DSC and SMB Shares

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I'm confused by the relationship of smb shares to DSC. In the 70-740 course this is briefly discussed, and a decent example is done with IIS. I am labbing that tonight, but I don't understand the smb share to dsc relationship. Perhaps I'm not describing it clearly either. How does dsc use/interact with smb shares? If I search here I don't get anything, google gives me lots, but nothing specific to my question...ty in advance.

@John-DeWilde said in DSC and SMB Shares:

ourse this is briefly discussed, and a decent example is done with IIS. I am labbing that tonight, but I don't understand the smb share to dsc relationship. Per

John,
Thank you for reaching out. Hopefully I can provide some clarification for you. There are different ways to configure DCS. In my show, I choose to use HTTP by setting up IIS.

Alternatively, I could have used SMB as the underpinning protocol to distribute my DSC configuration files. It really comes down to environment requirements, limitations and preference as to choose one over the other.

As a mater of fact, Microsoft has recently came forward and recommended to begin transitioning managed clients to Azure Automation DSC. Which is a third way to configure a pull server. It's pretty cool because you as the Admin actually don't have to set the pull server up. Microsoft does the heavy lifting behind the scenes and offers it as a service on the Azure platform and includes additional features. I have a couple of episodes in the az-103 show where I demonstrate how to set up DSC in Azure. I will drop that links below in addition to a few other Microsoft links that go into detail for all the of these options I mentioned here.

Feel free to let me know if you have any follow-up questions.

Show name: Microsoft Azure (AZ-103)
Episode name: DSC and Custom Script Extensions
https://app.itpro.tv/course-library/microsoft-az103/dsccustom-script-extensions/
Episode name: DSC and Custom Script Extensions Part 2
https://app.itpro.tv/course-library/microsoft-az103/dsccustom-script-extensions2/

Microsoft References:
Quickstart guide I follow loosely in the 70-740 Desired State Configuration episode using IIS
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/dsc/quickstarts/website-quickstart

Setting up a DSC SMB pull server (Note the blue rectangle at the top of this link titled Important)
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/dsc/pull-server/pullserversmb

Getting started with Azure Automation State Configuration
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/automation/automation-dsc-getting-started

@Cherokee-Boose Thank you very much for the reply. I'm trying to run your reference to: Setting up a DSC SMB pull server (Note the blue rectangle at the top of this link titled Important)
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/dsc/pull-server/pullserversmb

I logged into one of the virtual labs to have a go at it. I copied and tried to run the script from the example provided on the link above, and it fails. I tried running it line by line, and it fails. So frustrating. I'm really more confused than ever at this point because the pieces listed as necessary can't be downloaded, aren't present, and well it's frustrating.

I'm confused. No matter what I do the dscresource is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet. What did you install from the powershell gallery to enable your demonstration?

Hi John,
The demo I performed did not require the install of a specific module. It looks like the lab you are testing does. It needs the PowerShellGet module which is included in PowerShell version 5 or later If you are not sure which version you are running use $PSVersionTable.PSVersion. If you find you are running an earlier version either update PowerShell or download the module here:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=49186.

Thank you!!! I think I actually found the same reason. That is rare for Powershell and I. I'll be attempting again.

Good to hear, I'm glad. If you have the time check out the Azure Automation State Configuration. I wouldn't expect that to be on a sever exam yet but from a learning perspective any cloud will help in a production environment. Happy Studies!