Error: "Define config inside metaconfiguration with this partial config name"

DSC
1

I’m trying something new with my configs in order to make them more generic and hopefully more manageable… one base DSC config script that I use different environment data depending on the type of system - for instance:

Tablet:

$ConfigurationData = DSC_Config_Data_Tablet_001.psd1

DSCConfigWkstnBase -output “C:\Configs\Build$configpath2” -verbose -ConfigurationData $ConfigurationData

Workstation:

$ConfigurationData = DSC_Config_Data_Wkstn_001.psd1

DSCConfigWkstnBase -output “C:\Configs\Build$configpath2” -verbose -ConfigurationData $ConfigurationData

Running the first command however seems to not work - I get the error:

“Configuration DSCConfigTabletBase was pulled from server.
The partial configuration name DSCConfigWkstnBase present in the configuration document is invalid. Define a
configuration inside the metaconfiguration with this partial configuration name in order to use it.”

Looks like I cannot do this?

2

Are you getting this error during compilation? From the message it appears that the error would come from LCM rather than compilation. This error indicates that the partial configuration name defined in metaconfiguration doesn’t match the one from configuration.

3

I ran:

“Update-DscConfiguration -Verbose -Wait”

on the node LCM and got that error.

The partial conf mof is named: DSCConfigTabletBase.mof and is DSCConfigTabletBase in the LCM config script.

The is the contents of DSC_Config_Wkstn_Base_001.ps1 - the DSC config script used to create the mof:

param
	(
		[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)]
		[string]$ConfigurationData
  )

Configuration DSCConfigWkstnBase {

 
    Import-DscResource -Module cWindowsOS -Name cHostsFile
    Import-DscResource -Module xPSDesiredStateConfiguration
    Import-DscResource -Module PackageManagementProviderResource
    Import-DscResource -Module xNetworking



    Node ('localhost') {
        cHostsFile HostsConfig1 {
        IPAddress = $node.IPAddress001
        HostName = $node.HostName001
        Ensure = 'Present'
        }

        cHostsFile HostsConfig2 {
        IPAddress = $node.IPAddress002
        HostName = $node.HostName002
        Ensure = 'Present'
        }
        cHostsFile HostsConfig3 {
        IPAddress = $node.IPAddress003
        HostName = $node.HostName003
        Ensure = 'Present'
        }
        
        Registry LogonScreenConfig
        {
            Ensure = "Present"  # You can also set Ensure to "Absent"
            Key = $node.LogonScreenConfigKey
            ValueName = $node.LogonScreenConfigValueName
            ValueData = $node.LogonScreenConfigValueData
            ValueType = $node.LogonScreenConfigValueType
        }
    
        Registry EnableUAC
        {
            Ensure = "Present"  # You can also set Ensure to "Absent"
            Key = $node.EnableUACKey
            ValueName = $node.EnableUACValueName
            ValueData = $node.EnableLUAValueData
            ValueType = $node.EnableLUAValueType
        }
        
        Registry DarkThemeSystem
        {
            Ensure = "Present"  # You can also set Ensure to "Absent"
            Key = $node.DarkThemeSystemKey
            ValueName = $node.DarkThemeSystemValueName
            ValueData = $node.DarkThemeSystemValueData
            ValueType = $node.DarkThemeSystemValueType
        }
        
        PSModule MyPSModule
        {
            Ensure              =   "present"
            Name                =   "PowerShellPushOver"
            InstallationPolicy  =   "trusted"
        }
        PSModule WindowsOS
        {
            Ensure              =   "present"
            Name                =   "cWindowsOS"
            InstallationPolicy  =   "trusted"
        }
        
        PSModule ExcelModule
        {
            Ensure              =   "Present"
            Name                =   "ImportExcel"
            InstallationPolicy  =   "trusted"
        }
        
        PSModule AzureModule
        {
            Ensure              =   "Present"
            Name                =   "Azure"
            InstallationPolicy  =   "trusted"
        }
        
        xDnsServerAddress DnsServerAddress 
        { 
            Address        = $node.DNSAddress001
            InterfaceAlias = $node.InterfaceAlias001
            AddressFamily  = $node.AddressFamily001  
        }
    }
}

if ($ConfigurationData -eq "..\DSC_Node_Data\DSC_Config_Data_Wkstn_001.ps1") {

        $configpath1 = $ConfigurationData.Substring(0,$ConfigurationData.Length-4)
        $configpath2 = $configpath1.Substring(17)

        $MOF_Artifact="C:\Configs\Build\$configpath2\localhost.mof"

        if (Test-Path $MOF_Artifact){
    
        Remove-Item $MOF_Artifact
    }   

} elseif ($ConfigurationData -eq "..\DSC_Node_Data\DSC_Config_Data_Tablet_001.ps1") {
      
        $configpath1 = $ConfigurationData.Substring(0,$ConfigurationData.Length-4)
        $configpath2 = $configpath1.Substring(17)

        $MOF_Artifact="C:\Configs\Build\$configpath2\localhost.mof"

        if (Test-Path $MOF_Artifact){
    
        Remove-Item $MOF_Artifact
    } 
}

$configpath1 = $ConfigurationData.Substring(0,$ConfigurationData.Length-4)
$configpath2 = $configpath1.Substring(17)

DSCConfigWkstnBase -output "C:\Configs\Build\$configpath2" -verbose -ConfigurationData $ConfigurationData
4

The configuration name seen by the LCM is not that of the mof file name but the conifguration name from config .ps1 file. In this case it is ‘DSCConfigWkstnBase’. However the partial config name defined in the meta configuration seems to be different.
You have to make sure that partial config name defined in meta configuration matches with the configuration name from config ps1 file.

5

Ok - adding an extra parameter plus string concatenation seems to have solved my issue:

param
	(
		[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)]
		[string]$ConfigurationData,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)]
		[string]$Spec
  )

 $configname =  "DSCConfig"+$spec+"Base"

Configuration $configname {

 
    Import-DscResource -Module cWindowsOS -Name cHostsFile
    Import-DscResource -Module xPSDesiredStateConfiguration
    Import-DscResource -Module PackageManagementProviderResource
    Import-DscResource -Module xNetworking



    Node ('localhost') {
        cHostsFile HostsConfig1 {
        IPAddress = $node.IPAddress001
        HostName = $node.HostName001
        Ensure = 'Present'
        }

        cHostsFile HostsConfig2 {
        IPAddress = $node.IPAddress002
        HostName = $node.HostName002
        Ensure = 'Present'
        }
        cHostsFile HostsConfig3 {
        IPAddress = $node.IPAddress003
        HostName = $node.HostName003
        Ensure = 'Present'
        }
        
        Registry LogonScreenConfig
        {
            Ensure = "Present"  # You can also set Ensure to "Absent"
            Key = $node.LogonScreenConfigKey
            ValueName = $node.LogonScreenConfigValueName
            ValueData = $node.LogonScreenConfigValueData
            ValueType = $node.LogonScreenConfigValueType
        }
    
        Registry EnableUAC
        {
            Ensure = "Present"  # You can also set Ensure to "Absent"
            Key = $node.EnableUACKey
            ValueName = $node.EnableUACValueName
            ValueData = $node.EnableLUAValueData
            ValueType = $node.EnableLUAValueType
        }
        
        Registry DarkThemeSystem
        {
            Ensure = "Present"  # You can also set Ensure to "Absent"
            Key = $node.DarkThemeSystemKey
            ValueName = $node.DarkThemeSystemValueName
            ValueData = $node.DarkThemeSystemValueData
            ValueType = $node.DarkThemeSystemValueType
        }
        
        PSModule MyPSModule
        {
            Ensure              =   "present"
            Name                =   "PowerShellPushOver"
            InstallationPolicy  =   "trusted"
        }
        PSModule WindowsOS
        {
            Ensure              =   "present"
            Name                =   "cWindowsOS"
            InstallationPolicy  =   "trusted"
        }
        
        PSModule ExcelModule
        {
            Ensure              =   "Present"
            Name                =   "ImportExcel"
            InstallationPolicy  =   "trusted"
        }
        
        PSModule AzureModule
        {
            Ensure              =   "Present"
            Name                =   "Azure"
            InstallationPolicy  =   "trusted"
        }
        
        xDnsServerAddress DnsServerAddress 
        { 
            Address        = $node.DNSAddress001
            InterfaceAlias = $node.InterfaceAlias001
            AddressFamily  = $node.AddressFamily001  
        }
    }
}

if ($ConfigurationData -eq "..\DSC_Node_Data\DSC_Config_Data_Wkstn_001.ps1") {

        $configpath1 = $ConfigurationData.Substring(0,$ConfigurationData.Length-4)
        $configpath2 = $configpath1.Substring(17)

        $MOF_Artifact="C:\Configs\Build\$configpath2\localhost.mof"

        if (Test-Path $MOF_Artifact){
    
        Remove-Item $MOF_Artifact
    }   

} elseif ($ConfigurationData -eq "..\DSC_Node_Data\DSC_Config_Data_Tablet_001.ps1") {
      
        $configpath1 = $ConfigurationData.Substring(0,$ConfigurationData.Length-4)
        $configpath2 = $configpath1.Substring(17)

        $MOF_Artifact="C:\Configs\Build\$configpath2\localhost.mof"

        if (Test-Path $MOF_Artifact){
    
        Remove-Item $MOF_Artifact
    } 
}

$configpath1 = $ConfigurationData.Substring(0,$ConfigurationData.Length-4)
$configpath2 = $configpath1.Substring(17)

$dsc_cmd = "$configname" + " " + "-output" + " " + "C:\Configs\Build\$configpath2" + " " +  "-verbose" + " " +  "-ConfigurationData" + " " + "$ConfigurationData"

Invoke-Expression -command $dsc_cmd

Maybe there is a more elegant way to solve this… ?

6

Not a lot of options in this release, hopefully it will be easier to do it in future releases.