The DSC Resource Kit Wave 8 has landed! You can find it right here.
This wave contains an astounding 48 resources, our largest release ever! We just went from 90 resources released via the Resource Kit to 138, a whopping 53% boost! We didn’t just creep across the 100 resources line, we blew right past it!
Special thanks to everyone who has contributed, downloaded, or looked at this blog post. We can’t wait to share even more resources with you in the future!
Questions, Comments?
If you're looking into using PowerShell DSC, but are blocked by a lack of resources, let us know in the comments or the TechNet QA Section.
What's in this Wave?
This wave has added almost too many modules to list, but we’ll try:
- xExchange
- xSCDPM
- xSCOM
- xSCSMA
- xSCSR
- xSCVMM
- xCredSSP
- xDismFeature
- xBitlocker
- xPendingReboot
All these resources are experimental. The “x” prefix in the names stands for experimental – which means these resources are provided AS IS and are not supported through any Microsoft support program or service. We will monitor the TechNet pages, take feedback, and may provide fixes moving forward.
We also want to announce the recent release of DSC content and resources from the Visual Studio ALM Rangers. They are a community group who provided a great write-up and some new resources here:
- PowerShell Desired State Configuration for DevOps and ALM Practitioners v1
- cFileShare resources are here: https://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/cFileShare-Module-ALM-312732e8
Also, don’t forget to check out the community versions of many resources on PowerShell.Org's GitHub.
Details
After installing the modules, you can discover all of the resources available by using the Get-DSCResource cmdlet. Here is a brief description of each resource (for more details on a resource, check out the TechNet pages).
| Modules | Resources | Description |
| cFileShare | cCreateFileShare cSetSharePermissions | The cFileShare module is a part of the ALM Ranger DevOps solutions (VsarDevOps.codeplex.com), which consists of code as config guidance, quick reference posters and supporting resources. This module contains the cCreateFileShare and cSetSharePermissions resources. These DSC Resources allow configuration of a node’s file share and share permission rules. |
| xBitLocker | xBLAutoBitlocker xBLBitlocker xBLTpm | This DSC Module allows you to configure Bitlocker on a single disk, configure a TPM chip, or automatically enable Bitlocker on multiple disks |
| xCredSSP | This module contains the xCredSSP resource, which enables or disables Credential Security Support Provider (CredSSP) authentication on a client or on a server computer, and which server or servers the client credentials can be delegated to. | |
| xDismFeature | The xDismFeature module enables or disables Windows optional features that specifically need to be handled by DISM.exe. | |
xExchActiveSyncVirtualDirectory xExchAutodiscoverVirtualDirectory xExchAutoMountPoint xExchClientAccessServer xExchDatabaseAvailabilityGroup xExchDatabaseAvailabilityGroupMember xExchDatabaseAvailabilityGroupNetwork xExchEcpVirtualDirectory xExchExchangeCertificate xExchExchangeServer xExchImapSettings xExchMailboxDatabase xExchMailboxDatabaseCopy xExchMapiVirtualDirectory xExchOabVirtualDirectory xExchOutlookAnywhere xExchOwaVirtualDirectory xExchPopSettings xExchPowershellVirtualDirectory xExchReceiveConnector xExchUMService xExchWaitForDAG xExchWaitForMailboxDatabase xExchWebServicesVirtualDirectory | This DSC Module allows you to configure many different properties of Exchange 2013 servers, including individual server properties, databases and mount points, and Database Availability Groups. | |
xPendingReboot | This module contains the xPendingReboot resource. xPendingReboot examines three specific registry locations where a Windows Server might indicate that a reboot is pending and allows DSC to predictably handle the condition. | |
xSCDPMConsoleSetup xSCDPMDatabaseServerSetup xSCDPMServerSetup | xSCDPM contains three resources: xSCDPMServerSetup for installation of the DPM server, xSCDPMDatabaseServerSetup for installation of DPM support files for SQL Server, and xSCDPMConsole for installation of the DPM console. | |
xSCOMConsoleSetup xSCOMManagementServerSetup  xSCOMReportingServerSetup xSCOMWebConsoleServerSetup | The xSCOM module contains resources for installation of System Center Operations Manager (OM). | |
xSCSMAPowerShellSetup xSCSMARunbookWorkerServerSetup xSCSMAWebServiceServerSetup | The xSCSMA module contains resources for installation of System | |
xSCSRServerSetup | The xSCSR module contains resources for installation of System Center Service Reporting (SR). | |
xSCVMMConsoleSetup; xSCVMMManagementServerSetup | The xSCVMM module contains resources for installation of System |
Renaming Guidelines
When making changes to these resources, we urge the following practice:
1. Update the following names by replacing MSFT with your company/community name and replacing the “x” with "c" (short for "Community") or another prefix of your choice:
a. Module name (ex: xWebAdministration becomes cWebAdministration)
b. Folder name (ex: MSFT_xWebsite becomes Contoso_cWebsite)
c. Resource Name (ex: MSFT_xWebsite becomes Contoso_cWebsite)
d. Resource Friendly Name (ex: xWebsite becomes cWebsite)
e. MOF class name (ex: MSFT_xWebsite becomes Contoso_cWebsite)
f. Filename for the <resource>.schema.mof (ex: MSFT_xWebsite.schema.mof becomes Contoso_cWebsite.schema.mof)
2. Update module and metadata information in the module manifest
3. Update any configuration that use these resources
We reserve resource and module names without prefixes ("x" or "c") for future use (e.g. "MSFT_WebAdministration" or "Website"). If the next version of Windows Server ships with a "Website" resource, we don't want to break any configurations that use any community modifications. Please keep a prefix such as "c" on all community modifications. As specified in the license, you may copy or modify this resource as long as they are used on the Windows Platform.
Requirements
Note:
The DSC Resource Kit requires at least Windows 8.1 or Windows Server 2012 R2 with update KB2883200 (aka the GA Update Rollup). You can check whether it is installed by running the following command:
PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> Get-HotFix -Id KB2883200
Source Description HotFixID InstalledBy InstalledOn
------ ----------- -------- ----------- ----------
MyMachine Update KB2883200 MyMachine\Admini...9/30/2013 12:00:00AM
For most modules, you can use them on supported down-level versions of Windows by installing WMF 4.0. Refer to these previous blog posts for more information on WMF 4.0 and issues with partial installation. A few modules will require the use of WMF 5.0. You can confirm the requirements for each module on the individual blog topics that provide the details for the module.