Windows PowerShell Desired State Configuration Revealed 1st ed. Edition

I had to complete a configuration project for work and this book helped me a great deal. For an individual who had never heard of DSC, it was just want I needed.

THE book on DSC. Literally. There are no other books on the topic, at least when I ordered it. The fact that this book is great is a pleasant surprise since the first book on a topic is usually something slapped together to be the first on the market.IT books aren't usually worth the time, but this one taught me a lot and helped me get up and running, particularly with the difficult parts of DSC like custom resources.The first chapters are a bit of powershell re-hash that wasted some space, but the remaining chapters are great.

I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn about DSC. I have spent months searching the web but was able to find everything I needed in this single book. Great job.

Excellent resource

DSC (Desired State Configuration) introduced in PowerShell version 4.0 was an important milestone in establishing PowerShell as 'the' platform for configuring, managing and automating enterprise data centers. Although, DSC does not provide an end-to-end configuration management tool set, it provides a platform from where you can manage the configuration on your own along with a set of APIs that help you leverage the core functionality with ease.The problem that DSC faced until now, in my opinion, is that the focus was on getting people to adopt the technology; and there is a void in terms of definitive documentation around how DSC works. There are some very good articles written by some PowerShell gurus (including the author Ravi) which help bridge that gap to a certain extent. Most people starting with DSC do not know where to start, as there are very few good resources which people can reference from. This book bridges the gap, fills in most of the blanks and dispels myths surrounding DSC in a practical manner.The book is spread across 11 chapters, divided into 3 parts (Introduction to PowerShell, Desired State Configuration and Advanced DSC concepts and Tips). For all readers, even for experienced users, I would recommend thoroughly reading and understanding the following two chapters: Chapter 2 and Chapter 4 as these chapters lay down the foundations for understanding DSC architecture to its fullest.There are examples spread throughout the book that help you understand the topics, and most of these examples can be used in real-world as well. For example, in chapter 5 while explaining how to use built-in DSC resources we are shown how to write DSC configuration for installing .msi & .exe files using the Package and Process resources respectively.Overall, this is a great book for:* Getting you started on DSC, if you are new user.* Understanding more about DSC architecture if you are IT professional having exposure on infrastructure management in the enterprise.* Getting started and understanding the implications of rolling your own DSC resources if, you are an IT pro who has already used the built-in resources but understand their limitations.

The book starts out with an introduction to Windows PowerShell, covering technologies relevant to DSC, such as PowerShell Remoting and CIM.In the second part the fundamentals is introduced, before advanced DSC concepts and tricks is covered in the last part.I have worked with DSC and hold presentations on the subjects since DSC was released in PowerShell 4.0, and I have learned a lot I haven`t seen or read about before (even in the product documentation).For example, the details of how to configure a Web Pull Server was very useful. I`ve used the DSC Resource available in the DSC Resource Kit for configuring a Web Pull Server, and not looked at the details covered in the book.A lot of other useful information is covered, such as how the DSC download managers uses the Get-DscAction, Get-DscDocument and Get-DscModule cmdlets (nice to know for troubleshooting purposes).The CIM implementation for DSC is also described in details, for example how to use the available CIM methods to perform actions and apply configurations. This knowledge makes it easier to understand how the technology works under the hood.The first version of DSC was released in PowerShell (Windows Management Framework) 4.0, and there is also some information about the next version, including bugs which has been fixed.I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to learn about PowerShell Desired State Configuration.

DSC is one of the hottest topics being spoken about in DevOps. Prior to reading this book I had a limited understanding how DSC actually works. I knew how to author DSC configuration & enact them, but I didn't knew the moving parts or the technology behind it.This Book starts with a subtle introduction to what PowerShell is and then focuses towards understanding CIM , MOF etc which are the building blocks for DSC.The book shows what a deep knowledge Ravi Sir has about the topic and his willingness to share it in the most simple and logical way. As the book progress he builds a solid foundation of concepts and explains the whole DSC Architecture in 2 phases:1. Authoring & Staging2. Configuration enactingStarting from Authoring & Staging > Enacting. I have read half of the book so far and it has blown away so many myths I had about DSC :)

A must read book if you want to learn PowerShell DSC.I do like the flow of the book; easy to read, easy to follow, easy to understand.Provides a solid background to start working with PowerShell DSC.I can't wait to get the updated book for PowerShell 5.0.