# Ansible Collection: community.windows

[![Build Status](https://dev.azure.com/ansible/community.windows/_apis/build/status/CI?branchName=main)](https://dev.azure.com/ansible/community.windows/_build/latest?definitionId=23&branchName=main)
[![codecov](https://codecov.io/gh/ansible-collections/community.windows/branch/main/graph/badge.svg)](https://codecov.io/gh/ansible-collections/community.windows)


The `community.windows` collection includes the community plugins supported by Ansible community to help the management of Windows hosts.

<!--start requires_ansible-->
## Ansible version compatibility

This collection has been tested against following Ansible versions: **>=2.11**.

Plugins and modules within a collection may be tested with only specific Ansible versions.
A collection may contain metadata that identifies these versions.
PEP440 is the schema used to describe the versions of Ansible.
<!--end requires_ansible-->


## Included content

<!--start collection content-->

See the complete list of collection content in the [Plugin Index](https://ansible-collections.github.io/community.windows/branch/main/collections/community/windows/index.html#plugin-index).

<!--end collection content-->

## Installation and Usage

### Installing the Collection from Ansible Galaxy

Before using the Windows collection, you need to install it with the `ansible-galaxy` CLI:

    ansible-galaxy collection install community.windows

You can also include it in a `requirements.yml` file and install it via `ansible-galaxy collection install -r requirements.yml` using the format:

```yaml
collections:
- name: community.windows
```


## Contributing to this collection

Currently we welcome bugfixes or feature requests to plugins in this collection but no new modules or plugins will be accepted in this collection. If you find problems, please open an issue or create a PR against the [Community Windows collection repository](https://github.com/ansible-collections/community.windows). See [Contributing to Ansible-maintained collections](https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/devel/community/contributing_maintained_collections.html#contributing-maintained-collections) for details.

See [Developing modules for Windows](https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/dev_guide/developing_modules_general_windows.html#developing-modules-general-windows) for specifics on Windows modules.

You can also join us on:

IRC - ``#ansible-windows`` [irc.libera.chat](https://libera.chat/) channel

See the [Ansible Community Guide](https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/community/index.html) for details on contributing to Ansible.


### Code of Conduct
This collection follows the Ansible project's
[Code of Conduct](https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/devel/community/code_of_conduct.html).
Please read and familiarize yourself with this document.


### Testing with `ansible-test`

The `tests` directory contains configuration for running sanity and integration tests using [`ansible-test`](https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/dev_guide/testing_integration.html).

You can run the collection's test suites with the commands:

    ansible-test sanity --docker
    ansible-test windows-integration --docker


## Publishing New Version

The current process for publishing new versions of the Windows Core Collection is manual, and requires a user who has access to the `community` namespace on Ansible Galaxy and Automation Hub to publish the build artifact.

* Update `galaxy.yml` with the new version for the collection.
* Update the `CHANGELOG`:
  * Make sure you have [`antsibull-changelog`](https://pypi.org/project/antsibull-changelog/) installed `pip install antsibull-changelog`.
  * Make sure there are fragments for all known changes in `changelogs/fragments`.
  * Add a new fragment with the header `release_summary` to give a summary on the release.
  * Run `antsibull-changelog release`.
* Commit the changes and wait for CI to be green
* Create a release with the tag that matches the version number
  * The tag is the version number itself, and should not start with anything
  * This will trigger a build and publish the collection to Galaxy
  * The Zuul job progress will be listed [here](https://ansible.softwarefactory-project.io/zuul/builds?job_name=release-ansible-collection-automation-hub)

After the version is published, verify it exists on the [Windows Community Collection Galaxy page](https://galaxy.ansible.com/community/windows).


## More Information

For more information about Ansible's Windows integration, join the `#ansible-windows` channel on [libera.chat](https://libera.chat/) IRC, and browse the resources in the [Windows Working Group](https://github.com/ansible/community/wiki/Windows) Community wiki page.

- [Ansible Collection overview](https://github.com/ansible-collections/overview)
- [Ansible User guide](https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/user_guide/index.html)
- [Ansible Developer guide](https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/dev_guide/index.html)
- [Ansible Community code of conduct](https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/community/code_of_conduct.html)


## License

GNU General Public License v3.0 or later

See [COPYING](COPYING) to see the full text.
