Is there any plan up upgrade old templates?

[Swampen]

Is there any plan to migrate the existing json templates e.g. the ubuntu2004.json template to the new hcl packer template format?

If yes, what is the estimated time frame

[miketimofeev]

@Swampen yes, we have such a plan but I'm afraid no ETA for now. Please feel free to submit PR if you have a chance to convert the templates.

[Swampen]

Thanks for your answer @miketimofeev. I will see if I have some time to convert the ubuntu2004 one. Do you also plan to utilise the plugin functionality in packer as well?

[miketimofeev]

Haven't investigated much about it. Could provide what are the benefits of using the plugins?

[Swampen]

TL;DR: As of now, Packer comes bundled with support with all sorts of cloud providers. With Packer 2.0 they will remove these from the core binary, and require plugins. The benefit with this is that the Packer binary will be quite small, and a "Packer project" will only install the required plugin (the azure plugin in this case)
Long version: https://www.hashicorp.com/resources/the-road-to-packer-2-0