Configuration Management on Windows Server—Desired State Configuration

Mini Tutorial
Thursday, November 13, 2014 - 4:00pm-5:30pm

Steven Murawski, Chef

Steven Murawski, Chef

Steven is a Technical Community Manager for Chef and a Microsoft MVP in PowerShell. Steven is a co-host of the Ops All The Things podcast.

BibTeX
@conference {209045,
author = {Steven Murawski},
title = {Configuration Management on Windows Server{\textemdash}Desired State Configuration},
year = {2014},
address = {Seattle, WA},
publisher = {{USENIX} Association},
}
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Description: 

Desired State Configuration allows you to declaratively describe the end state of a Windows Server system. In this tutorial, we'll discuss the infrastructure for DSC, we'll learn how to create configurations and deploy them (including managing secrets like passwords). Previous PowerShell experience is helpful, but not required.

Who should attend: 

Systems administrators who have to deploy and manage Windows servers.

Take back to work: 

Attendees will take back an understanding of the state of configuration management on Windows, techniques for dealing with hard problems like secure password management, and the strengths and weaknesses of the new configuration management agent on Windows servers.

Topics include: 
  • The state of configuration management on Windows Server.
  • The architecture of Desired State Configuration.
  • Patterns for dealing with secure credential provisioning.
  • The basics of how to write a Desired State Configuration document.