Install Desired State Configuration on Linux system and connect it to Azure Automation

I received a question if it is possible to only install DSC for Linux servers without installing OMS agent as I do in my post Easy installation and registration script for OMS and DSC on Linux.

To install PowerShell DSC manually it is just to download the Open Management Infrastructure (OMI) agent from https://collaboration.opengroup.org/omi, and then PowerShell DSC from https://github.com/Microsoft/PowerShell-DSC-for-Linux.

But what if you want to install the components by a script? On the web there is a couple of ways to do this and this is my way. In my script I will download the OMS agent and then use the OMI package in there to install OMI that is needed for DSC on Linux. This is because there is no way to download the OMI package from OpenGroup with wget.

The script is using dpkg as installer and is tested on Debian and Ubuntu. To use it on systems that support rpm packages, change the dpkg and .deb files.

#!/bin/bash

# DSC Variables
DSCKEY="DSC access key"
DSCURL="DSC URL

###########################################################
# Download and install OMI
# The script will use the OMI package in the OMS package
###########################################################
wget https://github.com/Microsoft/OMS-Agent-for-Linux/releases/download/v1.1.0-28/omsagent-1.1.0-28.universal.x64.sh
chmod 755 omsagent-1.1.0-28.universal.x64.sh
./omsagent-1.1.0-28.universal.x64.sh --extract
chmod 755 ./omsbundle* -R
mv ./omsbundle* ./omsbundle
dpkg -i ./omsbundle/100/omi-1.0.8-4.universal.x64.deb

###########################################################
# Download and install DSC
###########################################################
wget https://github.com/Microsoft/PowerShell-DSC-for-Linux/releases/download/v1.1.1-70/dsc-1.1.1.packages.tar.gz
chmod 755 dsc-1.1.1.packages.tar.gz

mkdir DSC
tar -xvf dsc-1.1.1.packages.tar.gz -C DSC
chmod 755 DSC -R

dpkg -i ./DSC/dsc-1.1.1-70.ssl_100.x64.deb

/opt/microsoft/dsc/Scripts/Register.py $DSCKEY $DSCURL

#!/bin/bash

# DSC Variables

DSCKEY="DSC access key"

DSCURL="DSC URL

###########################################################

# Download and install OMI

# The script will use the OMI package in the OMS package

###########################################################

wget https://github.com/Microsoft/OMS-Agent-for-Linux/releases/download/v1.1.0-28/omsagent-1.1.0-28.universal.x64.sh

chmod 755 omsagent-1.1.0-28.universal.x64.sh

./omsagent-1.1.0-28.universal.x64.sh --extract

chmod 755 ./omsbundle* -R

mv ./omsbundle* ./omsbundle

dpkg -i ./omsbundle/100/omi-1.0.8-4.universal.x64.deb

###########################################################

# Download and install DSC

###########################################################

wget https://github.com/Microsoft/PowerShell-DSC-for-Linux/releases/download/v1.1.1-70/dsc-1.1.1.packages.tar.gz

chmod 755 dsc-1.1.1.packages.tar.gz

mkdir DSC

tar -xvf dsc-1.1.1.packages.tar.gz -C DSC

chmod 755 DSC -R

dpkg -i ./DSC/dsc-1.1.1-70.ssl_100.x64.deb

/opt/microsoft/dsc/Scripts/Register.py $DSCKEY $DSCURL

Add module in Azure Automation if DSC Configuration compilation fails

If you get the following error, see below, when compiling DSC Configuration in Azure Automation, it is probably because the module for the DSC Configuration is missing. In my example I need the “nx” module to compile the DSC configuration file. To solve the problem, add the module to the Azure Automation account.

Exception calling “NewScriptBlock” with “1” argument(s): “At line:4 char:5 + Import-DSCResource -Module nx + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The DSC engine could not load the module ‘nx’. It was not found on the system. At line:8 char:9 + nxPackage apache2Install + ~~~~~~~~~ Undefined DSC resource ‘nxPackage’. Use Import-DSCResource to import the resource. At line:15 char:9 + nxService apache2Service + ~~~~~~~~~ Undefined DSC resource ‘nxService’. Use Import-DSCResource to import the resource. At line:23 char:9 + nxFile apache2File + ~~~~~~ Undefined DSC resource ‘nxFile’. Use Import-DSCResource to import the resource.” (At line:4 char:5 + Import-DSCResource -Module nx + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The DSC engine could not load the module ‘nx’. It was not found on the system. At line:8 char:9 + nxPackage apache2Install + ~~~~~~~~~ Undefined DSC resource ‘nxPackage’. Use Import-DSCResource to import the resource. At line:15 char:9 + nxService apache2Service + ~~~~~~~~~ Undefined DSC resource ‘nxService’. Use Import-DSCResource to import the resource. At line:23 char:9 + nxFile apache2File + ~~~~~~ Undefined DSC resource ‘nxFile’. Use Import-DSCResource to import the resource.)

Add Module

Open the Azure Automation account and click Asset and then Modules.

If you have a module package you can upload it to Azure Automation by clicking “Add a module” if it exists in the Gallery, you can download and install it from there. In my example I will click “Browse Gallery” and install it from there.

Search for the module to install. In my example “nx”.

Click the module to install and then “Import”.

Now the module should be installed into the Azure Automation account and be ready to use.

Try to compile the DSC Configuration file again to see if it works!

Create an Azure Automation DSC Configuration with PowerShell

This is a short introduction on how you can create an Azure Resource Group, Azure Automation Account and DSC configuration with PowerShell.

The first one need is a DSC configuration file to upload into the DSC Configuration. In this example I will use an DSC Configuration file with configuration for the IIS role. To try this, save the following script as a PowerShell ps1 file as C:\DSC\IISFeature.ps1.

Configuration IISFeature 
{
    Import-DscResource –ModuleName ’PSDesiredStateConfiguration’
    
    Node WebServer
    {
        #Install IIS
        WindowsFeature IIS 
        {
            Ensure = "Present"
            Name = "Web-Server"
        }
    }
}

Configuration IISFeature

{

Import-DscResource –ModuleName ’PSDesiredStateConfiguration’

Node WebServer

{

#Install IIS

WindowsFeature IIS

{

Ensure = "Present"

Name = "Web-Server"

}

To create a Resource Group, Azure Automation Account and DSC Configuration with PowerShell run the following.

# Login to Azure
Add-AzurermAccount

# Select the Subscription you want to use
Select-AzureSubscription -SubscriptionId "<SubscriptionId>"

# Create an Azure Resource Group
$DSCDemo01 = New-AzureRmResourceGroup -Name 'DemoDSC01' -Location westeurope

# Create a Azure Automation Account for the earlier created Resource Group
$AAAccount = $DemoDSC01 | New-AzureRmAutomationAccount -Name 'DemoDSC01' -Plan Basic # Free

# Import a DSC configuration file to the Azure Automation Account created earlier
Import-AzureRmAutomationDscConfiguration -SourcePath C:\DSC\IISFeature.ps1 -ResourceGroupName $DemoDSC01.ResourceGroupName -AutomationAccountName $AAAccount.AutomationAccountName -Verbose -Published

# Compile the imported DSC configuration file
Start-AzureRmAutomationDscCompilationJob -ConfigurationName 'IISFeature'  -ResourceGroupName $DemoDSC01.ResourceGroupName -AutomationAccountName $AAAccount.AutomationAccountName -Verbose

# Login to Azure

Add-AzurermAccount

# Select the Subscription you want to use

Select-AzureSubscription -SubscriptionId "<SubscriptionId>"

# Create an Azure Resource Group

$DSCDemo01 = New-AzureRmResourceGroup -Name 'DemoDSC01' -Location westeurope

# Create a Azure Automation Account for the earlier created Resource Group

$AAAccount = $DemoDSC01 | New-AzureRmAutomationAccount -Name 'DemoDSC01' -Plan Basic # Free

# Import a DSC configuration file to the Azure Automation Account created earlier

Import-AzureRmAutomationDscConfiguration -SourcePath C:\DSC\IISFeature.ps1 -ResourceGroupName $DemoDSC01.ResourceGroupName -AutomationAccountName $AAAccount.AutomationAccountName -Verbose -Published

# Compile the imported DSC configuration file

Start-AzureRmAutomationDscCompilationJob -ConfigurationName 'IISFeature' -ResourceGroupName $DemoDSC01.ResourceGroupName -AutomationAccountName $AAAccount.AutomationAccountName -Verbose

Delete Registered Servers in Azure Backup

I received a question about removing servers in Azure Backup the other day and thought I should point out where to remove them in Azure Backup. In the Azure Classic Portal -> Recovery Services and the Backup Vault where the servers are, click Registered Items and Delete the servers. By default, the Type is “Azure Virtual Machines” so don’t forget to change to the type you want to delete. See the picture below for details.

If you get the following error message “You cannot delete vault XXXXXX because it contains registered servers. Delete the servers and the restore points for the server data, and then delete the vault” during Azure Backup Server installation and setup delete the server as described above.