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windows-builder

✓ Official★ 699

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.

This is the playbook your agent receives when the skill activates — you don't need to read it to use the skill, but it's here to audit before installing.

Windows Builder

Platform-agnostic patterns for building Windows images with Packer.

Reference: WinRM Communicator

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

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

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

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