I make complete AMIs with packer, configure them entirely using environment variables in userdata, configuration data in etcd, and shell scripts, and run all services in docker containers, which I also build using packer. With all services in containers, AMIs are almost never rebuilt and there is no need for configuration management/mutating infrastructure.
Building containers with packer is easier than switching to Dockerfiles for existing builds, but does not support fast, incremental build and deploy or tagging. Even without those features, I see no advantages in traditional CM other than the convenience of familiarity and legacy.
Building containers with packer is easier than switching to Dockerfiles for existing builds, but does not support fast, incremental build and deploy or tagging. Even without those features, I see no advantages in traditional CM other than the convenience of familiarity and legacy.