Adding the ability to skip nat port forwarding for ssh connectivity

builder/virtualbox/common/ssh_config.go

@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ type SSHConfig struct {
 	SSHPort           uint   `mapstructure:"ssh_port"`
 	SSHUser           string `mapstructure:"ssh_username"`
 	RawSSHWaitTimeout string `mapstructure:"ssh_wait_timeout"`
+	SSHSkipNatMapping bool   `mapstructure:"ssh_skip_nat_mapping"`
 
 	SSHWaitTimeout time.Duration
 }

builder/virtualbox/common/step_export.go

@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ type StepExport struct {
 	Format         string
 	OutputDir      string
 	ExportOpts     []string
+	SkipNatMapping bool
 }
 
 func (s *StepExport) Run(state multistep.StateBag) multistep.StepAction {
@@ -33,6 +34,9 @@ func (s *StepExport) Run(state multistep.StateBag) multistep.StepAction {
 
 	// Clear out the Packer-created forwarding rule
 	ui.Say("Preparing to export machine...")
+	var command []string
+
+	if s.SkipNatMapping == false {
 		ui.Message(fmt.Sprintf(
 			"Deleting forwarded port mapping for SSH (host port %d)",
 			state.Get("sshHostPort")))
@@ -43,6 +47,7 @@ func (s *StepExport) Run(state multistep.StateBag) multistep.StepAction {
 			ui.Error(err.Error())
 			return multistep.ActionHalt
 		}
+	}
 
 	// Export the VM to an OVF
 	outputPath := filepath.Join(s.OutputDir, vmName+"."+s.Format)

builder/virtualbox/common/step_forward_ssh.go

@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ type StepForwardSSH struct {
 	GuestPort      uint
 	HostPortMin    uint
 	HostPortMax    uint
+	SkipNatMapping bool
 }
 
 func (s *StepForwardSSH) Run(state multistep.StateBag) multistep.StepAction {
@@ -29,9 +30,13 @@ func (s *StepForwardSSH) Run(state multistep.StateBag) multistep.StepAction {
 	ui := state.Get("ui").(packer.Ui)
 	vmName := state.Get("vmName").(string)
 
+	var sshHostPort uint
+	if s.SkipNatMapping {
+		sshHostPort = s.GuestPort
+		log.Printf("Skipping SSH NAT mapping and using SSH port %d", sshHostPort)
+	} else {
 		log.Printf("Looking for available SSH port between %d and %d",
 			s.HostPortMin, s.HostPortMax)
-	var sshHostPort uint
 		var offset uint = 0
 
 		portRange := int(s.HostPortMax - s.HostPortMin)
@@ -63,6 +68,7 @@ func (s *StepForwardSSH) Run(state multistep.StateBag) multistep.StepAction {
 			ui.Error(err.Error())
 			return multistep.ActionHalt
 		}
+	}
 
 	// Save the port we're using so that future steps can use it
 	state.Put("sshHostPort", sshHostPort)

builder/virtualbox/iso/builder.go

@@ -293,6 +293,7 @@ func (b *Builder) Run(ui packer.Ui, hook packer.Hook, cache packer.Cache) (packe
 			GuestPort:      b.config.SSHPort,
 			HostPortMin:    b.config.SSHHostPortMin,
 			HostPortMax:    b.config.SSHHostPortMax,
+			SkipNatMapping: b.config.SSHSkipNatMapping,
 		},
 		&vboxcommon.StepVBoxManage{
 			Commands: b.config.VBoxManage,
@@ -322,6 +323,7 @@ func (b *Builder) Run(ui packer.Ui, hook packer.Hook, cache packer.Cache) (packe
 			Format:         b.config.Format,
 			OutputDir:      b.config.OutputDir,
 			ExportOpts:     b.config.ExportOpts.ExportOpts,
+			SkipNatMapping: b.config.SSHSkipNatMapping,
 		},
 	}
 

builder/virtualbox/ovf/builder.go

@@ -68,6 +68,7 @@ func (b *Builder) Run(ui packer.Ui, hook packer.Hook, cache packer.Cache) (packe
 			GuestPort:      b.config.SSHPort,
 			HostPortMin:    b.config.SSHHostPortMin,
 			HostPortMax:    b.config.SSHHostPortMax,
+			SkipNatMapping: b.config.SSHSkipNatMapping,
 		},
 		&vboxcommon.StepVBoxManage{
 			Commands: b.config.VBoxManage,
@@ -98,6 +99,7 @@ func (b *Builder) Run(ui packer.Ui, hook packer.Hook, cache packer.Cache) (packe
 			Format:         b.config.Format,
 			OutputDir:      b.config.OutputDir,
 			ExportOpts:     b.config.ExportOpts.ExportOpts,
+			SkipNatMapping: b.config.SSHSkipNatMapping,
 		},
 	}
 

website/source/docs/builders/virtualbox-iso.html.markdown

@@ -191,6 +191,10 @@ Optional:
   available. By default this is "20m", or 20 minutes. Note that this should
   be quite long since the timer begins as soon as the virtual machine is booted.
 
+* `ssh_skip_nat_mapping` (bool) - Defaults to false. When enabled, Packer does
+  not setup forwarded port mapping for SSH requests and uses `ssh_port` on the
+  host to communicate to the virtual machine
+
 * `vboxmanage` (array of array of strings) - Custom `VBoxManage` commands to
   execute in order to further customize the virtual machine being created.
   The value of this is an array of commands to execute. The commands are executed

website/source/docs/builders/virtualbox-ovf.html.markdown

@@ -126,6 +126,10 @@ Optional:
   available. By default this is "20m", or 20 minutes. Note that this should
   be quite long since the timer begins as soon as the virtual machine is booted.
 
+* `ssh_skip_nat_mapping` (bool) - Defaults to false. When enabled, Packer does
+  not setup forwarded port mapping for SSH requests and uses `ssh_port` on the
+  host to communicate to the virtual machine
+
 * `vboxmanage` (array of array of strings) - Custom `VBoxManage` commands to
   execute in order to further customize the virtual machine being created.
   The value of this is an array of commands to execute. The commands are executed