PowerShell 5.0 and Desired State Configuration — Lesson 1: DSC Architecture and Configuration Basics

Learning Objectives

• Understand declarative configuration, MOF, resources, nodes, and LCM
• Create and compile basic DSC configurations
• Apply idempotence, dependencies, and safe configuration practices

Detailed Topics

• Understand declarative configuration: Understand declarative configuration, MOF, resources, nodes, and LCM
• Create and compile basic DSC configurations: Create and compile basic DSC configurations
• Apply idempotence: Apply idempotence, dependencies, and safe configuration practices

Guided Demonstration

1. Review the requirement, environment, dependencies, roles, risks, and expected outcome.
2. Demonstrate the relevant configuration, analysis, code, or administration workflow step by step.
3. Capture settings, outputs, logs, screenshots, calculations, or test evidence.
4. Compare the observed result with the stated acceptance criteria.

Hands-On Activity

Create and apply a basic DSC configuration in a test environment.

• Document assumptions and the planned sequence before making changes.
• Complete the activity and preserve evidence of normal and exception behavior.
• Record issues, corrective actions, and reusable operational or development notes.

Troubleshooting Focus

• Separate symptoms from causes and collect evidence before applying a fix.
• Check configuration, permissions, data, dependencies, capacity, connectivity, and recent changes.
• Validate rollback, recovery, support ownership, and user or business impact.

Validation Checklist

• The requirement and expected outcome are clear.
• The selected configuration, design, query, code, or process is documented.
• Normal, boundary, failure, security, and operational conditions are reviewed.
• The result is supported by evidence and the next improvement is prioritized.

Lesson Outcome

Learners can explain and apply DSC Architecture and Configuration Basics in a realistic scenario and validate the result with documented evidence.