Download failed context deadline exceeded

[jacob-carlborg]

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Description

I would like a way to deal with the error: Download failed context deadline exceeded. Either that Packer could automatically retry when this error occurs or if it was possible to configure the deadline so I can increase it.

Use Case(s)

I have a Packer file that can build an image for a single operating system but for multiple versions of the same operating system. Some of these versions are older and therefore the boot media is not located in the same location (URL) as the other versions, it's been moved to an archive site. I've handled this by adding the URL for the archive site to the iso_urls option. So for some of the versions it's expected to not find the URL at all entries in the iso_urls option, only at one entry, the archive site.

Sometimes when I build an image for an older version I get the following error: Download failed context deadline exceeded [1]. It looks like Packer correctly finds the URL but while downloading something fails. Therefore Packer will continue and try the next entry available in iso_urls. But in the case of the older version it's not expected to be available in any other entry and therefore they all result in a 404 response code. Eventually it will run out of entries and the whole build will fail.

[1] https://github.com/cross-platform-actions/freebsd-builder/actions/runs/12155317641/job/33896628780#step:6:113