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windows-builder

✓ Official★ 697

by hashicorp · part of hashicorp/agent-skills

Build Windows images with Packer using WinRM communicator and PowerShell provisioners. Use when creating Windows AMIs, Azure images, or VMware templates.

🔥🔥🔥✓ VerifiedFreeQuick setup
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🧩 One of 7 skills in the hashicorp/agent-skills package — works on its own, and pairs well with its siblings.

Build Windows images with Packer using WinRM communicator and PowerShell provisioners. Use when creating Windows AMIs, Azure images, or VMware templates.

Inspect the full instructions your agent will receiveExpand

This is the exact playbook injected into your agent when the skill activates — shown here so you can audit it before installing. You don't need to read it to use the skill.

name: windows-builder description: Build Windows images with Packer using WinRM communicator and PowerShell provisioners. Use when creating Windows AMIs, Azure images, or VMware templates.

Windows Builder

Platform-agnostic patterns for building Windows images with Packer.

Reference: Windows Builders

Note: Windows builds incur significant costs and time. Expect 45-120 minutes per build due to Windows Updates. Failed builds may leave resources running - always verify cleanup.

PowerShell Provisioners

Install Software

Copy & paste — that's it
build {
  sources = ["source.amazon-ebs.windows"]

  # Install Chocolatey
  provisioner "powershell" {
    inline = [
      "Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process -Force",
      "iex ((New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString('https://community.chocolatey.org/install.ps1'))"
    ]
  }

  # Install applications
  provisioner "powershell" {
    inline = [
      "choco install -y googlechrome",
      "choco install -y 7zip",
    ]
  }

  # Install IIS
  provisioner "powershell" {
    inline = [
      "Install-WindowsFeature -Name Web-Server -IncludeManagementTools"
    ]
  }
}

Windows Updates

Copy & paste — that's it
provisioner "powershell" {
  inline = [
    "Install-PackageProvider -Name NuGet -Force",
    "Install-Module -Name PSWindowsUpdate -Force",
    "Import-Module PSWindowsUpdate",
    "Get-WindowsUpdate -Install -AcceptAll -AutoReboot",
  ]
  timeout = "2h"
}

# Wait for reboots
provisioner "windows-restart" {
  restart_timeout = "30m"
}

Cleanup

Copy & paste — that's it
provisioner "powershell" {
  inline = [
    "# Clear temp files",
    "Remove-Item -Path 'C:\\Windows\\Temp\\*' -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue",
    "# Clear Windows Update cache",
    "Stop-Service -Name wuauserv -Force",
    "Remove-Item -Path 'C:\\Windows\\SoftwareDistribution\\*' -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue",
    "Start-Service -Name wuauserv",
  ]
}

References