.0.1 and then perform packer init

packer plugins install github.com/hashicorp/vsphere v2.0.0

packer init .

Then perform packer build

Environment Details

container debian:12 or Vsphere VM Debian 12

Screenshots

No response

References

No response

[tenthirtyam]

Duplicate of #651

[tenthirtyam]

Thanks for reporting this issue. I'll address this with #651 and issue a patch release.

[tenthirtyam]

v2.1.1 is now released.