Create a config file based on an existing machine

[andy-yappy]

Suggested new feature or improvement

It would be great to be able to generate a yml file based on my existing machine, a UI that lists the installed apps, you select the ones that you want in the script and the yml is generated for you

Scenario

As I already have an existing machine that I am happy with the setup, generating a yml means I can rebuild if needed or start a new machine with the same setup, or new team members can get my setup with minimal effort

Additional details

It would also help get people started with a script

[florelis]

If you only need to install apps, winget has an export feature that can do that for you, but from the CLI instead of UI.
From the terminal you run winget export apps.json and that creates the file apps.json with everything winget detected installed on your system. Then you can copy that file to another machine and do winget import apps.json and it will install all the apps listed, and you can edit it to remove apps you don't need.

There are a couple of caveats though. winget will sometimes not be able to match an installed app to an app available in it's catalog. It also doesn't preserver installation settings. And it only does app install, not other types of configurations.

[localden]

Likely related to:

• Option to configure from a file, with no way to export current configuration #721

[denelon]

Similar to:

• Create DSC file from existing computer #685

[denelon]

Over at the WinGet CLI repository we're looking at:

• Generate configuration from machine state  winget-cli#3274