DSC Configurations

  • Article

Applies To: PowerShell 7, Azure Automanage's machine configuration feature

DSC Configurations are PowerShell scripts that define a special kind of command. To define a Configuration, use the PowerShell keyword configuration.

Configuration MyDscConfiguration {
    Environment FirstEnvironmentVariable {
        Ensure = 'Present'
        Name   = 'Foo'
        Value  = 'Example'
    }

    Environment SecondEnvironmentVariable {
        Ensure = 'Present'
        Name   = 'Bar'
        Value  = 'Another'
    }
}

MyDscConfiguration

Save the script as a .ps1 file.

Configuration syntax

A DSC Configuration script consists of the following parts:

  • The Configuration block. This is the outermost script block. You define it with the Configuration keyword and provide a name. In this case, the name of the DSC Configuration is MyDscConfiguration.
  • One or more DSC Resource blocks. This is where the DSC Configuration defines the settings for the component it's configuring. In this case, there are two DSC Resource blocks. They both use the Environment DSC Resource.

Compiling the configuration

Before you can use a DSC Configuration, you have to compile it into a MOF document. You do this by calling the DSC Configuration like you would call a PowerShell function. The last line of the example, containing only the name of the DSC Configuration, executes the DSC Configuration.

Note

To call a DSC Configuration, it must be loaded in the current scope (as with any other PowerShell function). You can make this happen either by "dot-sourcing" the script, or by running the script with F5 or clicking on the Run Script button in VS Code. To dot-source the script, run the command . .\myConfig.ps1 where myConfig.ps1 is the name of the script file that contains your DSC Configuration.

When you call the DSC Configuration, it:

  • Creates a folder in the current directory with the same name as the DSC Configuration.
  • Creates a file named localhost.mof in the new directory.

Note

The MOF file contains all the configuration information for the system. Because of this, it's important to keep it secure.

Using new DSC Resources in your DSC Configuration

If you ran the previous examples, you might have noticed that you were warned that you were using a resource without explicitly importing it.

You can use the Get-DscResource cmdlet to determine what resources are installed on the system and available for use. Even when their modules have been placed in $env:PSModulePath and are recognized by Get-DscResource, they still need to be loaded within your DSC Configuration.

Import-DscResource is a dynamic keyword that can only be recognized within a Configuration block. It's not a cmdlet. Import-DscResource supports two parameters:

  • ModuleName is the recommended way of using Import-DscResource. It accepts the name of the module that contains the resources to be imported (as well as a string array of module names).
  • Name is the name of the resource to import. This isn't the friendly name returned as the Name property of Get-DscResource's return object, but the class name used when defining the resource schema (the ResourceType property of the object returned by Get-DscResource).

For more information on using Import-DSCResource, see Using Import-DSCResource

Important

There's a limitation in machine configuration that prevents a DSC Resource from using any PowerShell cmdlets not included in PowerShell itself or in a module on the PowerShell Gallery. DSC Resources that use cmdlets from one or more Windows modules won't work in machine configuration.

See Also