hashicorp/packer · error

the `bucket_name` must be specified

Error message

the `bucket_name` must be specified

What it means

Configuration validation guard in the hcp-packer-artifact datasource's Configure. The datasource queries HCP Packer for a build artifact, which requires knowing which bucket to look in; this sentinel error is appended to a MultiError when the required bucket_name field is empty or omitted from the datasource block. Set bucket_name in the datasource configuration to the HCP Packer bucket that holds the artifact.

Source

Thrown at datasource/hcp-packer-artifact/data.go:75

	// For example, "amazon-ebs.example"
	ComponentType string `mapstructure:"component_type" required:"false"`
}

func (d *Datasource) ConfigSpec() hcldec.ObjectSpec {
	return d.config.FlatMapstructure().HCL2Spec()
}

func (d *Datasource) Configure(raws ...interface{}) error {
	err := config.Decode(&d.config, nil, raws...)
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}

	var errs *packersdk.MultiError

	if d.config.BucketName == "" {
		errs = packersdk.MultiErrorAppend(
			errs, fmt.Errorf("the `bucket_name` must be specified"),
		)
	}

	// Ensure either channel_name or version_fingerprint is set, and not both at the same time.
	if d.config.ChannelName == "" && d.config.VersionFingerprint == "" {
		errs = packersdk.MultiErrorAppend(errs, errors.New(
			"`version_fingerprint` or `channel_name` must be specified",
		))
	}
	if d.config.ChannelName != "" && d.config.VersionFingerprint != "" {
		errs = packersdk.MultiErrorAppend(errs, errors.New(
			"`version_fingerprint` and `channel_name` cannot be specified together",
		))
	}

	if d.config.Region == "" {
		errs = packersdk.MultiErrorAppend(errs,
			fmt.Errorf("the `region` must be specified"),

View on GitHub (pinned to eb36e3c3e4)

Solutions

1. Set bucket_name in the data block to your HCP Packer bucket name, e.g. bucket_name = "my-images"
2. Verify the bucket exists in HCP Packer and copy its exact slug

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at datasource/hcp-packer-artifact/data.go:75 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/17be667f0e799876. Report an issue: GitHub.