PowerShell Desired State Configuration (DSC) brings infrastructure-as-code principles to Windows Server management. DSC ensures your servers maintain their intended configuration, automatically correcting drift without manual intervention.
Writing and Applying DSC Configurations
DSC configurations are PowerShell scripts that declare the desired state of resources like Windows features, services, registry keys, and files. Compiling a configuration produces MOF files that the Local Configuration Manager (LCM) on each target node applies and enforces.
Pull mode with a DSC Pull Server centralizes configuration distribution. Nodes periodically check in, download their assigned configurations, and report compliance status. This scales far better than push mode for environments with more than a handful of servers.
Custom DSC resources extend the platform to manage any aspect of your infrastructure. The PowerShell Gallery hosts hundreds of community-contributed resources for managing IIS, SQL Server, Active Directory, and third-party software installations.