Summary
Provide a fast, non-installing Windows dependency-resolution/preflight mechanism that downstream consumers of runner-images can run against the exact revision they are about to build, before starting Packer.
Problem
A downstream consumer can spend hours provisioning an image before a changed upstream script, renamed GitHub release asset, unavailable package, changed version manifest, invalid Visual Studio Marketplace response, or broken vendor endpoint is first exercised. The desired feedback loop is a local or downstream-CI command that validates the selected runner-images revision before it creates cloud resources or installs software.
Proposal
Ship a reusable Windows resolver-preflight script with the repository. It should be callable by a downstream build pipeline after checkout and before packer build; it must not create Azure resources, provision a VM, download installer payloads, or mutate the build machine.
Summary
Provide a fast, non-installing Windows dependency-resolution/preflight mechanism that downstream consumers of runner-images can run against the exact revision they are about to build, before starting Packer.
Problem
A downstream consumer can spend hours provisioning an image before a changed upstream script, renamed GitHub release asset, unavailable package, changed version manifest, invalid Visual Studio Marketplace response, or broken vendor endpoint is first exercised. The desired feedback loop is a local or downstream-CI command that validates the selected runner-images revision before it creates cloud resources or installs software.
Proposal
Ship a reusable Windows resolver-preflight script with the repository. It should be callable by a downstream build pipeline after checkout and before
packer build; it must not create Azure resources, provision a VM, download installer payloads, or mutate the build machine.