Preface

Windows PowerShell, a scripting language specially designed for system administration, lets you manage computers from the command line. PowerShell DSC enables you to deploy and manage configuration data for software services and also manages the environment in which these services run.

What this book covers

Chapter 1, Introducing PowerShell DSC, helps you identify PowerShell DSC and configuration management concepts, covers the features included in DSC, and provides an overview the different DSC versions.

Chapter 2, DSC Architecture, offers in-depth explanations of the three phases of DSC, the two different DSC deployment models, and the considerations when deploying a pull server or using push deployment.

Chapter 3, DSC Configuration Files, covers authoring DSC configuration scripts and configuration data files and explains how to use them together effectively.

Chapter 4, DSC Resources, covers the DSC resource syntax and file structure in both PowerShell V4 and V5. It shows how to find DSC resources both on the local system as well as using community and Microsoft-provided online resources.

Chapter 5, Pushing DSC Configurations, offers step-by-step instructions on how to push DSC configurations to remote target nodes. It covers the extra steps the user must take in order to make push deployments work as well as the pros and cons of using push deployments.

Chapter 6, Pulling DSC Configurations, offers step-by-step instructions on how to set up both a DSC pull server and your environment to best utilize a pull-based deployment. It covers the pros and cons of using pull deployments in comparison to push deployments.

Chapter 7, DSC Cross Platform Support, instructs you on setting up DSC on Linux platforms, including software installation and configuration. It explores the future of PowerShell by showing how to install PowerShell Core.

Chapter 8, Example Scenarios, covers how to use DSC in the real world and how to integrate DSC into not only new environments but also with legacy deployments. It walks you through the processes of handling the changing requests and the requirements of different software deployments using DSC.

What you need for this book

Any of the following operating systems required for this book:

• Windows 10
• Windows 2012 R2
• Windows 2016

Software: PowerShell V4, V5, V5.1

Who this book is for

This book is intended for system administrators, developers, and DevOps engineers who are responsible for configuration management and automation and wish to learn PowerShell DSC for the efficient management, configuration, and deployment of systems and applications.

You must have some basic knowledge of Windows PowerShell and should have experience of installing and configuring operating systems and Windows servers. You must also understand the basics and principles of configuration management and know how to apply them to deploying and managing systems and applications using PowerShell DSC.

Conventions

In this book, you will find a number of text styles that distinguish between different kinds of information. Here are some examples of these styles and an explanation of their meaning. Code words in text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file extensions, pathnames, dummy URLs, user input, and Twitter handles are shown as follows: "What this DSC configuration does is ensure that a file is created in the D:FooProduct folder called foo.txt, with the contents this is example text."

A block of code is set as follows:

configuration BaseServerConfiguration
    { 
        File ExampleTextFile
        {
            Ensure = 'Present'
            Type = 'File'
            DestinationPath = 'D:FooProductfoo.txt'
            Contents = "this is example text"
        }

        WindowsFeature DotNet
        {
            Ensure = 'Present'
            Name = 'NET-Framework-45-Core'
        }
    } 

When we wish to draw your attention to a particular part of a code block, the relevant lines or items are set in bold:

configuration BaseServerConfiguration
    { 
        File ExampleTextFile
        {
            Ensure = 'Present'
            Type = 'File'
            DestinationPath = 'D:FooProductfoo.txt'
            Contents = "this is example text"
        }

        WindowsFeature DotNet
        {
Ensure = 'Present'
            Name = 'NET-Framework-45-Core'
        }
    } 

Any command-line input or output is written as follows:

    [PS]> Get-HotFix -Id KB2883200
    Source Description HotFixID InstalledBy InstalledOn 
    ------ ----------- -------- ----------- ----------- 
    HOSTNAME Update KB2883200 HOSTNAMEAdmini... 9/30/2013 12:00:00 AM

New terms and important words are shown in bold.

Note

Warnings or important notes appear like this.

Note

Tips and tricks appear like this.

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