--- title: "Automate PowerShell Modules with Chocolatey Packages" description: "Create Chocolatey packages to automate PowerShell modules and software installations." canonical: "https://adamtheautomator.com/create-chocolatey-package/" --- # Automate PowerShell Modules with Chocolatey Packages > Create Chocolatey packages to automate PowerShell modules and software installations. Source: https://adamtheautomator.com/create-chocolatey-package/ --- ATA Learning Tap to hide [ ATA Learning ](/) * [Home](/) * [Tutorials](/tutorials/) * [Instructors](/author/) * [Advertising](/advertising/) * [Recommended Resources](/resources/) * [About Adam](/about-adam/) Search for: * [](https://twitter.com/adbertram) * [](https://github.com/Adam-the-Automator) * [](https://www.linkedin.com/company/adam-the-automator-llc) * [](/feed/) ![Automate PowerShell Modules with Chocolatey Packages](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/chocolatey.png) # Automate PowerShell Modules with Chocolatey Packages [![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/d0b9d42e21e5622713f8b693aa5c0f9244d5f7dd200ed29b8398f52dee5de337?s=192&d=mm&r=g)Adam Bertram](https://adamtheautomator.com/author/adam-bertram/)1 August 20192 min. read Categories: [IT Ops](/category/it-ops/) Tags:[Chocolatey](/tag/chocolatey/)[PowerShell](/tag/powershell/) Table of Contents * [Installing Chocolatey](#installing-chocolatey) * [Creating an NUSPEC file](#creating-an-nuspec-file) * [How to Create Chocolatey Package](#creating-the-chocolatey-package) * [Summary](#summary) In this blog post, learn how to create Chocolatey package (a popular Windows packaging manager). As automation becomes more of necessity rather than a nicety, it’s important we IT folk look at better ways to perform menial tasks; one of those tasks is installing software. Rather than download an MSI, double-click on it and run through the wizard, it would behoove you to think of a better way. Not a reader? Watch this related video tutorial! **_Not seeing the video? Make sure your ad blocker is disabled._** Nearly all software has command-line switches to install silently, and if you perform enough research, you might figure out the right switches. Your install might then look like this: ```bash > install.exe /q /n /e /noreboot ``` Are you going to remember all of those switches? Probably not. You could put these switches in a batch file and then forget where you put that script _or_ you could do this: ```powershell Install-Package -Name AcmeSoftware ``` Now _that’s_ something that can be remembered easily. But how would you get to that point? The answer is a [NuGet](https://adamtheautomator.com/nuget-package-manager/ "NuGet") repository and a NuGet package. [NuGet](https://www.nuget.org) is a traditional software packing technology that allows you to essentially wrap up a piece of software which can then be stored in a repository, downloaded and installed at will. Chocolatey is a favorite open source tool that uses [NuGet](https://adamtheautomator.com/nuget-package-manager/) to allow IT administrators to download and silently install software. In this article, I’m going to assume you’ve already got a NuGet repository setup or you know where you’re going to send your package. Let’s take a piece of software and wrap it up in a NuGet package for use in one of these repositories. ## Installing Chocolatey Since [Chocolatey](https://adamtheautomator.com/install-chocolatey/ "Chocolatey") is not installed by default on a Windows operating system, it must be downloaded and installed. It can be downloaded and installed by running this in a PowerShell console: ```powershell PS> iex ((New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString('https://chocolatey.org/install.ps1')) ``` ## Creating an NUSPEC file To create a Chocolatey package, you first must create an NUSPEC file. An NUSPEC file is an XML package manifest that describes the package contents. This NUSPEC file must be in a particular format. Here’s a sample NUSPEC file using only the required elements: ```xml MySpecialSoftware 1.0 Some software I'm packaging up. Adam Bertram ``` For the complete rundown of all the tags that can be used refer to the [NUSPEC reference](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/nuget/reference/nuspec). ## How to Create Chocolatey Package Next, create the package. To do this, we use the `Install-ChocolateyInstallPackage` command. Let’s pretend that the software we’re packaging up is an EXE and the switches to install it silently are `/s`. We must send the file location along with the silent switches to use to the command. ```powershell PS> Install-ChocolateyPackage -PackageName 'AcmeSoftware' -FileType 'exe' -File 'C:\install.exe' -SilentArgs '/s' ``` This command will create the package. Next, we’ll need to pack the package using the `choco` exe. ```powershell PS> choco pack ``` Once the software has been packaged up, it’s now in a format to where you can publish to a Chocolatey repository of your choice. ## Summary This process can be repeated for each piece of software you need to deploy via Chocolatey. As you can see, there are only a few additional steps that must take place to get the software “Chocolatey-ready.” By doing so now allows you to get back to doing tasks that matter rather than figuring out how to deploy software to a bunch of machines at once! If you’d like a deep dive more after you learned how to create Chocolatey packages, be sure to check out the [Chocolatey docs](https://docs.chocolatey.org/en-us/create/create-packages). ![](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/facebook-share-1024x538.png) Learning How to Create Chocolatey Package Share this article [Share on X](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fadamtheautomator.com%2Fcreate-chocolatey-package%2F&text=Automate%20PowerShell%20Modules%20with%20Chocolatey%20Packages)[Share on Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fadamtheautomator.com%2Fcreate-chocolatey-package%2F)[Share on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fadamtheautomator.com%2Fcreate-chocolatey-package%2F) ## Related Posts ![](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/chocolatey.jpeg) ### [Chocolatey Installation: A Step-by-Step Guide](/install-chocolatey/) Install Chocolatey and master the basics of this powerful Windows package manager. Simplify software management and boost your IT efficiency. ![](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/publisher/3ec5d9c85b2b8183bec6e5cc0f0356c5/a323a4d03629188de1d5ed18ca60a64a65f94bef73d5390488bde5511859fa05.webp) ### [AZ-800 vs. AZ-802: Avoid the Wrong Windows Server Exam](/az-800-vs-az-802/) See what the AZ-800 retirement means for your Windows Server certification path and how to re-weight your study plan around the current AZ-802 exam. ![](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/publisher/3ec5d9c85b2b811089d5d31807a89aa3/4f6fca0bf1e9083ef5217f16ceed8f939aa4f322e0b4be8d8e3dbb7be8ca3114.webp) ### [Automate Windows 11 Context Menu Actions with Registry](/automate-windows-11-context-menu-registry/) Add custom right-click actions to Windows 11 context menus by editing registry verbs, deploying .reg files, and scripting with PowerShell. ## Categories * [IT Ops](/category/it-ops/) * [Cloud](/category/cloud/) * [DevOps](/category/devops/) * [Home Ops](/category/home-ops/) * [Information Security](/category/infosec/) * [Software Development](/category/software-development/) ## Site * [Home](/) * [Tutorials](/tutorials/) * [Instructors](/author/) * [Advertising](/advertising/) * [Recommended Resources](/resources/) * [About Adam](/about-adam/) Copyright 2026© ATA Learning | [Privacy Policy](/privacy/)