102 lines
3.8 KiB
Markdown
102 lines
3.8 KiB
Markdown
---
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page_title: "Packaging and Distribution - Plugin Development"
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sidebar_current: "plugins-packaging"
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---
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# Plugin Development: Packaging & Distribution
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This page documents how to organize the file structure of your plugin
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and distribute it so that it is installable using
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[standard installation methods](/v2/plugins/usage.html).
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Prior to reading this, you should be familiar
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with the [plugin development basics](/v2/plugins/development-basics.html).
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<div class="alert alert-warn">
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<p>
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<strong>Warning: Advanced Topic!</strong> Developing plugins is an
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advanced topic that only experienced Vagrant users who are reasonably
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comfortable with Ruby should approach.
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</p>
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</div>
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## Example Plugin
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The best way to describe packaging and distribution is to look at
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how another plugin does it. The best example plugin available for this
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is [vagrant-aws](https://github.com/mitchellh/vagrant-aws).
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By using [Bundler](http://gembundler.com) and Rake, building a new
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vagrant-aws package is easy. By simply calling `rake package`, a
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`gem` file is dropped into the directory. By calling `rake release`,
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the gem is built and it is uploaded to the central [RubyGems](http://rubygems.org)
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repository so that it can be installed using `vagrant plugin install`.
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Your plugin can and should be this easy, too, since you basically
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get this for free by using Bundler.
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## Setting Up Your Project
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To setup your project, run `bundle gem vagrant-my-plugin`. This will create a
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`vagrant-my-plugin` directory that has the initial layout to be a RubyGem.
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You should modify the `vagrant-my-plugin.gemspec` file to add any
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dependencies and change any metadata. View the [vagrant-aws.gemspec](https://github.com/mitchellh/vagrant-aws/blob/master/vagrant-aws.gemspec)
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for a good example.
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<div class="alert alert-warn">
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<p>
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<strong>Do not depend on Vagrant</strong> for your gem. Vagrant
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is no longer distributed as a gem, and you can assume that it will
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always be available when your plugin is installed.
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</p>
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</div>
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Next, create a `Rakefile` that has at the very least, the following
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contents:
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```ruby
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require 'rubygems'
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require 'bundler/setup'
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Bundler::GemHelper.install_tasks
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```
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If you run `rake -T` now, which lists all the available rake tasks,
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you should see that you have the `package` and `release` tasks. You
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can now develop your plugin and build it!
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You can view the [vagrant-aws Rakefile](https://github.com/mitchellh/vagrant-aws/blob/master/Rakefile)
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for a more comprehensive example that includes testing.
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## Testing Your Plugin
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You have a couple options for testing your plugin. First, you can run
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`rake package`, then `vagrant plugin install` the resulting file to
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test it. The downside of this is that there is a pretty slow feedback
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loop every time you want to test the plugin.
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Alternatively, you can depend on Vagrant from your Gemfile for development
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purposes only. Then you can use `bundle exec vagrant` and a Vagrantfile
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in your own directory to test it. This has a fast feedback loop, but requires
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that Vagrant has all the dependencies it needs installed on your system.
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vagrant-aws uses the second option. You can see the dependency in the
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[Gemfile](https://github.com/mitchellh/vagrant-aws/blob/master/Gemfile).
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The Vagrantfile is gitignored so that sensitive and volatile test
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information can be put into it. The important bit is that the Vagrantfile
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must have a `Vagrant.require_plugin` call so that it is loaded, since
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Vagrant doesn't automatically know about plugins not installed using
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`vagrant plugin`.
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For example, a vagrant-aws development Vagrantfile might look like this:
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```ruby
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Vagrant.require_plugin "vagrant-aws"
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Vagrant.configure("2") do |config|
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config.vm.box = "test"
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end
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```
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Then you can run `bundle exec vagrant up` to test it. Note the "bundle exec"
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is required so that Bundler uses the proper Vagrant installation.
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