Skip to content

Export resource instances

Some OpenDSC resources support the Export operation, which enumerates all current instances of that resource on the system. This is useful for discovering existing state and generating baseline configurations.

When to use this guide

Use export when you need to:

  • Discover all environment variables, users, groups, or other resources on a system.
  • Generate a baseline configuration document from existing state.
  • Audit what's currently configured on a machine.

Check export capability

Not all resources support export. Check the capabilities column in the resource list:

dsc resource list OpenDsc* | ConvertFrom-Json |
    Where-Object { $_.capabilities -match 'e' } |
    Select-Object type, capabilities

The e flag in the capabilities column indicates export support.

Export all instances

Use dsc resource export to retrieve all instances:

dsc resource export -r OpenDsc.Windows/Environment

The output contains every instance of the resource as a configuration document:

$schema: https://aka.ms/dsc/schemas/v3/bundled/config/document.json
resources:
  - name: 'Environment: PATH (Machine)'
    type: OpenDsc.Windows/Environment
    properties:
      name: PATH
      value: C:\Windows\system32;C:\Windows;...
      scope: Machine
  - name: 'Environment: TEMP (User)'
    type: OpenDsc.Windows/Environment
    properties:
      name: TEMP
      value: C:\Users\admin\AppData\Local\Temp
      scope: User

Save export output to a file

Redirect the output to a file to create a baseline configuration:

dsc resource export -r OpenDsc.Windows/Environment > baseline-environment.dsc.yaml

Export from multiple resources

Use dsc config export with a configuration document that lists the resources you want to export:

# export-template.dsc.yaml
$schema: https://aka.ms/dsc/schemas/v3/bundled/config/document.json
resources:
  - name: All environment variables
    type: OpenDsc.Windows/Environment
    properties: {}
  - name: All local users
    type: OpenDsc.Windows/User
    properties: {}

dsc config export --file export-template.dsc.yaml > baseline.dsc.yaml