hashicorp/packer · error

Only a script file or an inline script can be specified, not

Error message

Only a script file or an inline script can be specified, not both.

What it means

Config validation error from the windows-shell provisioner's Prepare: the template sets both `script`/`scripts` (a script file) and `inline`, which are mutually exclusive ways to supply the shell commands. It fires only when at least one script path is present AND inline is non-empty.

Source

Thrown at provisioner/windows-shell/provisioner.go:117

		p.config.Vars = make([]string, 0)
	}

	var errs error
	if p.config.Script != "" && len(p.config.Scripts) > 0 {
		errs = packersdk.MultiErrorAppend(errs,
			errors.New("Only one of script or scripts can be specified."))
	}

	if p.config.Script != "" {
		p.config.Scripts = []string{p.config.Script}
	}

	if len(p.config.Scripts) == 0 && p.config.Inline == nil {
		errs = packersdk.MultiErrorAppend(errs,
			errors.New("Either a script file or inline script must be specified."))
	} else if len(p.config.Scripts) > 0 && p.config.Inline != nil {
		errs = packersdk.MultiErrorAppend(errs,
			errors.New("Only a script file or an inline script can be specified, not both."))
	}

	for _, path := range p.config.Scripts {
		if _, err := os.Stat(path); err != nil {
			errs = packersdk.MultiErrorAppend(errs,
				fmt.Errorf("Bad script '%s': %s", path, err))
		}
	}

	// Do a check for bad environment variables, such as '=foo', 'foobar'
	for _, kv := range p.config.Vars {
		vs := strings.SplitN(kv, "=", 2)
		if len(vs) != 2 || vs[0] == "" {
			errs = packersdk.MultiErrorAppend(errs,
				fmt.Errorf("Environment variable not in format 'key=value': %s", kv))
		}
	}

View on GitHub (pinned to eb36e3c3e4)

Solutions

1. Remove either the script/scripts block or the inline array from the provisioner stanza so only one source of commands remains
2. If you need multiple commands from files, list them in `scripts` and delete `inline`
3. Move inline commands into a script file and reference it via `script`

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at provisioner/windows-shell/provisioner.go:117 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of hashicorp/packer@eb36e3c3e4 (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/e8850ece98c69007. Report an issue: GitHub.