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How to set up a machine configuration authoring environment

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The PowerShell module GuestConfiguration automates the process of creating custom content including:

  • Creating a machine configuration content artifact (.zip)
  • Validating the package meets requirements
  • Installing the machine configuration agent locally for testing
  • Validating the package can be used to audit settings in a machine
  • Validating the package can be used to configure settings in a machine
  • Publishing the package to Azure storage
  • Creating a policy definition
  • Publishing the policy

Support for applying configurations through machine configuration is introduced in version 3.4.2.

Base requirements

Operating systems where the module can be installed:

  • Ubuntu 18
  • Windows

The module can be installed on a machine running PowerShell 7.x. Install the versions of PowerShell listed in the following table for your operating system.

OS PowerShell Version
Windows PowerShell 7.1.3
Ubuntu 18 PowerShell 7.2.4

The GuestConfiguration module requires the following software:

  • Azure PowerShell 5.9.0 or higher. The required Az PowerShell modules are installed automatically with the GuestConfiguration module, or you can follow these instructions.

To install the GuestConfiguration module on either Windows or Linux, run the following command in PowerShell 7.

# Install the machine configuration DSC resource module from PowerShell Gallery
Install-Module -Name GuestConfiguration

Validate that the module has been imported:

# Get a list of commands for the imported GuestConfiguration module
Get-Command -Module 'GuestConfiguration'

Next step

Create a custom machine configuration package