Getting ready to create Chocolatey packages requires just a few steps. Follow along here, and you’ll be creating gooey Chocolatey goodness is no time flat!

First Things First

The very first thing you are going to need, if you’ve not got it already, is to install Chocolatey CLI. You can copy the below PowerShell code into an administrative PowerShell console to quickly install it.

NOTE

If you need a more advanced installation scenario, or for more information you can head over to the Chocolatey CLI installation instructions first, and then come back here when Chocolatey CLI is up and running.

Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process -Force; [System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol -bor 3072; iex ((New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString('https://community.chocolatey.org/install.ps1'))

Configuring Your Development Environment

Thankfully (if not a little obviously), everything we need to configure is available via the Chocolatey Community Repository. We’ll setup the following:

• Visual Studio Code (VS Code)
• The PowerShell VS Code Extension
• The Chocolatey VS Code Extension

You can run the following in an administrative PowerShell console to get up and running in one go:

choco install vscode vscode-powershell chocolatey-vscode -y --source='https://community.chocolatey.org/api/v2/'

Setting Up The Filesystem

We want an easy to reference place to perform any of the tutorials available in this Packaging Creation documentation. In a PowerShell console create a ~\tutorials directory with the following command:

New-Item ~\tutorials -ItemType Directory

Configure a Source For Tutorials

While working through the various tutorials here, you’ll likely want to actually install, upgrade, and uninstall the packages you create to see the fruits of your labor.

The easiest way to do that is to configure a source for those packages to be stored. In an administrative PowerShell console set that source up with the following:

choco source add --name='Tutorials' --source="$(Convert-Path ~/tutorials)"

Oh, and don’t worry, the tutorials available here all ensure that the packages you create as part of the tutorial end up here. The important thing is that you actually have the source!

You’re Done!

Oh, SWEET! You’re all ready to begin working through the tutorials here. Before long you’ll be a Master Chocolatier. Happy Packaging!