How to pass around a PowerShell DSC Configuration as an object?

Question

I'd like to be able to pass around DSC configuration objects to helper functions/cmdlets in order to make using them a little easier.

An example such configuration is:

[DSCLocalConfigurationManager()]
configuration LCMConfig
{
    Node $AllNodes.NodeName
    {
        Settings
        {
            ActionAfterReboot = 'ContinueConfiguration'
            ConfigurationMode = 'ApplyOnly'
            RebootNodeIfNeeded = $true
        }
    }
}

Is there any way to do something like

MyHelperFunction `
    -ConfigurationName LCMConfig `
    -ConfigurationData $configurationData `
    -Credential $administratorCredential

where the LCMConfig configuration is being passed into MyHelperFunction who can do with it what it wants?

Answer 1

Ok I finally figured out how to do it. You can do it with:

$configuration = Get-Command $ConfigurationName
Invoke-DscConfiguration `
    -Configuration $configuration `
    -ConfigurationData $configurationData `
    -Credential $administratorCredential

where Invoke-DscConfiguration is:

function Invoke-DscConfiguration
{
    [CmdletBinding()]
    [OutputType([String])]
    Param
    (
        [Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
        [System.Management.Automation.ConfigurationInfo]$Configuration,

        [Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
        [Hashtable]$ConfigurationData,

        [Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
        [PSCredential]$Credential,

        [Switch]$IsLCMConfiguration,

        [HashTable]$ConfigurationParameters
    )

    $ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'

    $outputPath = Get-TemporaryDscDirectory

    Write-Verbose "Compiling the '$($ConfigurationName.Name)' configuration."
    & $Configuration -ConfigurationData $ConfigurationData -OutputPath $outputPath | Out-Null

    Write-Verbose "Executing the '$($ConfigurationName.Name)' configuration."
    if ($IsLCMConfiguration)
    {
        Set-DscLocalConfigurationManager -Path $outputPath -Force -Credential $Credential -Verbose
    }
    else
    {
        Start-DscConfiguration -Path $outputPath -Force -Wait -Credential $Credential -Verbose
    }
}