Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Packer VS Azure Web App for Containers

Compare Packer VS Azure Web App for Containers and see what are their differences

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Packer logo Packer

Packer is an open-source software for creating identical machine images from a single source configuration.

Azure Web App for Containers logo Azure Web App for Containers

Bring your own containers and deploy to App Service as a web app running on Linux in seconds using Web App for Containers feature of Azure App Service.
  • Packer Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-15
  • Azure Web App for Containers Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-02-16

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.

Azure Web App for Containers features and specs

No features have been listed yet.

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Packer and Azure Web App for Containers)
DevOps Tools
93 93%
7% 7
Developer Tools
82 82%
18% 18
Continuous Integration And Delivery
Cloud Computing
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Packer and Azure Web App for Containers

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...

Azure Web App for Containers Reviews

We have no reviews of Azure Web App for Containers yet.
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Packer should be more popular than Azure Web App for Containers. It has been mentiond 9 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.

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 / over 2 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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Azure Web App for Containers mentions (3)

  • Where do I find the output log of TelemetryClient.TrackEvent() when using Azure ApplicationInsights?
    Some additional background info: I have a .NET 6 Worker Service app which is deployed to Azure in a Docker container running under an AppService Web App for Containers. Microsoft has a separate NuGet package for ApplicationInsights, Microsoft.ApplicationInsights.WorkerService, when deploying this type of app and I followed the corresponding documentation here: Application Insights for Worker Service applications... Source: over 2 years ago
  • Choosing Between AWS Lambda and Docker
    By contrast, Docker is pretty much a de facto standard. A Docker container that works on AWS's ECS will also run on Azure App Service, Google Cloud Run, and Kubernetes. - Source: dev.to / over 3 years ago
  • Containers in the Cloud: What Are Your Options?
    Azure Web App allows you to deploy containers on the service using container images from Docker Hub or Azure Container Registry. The backend OS patching, capacity management, and load balancing of services are handled by the platform, and the service enables on-demand scaling, either through scale-up or scale-out options based on configured scaling rules. This also helps with cost management, where costs are... - Source: dev.to / almost 4 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Packer and Azure Web App for Containers, you can also consider the following products

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

Kubernetes - Kubernetes is an open source orchestration system for Docker containers

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

Cloud Foundry - Cloud Foundry is an open platform as a service, providing a choice of clouds, developer frameworks and application services, making it faster and easier to build, test, deploy and scale applications from an IDE or the command line.

Rancher - Open Source Platform for Running a Private Container Service

AWS Fargate - AWS Fargate is a compute engine for Amazon ECS and EKS that allows you to run containers without having to manage servers or clusters.