DSC Resource Kit Release March 2018

Katie Keim [MSFT]

March 21st, 20180 0

We just released the DSC Resource Kit!

This release includes updates to 7 DSC resource modules. In these past 6 weeks, 43 pull requests have been merged and 37 issues have been closed, all thanks to our amazing community!

The modules updated in this release are:

SharePointDsc
SqlServerDsc
xActiveDirectory
xComputerManagement
xFailOverCluster
xNetworking
xPSDesiredStateConfiguration

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 on March 14. A recording of our updates will be available on YouTube soon. Join us for the next call at 12PM (Pacific time) on April 25 to ask questions and give feedback about your experience with the DSC Resource Kit.

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 new 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
SharePointDsc	2.2.0.0	SPAlternateURL If resource specifies Central Admin webapp and Default Zone, the existing AAM will be updated instead of adding a new one SPContentDatabase Fixed issue where mounting a content database which had to be upgraded resulted in a reboot. SPDistributedCacheClientSettings Added the new resource SPFarmAdministrators Fixed issue where member comparisons was case sensitive. This had to be case insensitive. SPManagedMetadataServiceApp Fixed issue with creating the Content Type Hub on an existing MMS service app without Content Type Hub. SPManagedMetadataServiceAppDefault Fixed issue where .GetType().FullName and TypeName were not used properly. SPTimerJobState Updated description of WebAppUrl parameter to make it clear that N/A has to be used to specify a global timer job. SPUserProfileServiceApp Fixed issue introduced in v2.0, where the Farm Account had to have local Administrator permissions for the resource to function properly. Updated resource to retrieve the Farm account from the Managed Accounts instead of requiring it as a parameter. SPUserProfileSyncService Fixed issue introduced in v2.0, where the Farm Account had to have local Administrator permissions for the resource to function properly. Updated resource to retrieve the Farm account from the Managed Accounts instead of requiring it as a parameter. The FarmAccount parameter is deprecated and no longer required. Is ignored in the code and will be removed in v3.0. SPVisioServiceApp Fixed an issue where the proxy is not properly getting created
SqlServerDsc	11.1.0.0	Changes to SqlServerDsc Updated the PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE with an improved task list and modified some text to be clearer (issue 973). Updated the ISSUE_TEMPLATE to hopefully be more intuitive and easier to use. Added information to ISSUE_TEMPLATE that issues must be reproducible in SqlServerDsc resource module (if running the older xSQLServer resource module) (issue 1036). Updated ISSUE_TEMPLATE.md with a note about sensitive information (issue 1092). Changes to SqlServerLogin Claudio Spizzi (@claudiospizzi): Fix password test fails for nativ sql users (issue 1048). Changes to SqlSetup Michael Fyffe (@TraGicCode): Clarify usage of “SecurityMode” along with adding parameter validations for the only 2 supported values (issue 1010). Now accounts containing “$” will be able to be used for installing SQL Server. Although, if the account ends with “$” it is considered a Managed Service Account (issue 1055). Changes to Integration Tests Michael Fyffe (@TraGicCode): Replace xStorage dsc resource module with StorageDsc (issue 1038). Changes to Unit Tests Michael Fyffe (@TraGicCode): Updated the following resources unit test template to version 1.2.1 SqlAlias (issue 999). SqlWindowsFirewall (issue 1089).
xActiveDirectory	2.18.0.0	xADReplicationSite: Resource added. Added xADReplicationSubnet resource. Fixed bug with group members in xADGroup
xComputerManagement	4.1.0.0	xScheduledTask: Update existing Scheduled Task using SetScheduleTask instead of UnRegister/Register – See Issue 134. Fix master branch AppVeyor badge link URL in README.MD – See Issue 140. Fix deletion of scheduled task with unknown or empty task trigger. Get-TargetResource returns an empty ScheduleType string if the task trigger is empty or unknown – See Issue 137. Added dependency information for xScheduledTask to README.MD.
xFailOverCluster	1.10.0.0	Changes to xFailOverCluster Added xClusterProperty (issue 169). Changes to xClusterNetwork Fix the test for the network role never in desired state (issue 175).
xNetworking	5.6.0.0	Reordered resource list in README.MD to be alphabetical and added missing resource xNetAdapterAdvancedProperty – Fixes issue 309. MSFT_xNetworkTeamInterface: Corrected style and formatting to meet HQRM guidelines. Updated tests to meet Pester v4 guidelines. Converted exceptions to use ResourceHelper functions. Changed unit tests to output Verbose logs. MSFT_xNetAdapterAdvancedProperty: Added a number of additional advanced properties. Fixes issue 314. MSFT_xNetBIOS: Corrected style and formatting to meet HQRM guidelines. Ensured CommonTestHelper.psm1 is loaded before running unit tests. MSFT_xNetworkTeam: Corrected style and formatting to meet HQRM guidelines. Added missing default from MOF description of Ensure parameter. Fixed `Get-TargetResource` to always output Ensure parameter. Changed unit tests to output Verbose logs. MSFT_xNetConnectionProfile: Corrected style and formatting to meet HQRM guidelines. Updated tests to meet Pester V4 guidelines – Fixes Issue 272.
xPSDesiredStateConfiguration	8.1.0.0	xDSCWebService: Enable SQL provider configuration

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

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

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 DSC Team @katiedsc (Twitter) @kwirkykat (GitHub)