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Desired State Configuration (DSC) Overview

  • Article

DSC is a management platform that enables you to manage your IT and development infrastructure with configuration as code.

There are four versions of DSC available:

  • Microsoft DSC 3.0 is the new version of DSC. This version provides true cross-platform support. It is a standalone product that's not dependent on PowerShell, however, you can still use your existing PowerShell DSC resources.

  • PowerShell DSC 3.0 (preview) is the version of DSC supported by the Azure Machine Configuration on Linux.

  • PowerShell DSC 2.0 is the version of DSC that shipped in PowerShell 7.

    With the release of PowerShell 7.2, the PSDesiredStateConfiguration module is no longer included in the PowerShell package. Separating DSC into its own module allows us to invest and develop DSC independent of PowerShell and reduces the size of the PowerShell package. Users of DSC will enjoy the benefit of upgrading DSC without the need to upgrade PowerShell, accelerating the time to deployment of new DSC features. Users that want to continue using DSC v2 can download PSDesiredStateConfiguration 2.0.5 from the PowerShell Gallery.

  • PowerShell DSC 1.1 is the legacy version of DSC that originally shipped in Windows PowerShell 5.1.

For more information, see the Desired State Configuration overview article.