TL;DR: in which I use HashiCorp’s Packer to automate installing and configuring many developer tools for my local dev environment on Windows. And detailing it on GitHub.
Why? My laptop frequently changes: either it breaks and after its repaired, I need to reinstall the tooling I need for software development. Or after X years, it has to be replaced (due to company policy).
Why not have an automated way to install and configure these tools?
It occured to me that Microsoft automatically installs and configures many development tools for its virtual machines on which GitHub Actions run.
I want a similar experience, i.e., open a shell, execute commands to experiment without having first to worry about installing and configuring the tools/SDKs/Runtimes.
In due time, that worry will come. Just not now.
Then, why not use the same approach for my laptop but at a smaller scale?
It worked! The tools I ended up with are listed in this file on GitHub.
I’ve also written how to setup and run Packer for such a task in the repository’s readme.
I ended up building on, and reusing, the following TILs:
- Set up and test WinRM – https://til.juliusgamanyi.com/posts/setup-winrm
- Integrate Packer with WinRM – https://til.juliusgamanyi.com/posts/packer-winrm-setup
