We just released the DSC Resource Kit!
Since our last release on September 21, we have added 1 new repository, PSDscResources, which will serve as the new home of the in-box DSC resources from the PSDesiredStateConfiguration module. This new module now has over 75,000 downloads from the PowerShell Gallery! Wow! Read more about PSDscResources in our blog post here.
This release includes updates to 12 DSC resource modules, including 13 new DSC resources. In these past 6 weeks, 62 pull requests have been merged and 43 issues have been closed, all thanks to our amazing community!
The modules updated in this release are:
- xActiveDirectory
- xCertificate
- xExchange
- xNetworking
- xPSDesiredStateConfiguration
- xRemoteDesktopSessionHost
- xSqlServer
- xStorage
- xWebAdministration
- SharePointDsc
- SystemLocaleDsc
- PSDscResources
For a detailed list of the resource modules and fixes in this release, see the Included in this Release section below.
Our last community call for the DSC Resource Kit was last week on October 26. Unfortunately, we had technical difficulties with Skype and weren’t able to actually see or hear any of our wonderful community members. We still posted a recording of our updates as well as summarizing notes. 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.
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, all resources with the ‘x’ prefix in their names are still experimental – this means that those resources are provided AS IS and are not supported through any Microsoft support program or service. If you find a problem with a resource, please file an issue on GitHub.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| xActiveDirectory | 2.14.0.0 |
|
| xCertificate | 2.2.0.0 |
|
| xExchange | 1.11.0.0 |
|
| xNetworking | 3.0.0.0 |
|
| xPSDesiredStateConfiguration | 5.0.0.0 |
|
| xRemoteDesktopSessionHost | 1.3.0.0 |
|
| xSQLServer | 3.0.0.0 |
|
| xStorage | 2.8.0.0 |
|
| xWebAdministration | 1.15.0.0 |
|
| SharePointDsc | 1.4.0.0 |
|
| SystemLocaleDsc | 1.1.0.0 |
|
| PSDscResources | 2.0.0.0, 2.1.0.0 | 2.0.0.0
2.1.0.0
|
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 how to become 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 invaluable to us!
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)