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 Fixed bugs SPWebAppPolicy and SPServiceApPSecurity that prevented the get methods from returning AD group names presented as claims tokens

Minor tweaks to the PowerShell module manifest

Modified all resources to ensure $null values are on the left of comparisson operations

Added RunOnlyWhenWriteable property to SPUserProfileSyncService resource

Added better logging to all test method output to make it clear what property is causing a test to fail

Added support for NetBIOS domain names resolution to SPUserProfileServiceApp

Removed chocolatey from the AppVeyor build process in favour of the PowerShell Gallery build of Pester

Fixed a bug in SPContentDatabase that caused it to not function correctly.

Fixed the use of plural nouns in cmdlet names within the module

Removed dependency on Win32_Product from SPInstall

Added SPTrustedIdentityTokenIssuer, SPRemoteFarmTrust and SPSearchResultSource resources

Added HostHeader parameter in examples for Web Application, so subsequent web applications wont error out

Prevented SPCreateFarm and SPJoinFarm from executing set methods where the local server is already a member of a farm xActiveDirectory 2.13.0.0 Converted AppVeyor.yml to pull Pester from PSGallery instead of Chocolatey

xADUser: Adds “PasswordAuthentication” option when testing user passwords to support NTLM authentication with Active Directory Certificate Services deployments

xADUser: Adds descriptions to user properties within the schema file.

xADGroup: Fixes bug when updating groups when alternate Credentials are specified. xComputerManagement 1.8.0.0 Converted AppVeyor.yml to pull Pester from PSGallery instead of Chocolatey.

Changed AppVeyor.yml to use default image

xScheduledTask: Fixed bug with different OS versions returning repeat interval differently xDhcpServer 1.5.0.0 Converted AppVeyor.yml to pull Pester from PSGallery instead of Chocolatey

Bug Fix fixes xDhcpServerOption\Get-TargetResource not returning Router property xDscDiagnostics 2.4.0.0 Added collection of OData logs to New-xDscDiagnosticsZip

Converted appveyor.yml to install Pester from PSGallery instead of from Chocolatey. xExchange 1.9.0.0 Converted appveyor.yml to install Pester from PSGallery instead of from Chocolatey.

Added xExchMailboxTransportService resource

xExchMailboxServer: Added WacDiscoveryEndpoint parameter xFailOverCluster 1.5.0.0 Added xClusterQuorum resource with options NodeMajority, NodeAndDiskMajority, NodeAndFileShareMajority, DiskOnly

Currently does not implement cloudwitness for Windows 2016.

Added xClusterDisk resource xHyper-V 3.5.0.0 Converted appveyor.yml to install Pester from PSGallery instead of from Chocolatey.

MSFT_xVMHyperV: Fixed bug in Test-TargetResource throwing when a Vhd”s ParentPath property was null. xNetworking 2.11.0.0 Added the following resources: MSFT_xDnsClientGlobalSetting resource to configure the DNS Suffix Search List and Devolution.

Converted AppVeyor.yml to pull Pester from PSGallery instead of Chocolatey.

Changed AppVeyor.yml to use default image.

Fix xNetBios unit tests to work on default appveyor image.

Fix bug in xRoute when removing an existing route.

Updated xRoute integration tests to use v1.1.0 test header.

Extended xRoute integration tests to perform both add and remove route tests. xPSDesiredStateConfiguration 3.13.0.0 Converted appveyor.yml to install Pester from PSGallery instead of from Chocolatey.

Updated appveyor.yml to use the default image.

Merged xPackage with in-box Package resource and added tests.

xPackage: Re-implemented parameters for installation check from registry key value.

xGroup: Fixed Verbose output in Get-MembersAsPrincipals function. Fixed bug when credential parameter passed does not contain local or domain context. Fixed logic bug in MembersToInclude and MembersToExclude. Fixed bug when trying to include the built-in Administrator in Members. Fixed bug where Test-TargetResource would check for members when none specified. Fix bug in Test-TargetResourceOnFullSKU function when group being set to a single member. Fix bug in Set-TargetResourceOnFullSKU function when group being set to a single member. Fix bugs in Assert-GroupNameValid to throw correct exception.

xService Updated xService resource to allow empty string for Description parameter.

Merged xProcess with in-box Process resource and added tests. xSqlPs 1.4.0.0 Converted appveyor.yml to install Pester from PSGallery instead of from Chocolatey.

Fixed bugs in xSqlAlias that prevented the succesful creation of the aliases and caused errors. xSQLServer 1.8.0.0 Converted appveyor.yml to install Pester from PSGallery instead of from Chocolatey.

Added Support for SQL Server 2016

xSQLAOGroupEnsure Fixed spelling mistake in AutoBackupPreference property Added BackupPriority property

Added resources xSQLServerPermission xSQLServerEndpointState xSQLServerEndpointPermission xSQLServerAvailabilityGroupListener

xSQLServerHelper added functions Import-SQLPSModule Get-SQLPSInstanceName Get-SQLPSInstance Get-SQLAlwaysOnEndpoint modified functions added optional parameter “InnerException” to be able to give the user more information in the returned message*

xWebAdministration 1.13.0.0 Added unit tests for xWebConfigKeyValue and cleaned up style formatting.

and cleaned up style formatting. Added a stubs file for the WebAdministration functions so that the unit tests do not require a server to run

Converted appveyor.yml to install Pester from PSGallery instead of from Chocolatey.

Updated appveyor.yml to use the default image. WebAdministrationDsc 0.1.0.0 Initial release with the following resources IisLogging Website SslSettings



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!

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)