PowerShell Desired State Configuration for Linux

Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation ver. 1.1.1

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Getting Started

Latest Release

The latest release packages for PowerShell DSC for Linux can be downloaded here: Releases

Current status and roadmap for Linux DSC

DSC has shifted to a cross-platform implementation that is developed in the PSDesiredStateConfiguration repo. Unless you have specific needs that require version 1, please navigate to the new location to view the current work on version 3.

For more information, please see the doumentation for Desired State Configuration.

This repo has been archived and will no longer accept new issues or pull requests.

Three solutions were originally released from this repo:

A stand-alone installation of version 1 for Linux distros and versions
- UPDATE: The updated DSC resources for Linux are now maintained as the nxTools module.
Microsoft Azure Linux DSC extension for virtual machines
- UPDATE: Desired state configuration VM Extension for Linux, and Azure Automation DSC support for Linux, will be retired on 30 September 2023
Microsoft Monitoring Agent solutions on Linux virtual machines (aka OMS Linux)
- UPDATE: We're retiring the Log Analytics agent in Azure Monitor on 31 August 2024

The codebase in this repo has been updated with fixes based on customer incidents reported for Microsoft Monitoring Agent. Therefore, the Microsoft Monitoring Agent already utilizes the latest release. Unfortunately, it has not been possible to publish new releases for either standalone installations or DSC extension. If you encounter challenges with either scenario and would like to evaluate if the latest code will resolve your issue, the best option is to download the latest release, then distribute it using custom tools (such as Azure Custom Script Extension). This is not intended to expand upon the supported OS coverage.

Please note that per the documentation for DSC Linux Extension, the extensions for DSC Linux and Monitoring cannot be used together on the same machine.

Supported Linux operating systems

The following Linux operating system versions are supported by DSC for Linux.

CentOS 5, 6, and 7 (x86/x64)
Debian GNU/Linux 6, 7 and 8 (x86/x64)
Oracle Linux 5, 6 and 7 (x86/x64)
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 5, 6 and 7 (x86/x64)
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10, 11 and 12 (x86/x64)
Ubuntu Server 12.04 LTS, 14.04 LTS, 16.04 LTS (x86/x64)

Requirements

The following table describes the required package dependencies for DSC for Linux.

Required package	Description	Minimum version
`glibc`	GNU C Library	2.4 - 31.30
`python`	Python	2.4 - 3.4
`omi`	Open Management Infrastructure	1.0.8-4
`openssl`	OpenSSL Libraries	0.9.8e or 1.0
`python-ctypes`	Python CTypes library	Must match Python version
`libcurl`	cURL http client library	7.15.1

OMI Packages can be found at OMI.

Installing DSC Packages

OMI and DSC packages are available in RPM and Debian packages, for x86 and x64 architectures, and for systems with OpenSSL version 0.9.8 and version 1.0.x. To install DSC, select determine the packages that are correct for your operating system, and install them.

Examples Red Hat Enterprise Linux, CentOS, or Oracle Linux 7:

wget https://github.com/Microsoft/omi/releases/download/v1.1.0-0/omi-1.1.0.ssl_100.x64.rpm
wget https://github.com/Microsoft/PowerShell-DSC-for-Linux/releases/download/v1.1.1-294/dsc-1.1.1-294.ssl_100.x64.rpm

sudo rpm -Uvh omi-1.1.0.ssl_100.x64.rpm dsc-1.1.1-294.ssl_100.x64.rpm

Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, 16.04 LTS, or Debian GNU/Linux 8, x64:

wget https://github.com/Microsoft/omi/releases/download/v1.1.0-0/omi-1.1.0.ssl_100.x64.deb
wget https://github.com/Microsoft/PowerShell-DSC-for-Linux/releases/download/v1.1.1-294/dsc-1.1.1-294.ssl_100.x64.deb

sudo dpkg -i omi-1.1.0.ssl_100.x64.deb dsc-1.1.1-294.ssl_100.x64.deb

For more information, review the latest release notes and product documentation.

To author DSC MOF configuration for Linux on a Windows computer:

Prerequisites

A Windows computer with:
- Adminstrative privileges
- Windows PowerShell (>=4.0)

or

A Linux computer with:
- PowerShell v6.0.0-alpha.9 or later
- DSC v1.1.1 or later
Install the Linux Resource Provider MOF module:
- The "nx" module can be installed from the PowerShell Gallery with: install-module nx
- In order to compile a Configuration MOF that uses the DSC for Linux resources, use Import-DscResource -Module nx inside a DSC Configuration block.
Remotely managing a Linux system with DSC
- You need a compiled configuration MOF to apply a new configuration to a system.
  Start-DscConfiguration -CimSession:$myCimSession -Path:"C:\path_to_compiled_mof_directory\" -Wait -Verbose
- You can get the current configuration of the system by running: Get-DscConfiguration -CimSession:$myCimSession
- You can test the current configuration of the system by running: Test-DscConfiguration -CimSession:$myCimSession
- For more information on creating a CimSession for use with the -CimSession parameter, see: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj590760.aspx
Locally managing a Linux system with DSC
- See Performing DSC Operations from the Linux Computer below for a reference of DSC operations that can be performed on the managed computer

Building the Desired State Configuration (DSC) Local Configuration Manager and Linux Resource Providers

Prerequisites

At least one modern Linux system with:
- root login capability
- These build tools:
  - GNU Make
  - g++
  - Python version 2.5 or later, the package python-devel
- Open Management Infrastructure (OMI) 1.0.8. http://theopengroup.org/software/omi
  - pam-devel
  - openssl-devel

Building and installing the Local Configuration Manager and Linux Resource Providers

Extract PSDSC.tar into a directory that you will build it from.
Download and extract OMI 1.0.8 into a directory named omi-1.0.8 in a directory parallel to the LCM and Providers directory. The directory tree should look something like:

   ./configure
   ./LCM
   ./license.txt
   ./omi-1.0.8
   ./omi-1.0.8/agent
   ./omi-1.0.8/base
   ...

Building
- Configuring OMI and building
  - Configure OMI with desired options (refer to OMI documentation for this step).
    - The default configuration installs to /opt/omi-1.0.8
    - To use the default configuration, run: cd omi-1.0.8 && ./configure
  - Run: make
- Installing OMI:
  - Run: cd omi-1.0.8 && sudo ./output/install
- Registering the LCM + nxProviders with OMI:
  - Run: sudo make reg
Running OMI
- On the Linux system, run omiserver with environment variable OMI_HOME set to OMI's installed directory
  - Run as root: OMI_HOME=<PATH_TO_INSTALLED_OMI_DIR> $OMI_HOME/bin/omiserver
  - The default installation for OMI 1.0.8 is /opt/omi-1.0.8. Thus, for default installations, part 4Ai above becomes: OMI_HOME=/opt/omi-1.0.8 $OMI_HOME/bin/omiserver
Note: In order to run following reboots, it is recommended to configure OMI as a System-V, Upstart, or SystemD daemon

Building and using DSC and OMI from source

DSC and OMI can also be built together entirely from source in a self-contained directory. This is useful primarily for developers.

# Clone DSC source
git clone https://github.com/Microsoft/PowerShell-DSC-for-Linux.git
cd PowerShell-DSC-for-Linux

# Place the OMI source where DSC expects it
# Alternatively clone from Git and symlink to omi/Unix
wget https://collaboration.opengroup.org/omi/documents/33715/omi-1.0.8.tar.gz
tar xf omi-1.0.8.tar.gz

# Build OMI in developer mode
cd omi-1.0.8
./configure --dev
make -j
cd ..

# Build DSC in developer mode
./configure --no-rpm --no-dpkg --local
make -j
make reg

# Start the OMI server
./omi-1.0.8/output/bin/omiserver

Use Azure Automation as a DSC Pull Server

Note: For more information on Azure Automation’s DSC features, reference the documentation.
Linux computers can be onboarded to Azure Automation DSC, as long as they have outbound access to the internet, via a few simple steps:

Make sure version 1.1 or later of the DSC Linux agent is installed on the machines you want to onboard to Azure Automation DSC.

To configure Azure Automation as a DSC Pull Server from the Linux computer:

On each Linux machine to onboard to Azure Automation DSC, use Register.py to onboard using the PowerShell DSC Local Configuration Manager defaults:

For python2

sudo /opt/microsoft/dsc/Scripts/Register.py <Automation account registration key> <Automation account registration URL>

For python3

sudo /opt/microsoft/dsc/Scripts/python3/Register.py <Automation account registration key> <Automation account registration URL>

To find the registration key and registration URL for your Automation account, see the Secure Registration section below.
Using the Azure portal or cmdlets, check that the machines to onboard now show up as DSC nodes registered in your Azure Automation account.

Additional configuration options:

--ConfigurationName: the name of the configuration to apply
--RefreshFrequencyMins: Specifies how often (in minutes) LCM attempts to obtain the configuration from the pull server. If configuration on the pull server differs from the current one on the target node, it is copied to the pending store and applied.
--ConfigurationModeFrequencyMins: Specifies how often (in minutes) LCM ensures that the configuration is in the desired state.
--ConfigurationMode: Specifies how LCM should apply the configuration. Valid values are: ApplyOnly, ApplyAndMonitor, ApplyAndAutoCorrect, MonitorOnly

To configure Azure Automation as a DSC Pull Server with a metaconfiguration MOF:

Open the PowerShell console or PowerShell ISE as an administrator on a Windows machine in your local environment. This machine must have the latest version of WMF 5 installed
Connect to Azure Resource Manager using the Azure PowerShell module:

Add-AzureAccount 
Switch-AzureMode AzureResourceManager

Download, from the Automation account you want to onboard nodes to, the PowerShell DSC metaconfigurations for the machines you want to onboard: Get-AzureAutomationDscOnboardingMetaconfig -ResourceGroupName MyResourceGroup AutomationAccountName MyAutomationAccount -ComputerName MyServer1, MyServer2 OutputFolder C:\Users\joe\Desktop
Optionally, view and update the metaconfigurations in the output folder as needed to match the PowerShell DSC Local Configuration Manager fields and values you want, if the defaults do not match your use case.
Remotely apply the PowerShell DSC metaconfiguration to the machines you want to onboard:

$SecurePass = ConvertTo -SecureString -string "<root password>" -AsPlainText Force 
$Cred = New-Object System.Management.Automation.PSCredential "root" , $SecurePass 
$Opt = New-CimSessionOption -UseSsl: $true -SkipCACheck: $true -SkipCNCheck: $true -SkipRevocationCheck: $true 
 
$Session = New-CimSession -Credential: $Cred -ComputerName: <your Linux machine > -Port: 5986 -Authentication: basic -SessionOption: $Opt 
Set-DscLocalConfigurationManager -CimSession $Session –Path C:\Users\joe\Desktop\DscMetaConfigs

If you cannot apply the PowerShell DSC metaconfigurations remotely, for each Linux machine to onboard, copy the metaconfiguration corresponding to that machine from the folder in step 5 onto the Linux machine. Then call SetDscLocalConfigurationManager.py locally on each Linux machine to onboard to Azure Automation DSC:

For python2

/opt/microsoft/dsc/Scripts/SetDscLocalConfigurationManager.py –configurationmof <path to metaconfiguration file>

For python3

/opt/microsoft/dsc/Scripts/python3/SetDscLocalConfigurationManager.py –configurationmof <path to metaconfiguration file>

Using the Azure portal or cmdlets, check that the machines to onboard now show up as DSC nodes registered in your Azure Automation account.

Importing resource modules to Azure Automation

The supplied resource modules with this release (nxNetworking, nxComputerManagement) can be imported to Azure Automation for distribution with DSC configurations. To import to Azure Automation, rename the .zip files to remove the _X.Y version string from the file name. Such as: nxNetworking.zip and nxComputerManagement.zip.

Performing DSC Operations from the Linux Computer

DSC for Linux includes scripts to work with configuration from the local Linux computer. These scripts are located in /opt/microsoft/dsc/Scripts for python2 and /opt/microsoft/dsc/Scripts/python3 for python3 and include the following:

GetDscConfiguration.py Returns the current configuration applied to the computer. Similar to the Windows PowerShell cmdlet Get-DscConfiguration cmdlet. sudo ./GetDscConfiguration.py

GetDscLocalConfigurationManager.py Returns the current meta-configuration applied to the computer. Similar to the Windows PowerShell cmdlet Get-DSCLocalConfigurationManager sudo ./GetDscLocalConfigurationManager.py

PerformRequiredConfigurationChecks.py Immediately checks the configuration in accordance with the MetaConfiguration settings and applies the configuration if an update is available. Useful for immediately applying configuration changes on the pull server. sudo ./PerformRequiredConfigurationChecks.py

RestoreConfiguration.py Applies the previous configuration known to DSC, a rollback.
sudo ./RestoreConfiguration.py

SetDscLocalConfigurationManager.py Applies a Meta Configuration MOF file to the computer. Similar to the Windows PowerShell cmdlet: Set-DSCLocalConfigurationManager. Requires the path to the Meta Configuration MOF to apply. sudo ./SetDscLocalConfigurationManager.py –configurationmof /tmp/localhost.meta.mof

StartDscConfiguration.py Applies a configuration MOF file to the computer. Similar to the Windows PowerShell cmdlet: StartDscConfiguration. Requires the path to the configuration MOF to apply. sudo ./StartDscConfiguration.py –-configurationmof /tmp/localhost.mof

You can also supply the force parameter to forcibly remove any current pending configuration before applying the new configuration. sudo ./StartDscConfiguration.py –-configurationmof /tmp/localhost.mof --force

TestDscConfiguration.py Tests the current system configuration for compliance desired state. Similar to the Windows PowerShell cmdlet: Test-DscConfiguration.
sudo ./TestDscConfiguration.py

InstallModule.py Installs a custom DSC resource module. Requires the path to a .zip file containing the module shared object library and schema MOF files. sudo ./InstallModule.py /tmp/cnx_Resource.zip

RemoveModule.py Removes a custom DSC resource module. Requires the name of the module to remove. sudo ./RemoveModule.py cnx_Resource

Using PowerShell Desired State Configuration for Linux with a Pull Server

Using HTTPS with the Pull Server

Though unencrypted HTTP is supported for communication with the Pull server, HTTPS (SSL/TLS) is recommended. When using HTTPS, the DSC Local Configuration Manager requires that the SSL certificate of the Pull server is verifiable (signed by a trusted authority, has a common name that matches the URL, etc.).

You can modify these HTTPS requirements as needed, by modifying the file /etc/opt/omi/dsc/dsc.conf. The supported properties defined in this file are:

NoSSLv3 set this to true to require the TLS protocol and set this to false to support SSLv3 or TLS. The default is false.
DoNotCheckCertificate set this to true to ignore SSL certificate verification. The default is false.
CURL_CA_BUNDLE an optional path to a curl-ca-bundle.crt file containing the CA certificates to trust for SSL/TLS. For more information, see: http://curl.haxx.se/docs/sslcerts.html
sslCipherSuite Optionally set your preferred SSL cipher suite list. Only ciphers matching the rules defined by this list will be supported for HTTPS negotiation. The syntax and available ciphers on your computer depend on whether the cURL package is configured to use OpenSSL or NSS as its SSL library. To determine which SSL library cURL is using, run the following command and look for OpenSSL or NSS in the list of linked libraries:

curl --version |head -n 1 curl 7.29.0 (x86_64-redhat-linux-gnu) libcurl/7.29.0 NSS/3.15.4 zlib/1.2.7 libidn/1.28 libssh2/1.4.3

For more information on configuring cipher support, see: http://curl.haxx.se/libcurl/c/CURLOPT_SSL_CIPHER_LIST.html

Using an HTTP(s) Proxy Server with DSC

DSC for Linux supports the use of an HTTP or HTTPS proxy server when communicating with a Pull Server. To configure a proxy server, edit the file /etc/opt/omi/conf/dsc/dsc.conf and add a line starting with PROXY=. The proxy server specification takes the format: The proxy configuration value has the following syntax: [protocol://][user:password@]proxyhost[:port]

Property	Description
Protocol	http or https
user	Optional username for proxy authentication
password	Optional password for proxy authentication
proxyhost	Address or FQDN of the proxy server
port	Optional port number for the proxy server

Example PROXY=https://proxyuser:proxypassword@proxyserver01:8080