As OpenStack is gaining traction in the enterprise world, the number of users asking for Microsoft Windows instances support is progressively increasing with a fast pace.

Most of the tools involved traditionally in OpenStack guest provisioning and orchestration are Linux specific and require to some extent to be ported, integrated or replaced with other alternatives in order to support Windows guests.

Furthermore, most typical Windows workloads require deployment mechanisms that differ from their Linux counterparts, requiring reboots, access to installation media (e.g. ISO images), licensing keys and other .

Cloudbase-Init

Windows specific issues

Reboots

Clear text passwords

Install ISOs

Template examples

cfntools

http://aws.amazon.com/developertools/AWS-CloudFormation/4026240853893296