Chocolatey deprecation: what’s changing and how to move forward

dmitryl+itd
dmitryl+itd Member, Administrator, Internal Posts: 217 admin
edited October 5 in News and announcements

We want to share an upcoming change to software management in Atera.

Atera can no longer offer the Chocolatey integration in its current form moving forward.

This will be a phased transition for existing customers, giving you time to review your current setup and choose the software installation and patching path that best fits your environment.

What is changing?

Chocolatey is currently used in several areas of Atera, including:

  • Software Management for software search, ad-hoc installation, updates, and bundles
  • IT Automation profiles for recurring software updates
  • AI Center / End User Software Management for software made available for end-user self-service

The deprecation will happen gradually rather than all at once.

Timeline

From October 5, 2026

For new customers, Chocolatey will no longer be available.

For existing customers, this begins the notification period. Existing Chocolatey-based installations, bundles, and IT Automation workflows will continue to operate during this phase.

From November 5, 2026

Chocolatey will no longer be available for:

  • Ad-hoc software installations
  • Bundle installations
  • Creating or selecting Chocolatey-based bundles

Existing Chocolatey-based IT Automation workflows will continue for an additional two months.

From January 5, 2027

Chocolatey-based automations will no longer be supported.

What can I use instead?

There isn’t a single replacement path for every environment. Atera will continue to offer several options for installing and patching software.

WinGet

For many common Windows applications, WinGet is built into Atera at no additional cost and can be used for software installation and update workflows.

Atera Scripting

For software that isn’t available through WinGet, you can use Atera Scripting with your own scripts and installation packages, including MSI and EXE installers. AI Copilot can help build you the scripts if needed.

Private Software Repository

Customers on Enterprise (ITD) and SuperPower (MSP) plans can also use Atera’s Private Software Repository to manage their own vetted, proprietary, or custom software packages and use them as part of their software deployment and patching workflows.

Learn more about Private Software Repository:
https://support.atera.com/hc/en-us/articles/8883471350556-Private-software-repository

How we’ll communicate the change

This is a multi-step communication process.

Throughout the transition, we’ll use a combination of product notifications, email communication, Community updates, and Knowledge Base documentation to make sure affected customers have the information they need ahead of each phase.

We’ve also published a dedicated Knowledge Base article covering the deprecation, migration paths, and additional details:

Chocolatey deprecation: what’s changing and how to move forward
https://support.atera.com/hc/en-us/articles/30657984699548-Chocolatey-deprecation-what-s-changing-and-how-to-move-forward

IMPORTANT: We recommend reviewing your existing Software Management bundles and IT Automation profiles ahead of the upcoming dates and identifying any workflows that currently rely on Chocolatey.

If you need help understanding which migration path is the right fit for your environment, please reach out to Atera Support or your Atera Customer Success contact. I'm also here to answer your questions on the matter.

++
Dima L
Technical Product Marketing Manager
Atera

Tagged:

Comments

  • jstewart
    jstewart Member Posts: 26 ✭✭✭

    Hi Dina,

    Can you please comment on what this means for software requiring ongoing updates on devices that had the initial install completed via Chocolatey?

    Also, can you please providing troubleshooting information for if WinGet fails (log info, and remediation)? I've historically found WinGet to be more unreliable than Chocolatey, and my onboarding kick-off bundle keeps failing.

    THanks,
    Jeremy

  • daniel1
    daniel1 Member Posts: 59 ✭✭✭

    @jstewart said:
    Hi Dina,

    Can you please comment on what this means for software requiring ongoing updates on devices that had the initial install completed via Chocolatey?

    Also, can you please providing troubleshooting information for if WinGet fails (log info, and remediation)? I've historically found WinGet to be more unreliable than Chocolatey, and my onboarding kick-off bundle keeps failing.

    THanks,
    Jeremy

    Good stuff - I second this question.

  • jeremy
    jeremy Member Posts: 42 ✭

    I THIRD this question!!! I was using chocolatey long before i came to Atera and have it installed on all my devices.

    This is starting to look like it's gong to be an issue for me...

  • nathanlock
    nathanlock Member Posts: 198 ✭✭✭

    I too "4th" this question..

  • stuuu28
    stuuu28 Member Posts: 1 ✭

    I would appreciate a clear answer regarding the update process for software installed via Chocolatey. Specifically, can Winget manage these updates, or is a full uninstallation and reinstallation required?
    Additionally, I would like to request an option to modify our subscription to retain Chocolatey while removing Copilot. Chocolatey is a far more valuable tool for our daily operations, whereas the current Copilot integration feels incomplete and frequently disrupts our workflow.

  • dmitryl+itd
    dmitryl+itd Member, Administrator, Internal Posts: 217 admin

    @jstewart @daniel1 @jeremy @nathanlock Hi! took me a bit of time to assemble a response, but I'm getting back to you:

    WinGet can update applications originally installed through Chocolatey, provided it can match the installed application to a package in its repository and detect its version. An initial Chocolatey installation doesn’t automatically mean you need to uninstall and reinstall the application.

    For ongoing updates, review your IT Automation profiles and switch the relevant software update settings to WinGet. Replace Chocolatey entries in your bundles with their WinGet equivalents, and test on representative devices before rolling out broadly.

    One additional update: I’ve spoken with our Product team, and they’re planning an improvement to help identify which software bundles contain Chocolatey packages that need replacing and whether a matching WinGet package is available.

    The current target is roughly a week or so from now, subject to release timing. This should make it easier to focus on the affected bundles rather than manually review every IT Automation profile. I’ll share the details once it’s live.

    Now, troubleshooting (I would still encourage to open a support ticket for this, but):

    • Check Atera’s Recent Processes report for the failed installation’s output.
    • Verify that Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable is installed. @nathanlock this is something you posted quite a few times and we added this disclaimer to the KB.
    • Try the failing packages individually to identify which application is causing the failure.
    • For WinGet’s own diagnostics, winget --info shows the log directory for the context running the command. Adding --verbose-logs to a manually reproduced command generates more detailed logs. These may be separate from the logs associated with the Atera-triggered installation.
  • dmitryl+itd
    dmitryl+itd Member, Administrator, Internal Posts: 217 admin

    @stuuu28 hi! WinGet can update software originally installed through Chocolatey, provided it can match the installed application to a package in its repository and detect its version. A full uninstall and reinstall is therefore not a general requirement. Applications that aren’t recognised or don’t have a matching package need to be assessed individually.

    Regarding your subscription request: the Chocolatey deprecation is a change to Atera’s integration, independent of AI Copilot. If you’re willing to share specific workflow disruption examples in DMs or here, I can bring those to the Product team.

  • jeremy
    jeremy Member Posts: 42 ✭

    That still doesn’t answer the question of whether or not separate use of chocolately will be affected.
    I had it installed everywhere and had scripts written to just update software using chocolatey scripts.

    I’d much rather reactivate those than try and use winget

  • nathanlock
    nathanlock Member Posts: 198 ✭✭✭

    @dima_from_atera

    now that Winget is the only method for installing software bundles - can we get the visual C++ redistributable included with the atera agent please ?

  • nathanlock
    nathanlock Member Posts: 198 ✭✭✭

    @jeremy said:
    That still doesn’t answer the question of whether or not separate use of chocolately will be affected.
    I had it installed everywhere and had scripts written to just update software using chocolatey scripts.

    I’d much rather reactivate those than try and use winget

    Separate use of chocolatey is affected - it is chocolatey who are making this change, not Atera. see: https://blog.chocolatey.org/2026/06/updated-terms-of-use/

  • jeremy
    jeremy Member Posts: 42 ✭

    @nathanlock said:

    @jeremy said:
    That still doesn’t answer the question of whether or not separate use of chocolately will be affected.
    I had it installed everywhere and had scripts written to just update software using chocolatey scripts.

    I’d much rather reactivate those than try and use winget

    Separate use of chocolatey is affected - it is chocolatey who are making this change, not Atera. see: https://blog.chocolatey.org/2026/06/updated-terms-of-use/

    a) still not sure how that applies to me
    b) support has told me (after internal discussions) that my use of the chocolatey software already installed on my devices should not be affected

    so as usual, the more i ask the more confusing this is getting.

  • nathanlock
    nathanlock Member Posts: 198 ✭✭✭

    @jeremy I am not sure what you are not understanding, all use by businesses is banned unless you use it to seed your own hosted repository. You are not allowed to update your organisations machines software directly from chocolatey anymore.

  • jeremy
    jeremy Member Posts: 42 ✭

    and that's not what i am asking here...
    so never mind.
    sorry i brought this up.

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