We just released the DSC Resource Kit!

This release includes updates to 11 DSC resource modules. In the past 6 weeks, 96 pull requests have been merged and 45 issues have been closed, all thanks to our amazing community!

The modules updated in this release are:

ActiveDirectoryDsc

ActiveDirectoryCSDsc

ComputerManagementDsc

SecurityPolicyDsc

SharePointDsc

SqlServerDsc

StorageDsc

xDnsServer

xExchange

xPSDesiredStateConfiguration

xWebAdministration

For a detailed list of the resource modules and fixes in this release, see the Included in this Release section below.

Our latest community call for the DSC Resource Kit was last Wednesday, July 31. A recording of the call is posted on the PowerShell YouTube channel. You can join us for the next call at 12PM (Pacific time) on August 28th to ask questions and give feedback about your experience with the DSC Resource Kit.

The next DSC Resource Kit release will be on Wednesday, September 8.

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)!

Please see our documentation here for information on the support of these resource modules.

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 ActiveDirectoryCSDsc 4.0.0.0 BREAKING CHANGE: ActiveDirectoryCSDsc module minimum requirements updated to WMF 5.0 because newly added AdcsCertificateAuthoritySettings resource requires WMF 5.0.

Added new resource AdcsCertificateAuthoritySettings – see Issue 13.

Added new resource AdcsTemplate.

Replaced switch blocks with if blocks for evaluating “Ensure” parameter because switch was missing break – fixes Issue 87.

blocks with blocks for evaluating “Ensure” parameter because switch was missing – fixes Issue 87. Added Comment Based Help for New-NotImplementedException common function.

common function. Moved code to create the user account for use in integration test into a CommonTestHelper.psm1 function.

function. Removed user account creation code from AppVeyor.yml and into integration tests themselves to make tests execution easier.

and into integration tests themselves to make tests execution easier. Updated user account creation code to use local user/group management Powershell cmdlets available in WMF 5.1 – fixes Issue 24.

AdcsCertificationAuthority: Integration tests updated to create test user account in administrators group to make test execution easier.

ActiveDirectoryDsc 4.0.0.0 The change log length exceeds the allowable limit for PowerShell Gallery. For detailed information about the changes to each resource, see the changelog.md file in the GitHub repo. Changes to ActiveDirectoryDsc

Changes to ADManagedServiceAccount

Changes to ADComputer

Changes to ADOrganizationalUnit

Changes to ADUser

Changes to ADDomain

Changes to ADServicePrincipalName

Changes to ADDomainTrust

Changes to WaitForADDomain

Changes to ADDomainController

Changes to ADObjectPermissionEntry

Changes to ADGroup

Changes to ADDomainDefaultPasswordPolicy ComputerManagementDsc 6.5.0.0 Computer: Fix for “directory service is busy” error when joining a domain and renaming a computer when JoinOU is specified – Fixes Issue 221.

Added new resource SmbShare Moved and improved from deprecated module xSmbShare.

Changes to ComputerManagementDsc.Common Updated Test-DscParameterState so it now can compare zero item collections (arrays).

Changes to WindowsEventLog Minor style guideline cleanup.

Opt-in to common test to validate localization. Fixed localization strings in resources – Fixes Issue 217.

PowerShellExecutionPolicy: Removed SupportsShouldProcess as it cannot be used with DSC – Fixes Issue 219.

Combined all ComputerManagementDsc.ResourceHelper module functions into ComputerManagementDsc.Common module – Fixes Issue 218. Minor code cleanup against style guideline. Remove code from New-InvalidOperationException because it was a code path that could never could be used due to the parameter validation preventing the helper function being called that way. Updated all Get-LocalizationData to latest version from DSCResource.Template. Fixed an issue with the helper function Test-IsNanoServer that prevented it to work. Though the helper function is not used, so this issue was not caught until now when unit tests was added. Improved code coverage.

SecurityPolicyDsc 2.9.0.0 Bug fix – Max password age fails when setting to 0. Fixes Issue 121

Bug fix – Domain_controller_LDAP_server_signing_requirements – Require Signing. Fixes Issue 122

Bug fix – Network_security_Restrict_NTLM security options correct parameter validation. This fix could impact your systems. SqlServerDsc 13.1.0.0 Changes to SqlServerDsc New DSC resource SqlAgentFailsafe New DSC resource SqlDatabaseUser (issue 846). Adds ability to create database users with more fine-grained control, e.g. re-mapping of orphaned logins or a different login. Supports creating a user with or without login name, and database users mapped to a certificate or asymmetric key. Changes to helper function Invoke-Query Fixes issues in issue 1355. Works together with Connect-SQL now. Parameters now match that of Connect-SQL (issue 1392). Can now pass in credentials. Can now pass in “Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.Smo.Server” object. Can also pipe in “Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.Smo.Server” object. Can pipe Connect-SQL

StorageDsc 4.7.0.0 Removed suppression of PSUseShouldProcessForStateChangingFunctions PSSA rule because it is no longer required.

PSSA rule because it is no longer required. Combined all StorageDsc.ResourceHelper module functions into StorageDsc.Common module and removed StorageDsc.ResourceHelper .

module functions into module and removed . Opted into Common Tests “Common Tests – Validate Localization” – fixes Issue 206.

Refactored tests for StorageDsc.Common to meet latest standards.

to meet latest standards. Minor style corrections.

Removed unused localization strings from resources.

DiskAccessPath: Added function to force refresh of disk subsystem at the start of Set-TargetResource to prevent errors occuring when the disk access path is already assigned – See Issue 121

xDnsServer 1.14.0.0 Copied enhancements to Test-DscParameterState from NetworkingDsc

Put the helper module to its own folder

Copied enhancements to Test-DscParameterState from NetworkingDsc

Put the helper module to its own folder

Added xDnsServerRootHint resource

Added xDnsServerClientSubnet resource

Added xDnsServerZoneScope resource xExchange 1.28.0.0 Added MSFT_xExchFrontendTransportService resource, based on MSFT_xExchTransportService resource. Issue 283

Added unit and integration tests to the MSFT_xExchFrontendTransportService resource.

Added comment based help to the MSFT_xExchFrontendTransportService resource.

Minor style fix in MSFT_xExchEcpVirtualDirectory to ensure new PowerShell Script Analyzer custom rules pass. xPSDesiredStateConfiguration 8.9.0.0 MSFT_xRemoteFile: Add a retry mechanism when the download fails.

Fixes 631, typo in SQL connection string property name xWebAdministration 2.7.0.0 Changes to xWebAdministration Opt-in to the following DSC Resource Common Meta Tests: Common Tests – Relative Path Length Common Tests – Validate Script Files Common Tests – Validate Module Files Common Tests – Validate Markdown Files Common Tests – Validate Markdown Links Common Tests – Custom Script Analyzer Rules Common Tests – Flagged Script Analyzer Rules Common Tests – Required Script Analyzer Rules Common Tests – Validate Example Files Add ConfigurationPath to xIisMimeTypeMapping examples since it is now a required field.



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 starting in WMF 5.0) to find modules with DSC Resources:

# To list all modules that tagged as DSCResourceKit Find-Module - Tag DSCResourceKit # To list all DSC resources from all sources Find-DscResource

Please note only those modules released by the PowerShell Team are currently considered part of the ‘DSC Resource Kit’ regardless of the presence of the ‘DSC Resource Kit’ tag in the PowerShell Gallery.

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 CertificateDsc module, go to: https://github.com/PowerShell/CertificateDsc.

All DSC modules are also listed as submodules of the DscResources repository in the DscResources folder and 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.

Michael Greene Principal Program Manager PowerShell DSC Team @migreene (Twitter) @mgreenegit (GitHub)