The DSC Resource Kit has been released!
This release includes 14 updated DSC resource modules and 10 new DSC resources. Since the last release on June 29, there have been 126 merged pull requests and 41 closed issues.
The modules updated in this release are:
- SharePointDsc
- xActiveDirectory
- xComputerManagement
- xDhcpServer
- xDscDiagnostics
- xExchange
- xFailOverCluster
- xHyper-V
- xNetworking
- xPSDesiredStateConfiguration
- xSqlPs
- xSqlServer
- xWebAdministration
- WebAdministrationDsc
For a detailed list of the resource modules and fixes in this release, see the Included in this Release section below.
This release includes our second high quality resource module, WebAdministrationDsc. This is a partial, high quality version of xWebAdministration. It currently includes three high quality resources: IISLogging, SSLSettings, and Website.
We strongly encourage you to update to the newest version of all modules using the PowerShell Gallery, and don’t forget to give us your feedback in the comments below, on GitHub, or on Twitter (@PowerShell_Team)!
As with past Resource Kits, a resource with the ‘x’ prefix in its name is still experimental – this means that the resource is provided AS IS and is not supported through any Microsoft support program or service. If you find a problem with a resource, file an issue against the resource module that contains that resource on GitHub to request a fix (see the How to Find DSC Resource Modules on GitHub section below).
Our last community call for the DSC Resource Kit was last week on August 3. Thank you to everyone who joined the call! If you missed it, a recording, an IM transcript, and summarizing notes are available. Join us next time to ask questions and give feedback about your experience with the DSC Resource Kit. Keep an eye on the community agenda for the next call date.
Included in this Release
You can see a detailed summary of all changes included in this release in the table below. For past release notes, go to the README.md or Changelog.md file on the GitHub repository page for a specific module (see the How to Find DSC Resource Modules on GitHub section below for details on finding the GitHub page for a specific module).
| Module Name | Version | Release Notes |
|---|---|---|
| SharePointDsc | 1.2.0.0 |
|
| xActiveDirectory | 2.13.0.0 |
|
| xComputerManagement | 1.8.0.0 |
|
| xDhcpServer | 1.5.0.0 |
|
| xDscDiagnostics | 2.4.0.0 |
|
| xExchange | 1.9.0.0 |
|
| xFailOverCluster | 1.5.0.0 |
|
| xHyper-V | 3.5.0.0 |
|
| xNetworking | 2.11.0.0 |
|
| xPSDesiredStateConfiguration | 3.13.0.0 |
|
| xSqlPs | 1.4.0.0 |
|
| xSQLServer | 1.8.0.0 |
|
| xWebAdministration | 1.13.0.0 |
|
| WebAdministrationDsc | 0.1.0.0 |
|
How to Find Released DSC Resource Modules
To see a list of all released DSC Resource Kit modules, go to the PowerShell Gallery and display all modules tagged as DSCResourceKit. You can also enter a module’s name in the search box in the upper right corner of the PowerShell Gallery to find a specific module.
Of course, you can also always use PowerShellGet (available in WMF 5.0) to find modules with DSC Resources:
# To list all modules that are part of the DSC Resource Kit
Find-Module -Tag DSCResourceKit
# To list all DSC resources from all sources
Find-DscResource
To find a specific module, go directly to its URL on the PowerShell Gallery:
http://www.powershellgallery.com/packages/< Module_Name >
For example:
http://www.powershellgallery.com/packages/xWebAdministration
How to Install DSC Resource Modules From the PowerShell Gallery
We recommend that you use PowerShellGet to install DSC resource modules:
Install-Module -Name <Module_Name>
For example:
Install-Module -Name xWebAdministration
To update all previously installed modules at once, open an elevated PowerShell prompt and use this command:
Update-Module
After installing modules, you can discover all DSC resources available to your local system with this command:
Get-DscResource
How to Find DSC Resource Modules on GitHub
All resource modules in the DSC Resource Kit are available open-source on GitHub.
You can see the most recent state of a resource module by visiting its GitHub page at:
https://github.com/PowerShell/< Module_Name >
For example, for the xCertificate module, go to:
https://github.com/PowerShell/xCertificate.
All DSC modules are also listed as submodules of the DscResources repository in the xDscResources folder.
How to Contribute
You are more than welcome to contribute to the development of the DSC Resource Kit! There are several different ways you can help. You can create new DSC resources or modules, add test automation, improve documentation, fix existing issues, or open new ones. See our contributing guide for more info on becoming a DSC Resource Kit contributor.
If you would like to help, please take a look at the list of open issues for the DscResources repository.
You can also check issues for specific resource modules by going to:
https://github.com/PowerShell/< Module_Name >/issues
For example:
https://github.com/PowerShell/xPSDesiredStateConfiguration/issues
Your help in developing the DSC Resource Kit is much appreciated!
Questions, comments?
If you’re looking into using PowerShell DSC, have questions or issues with a current resource, or would like a new resource, let us know in the comments below, on Twitter (@PowerShell_Team), or by creating an issue on GitHub.
Katie Keim
Software Engineer
PowerShell Team
@katiedsc (Twitter)
@kwirkykat (GitHub)