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Google Cloud Deployment Manager VS Packer

Compare Google Cloud Deployment Manager VS Packer and see what are their differences

Google Cloud Deployment Manager logo Google Cloud Deployment Manager

Infrastructure Build Tools

Packer logo Packer

Packer is an open-source software for creating identical machine images from a single source configuration.
  • Google Cloud Deployment Manager Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-12
  • Packer Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-15

Google Cloud Deployment Manager features and specs

  • Infrastructure as Code
    Google Cloud Deployment Manager allows users to define their infrastructure using templates, making it easier to manage and version control configurations.
  • Automation
    It automates the deployment process, reducing manual intervention and potential for errors during resource provisioning.
  • Integration with GCP
    It has seamless integration with Google Cloud Platform services, providing native support for deploying and managing resources within GCP.
  • Repeatability
    The tool ensures repeatable deployments, allowing users to easily recreate environments in a consistent manner.
  • Scalability
    With Deployment Manager, users can scale their infrastructure by simply updating their configuration templates to deploy additional resources.

Possible disadvantages of Google Cloud Deployment Manager

  • Complexity
    For users unfamiliar with YAML or Jinja2 templates, there can be an initial learning curve to understanding and effectively using Deployment Manager.
  • Limited Multi-Cloud Capabilities
    Deployment Manager is primarily designed for Google Cloud Platform, which makes it less suitable for managing resources across multiple cloud providers.
  • Feature Limitations
    Some advanced features available in other IaC tools might not be present in Deployment Manager, potentially limiting certain complex deployment scenarios.
  • Documentation
    While adequate for many scenarios, some users might find the documentation lacking detail in troubleshooting or uncommon use cases.
  • Dependency Handling
    Managing dependencies between resources can become complex, especially in large deployments, which may require careful structuring of templates.

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

Google Cloud Deployment Manager videos

Pros & Cons of Google Cloud Deployment Manager

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Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Google Cloud Deployment Manager and Packer)
DevOps Tools
24 24%
76% 76
Continuous Integration
100 100%
0% 0
Continuous Integration And Delivery
Continuous Deployment
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Google Cloud Deployment Manager and Packer

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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

Google Cloud Deployment Manager might be a bit more popular than Packer. We know about 13 links to it since March 2021 and only 9 links to Packer. 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.

Google Cloud Deployment Manager mentions (13)

  • 8 Essential Cloud Automation Tools You Should Know
    Google Cloud Deployment Manager is a cloud-native tool for automating resource management on Google Cloud Platform (GCP). It lets users define resources as code and uses templates to streamline deployments. This makes it easy to maintain complex GCP environments and apply updates consistently across resources. With Deployment Manager, organizations can avoid scaling and updating GCP resources manually, ensuring a... - Source: dev.to / 7 months ago
  • Building a security-conscious CI/CD pipeline
    Infrastructure as code (IaC) allows DevOps teams to define the end state of the required infrastructure and deploy it using a template-based approach. Public cloud platforms each provide proprietary IaC tools, such as Azure (ARM Templates and Bicep), AWS (CloudFormation), and GCP (Deployment Manager). - Source: dev.to / almost 2 years ago
  • Hi, anyone aware of Deployment manager and please guide me on how to use it
    Start with the google docs https://cloud.google.com/deployment-manager/docs. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Google Cloud Reference
    Cloud Deployment Manager: Templated infrastructure deployment 🔗Link 🔗Link. - Source: dev.to / almost 3 years ago
  • Deploying a Mostly Serverless Website on GCP
    When exploring options on how to deploy the architecture we briefly considered Google Cloud Deployment Manager. Upon further investigation we were led to use Terraform instead. It was evident that Cloud Deployment Manager did not have the necessary support for the resource types that we were trying to create. Many of the supported resource types were still listed in beta. - Source: dev.to / almost 3 years 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 Google Cloud Deployment Manager and Packer, you can also consider the following products

AWS CloudFormation - AWS CloudFormation gives developers and systems administrators an easy way to create and manage a...

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

Pulumi - Cloud Infrastructure for any cloud using languages you already know and love.

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

Red Hat Ansible - Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform comes as an extensive foundation for operating and building automation across an organization.

Rancher - Open Source Platform for Running a Private Container Service