DscResource.Tests

Common meta tests and other shared functions for PowerShell DSC resources repositories.

This project has adopted the Microsoft Open Source Code of Conduct. For more information see the Code of Conduct FAQ or contact opencode@microsoft.com with any additional questions or comments.

Branches

master

This is the branch containing the latest release - no contributions should be made directly to this branch.

dev

This is the development branch to which contributions should be proposed by contributors as pull requests. This branch is used by DSC Resource Kit modules for running common tests.

Change Log

A full list of changes in each version can be found in the change log.

Table of Contents

• DSC Resource Common Meta Tests
  • Common Meta Test Opt-In
    • Common Tests - Validate Markdown Links
    • Common Tests - Spellcheck Markdown Files
    • Common Tests - Validating Localization
  • Markdown Testing
  • Example Testing
  • PSScriptAnalyzer Rules
  • Skip meta tests (for debug purpose)
• MetaFixers Module
• TestHelper Module
• Templates for Creating Tests
• Example Test Usage
• Example Usage of DSCResource.Tests in AppVeyor.yml
• AppVeyor Module
  • Using AppVeyor.psm1 with the default shared model
  • Using AppVeyor.psm1 with harness model
• Encrypt Credentials in Integration Tests
• CodeCoverage reporting with CodeCov.io
  • Ensure Code Coverage is enabled
  • Enable reporting to CodeCov.io
  • Configure CodeCov.io
  • Add the badge to the Readme
• Documentation Helper Module
• Run integration tests in order
  • Run tests in a Docker Windows container
• Deploy
  • Publish examples to PowerShell Gallery
  • Publish Wiki Content

DSC Resource Common Meta Tests

Meta.Tests.ps1

Common Meta Test Opt-In

New tests may run but only produce errors. Once you fix the test, please copy .MetaTestOptIn.json from this repo to the root of your repo. If there is any new problem in the area, this will cause the tests to fail, not just warn.

The following opt-in flags are available:

• Common Tests - Validate Module Files: run tests to validate module files have correct BOM.
• Common Tests - Validate Markdown Files: run tests to validate markdown files do not violate markdown rules. Markdown rules can be suppressed in .markdownlint.json file.
• Common Tests - Validate Example Files: run tests to validate that examples can be compiled without error.
• Common Tests - Validate Example Files To Be Published: run tests to validate that examples can be published successfully to PowerShell Gallery. See requirements under Publish examples to PowerShell Gallery.
• Common Tests - Validate Script Files: run tests to validate script files have correct BOM.
• Common Tests - Required Script Analyzer Rules: fail tests if any required script analyzer rules are violated.
• Common Tests - Flagged Script Analyzer Rules: fail tests if any flagged script analyzer rules are violated.
• Common Tests - New Error-Level Script Analyzer Rules: fail tests if any new error-level script analyzer rules are violated.
• Common Tests - Custom Script Analyzer Rules: fail tests if any custom script analyzer rules are violated.
• Common Tests - Relative Path Length: fail tests if the length of the relative full path, from the root of the module, exceeds the max hard limit of 129 characters. 129 characters is the current (known) maximum for a relative path to be able to compile a configuration in Azure Automation using a DSC resource module.
• Common Tests - Validate Markdown Links: fails tests if a link in a markdown file is broken.
• Common Tests - Spellcheck Markdown Files: fail test if there are any spelling errors in the markdown files. There is the possibility to add or override words in the \.vscode\cSpell.json file.

Common Tests - Validate Markdown Links

The test validates the links in markdown files. Any valid GitHub markdown link will pass the linter.

NOTE! There is currently a bug in the markdown link linter that makes it unable to recognize absolute paths where the absolute link starts in a parent folder. For example, if a markdown file /Examples/README.md, contains an absolute link pointing to /Examples/Resources/SqlAG, that link will fail the test. Changing the link to a relative link from the README.md file's folder, e.g Resources/SqlAG will pass the test. See issue vors/MarkdownLinkCheck#5.

Common Tests - Spellcheck Markdown Files

When opt-in to this test, if there are any spelling errors in markdown files, the tests will fail.

Note: The spell checker is case-insensitive, so the words 'AppVeyor' and 'appveyor' are equal and both are allowed.

If the spell checker (cSpell) does not recognize the word, but the word is correct or a specific phrase is not recognized but should be allowed, then it is possible to add these to a dictionary or tell it to ignore the word or phrases. This is done by adding a \.vscode\cSpell.json in the repository.

The following JSON is the simplest form of the file \.vscode\cSpell.json (see cSpell for more settings).

This settings file will also work together with the Visual Studio Code extension Code Spell Checker. By using this extension the spelling errors can be caught in real-time. When a cSpell.json exists in the .vscode folder, the individual setting in the cSpell.json file will override the corresponding setting in the Visual Studio Code User settings or Workspace settings file. This differs from adding a Code Spell Checker setting to the Visual Studio Code Workspace settings file, as the Workspace settings file will override all the settings in the User settings.

{
    "ignorePaths": [
        ".git/*",
        ".vscode/*"
    ],
    "language": "en",
    "dictionaries": [
        "powershell"
    ],
    "words": [
        "markdownlint",
        "Codecov"
    ],
    "ignoreRegExpList": [
        "AppVeyor",
        "opencode@microsoft.com",
        "\\.gitattributes"
    ]
}

The key words should have the words that are normally used when writing text.

The key ignoreRegExpList is used to ignore phrases or combinations of words, such as AppVeyor, which will be detected as two different words since it consists of two words starting with upper-case letters. To configure cSpell to ignore the word combination AppVeyor, then we can add a regular expression, in this case AppVeyor. This will cause cSpell to ignore part of the text that matches the regular expression.

Common Tests - Validating Localization

These tests validate the localization folders and files, and also that each localization string key is used and there are no missing or extra localization string keys. These tests will only work if the localization variable is $script:localizedData, and it is a string constant, e.g. $script:localizedData.MyStringKey.

• Should have an en-US localization folder.
• The en-US localization folder should have the correct casing.
• A resource file with the correct name should exist in the localization folder.
• The resource or module should use all the localization string keys from the localization resource file.
• The localization resource file should not be missing any localization string key that is used in the resource or module.
• If there are other localization folders (other than en-US)
  • They should contain a resource file with the correct name.
  • The folders should use the correct casing.
  • All en-US resource file localized string keys must also exist in the resource file.
  • There should be no additional localized string keys in the resource file that does not exist in the en-US resource file.

Markdown Testing

.markdownlint.json gulpfile.js package.json

The DSC Resource Common Meta Tests contains tests for validating that any markdown files in a DSC Resource meet the standard markdown guidelines.

These tests use NPM to download Gulp, which then uses a Gulp file to ensure that the markdown files are correct.

The 'markdown' tests can be excluded when running pester by using:

Invoke-Pester -ExcludeTag @('Markdown')

It is possible to override the default behavior of the markdown validation test. By default the common tests use the settings in the markdownlint settings file .markdownlint.json. If the file '.markdownlint.json' exists in the root path of the module repository, then that file will be used as the settings file. Please note that there are currently only two markdown lint rules allowed to be overridden, and that is lint rule MD013 (line length) and MD024 (Multiple headers with the same content). These are disabled by default, and can be enabled by individual repositories to enforce those linting rules.

Example Testing

The DSC Resource Common Meta Tests contains tests for validating that any included Example files work correctly. These tests are performed by attempting to apply the example DSC Configurations to the machine running the tests. This causes them to behave as extra integration tests.

The 'example' tests can be excluded when running pester by using:

Invoke-Pester -ExcludeTag @('Example')

When a repository is opted-in to example testing, each example file in the 'Examples' folder must have a function named Example which should contain the configuration which will be tested.

An optional configuration data hash table can be added for any specific data that needs to be provided to the example configuration. The configuration data hash table variable name must be $ConfigurationData for the test to pick it up. If no configuration block is provided a default configuration block is used.

PSScriptAnalyzer Rules

The DSC Resource Common Meta Tests also contains tests for PSScriptAnalyzer (PSSA) rules. Along with the built-in PSSA rules, custom rules are tested. Those rules are defined and maintained in this repository in DscResource.AnalyzerRules. These custom rules are built to follow the style guideline, and overriding them should be a temporary measure until the code can follow the style guideline

There will be cases where built-in and/or custom PSSA rules may need to be suppressed in scripts or functions. You can suppress a rule by decorating a script/function or script/function parameter with .NET's SuppressMessageAttribute.

When the Common Tests - PS Script Analyzer on Resource Files test fails on a PSSA rule, Meta.Tests will use Write-Warning to output Rule Name, Script Name, Line Number, and Rule Message. When necessary, the rule name can be used to suppress the rule as needed. For example, the following code would cause the PSAvoidGlobalVars built-in PSSA rule to fail:

function Set-TargetResource
{
    param
    (
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)]
        [String]
        $FeatureName
    )

    $windowsOptionalFeature = Dism\Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -FeatureName $FeatureName -NoRestart $true

    if ($windowsOptionalFeature.RestartNeeded -eq $true)
    {
        Write-Verbose -Message $script:localizedData.RestartNeeded
        $global:DSCMachineStatus = 1
    }
}

In this example, suppression is allowed here because $global:DSCMachineStatus must be set in order to reboot the machine. To suppress the PSAvoidGlobalVars rule for this function, this can be done by using the SuppressMessageAttribute like this:

function Set-TargetResource
{
    [Diagnostics.CodeAnalysis.SuppressMessageAttribute('PSAvoidGlobalVars', '')]
    param
    (
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)]
        [String]
        $FeatureName
    )

    $windowsOptionalFeature = Dism\Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -FeatureName $FeatureName -NoRestart $true

    if ($windowsOptionalFeature.RestartNeeded -eq $true)
    {
        Write-Verbose -Message $script:localizedData.RestartNeeded
        $global:DSCMachineStatus = 1
    }
}

For further details and examples for suppressing PSSA rules, please see the Suppressing Rules documentation.

Skip meta tests (for debug purpose)

For debug purpose it is possible to skip the common tests, the tests in the Meta.Tests.ps1 script file. When debugging a certain unit test or integration test in AppVeyor, it takes quite some time for the common test to run before the actual unit or integration test runs.

To temporarily skip the common tests, the environment variable SkipAllCommonTests can be used.

Add environment variable to the appveyor.yml

Note: This environment variable should not be merged, or a commit pushed into the branches dev or master. This environment variable is purely for debug purposes before sending in a pull request (PR).

Using AppVeyor environment variable.

environment:
  SkipAllCommonTests: True

Or as the first PowerShell line to run when AppVeyor is starting testing.

test_script:
    - ps: Set-Item -Path env:\SkipAllCommonTests -Value $true

MetaFixers Module

MetaFixers.psm1

We are trying to provide automatic fixers where it's appropriate. A fixer corresponds to a particular test.

For example, if Files encoding test from Meta.Tests.ps1 test fails, you should be able to run ConvertTo-UTF8 fixer from MetaFixers.psm1.

TestHelper Module

TestHelper.psm1

The test helper module (TestHelper.psm1) contains the following functions:

• New-Nuspec: Creates a new nuspec file for NuGet package.
• Install-ResourceDesigner: Will attempt to download the xDSCResourceDesignerModule using NuGet package and return the module.
• Initialize-TestEnvironment: Initializes an environment for running unit or integration tests on a DSC resource.
• Restore-TestEnvironment: Restores the environment after running unit or integration tests on a DSC resource.

Templates for Creating Tests

The Template files that are used for creating Unit and Integration tests for a DSC resource are available in the DSCResource.Template GitHub Repository in the Tests folder

To use these files, see the test guidelines document and the instructions at the top of each template file.

The resource files are:

• Unit_Template.ps1: Use to create a set of Unit Pester tests for a single DSC Resource.
• Integration_Template.ps1: Use to create a set of Integration Pester tests for a single DSC Resource.
• Integration_Config_Template.ps1: Use to create a DSC Configuration file for a single DSC Resource. Used in conjunction with Integration_Template.ps1.

Example Test Usage

To see examples of the Unit/Integration tests in practice, see the NetworkingDsc MSFT_Firewall resource:

• Unit Tests
• Integration Tests
• Resource DSC Configuration

Example Usage of DSCResource.Tests in AppVeyor.yml

To automatically download and install the DscResource.Tests in an AppVeyor.yml file, please see the following sample AppVeyor.yml. https://github.com/PowerShell/DscResource.Template/blob/master/appveyor.yml

AppVeyor Module

AppVeyor.psm1

This module provides functions for building and testing DSC Resources in AppVeyor.

Note: These functions will only work if called within an AppVeyor CI build task.

• Invoke-AppveyorInstallTask: This task is used to set up the environment in preparation for the test and deploy tasks. It should be called under the install AppVeyor phase (the install: keyword in the appveyor.yml).
• Invoke-AppveyorTestScriptTask: This task is used to execute the tests. It should be called under test AppVeyor phase (the test_script: keyword in the appveyor.yml).
• Invoke-AppveyorAfterTestTask: This task is used to perform the following tasks. It should be called either under the test AppVeyor phase (the test_script: keyword in the appveyor.yml), or the after tests AppVeyor phase (the after_test: keyword in the appveyor.yml).
  • Generate, zip and publish the Wiki content to AppVeyor (optional).
  • Set the build number in the DSC Resource Module manifest.
  • Publish the Test Results artefact to AppVeyor.
  • Zip and publish the DSC Resource content to AppVeyor.
• Invoke-AppVeyorDeployTask: This task is used to perform the following tasks. It should be called under the deploy AppVeyor phase (the deploy_script: keyword in the appveyor.yml).
  • Publish examples to PowerShell Gallery
  • Publish Wiki Content

Using AppVeyor.psm1 with the default shared model

For an example of a AppVeyor.yml file for using the default shared model with a resource module, see the DscResource.Template appveyor.yml.

Using AppVeyor.psm1 with harness model

An example AppVeyor.yml file of using the harness model with a resource module.

version: 3.1.{build}.0
install:
    - git clone https://github.com/PowerShell/DscResource.Tests

    - ps: |
        $moduleName = 'xNetworking'
        $mainModuleFolder = "Modules\$moduleName"
        $harnessModulePath = "Tests\$($moduleName).TestHarness.psm1"
        $harnessFunctionName = "Invoke-$($moduleName)Test"
        Import-Module "$env:APPVEYOR_BUILD_FOLDER\DscResource.Tests\AppVeyor.psm1"
        Invoke-AppveyorInstallTask

build: false

test_script:
    - ps: |
        Invoke-AppveyorTestScriptTask `
            -Type 'Harness' `
            -MainModulePath $mainModuleFolder `
            -HarnessModulePath $harnessModulePath `
            -HarnessFunctionName $harnessFunctionName

deploy_script:
    - ps: |
        Invoke-AppveyorAfterTestTask `
            -Type 'Wiki' `
            -MainModulePath $mainModuleFolder `
            -ResourceModuleName $moduleName

Encrypt Credentials in Integration Tests

Any configuration used for an integration test that uses a configuration that contains credential parameters must be configured to use MOF encryption by providing a certificate file.

The path to the certificate file must be provided in the CertificateFile property in the ConfigurationData.

$ConfigurationData = @{
    AllNodes = @(
        @{
            NodeName        = 'localhost'
            CertificateFile = $env:DscPublicCertificatePath
        }
    )
}

When these tests are run in AppVeyor and the AppVeyor module is being used then the Invoke-AppveyorInstallTask and/or Invoke-AppveyorTestScriptTask will automatically generate an appropriate certificate file and assign the path to the environment variable $env:DscPublicCertificatePath.

To run the same tests outside of AppVeyor, the certificate can be created and the path assigned to the $env:DscPublicCertificatePath variable by running the function New-DscSelfSignedCertificate from the TestHelper module.

$certificate = New-DscSelfSignedCertificate

CodeCoverage reporting with CodeCov.io

This is to enable code coverage reporting through codecov.io which allows you to report on pull request and project code coverage. To use codecov.io, you must have enabled Pester code coverage, which the first two sections cover.

Ensure Code Coverage is enabled

Repository using -Type 'Default' for Invoke-AppveyorTestScriptTask

1. On the call to Invoke-AppveyorTestScriptTask, make sure you have -CodeCoverage specified. This will enable Pester code coverage.

It is possible to control which relative paths, from the root module folder, are evaluated for code coverage. By specifying one or more relative paths in the parameter -CodeCoveragePath each path is searched for PowerShell modules files (.psm1). For each relative folder it will look in the root of the relative path, and also recursively search the first level subfolders, for PowerShell module files (.psm1). Defaults to the relative paths 'DSCResources', 'DSCClassResources', and 'Modules'.

Repository using -Type 'Harness' for Invoke-AppveyorTestScriptTask

1. Make sure you are properly generating pester code coverage in the repository harness code.

Enable reporting to CodeCov.io

1. On the call to Invoke-AppveyorTestScriptTask, specify -CodeCovIo. This will enable reporting to codecov.io

Configure CodeCov.io

1. Copy .codecov.yml from the root of this repo to the root of your repo.
2. Adjust the code coverage goals if needed. See the CodeCov.io documentation.

Add the badge to the Readme

Add the following code below the AppVeyor badge in the main repo readme.md, replacing <repoName> with the name of the repository.

[![codecov](https://codecov.io/gh/PowerShell/<repoName>/branch/master/graph/badge.svg)](https://codecov.io/gh/PowerShell/<reproName>/branch/master)
[![codecov](https://codecov.io/gh/PowerShell/<repoName>/branch/dev/graph/badge.svg)](https://codecov.io/gh/PowerShell/<reproName>/branch/dev)

Documentation Helper Module

This module consists of the following three nested modules:

MofHelper

A helper module containing the Get-MofSchemaObject function used to return the contents of the schema.mof files as a PowerShell object to be used in other scripts.

PowerShellHelp

A module containing the function New-DscResourcePowerShellHelp that when run will process all of the MOF based resources in a specified module directory and create PowerShell help files for each resource into the resource's en-US subdirectory. These help files include details on the property types for each resource, as well as a text description and examples where they exist.

A README.md with a text description must exist in the resource's subdirectory for the help file to be generated.

When the DSC resource module is imported, these help files can then be read by passing the name of the resource as a parameter to Get-Help.

WikiPages

A module containing the function New-DscResourceWikiSite that is used by some HQRM DSC Resource modules to produce Wiki Content to be distributed with the DSC Resource module as well as published in the Wiki section of the DSC Resource repo on GitHub.

It is usually called by the Invoke-AppveyorAfterTestTask task in AppVeyor.psm1 when the -type parameter is set to 'Wiki'. For example:

Invoke-AppveyorAfterTestTask `
    -Type 'Wiki' `
    -MainModulePath '.\Modules\SharePointDsc\' `
    -ResourceModuleName 'SharePointDsc'

Run integration tests in order

This is only available for resource modules that are using the shared AppVeyor module model, meaning those resource modules that are calling the helper function Invoke-AppveyorTestScriptTask either without the parameter -Type, or has assigned the value 'Default' to parameter -Type.

Note: Resource modules using the "Harness"-model (e.g SharePointDsc and xStorage) must add this functionality per individual resource module.

To run integration tests in order, the resource module must opt-in by calling helper function Invoke-AppveyorTestScriptTask using the switch parameter -RunTestInOrder.

Also, each integration test file ('*.Integration.Tests.ps1') must be decorated with an attribute Microsoft.DscResourceKit.IntegrationTest containing a named attribute argument 'OrderNumber' and be assigned a numeric value (1, 2, 3,..). The value 0 should not be used since it is reserved for DscResource.Tests, for making sure the common tests are always run first.

Integration tests will be run in ascending order, so integration tests with value 1 will be run before integration tests with value 2. If an integration test does not have a assigned order, it will be run unordered after all ordered tests have been run.

Example showing how the integration test file could look like to make sure an integration test is always run as one of the first integration tests. This should be put a the top of the integration test script file.

[Microsoft.DscResourceKit.IntegrationTest(OrderNumber = 1)]
param()

Run tests in a Docker Windows container

The same parameter RunTestInOrder can also be use to run unit tests or integration tests in a container. This make it possible to run integration tests and unit tests in parallel on the same build worker. The common tests will by default always be run on the AppVeyor build worker.

To run a test in a container, the test must be decorated with the attribute Microsoft.DscResourceKit.IntegrationTest or Microsoft.DscResourceKit.UnitTest.

The Pester output from the container, including errors will be sent to the console in a Pester like format, and they will also be added to the list of tests in AppVeyor portal. There is transcript from the test run that is uploaded as artifact in AppVeyor which can contain more detailed errors why the one test failed.

Note: The transcript catches more output than Pester normally writes to the console since it sees all errors that Pester catches with | Should -Throw.

If the container returns an exit code other than 0, the Docker log for the container is gathered and uploaded as an artifact. This is intended to enable a more detailed error of what happened to be displayed. The Docker log will be searched for any error records. If any are found then an exception will be thrown which will stop the the tests in the build worker.

Named attribute argument

• ContainerName: The name of the container. If the same container name is used in multiple tests they will be run sequentially in the same container.
• ContainerImage: The name of the container image to use for the container. This should use the normal Docker format for specifying a Docker image, i.e. 'microsoft/windowsservercore:latest'. If the tag 'latest' is used, then docker pull will always run to make sure the latest revision of the image is in the local image repository. To use the 'latest' local revision, don't suffix the tag 'latest' to the image name. Note: If the same container name is used in multiple test and they have different container images, the first container image that is loaded from at test will be used for all tests.

Example

This example shows how the integration test file would look if the tests should be run in a container and also run before other integration tests. This should be put a the top of the integration test script file.

[Microsoft.DscResourceKit.IntegrationTest(OrderNumber = 1, ContainerName = 'ContainerName', ContainerImage = 'Organization/ImageName:Tag')]
param()

This example shows how the integration test file would look if the tests should be run in a container and not using any specific order. This should be put a the top of the integration test script file.

[Microsoft.DscResourceKit.IntegrationTest(ContainerName = 'ContainerName', ContainerImage = 'Organization/ImageName:Tag')]
param()

This example shows how the unit test file would look if the tests should be run in a container. This should be put a the top of the unit test script file. Note: Unit test does not support ordered testing at this time.

[Microsoft.DscResourceKit.UnitTest(ContainerName = 'ContainerName', ContainerImage = 'Organization/ImageName:Tag')]
param()

Artifacts when running tests in a container

These are the artifacts that differ when running tests using a container.

• unittest_Transcript.txt - Contains the transcript from the test run that was done in the container.
• unittest_TestResults.xml - Contains the Pester output in the NUnitXML format from the tests that was tested in the container.
• unittest_TestResults.json - Contains the serialized object that Pester returned after it finished the test run in the container.
• unittest_DockerLog.txt - If the container exits with any other exit code than 0 a Docker log is gathered and uploaded as an artifact. This is intended to enable a more detailed view of the error. If the container exits with exit code 0 then the Docker log will not be uploaded.
• worker_TestsResults - Contains the Pester output in the NUnitXML format from the tests that was tested in the build worker.

Deploy

To run the deploy steps the following must be added to the appveyor.yml. The default is that opt-in is required for all the deploy tasks. See comment-based help for the optional parameters.

Example opt-in to both Example Publishing and Wiki Content Publishing:

deploy_script:
  - ps: |
        Invoke-AppVeyorDeployTask -OptIn PublishExample, PublishWikiContent

Publish examples to PowerShell Gallery

To opt-in to this task, change the appveyor.yml to include the opt-in task PublishExample, e.g. Invoke-AppVeyorDeployTask -OptIn PublishExample.

By opting-in to the PublishExample task, the test framework will publish the examples in the AppVeyor deploy step, but only if it is a 'master' branch build ($env:APPVEYOR_REPO_BRANCH -eq 'master').

Note: It is possible to override the deploy branch in appveyor.yml, e.g. Invoke-AppVeyorDeployTask -Branch @('dev','my-working-branch'). But if building on any other branch than 'master' the task will do a dry run (using -WhatIf).

By adding script metadata to an example (see New-ScriptFileInfo) the resource module automatically opt-in to publish that example (if already opt-in for the deploy tasks in the appveyor.yml).

Requirements/dependencies for publishing to PowerShell Gallery

• Publish only on 'master' build.
• Must have opt-in for the example validation common test.
• Publish only an example that passes Test-ScriptFileInfo.
• Publish only an example that does not already exist (for example has a newer version).
• Publish only an example which is located under '\Examples' folder.
• Publish only an example where file name ends with 'Config'.
• Publish only an example that where filename and configuration name are the same. Published examples must have the same configuration name as the file name to be able to deploy in Azure Automation.
  • Example files are allowed to begin, be prefixed, with numeric value followed by a dash (e.g. '1-', '2-') to support auto-documentation. The prefix will be removed from the name when publishing, so the filename will appear without the prefix in PowerShell Gallery.
• Publish only examples that have a unique GUID within the resource module. Note: This is only validated within the resource module, the validation does not validate this against PowerShell Gallery. This is to prevent simple copy/paste mistakes within the same resource module.
• Publish only an example where the configuration name contains only letters, numbers, and underscores. Where the name starts with a letter, and ends with a letter or a number.

PowerShell Gallery API key

For the Publish-Script to work each repo that opt-in must have the PowerShell Gallery account API key as a secure environment variable in appveyor.yml. For DSC Resource Kit resource modules, this should be the same API key, since it must be encrypted by an account that has permission to the AppVeyor PowerShell organization account.

Note: This key can only be used for resource modules under DSC Resource Kit.

environment:
  gallery_api:
    secure: 9ekJzfsPCDBkyLrfmov83XbbhZ6E2N3z+B/Io8NbDetbHc6hWS19zsDmy7t0Vvxv

Note: There was a problem running Test-ScriptFileInfo on the AppVeyor build worker, because the build worker has the setting core.autocrlf=input which result in the files checked out only have LF as as the end-of-line (eol) character. Test-ScriptFileInfo is unable to parse the files with just LF. To solve this, the best option is to add a .gitattributes file to the root of the repository, with the following content. This will always make git checkout files with CRLF as the end-of-line (eol) characters.

* text eol=crlf

Contributor responsibilities

Contributors that add or change an example to be published must make sure that

• The example filename is short but descriptive and ends with 'Config'.
  • If the example is for a single resource, then the resource name could be prefixed in the filename (and configuration name) followed by an underscore (e.g. xScript_WatchFileContentConfig.ps1). The thought is to easier find related examples.
• The Node block is targeting 'localhost' (or equivalent).
• The filename and configuration name match (see requirements/dependencies above).
• The example contains script metadata with all required properties present.
• The example has an unique GUID in the script metadata.
• The example have comment-based help with at least .DESCRIPTION.
• The example script metadata version and release notes is updated accordingly.
• (Optional) The example has a #Requires statement.

Example of script metadata, #Requires statement and comment-based help

Note: The .PRIVATEDATA in the script metadata is optional and it is for a future implementation to be able to run integration test on the examples.

<#PSScriptInfo
.VERSION 1.0.4
.GUID 124cf79c-d637-4e50-8199-5cf4efb3572d
.AUTHOR Microsoft Corporation
.COMPANYNAME Microsoft Corporation
.COPYRIGHT
.TAGS DSCConfiguration
.LICENSEURI https://github.com/PowerShell/xPSDesiredStateConfiguration/blob/master/LICENSE
.PROJECTURI https://github.com/PowerShell/xPSDesiredStateConfiguration
.ICONURI
.EXTERNALMODULEDEPENDENCIES
.REQUIREDSCRIPTS
.EXTERNALSCRIPTDEPENDENCIES
.RELEASENOTES First version.
.PRIVATEDATA 2016-Datacenter,2016-Datacenter-Server-Core
#>

#Requires -module @{ModuleName = 'xPSDesiredStateConfiguration';ModuleVersion = '8.2.0.0'}

<#
    .SYNOPSIS
        Creates a file at the given file path with the specified content through
        the xScript resource.

    .DESCRIPTION
        Creates a file at the given file path with the specified content through
        the xScript resource.

    .PARAMETER FilePath
        The path at which to create the file. Defaults to $env:TEMP.

    .PARAMETER FileContent
        The content to set for the new file.
        Defaults to 'Just some sample text to write to the file'.
#>

Publish Wiki Content

To opt-in to this task, change the appveyor.yml to include the opt-in task PublishWikiContent, e.g. Invoke-AppVeyorDeployTask -OptIn PublishWikiContent.

By opting-in to the PublishWikiContent task, the test framework will publish the contents of a DSC Resource Module Wiki Content artifact to the relevant GitHub Wiki repository, but only if it is a 'master' branch build ($env:APPVEYOR_REPO_BRANCH -eq 'master'). A Wiki Sidebar file will be generated, containing links to all of the markdown files in the Wiki, as well as as a Wiki Footer file. Any files contained within the WikiSource directory of the repository will also be published to the Wiki overriding any auto generated files.

Note: It is possible to override the deploy branch in appveyor.yml, e.g. Invoke-AppVeyorDeployTask -Branch @('dev','my-working-branch').

Requirements/dependencies for publishing Wiki Content

• Publish only on 'master' build.
• The Invoke-AppveyorAfterTestTask function must be present in the Appveyor configuration with a Type of 'Wiki' to generate the Wiki artifact.
• A GitHub Personal Access Token with repo/public_repo permissions for a user that has at least Collaborator access to the relevant DSC Module GitHub repository must be generated and then added as a secure variable called github_access_token to the environment section of the repository's appveyor.yml file.
• The GitHub Wiki needs to be initialized on a repository before this function is run.

Note: Currently Wiki content files are only added or updated by the function, not deleted. Any deletions must be done manually by cloning the Wiki repository and deleting the required content.