Configuration Basics
Synopsis
Elementary guide to configuration in PSFramework
Description
Configuration in action
To witness the effects of configuration, simply run the following command:
Get-PSFConfig
As can be seen, the PSFramework already ships with quite a few settings. There are many settings to discover - in fact, the ability to do discover settings and options this way is one of the core benefits of this component.
To experience the effect, let’s just observe what changing one of these settings can do. First, run this command:
Write-PSFMessage -Level Host -Message "Example message"
This should write a message similar to this:
[20:10:03][<ScriptBlock>] Example message
The way messages are being displayed is driven by configuration. For example, the timestamp can be controlled by the following setting:
Get-PSFConfig -FullName psframework.message.style.timestamp
So let’s disable it by updating the display style:
Set-PSFConfig -FullName psframework.message.style.timestamp -Value $false
Now again, write a message:
Write-PSFMessage -Level Host -Message "Example message"
And it will no longer display the timestamp:
[<ScriptBlock>] Example message
These settings are stored in the current process - start a new console, and it will again have the default value.
Persistent settings
If you want to have it rememer a setting, there are multiple ways to go about it.
The way best known to an administrator would be to place a Set-PSFConfig call in the PowerShell profile.
This would in fact work … but require you to import the PSFramework module each time the console runs, which may not be convenient.
There are a few places you can store configuration settings that will be automatically imported on module import, but not require you to import the module everty time you use PowerShell.
Specifically, there are registry settings - per user and per machine - that can be used to persist settings. There also are paths from which it will automatically import configuration files.
Fortunately, you do not need to remember where those are stored, as there is a command to register a setting:
Register-PSFConfig
Without specifying the scope, it will write the setting to your current user default settings in registry node. Let’s try it in action:
Set-PSFConfig -FullName psframework.message.style.timestamp -Value $false -PassThru | Register-PSFConfig
This is all it takes to make it remember.
If you now start a new PowerShell console and run Write-PSFMessage again, it will not display the timestamp in that process either.
If at a later time you reconsider and would like to again see the timestamp displayed, you can either:
- Change the setting and register it again
- Remove the setting from where it was persisted
There is a command to unregister settings from your system:
Unregister-PSFConfig -FullName psframework.message.style.timestamp
After running this, new consoles will again use the default value, as the persisted value has been removed.
Note: It will not change the current setting, you will need to manually change the setting in the current process.
The ability to import settings from registry makes it possible to deploy them via group policy or SCCM or similar mechanisms.
A few more things to be aware of
- Configuration is not scope or runspace aware. Settings are always the same, no matter in what scope from what runspace accessed. As such, they are not designed as variable replacement.
- You can define your own settings for your own module
- It is possible to validate new values on settings
- It is possible to subscribe a scriptblock event to setting changes
Notes
| Version | 1.0 |
| Written on: | 2018-05-23 |
| Updated on: | 2018-05-29 |