PowerShell DSC

Windows PowerShell Desired State Configuration (DSC) is a configuration management platform built into Windows that is based on open standards. DSC is flexible enough to function reliably and consistently in each stage of the deployment lifecycle (development, test, pre-production, production), as well as during scale-out. DSC centers around "configurations". A configuration is an easy-to-read document that describes an environment made up of computers ("nodes") with specific characteristics. These characteristics can be as simple as ensuring a specific Windows feature is enabled or as complex as deploying SharePoint. DSC also has monitoring and reporting built in. If a system is no longer compliant, DSC can raise an alert and act to correct the system. Configurations are designed to be easily read, stored, and updated. Configurations declare the state target devices should be in, instead of writing instructions for how to put them in that state. This makes it much less costly to learn, adopt, implement, and maintain configuration through DSC. Creating configurations means that complex deployment steps are captured as a "single source of truth" in a single location. This makes repeated deployments of a specific set of machines much less error-prone. In turn, making deployments faster and more reliable which enables a quick turnaround on complex deployments. Configurations are also shareable via the PowerShell Gallery meaning common scenarios and best practices might already exist for the work you need done.