DSC WindowsFeature Resource

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Applies To: Windows PowerShell 4.0, Windows PowerShell 5.x

The WindowsFeature resource in Windows PowerShell Desired State Configuration (DSC) provides a mechanism to ensure that roles and features are added or removed on a target node.

Note

This documentation of this DSC resource covers the version that's included with PowerShell prior to version 7.2. The PSDscResources module contains new and updated DSC Resources that are officially supported by Microsoft. The PSDscResources module is available from the PowerShell Gallery.

For more information and updated documentation, see the PSDscResources reference documentation.

Syntax

WindowsFeature [string] #ResourceName
{
    Name = [string]
    [ Credential = [PSCredential] ]
    [ IncludeAllSubFeature = [bool] ]
    [ LogPath = [string] ]
    [ DependsOn = [string[]] ]
    [ Ensure = [string] { Absent | Present }  ]
    [ PsDscRunAsCredential = [PSCredential] ]
}

Properties

Property Description
Name Indicates the name of the role or feature that you want to ensure is added or removed. This is the same as the Name property from the Get-WindowsFeature cmdlet, and not the display name of the role or feature.
Credential Indicates the credentials to use to add or remove the role or feature.
IncludeAllSubFeature Set this property to $true to ensure the state of all required subfeatures with the state of the feature you specify with the Name property.
LogPath Indicates the path to a log file where you want the resource provider to log the operation.

Common properties

Property Description
DependsOn Indicates that the configuration of another resource must run before this resource is configured. For example, if the ID of the resource configuration script block that you want to run first is ResourceName and its type is ResourceType, the syntax for using this property is DependsOn = "[ResourceType]ResourceName".
Ensure Indicates if the role or feature is added. To ensure that the role or feature is added, set this property to Present. To ensure that the role or feature is removed, set the property to Absent. The default value is Present.
PsDscRunAsCredential Sets the credential for running the entire resource as.

Note

The PsDscRunAsCredential common property was added in WMF 5.0 to allow running any DSC resource in the context of other credentials. For more information, see Use Credentials with DSC Resources.

Example

WindowsFeature RoleExample
{
    Ensure = "Present"
    # Alternatively, to ensure the role is uninstalled, set Ensure to "Absent"
    Name = "Web-Server" # Use the Name property from Get-WindowsFeature
}