hashicorp/packer · error

target required

Error message

target required

What it means

Config validation error (sentinel var ErrTargetRequired) from the file builder's Prepare: the `target` field, which tells the builder where to write the output file, is empty or missing. Guarded by checking c.Target == "".

Source

Thrown at builder/file/config.go:17

// Copyright IBM Corp. 2024, 2025
// SPDX-License-Identifier: BUSL-1.1

//go:generate packer-sdc mapstructure-to-hcl2 -type Config

package file

import (
	"fmt"

	"github.com/hashicorp/packer-plugin-sdk/common"
	packersdk "github.com/hashicorp/packer-plugin-sdk/packer"
	"github.com/hashicorp/packer-plugin-sdk/template/config"
	"github.com/hashicorp/packer-plugin-sdk/template/interpolate"
)

var ErrTargetRequired = fmt.Errorf("target required")
var ErrContentSourceConflict = fmt.Errorf("Cannot specify source file AND content")

type Config struct {
	common.PackerConfig `mapstructure:",squash"`

	Source  string `mapstructure:"source"`
	Target  string `mapstructure:"target"`
	Content string `mapstructure:"content"`
}

func (c *Config) Prepare(raws ...interface{}) ([]string, error) {
	warnings := []string{}

	err := config.Decode(c, &config.DecodeOpts{
		Interpolate: true,
		InterpolateFilter: &interpolate.RenderFilter{
			Exclude: []string{},
		},

View on GitHub (pinned to eb36e3c3e4)

Solutions

1. Add a `target` argument to the file builder stanza, e.g. target = "output.txt"
2. Use Packer interpolations in target such as {{ .BuildName }} if you need dynamic names

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at builder/file/config.go:17 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/14b9ea4abfc89068. Report an issue: GitHub.