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Desired State Configuration v3

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Article from ADMIN 95/2026

By Thorsten Butz

Desired State Configuration version 3 moves away from the PowerShell-centric Local Configuration Manager and relies instead on a streamlined, cross-platform command-line tool.

On Windows, Desired State Configuration version 3 (DSCv3) is installed in the form of a command-line application named dsc.exe. The Local Configuration Manager (LCM) is not used any more, eliminating the process of compiling the desired configuration to managed object format (MOF) files. Therefore, you must apply the configuration file as needed – most simply as a scheduled task.

Existing DSC resources are integrated by an adapter model and continued use is assured. To make it easier to distinguish between the versions, Microsoft now refers to the first two DSC versions as PowerShell DSC (PSDSC). PSDSC configurations can be used in parallel and, although the first two versions are deprecated, support will continue in the foreseeable future.

Getting Started

For an initial look at DSCv3, install the command-line application from App Installer | WinGet on Windows 11. You will find the DesiredStateConfiguration package in the Microsoft Store:

winget search --query DesiredStateConfiguration
winget install --id 9NVTPZWRC6KQ --source msstore

Alternatively, you can specify WinGet as the package source, named Microsoft.DSC here. Applications installed from the Microsoft Store are automatically updated. Of course, you can use other sources or installation methods; the DSC package is available for manual download on the project pages, as well [1].

After completing the install, dsc is available as a command-line application; you can access it by typing: