DSC Resource Kit – Anniversary Release

We’ve just updated the DSC Resource Kit to celebrate our 1 year open-source anniversary!

The DSC Resource Kit has come a long way in a year. Originally, DSC started with only in-box resources. To make these resources easier to update, some were moved to TechNet’s Script Center and became the DSC Resource Kit. Finally in April 2015, the DSC Resource Kit was open-sourced to the community on GitHub with all modules available to download in the PowerShell Gallery.

Now, the DSC Resource Kit has passed it’s first anniversary as open-source, and what a year it’s been! We now have 302 DSC Resources across 52 modules! In the past year, our community has helped to merge 702 pull requests and close 297 issues! It’s all thanks to the hard work of our wonderful contributors both in and outside Microsoft.

In addition to passing its 1 year open-source anniversary, the DSC Resource Kit has hit yet another important milestone! We have added our first brand new module (xDFS) made completely by the DSC community! This is a huge achievement! Thank you!!! We love to see the care and passion our contributors put into their work.

This update marks some of our biggest numbers yet! Since our last update in April, there have been 111 merged pull requests with 71 closed issues. 23 DSC modules have been updated, including 23 new resources.

The modules updated in this release are:

• xActiveDirectory
• xAdcsDeployment
• xCertificate
• xChrome
• xComputerManagement
• xDFS
• xDhcpServer
• xDnsServer
• xDscDiagnostics
• xDSCResourceDesigner
• xExchange
• xFailOverCluster
• xFirefox
• xNetworking
• xPhp
• xPSDesiredStateConfiguration
• xRobocopy
• xSqlPs
• xSQLServer
• xStorage
• xTimeZone
• xWebDeploy
• xWindowsUpdate

For a detailed list of what resources and fixes have been implemented, see the “What Has Recently Been Released?” section below.

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)!

Where Can I Find All Released DSC 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.

Another way to find a specific module is to go directly to its URL on GitHub: http://www.powershellgallery.com/packages/< Module_Name >

For example: http://www.powershellgallery.com/packages/xWebAdministration

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

How Can I Install DSC Resources 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

If you have previous versions of modules installed, you can update them all by opening an elevated PowerShell prompt and using this command:

Update-Module

After installing the modules, you can discover all of the resources available to your local system by running:

Get-DscResource

As with the previous Resource Kits, all the 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.

If there is an issue for a module you are particularly concerned about, watch the version number of the module in the PowerShell Gallery for updates. You can also file an issue against the module on GitHub to request a fix.

How Can I Find DSC Modules on GitHub?

We’ve open-sourced the development of DSC resources on GitHub. You can see the most recent state of all resources by going to their GitHub pages 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 so that you can see them in one place.

How Can I Contribute?

You are more than welcome to contribute to the development of DSC resource modules. 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. Most of the information you need to get started can be found in our contributing guide.

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 opened for specific modules by going to: https://github.com/PowerShell/< Module_Name >/issues

For example: https://github.com/PowerShell/xPSDesiredStateConfiguration/issues

Your help in developing DSC is much appreciated!

What Has Been Recently Released?

You can see a detailed summary of all recent changes in the table below. If you want to see a change log for previous versions, go to the GitHub repository page for a given module (see the “How Can I Find DSC Modules on GitHub?” section above for details).

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