Create a new Azure Automation account from the Azure portal or PowerShell within an existing or new resource group. Astute readers will find in the following diagram that Azure Automation provides menu items for DSC. It provides the following:
- DSC nodes: It lists all the virtual machines and containers that are enlisted with the current Azure Automation DSC pull server. These virtual machines and containers are managed using configurations from the current DSC pull server.
- DSC configurations: It lists all the raw PowerShell configurations imported and uploaded to the DSC pull server. They are in human-readable format and aren't in a compiled state.
- DSC node configurations: It lists all compiles of DSC configurations available on the pull server to be assigned to nodes—virtual machines and containers. A DSC configuration produces MOF files after compilations and they're eventually used to configure nodes. The next screenshot shows an Azure Automation account after getting provisioned:
