Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

AWS Config VS Packer

Compare AWS Config VS Packer and see what are their differences

AWS Config logo AWS Config

Cloud Monitoring

Packer logo Packer

Packer is an open-source software for creating identical machine images from a single source configuration.
  • AWS Config Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-05-03
  • Packer Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-15

AWS Config features and specs

  • Continuous Monitoring
    AWS Config provides continuous monitoring of AWS resources, allowing users to track changes and ensure resources remain compliant with company policies and regulations.
  • Resource Inventory
    It maintains a comprehensive inventory of resources, providing detailed historical and current configuration information to help manage AWS resources effectively.
  • Security and Compliance
    AWS Config enables security and compliance auditing by recording and evaluating configurations against desired settings and standards, facilitating swift remediation of non-compliant resources.
  • Integration with AWS Services
    Easily integrates with other AWS services such as AWS Lambda, AWS CloudTrail, and AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) to enhance monitoring, automation, and security.
  • Automated Evaluation
    AWS Config Rules can be used to automatically evaluate AWS resource configurations, ensuring they meet specific compliance requirements and taking corrective actions if needed.

Possible disadvantages of AWS Config

  • Cost
    AWS Config can become expensive as it records configuration changes and evaluates a large number of resources, especially in dynamic environments with many changes.
  • Complexity
    Setting up and managing AWS Config can be complex, requiring a good understanding of AWS services, IAM permissions, and compliance requirements.
  • Performance Impact
    In some cases, the continuous monitoring and recording of configuration changes might impact the performance of AWS environments, particularly in large-scale systems.
  • Limited to AWS Environment
    AWS Config is designed specifically for AWS resources and environments, which might limit its usability for organizations that rely on multi-cloud strategies or hybrid environments.

Packer features and specs

  • Multi-Provider Support
    Packer supports a wide variety of providers such as AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, VMware, and more. This allows for flexibility and the ability to create machine images across different environments.
  • Automation
    Packer automates the creation of machine images, eliminating the need for manual image configuration and reducing the potential for human error.
  • Script Reusability
    Packer allows for the reuse of scripts and configuration files, enabling a consistent and repeatable process for image creation.
  • Parallel Builds
    Packer can build multiple images in parallel, which can significantly speed up the provisioning process.
  • Idempotency
    Packer ensures that the output machine image is always an identical result given the same input configuration, reducing the risk of inconsistencies.

Possible disadvantages of Packer

  • Steep Learning Curve
    The variety of features and flexibility that Packer offers can make it complex and challenging to learn, especially for beginners.
  • Limited Debugging Tools
    Packer's debugging tools are not as mature or as integrated as those found in some other DevOps tools, making troubleshooting more difficult.
  • Configuration Complexity
    Complex configurations with multiple builders and provisioners can become hard to manage and maintain, leading to potential errors.
  • No State Management
    Unlike Terraform, Packer does not manage state, which means users need to handle state management separately if required.
  • Dependency on External Tools
    Packer often relies on external scripts and tools for provisioning, which can introduce additional dependencies and complexities.

Analysis of Packer

Overall verdict

  • Packer is a valuable tool for organizations looking to streamline their image building process and maintain consistency across different environments. Its flexibility and wide range of features make it a strong asset in infrastructure automation and DevOps pipelines.

Why this product is good

  • Packer is considered a good tool because it automates the creation of machine images for multiple platforms from a single source configuration. This efficiency reduces errors and speeds up the deployment process. Packer is highly versatile and integrates well with various configuration management tools, broadening its applicability across different environments. It also supports multiple cloud providers, making it a great choice for multi-cloud strategies.

Recommended for

  • DevOps teams
  • Cloud infrastructure engineers
  • Organizations using multi-cloud strategies
  • Teams seeking automated and consistent image building processes
  • Developers looking to integrate infrastructure as code practices

AWS Config videos

AWS Config Tutorial

More videos:

  • Review - Manage and Track Application and Infrastructure Configuration Changes using AWS Config
  • Review - AWS Config Introduction

Packer videos

No Packer videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

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Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to AWS Config and Packer)
Cloud Infrastructure
100 100%
0% 0
DevOps Tools
0 0%
100% 100
Monitoring Tools
100 100%
0% 0
Continuous Integration And Delivery

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare AWS Config and Packer

AWS Config Reviews

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Packer Reviews

Introduction to Top Open Source Virtualization Tools
Packer is notably light, high performing, and operates on every major operating system. It assembles and configures all the necessary components for a virtual machine then creates images that run on multiple platforms. Packer doesn’t replace configuration management tools like Puppet or Chef; as a matter of fact, when creating images, Packer can utilize tools like Puppet or...

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, AWS Config should be more popular than Packer. It has been mentiond 22 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

AWS Config mentions (22)

  • AWS Config vs Kubernetes Native Policy Engines: Who Governs What?
    AWS Config is a service that continuously monitors and records AWS resource configurations and evaluates them against desired states. Think of it as a compliance engine: it tracks configuration changes and helps you answer questions like: - Are my EKS clusters configured securely? - Are ECS tasks using only approved IAM roles? - Is anything exposed to the public internet unintentionally? - Source: dev.to / 25 days ago
  • AWS Config: Automate Your Cloud Compliance and Security
    Ref: What is AWS config Credits to aws for the cover page image I used. - Source: dev.to / 2 months ago
  • 🚀🚀Setting Up AWS Firewall Manager Used For Auditing Security Groups in AWS Organization accounts.
    Ii) AWS Config must be enabled in all member accounts (Firewall Manager relies on AWS Config for resource visibility). - Source: dev.to / 2 months ago
  • What is Configuration Drift?
    Cloud providers offer services to detect, manage, and remediate configuration drift in their environments. Because cloud environments often become large and complex, services such as AWS Config, Azure Policy, and Workload Manager Evaluation can help continuously monitor and evaluate cloud resources and their configurations according to rules. - Source: dev.to / 6 months ago
  • Scanning AWS S3 Buckets for Security Vulnerabilities
    Regularly audit and monitor your S3 bucket configurations: Establish a routine for auditing and monitoring your S3 bucket configurations. You can also set up alerts for any changes to permissions or policies, enabling timely detection and response to potential security incidents. Additionally, you can utilize tools and services such as AWS Config, which helps you assess, audit, and evaluate the configuration of... - Source: dev.to / 10 months ago
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Packer mentions (9)

  • Failed to connect to the host via SSH on Ubuntu 22.04
    If you have just upgraded to Ubuntu 22.04, and you suddenly experience either errors when trying to ssh into hosts, or when running ansible or again when running the ansible provisioner building a packer image, this is probably going to be useful for you. - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • Create a minimalist OS using Docker Containers and Hashicorp Packer
    I am already using Hashicorp Packer at work and for personal projects and I wanted to test This idea out by wrapping it a single Packer Template file. This reduces the level of maintaining a lot of small scripts, Dockerfiles and configurations and the user can simply trigger a couple of Commands to get a minimalist OS at the end of the process. - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • After self-hosting my email for twenty-three years I have thrown in the towel. The oligopoly has won.
    And while it is a slight increase in complexity, it can be an overall net gain in functionality, configurability and reliability. Much like Packer is far more reliable and practical than manually making VM images sitting in front of a terminal, even though making the initial configuration takes some time. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Customized Ubuntu Images using Packer + QEMU + Cloud-Init & UEFI bootloading
    Hashicorp Packer provides a nice wrapper / abstraction over the QEMU in order to boot the image and use it to set it up on first-boot. Instead of writing really long commands in order to boot up the image using QEMU, Packer provided a nice Configuration Template in a more Readable fashion. - Source: dev.to / almost 3 years ago
  • The journey of sharing a wired USB printer over the network
    Packer seemed like the perfect tool for the job. I have never used it before and wanted to get familiar with the tool. It doesn't come with ARM support out of the box, but there are two community projects to fill that niche. - Source: dev.to / about 3 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing AWS Config and Packer, you can also consider the following products

Amazon CloudWatch - Amazon CloudWatch is a monitoring service for AWS cloud resources and the applications you run on AWS.

Terraform - Tool for building, changing, and versioning infrastructure safely and efficiently.

Steampipe - Steampipe: select * from cloud; The extensible SQL interface to your favorite cloud APIs select * from AWS, Azure, GCP, Github, Slack etc.

Puppet Enterprise - Get started with Puppet Enterprise, or upgrade or expand.

CloudQuery - CloudQuery enables you to assess, audit, and evaluate the configurations of your cloud assets.

Rancher - Open Source Platform for Running a Private Container Service