Installing DSC Resources

2023-05-05

Applies To: PowerShell 7.2

Before you write a DSC Resource to solve your problem, you should look through the DSC Resources that have already been created by both Microsoft and the PowerShell community.

You can find DSC Resources on both the PowerShell Gallery and GitHub. You can also install DSC Resources directly from the PowerShell console using PowerShellGet.

Installing PowerShellGet

To determine if you already have PowerShellGet, or to get help installing it, see the following guide: Installing PowerShellGet.

Finding DSC resources using PowerShellGet

Once PowerShellGet is installed on your system, you can find and install DSC Resources hosted in the PowerShell Gallery.

First, use the Find-DSCResource cmdlet to find DSC Resources. When you run Find-DSCResource for the first time, you may see the following prompt to install the NuGet provider.

Find-DSCResource

NuGet provider is required to continue
PowerShellGet requires NuGet provider version '2.8.5.201' or newer to interact with NuGet-based
repositories. The NuGet provider must be available in 'C:\Program Files\PackageManagement\ProviderAssemblies'
or 'C:\Users\xAdministrator\AppData\Local\PackageManagement\ProviderAssemblies'. You can also install
the NuGet provider by running 'Install-PackageProvider -Name NuGet -MinimumVersion 2.8.5.201
-Force'. Do you want PowerShellGet to install and import the NuGet provider now?
[Y] Yes  [N] No  [?] Help (default is "Y"):

After pressing y, the NuGet provider is installed and you see a list of DSC Resources that you can install from the PowerShell Gallery.

Note

The list isn't shown here because it's hundreds of items long.

You can also specify the Name parameter using wildcards, or the Filter parameter without wildcards to narrow your search. This example attempts to find a TimeZone DSC Resource using wildcards.

Important

There is a bug in the Find-DSCResource cmdlet that prevents using wildcards in both the Name and Filter parameters. The example below shows a workaround using Where-Object.

You can use Where-Object to find DSC Resources with granular filtering.

Find-DSCResource | Where-Object Name -Like 'Time*'

Name                                Version    ModuleName                          Repository
----                                -------    ----------                          ----------
TimeZone                            8.5.0      ComputerManagementDsc               PSGallery

For more information on filtering, see Where-Object.

Installing DSC Resources using PowerShellGet

To install a DSC Resource, use the Install-Module cmdlet, specifying the name of the module shown under the Module property in your search results.

The TimeZone DSC Resource exists in the ComputerManagementDSC module, so that's the module this example installs.

Note

If you haven't trusted the PowerShell gallery, you see the warning below asking for confirmation, and instructing you how to avoid future prompts on installs.

Install-Module -Name ComputerManagementDSC

Untrusted repository
You are installing the modules from an untrusted repository. If you trust this repository, change
its InstallationPolicy value by running the Set-PSRepository cmdlet. Are you sure you want to
install the modules from 'PSGallery'?
[Y] Yes  [A] Yes to All  [N] No  [L] No to All  [S] Suspend  [?] Help (default is "N"):

Press y to continue installing the module. After install, you can verify that your new DSC Resource is installed using Get-DSCResource.

Get-DSCResource -Name TimeZone -Module ComputerManagementDsc -Syntax

TimeZone [String] #ResourceName
{
    IsSingleInstance = [string]{ Yes }
    TimeZone = [string]
    [DependsOn = [string[]]]
    [PsDscRunAsCredential = [PSCredential]]
}

Specify the ModuleName parameter alone to view other DSC Resources in your newly installed module.

Get-DSCResource -Module ComputerManagementDSC

ImplementedAs Name                            Properties
------------- ----                            ----------
   PowerShell Computer                        {Name, Credential, DependsOn, Description…}
   PowerShell IEEnhancedSecurityConfiguration {Enabled, Role, DependsOn, PsDscRunAsCredential…}
   PowerShell OfflineDomainJoin               {IsSingleInstance, RequestFile, DependsOn, PsDscRun…
   PowerShell PendingReboot                   {Name, DependsOn, PsDscRunAsCredential, SkipCcmClie…
   PowerShell PowerPlan                       {IsSingleInstance, Name, DependsOn, PsDscRunAsCrede…
   PowerShell PowerShellExecutionPolicy       {ExecutionPolicy, ExecutionPolicyScope, DependsOn, …
   PowerShell RemoteDesktopAdmin              {IsSingleInstance, DependsOn, Ensure, PsDscRunAsCre…
   PowerShell ScheduledTask                   {TaskName, ActionArguments, ActionExecutable, Actio…
   PowerShell SmbServerConfiguration          {IsSingleInstance, AnnounceComment, AnnounceServer,…
   PowerShell SmbShare                        {Name, Path, CachingMode, ChangeAccess…}
   PowerShell SystemLocale                    {IsSingleInstance, SystemLocale, DependsOn, PsDscRu…
   PowerShell TimeZone                        {IsSingleInstance, TimeZone, DependsOn, PsDscRunAsC…
   PowerShell UserAccountControl              {IsSingleInstance, ConsentPromptBehaviorAdmin, Cons…
   PowerShell VirtualMemory                   {Drive, Type, DependsOn, InitialSize…}
   PowerShell WindowsCapability               {Name, DependsOn, Ensure, LogLevel…}
   PowerShell WindowsEventLog                 {LogName, CategoryResourceFile, DependsOn, IsEnable…

See also

DSC Resources