Repave

Repave is a PowerShell module that allows you to easily create a new Hyper-V Virtual Hard Disk (*.vhdx), apply Microsoft® Windows 8.0/8.1 and 10 image, and then configure that installation with a terse script using additional Repave.* modules and OneGet.

With this Hyper-V VHD, you then have the option to run it as Virtual Machine or boot it directly to run it on bare-metal (where only the hard drive will be virtualised).

The design of the module focusses on speed and idempotency allowing you create multiple machine configurations easily.

Possible usages include:

• Trial pre-release versions of Microsoft® Windows without needing a second computer or reinstalling.
• Have a fresh install ready-to-go. Great for development environments, e.g. as a consultant it is nice to have a fresh install to start an engagement for a client.

Inspired by the work of fellow Readify consultants Rob Moore, Matt Davies, Tatham Oddie, and BoxStarter creator Matt Wrock.

Installation

As pre-release, download the source. In the future, plan to publish on PsGet.

Minimum example

To get started all you need is this in a .ps1 file:

#Repave
#Requires –Version 4
#Requires -RunAsAdministrator
[CmdletBinding()]
param()

Push-Location $PSScriptRoot
Import-Module .\Repave\Repave.psd1

$iso = ".\ISOs\en-gb_windows_8.1_professional_n_vl_with_update_x64_dvd_4050338.iso"
New-Gen2Vhd -Size 25GB | Write-WindowsIsoToVhd -Iso $iso | Invoke-Repave -InstallScript {
    Write-Host "It is repaving time"
}

Roadmap

Roadmap is up on Trello.

FAQ

Q: Why Powershell?

A: PowerShell already contains all the nuts and bolts required to make overarching configuration changes to entire systems.

Q: How is Repave different from other solutions?

A: The focus is on creating Hyper-V machine configurations, not your current configuration. It is terse and repeatable. It is also built using Powershell 4.0.

Q: What is wrong with Chocolately?

A: Nothing, as long you can trust the packages that you installing. I personally have been burnt before by a package installing more than described.

Q: What is so great about OneGet?

A: It is a unified package manager that is shipping with Powershell v5. Read a preview on TechNet.

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