Package Manager for Windows
Tags: windows, chocolatey, microsoft
Published: 2021-11-07 19:20:31

## What is a package manager?

A package manager is a collection of software tools which automates the process of installation, along with the upgrading and configuring process as well. Package manager is a common feature in Linux based operating system. Some common package manager for Unix/Linux based operating systems are: Dpkg, Yum, etc. However, in Windows, package manager was not that much common at all earlier, but Chocolatey has filled the gap afterward.

## What is Chocolatey?

[Chocolatey](https://community.chocolatey.org/) is basically a software management solution for the Windows operating system. Chocolatey implements the full package management techniques. It also allows us to version different items, manage their dependencies along with the installation order, It helps to improve the inventory management as well.
You can install mostly used necessary software on your Windows operating system directly using the Chocolatey package manager.

## Pre-requisite for Chocolatey

Make sure that you have the following prerequisite:

- Windows 7+ / Windows Server 2003+
- PowerShell v2+ (minimum is v3 for install from this website due to [TLS 1.2 requirement](https://chocolatey.org/blog/remove-support-for-old-tls-versions))
- .NET Framework 4+ (the installation will attempt to install .NET 4.0 if you do not have it installed)(minimum is 4.5 for install from this website due to [TLS 1.2 requirement](https://chocolatey.org/blog/remove-support-for-old-tls-versions))

## Install Chocolatey

- Open the PowerShell with the Administrator access by clicking on the Run as Administrator.
- Enter the command and press on the `Enter` key.
```powershell
Get-ExecutionPolicy
```
- If it returns Restricted, then run the following command.
```powershell
Set-ExecutionPolicy AllSigned
```
In the prompt, press `A` for All.
- Run the following command afterward.
```powershell
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'))
```
- Wait for some time and let the process finishes. After finishing, you can check out the version of the Chocolatey by using the following command.
```powershell
choco --version
``` 
- You are good to go with the Chocolatey package manager.

## Some Necessary Software You Can Install first Using Chocolatey

You can check for the software/packages you want to install from [here](https://community.chocolatey.org/packages). I prefer installing these as early as possible.
- DirectX
```powershell
choco install -y directx
```
- Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime - all versions 1.0.1
```powershell
choco install -y vcreditst-all
```
- Adobe Acrobat Reader DC 2021.007.20099
```powershell
choco install -y adobereader
```
- Google Chrome Web-browser
```powershell
choco install -y googlechrome
```
- 7Zip
```powershell
choco install -y 7zip.install
```
- Python 3.x 3.10.0
```powershell
choco install -y python3
```
- Git
```powershell
choco install -y git.install
```
- Node JS
```powershell
choco install -y nodejs.install
```
- VS Code
```powershell
choco install -y vscode
```
- Mozilla Thunderbird
```powershell
choco install -y thunderbird
```
If you want to check the installed package list, then you can also do so by using the following command.
```powershell
choco list --local-only
```
![Installed Package List](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/4j0lrc8s5y5s803c3car.jpg)

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