1. Automating SharePoint AutoSPInstaller vs Desired State Configuration (DSC)
Nik Charlebois
Brian Lalancette
Dudes

2. Microsoft Premier Field Engineer (PFE) based in Ottawa, Canada
4/21/2018 2:41 AM
@NikCharlebois
Microsoft Premier Field Engineer (PFE) based in Ottawa, Canada
Ex-PowerShell MVP
Author, Speaker, Blogger
Creator of the ReverseDSC and VisualDSC engines
Nik speaking
NikCharlebois.com
© 2014 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

3. https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/brianlala/
4/21/2018 2:41 AM
@BrianLala
Microsoft Premier Field Engineer (PFE) based in Toronto, Canada
Occasional speaker & blogger
Creator of AutoSPInstaller and AutoSPSourceBuilder
Co-creator of AutoSPInstaller.com
Brian speaking
© 2014 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

4. Session objectives and takeaways
Tech Ready 15
4/21/2018
Session objectives and takeaways
Session objective:
Learn ways to automate the deployment of SharePoint environments
Key takeaways:
Learn how AutoSPInstaller can and has been used to automate the deployment of SharePoint
Learn how PowerShell Desired State Configuration (DSC) can be used to automate and monitor the deployment of SharePoint
Get an overview of tools to help with DSC onboarding
© 2012 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Windows, Windows Vista and other product names are or may be registered trademarks and/or trademarks in the U.S. and/or other countries.
The information herein is for informational purposes only and represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation as of the date of this presentation. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information provided after the date of this presentation. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

5. Overview of AutoSPInstaller
4/21/2018 2:41 AM 1
Overview of AutoSPInstaller
© 2014 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

6. 4/21/2018
AutoSPInstaller
PowerShell-based process for performing the installation and initial configuration of SharePoint 201x, based on an XML input file
Introduced in 2010 to support SharePoint 2010 and its new PowerShell cmdlets
Refactored later in 2010
Huge amount of community input and feedback over past 7 years
Over 125k downloads from
© 2014 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Windows, and other product names are or may be registered trademarks and/or trademarks in the U.S. and/or other countries. The information herein is for informational purposes only and represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation as of the date of this presentation. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information provided after the date of this presentation. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

7. AutoSPInstaller Demo Kickoff

8. AutoSPInstaller Design considerations & advantages Ease of use
4/21/2018
AutoSPInstaller
Design considerations & advantages
Ease of use
User-friendly, semi-verbose status messages
Incorporate "best practices" wherever feasible
Centralized, remote installation option
© 2014 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Windows, and other product names are or may be registered trademarks and/or trademarks in the U.S. and/or other countries. The information herein is for informational purposes only and represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation as of the date of this presentation. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information provided after the date of this presentation. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

9. AutoSPInstaller Design considerations (continued)
4/21/2018
AutoSPInstaller
Design considerations (continued)
"Virtual" DSC :) re-runnable
Extensible (AutoSPInstallerFunctionsCustom.ps1) 
DR on the cheap: build a farm identical to original production in a fraction of the time
Classic, imperative approach 
© 2014 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Windows, and other product names are or may be registered trademarks and/or trademarks in the U.S. and/or other countries. The information herein is for informational purposes only and represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation as of the date of this presentation. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information provided after the date of this presentation. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

10. AutoSPInstaller.com SPA (Single-Page App) hosted on Azure Websites
4/21/2018
AutoSPInstaller.com
SPA (Single-Page App) hosted on Azure Websites
100% client-side JS – can actually be used offline
Developed by another Canuck (Ivan Josipovic) with input from myself
Useful for creating configurations from scratch, and validating/modifying existing configurations
AutoSPInstaller.com can actually be used completely offline, after initially loading the site!
© 2014 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Windows, and other product names are or may be registered trademarks and/or trademarks in the U.S. and/or other countries. The information herein is for informational purposes only and represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation as of the date of this presentation. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information provided after the date of this presentation. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

11. AutoSPInstaller.com Demo

12. AutoSPInstaller - Gotchas!
4/21/2018
AutoSPInstaller - Gotchas!
Its ease of use can lead inexperienced admins down a rabbit hole
Farm can quickly "drift" from initial state, rendering initial XML config invalid
Admins still need to know how to spec and architect a farm
Lots of "issues" can be due to environment, Windows, or SharePoint itself; many folks can't differentiate
Formally unsupported by Microsoft!
© 2014 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Windows, and other product names are or may be registered trademarks and/or trademarks in the U.S. and/or other countries. The information herein is for informational purposes only and represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation as of the date of this presentation. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information provided after the date of this presentation. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

13. AutoSPInstaller Demo Wrap-Up

14. Overview of SharePointDSC
4/21/2018 2:41 AM 2
Overview of SharePointDSC
© 2014 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

15. Desired State Configuration (DSC)
Requires PowerShell 4 or greater (WMF);
Responsible for bringing/keeping a machine in its Desired State;
Available both On-Prem and in Azure Automation & IaaS;
Windows
Nano
Linux
MacOS

16. Local Configuration Manager (LCM)
It’s the core of DSC!
Engine responsible for running DSC;
Keeps the Desired Configuration Information in memory;
Pending
Current
Previous

17. DSC Configuration Script
Somewhat human-readable way of defining your Desired State.
PS1 script defining a special « Configuration » keyword (behaves like a function);
Upon calling the configuration, generates a .MOF file;

18. What Does it Look Like?

19. DSC Push Demo

20. SharePoint DSC First DSC module to « RTM »;
4/21/2018 2:41 AM
SharePoint DSC
First DSC module to « RTM »;
Available as Open-Source on GitHub;
Support SharePoint 2013 and 2016 (no support for 2010);
Currently at version ;
Available on the PowerShell Gallery;
© 2014 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

21. 4/21/2018 2:41 AM
DSC Resource
Granular PowerShell module inside SharePointDSC responsible for a specific SharePoint component;
- MSFT_SPWebApplication
- MSFT_SPManagedPath
- MSFT_SPSite
- MSFT_UserProfileService
- …
Located under C:\Program Files\WindowsPowerShell\Modules\ SharePointDSC\<version>\DSCResources
© 2014 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

22. Comparison

23. Language AutoSPinstaller: DSC: <WebApplication Name=“A”>
<SiteCollections>
<SiteCollection Name=“B”>
<Webs>
<Web Name=“C” />
</Webs>
</SiteCollection>
</SiteCollections>
</WebApplication>
DSC:
SPWebApplication A { … }
SPSite B {…
DependsOn=“[SPWebApplication]A”
SPWeb C
DependsOn=“[SPSite]B”

24. Advantages of DSC Pull Server mode;
Apply and Autocorrect configuration mode;
Standardize ‘’Language’’ across multiple streams;
Wide community support;

25. SharePointDSC Demo

26. DSC - Gotcha’s Declaration Repetition can lead to disaster
Declare all artefacts in the first node & only declare SPFarm and SPServiceInstance in secondary nodes;
Learning Curve is still significant to get started;
Can become very complex very quickly;
Different ConfigurationMode for servers;

27. Why I Recommend WMF 5.1 Introduces reporting endpoints;
Improved Pull Server support
Package Management
Partial DSC
Class Support
PowerShell 5.1 is supported for SharePoint Server 2013+
us/powershell/wmf/5.1/productincompat

28. 4/21/2018 2:41 AM 3
ReverseDSC
© 2014 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

29. Key Definitions
Desired State: How a machine node should be configured;
Current State: How a machine node is currently configured;
* Goal of DSC is to have Current State == Desired State

30. Anatomy of a DSC Resource
Test-TargetResource -> Am I in my Desired State?
Get-TargetResource -> How am I currently configured?
Set-TargetResource -> Here is how I want you to configure me!

32. Principle of Deduction
Get-TargetResource is included in every resource…
Get-TargetResource returns me the Current State of any given machine node for a resource…
Using PowerShell we can dynamically call into all Get- TargetResource methods inside a Module…

33. Introducing a new concept
Reverse DSC!

34. 4/21/2018 2:41 AM
The “Ahhhh” moment
I can get an exact picture of how my existing environment is configured!
I can export the result of calling all Get-TargetResource as a DSC script!
I can use that script to create an exact replica of an existing environment or on-board an existing environment onto DSC!
…I can even take an on-premises environment…..take that Reverse DSC and…. push a replica in Azure!
© 2014 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

35. Imagine the possibilities
4/21/2018 2:41 AM
Imagine the possibilities
Analyze best practices
Quickly replicate on-premises to Azure;
Compare configuration drifts between 2 environments;
Replicate a client’s environment for troubleshooting;
Enroll existing environment onto DSC for Monitoring and compliance;
Straightforward upgrade from SharePoint 2013 to 2016;
Merge Multi-Server farm’s config into a standalone Dev box
DEV/TEST ….
© 2014 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

36. Onboarding Existing Investments
4/21/2018 2:41 AM
Onboarding Existing Investments
Scenario:
Client already has a SharePoint 2013 or 2016 environment and wish to onboard it onto DSC.
1 - Run ReverseDSC: “Tell me what is your Current Configuration”
3 – “Guess What? Your Current State is now also your Desired State”
2 – “Here it is!” 1 2 3
© 2014 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

37. 4/21/2018 2:41 AM 4
Summary
© 2014 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

38. Feature Comparison 4/21/2018 2:41 AM Feature AutoSPInstaller DSC
Learning Curve
Medium
High
Readability
Very Good
Good
Expandibility
Limited to SharePoint
All Technology Stacks
Declarative Language
XML
PowerShell
SP Supported Version
2010, 2013 and 2016
2013 and 2016 only
Extraction
3rd party tools ($)
ReverseDSC
Applicability
Configure a Farm based on definition
Configure and prevent configuration drifts
Templating
Search and Replace XML
Parameterized Data
SPDocKit can export a farm’s configuration to AutoSPInstaller-ready XML
© 2014 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

39. http://aka.ms/AutoSPInstaller http://aka.ms/ReverseDSC
4/21/2018 2:41 AM
URLs
© 2014 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.