Course Content

Building custom Bicep Local Deploy extensions From fundamentals to publishing your first custom-ready extension 4 Lessons

Introduction to Bicep Local Deploy extensions 20 min
Creating your first Bicep Local Deploy extension 45 min
Testing your Bicep Local Deploy extension 60 min
Documentation and publishing Bicep Local Deploy extension 35 min

Course content

This course takes you from Bicep Local Deploy fundamentals to publishing custom extensions that are production-ready. The getting started module starts with an introduction to the Bicep Local Deploy framework and its architecture. It covers how custom extensions work within Bicep's ecosystem. You'll set up your development environment and verify your installation using a quick-start project.

Next, you'll be building your first complete extension, expanding on the quick-start project. From looking at the project structure to defining type models with attributes, and lastly, implementing handlers that manage the resource lifecycle.

The advanced module lessons dive deeper into testing and documentation. You'll be using the bicep-local-docgen CLI tool to validate your documentation.

Prerequisites

Before starting this course, you should have:

C# programming: Be familiar with C# syntax, classes, and properties.
PowerShell basics: Understand PowerShell commands and scripting for running build scripts and tests.
REST APIs: Basic understanding of HTTP methods (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE) and JSON.
Command-line tools: Be comfortable running CLI utilities.

Don't worry if you're missing some recommended knowledge. The course provides explanations along the way. The required knowledge is mainly for following the code examples and completing the exercises.

What you'll learn

Understand Bicep Local Deploy architecture: Learn what custom extensions are, how they extend Bicep's capabilities, and the role of Azure.Bicep.Local.Extension framework and documentation attributes.
Build complete custom extensions: Create type models with documentation attributes, implement resource handlers, and test with Bicep files and Pester.
Generate and publish documentation: Use bicep-local-docgen CLI to generate markdown documentation and validation.

By the end of this course, you'll have a production-ready Bicep Local Deploy extension, including:

Documentation
End-to-end tests
Publishing workflow

You'll understand the complete lifecycle from initial concept to a published extension that users can consume in their Bicep templates.

Getting started Learn the fundamentals and set up your development environment 4 Lessons

Introduction to Microsoft Desired State Configuration (DSC) 5 min
Installing Microsoft Desired State Configuration (DSC) 10 min
Your first resource invocation 10 min
Practicing and exploring 20 min

Course content

This course takes you from the Microsoft DSC fundamentals to practical implementation. The getting started module introduces Microsoft's Desired State Configuration (DSC) cross-platform command-line tool for declarative configuration management. You'll learn the core concepts that differentiate DSC from traditional configuration management approaches, install Microsoft DSC on your system, and get hands-on experience by invoking your first DSC resource. At the end, there's room for practical exercises and a knowledge check.

What you'll learn

Understand Microsoft's DSC architecture: Learn what Desired State Configuration is, how it's different from imperative tools, and why idempotency matters.
Install and configure Microsoft DSC: Set up Microsoft DSC on Windows, Linux, or macOS, including PATH configuration and installation.
Work with DSC resources: Discover how to explore resource schemas, understand property requirements, and invoke the core resource operations (get, set, test, and delete).
Configure your registry: Gain practical experience with the Microsoft.Windows/Registry DSC resource.

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Practicing and exploring

Time to test your knowledge and understanding by performing exercises and answering some questions. Get your hands dirty with the following exercises.

Verify your Microsoft DSC installation

Easy

Confirm that Microsoft DSC is properly installed and accessible from your command line, and document your system configuration.

Your Task

Complete the following verification steps:

Run dsc --version and record the version number
Run each DSC command and name the available options (except for --version and --help)
List out the available DSC functions and count how many are available
Document your OS, architecture, and edition using a DSC resource

Hints

If the command is not found, check your PATH environment variable
On Windows, you may need to restart your terminal after adding to PATH

View instructions View solution

Create registry management script

Medium

Build a PowerShell script that manages registry keys using the Microsoft.Windows/Registry resource with full CRUD operations and driven behavior using parameters.

Your Task

Create a PowerShell script that:

Accepts parameters for operation type (get, set, test, delete)
Creates a registry key with _exist = $true when using set
Implements get operation to retrieve current registry key state
Implements test operation to verify if key exists and matches desired state
Implements delete operation when _exist = $false is specified
Uses the Microsoft.Windows/Registry DSC resource
Includes error handling and validation
Provides clear output showing the operation result in PowerShell objects

Hints

Use a [ValidateSet] attribute for the operation parameter
Build the JSON input dynamically based on the operation
Use ConvertFrom-Json to parse DSC output for better handling
Remember: delete requires setting _exist to false in the input
Test your script with HKCU hive to avoid needing admin privileges

View instructions View solution

Knowledge check

Easy

Test your understanding of core Microsoft DSC concepts, architecture, and how it differs from traditional configuration management tools.

Questions

What does DSC stand for, and what problem does it solve in configuration management?
How does DSC differ from imperative configuration tools?
What does it mean when we say DSC is idempotent?
What's the role of a DSC Resource?
How do DSC configuration documents describe the desired state of a system?
What are the main operations supported by DSC resources?
How is DSC different from PowerShell DSC in terms of dependencies and architecture?
What formats can DSC configuration documents be written in?
Why doesn't the new DSC include a Local Configuration Manager?

View answers

Related resources

DSC releases on GitHub PSDSC module