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Installation

dsc-databricks is a single executable. It implements the Microsoft DSC capabilities and follows the contract to talk against the engine.

To install it, put that executable somewhere on your PATH, generate the resource manifests the DSC engine reads, and point the engine at them.

Whilsts you can call the binary on its own: get, set, test, delete and export each act on one resource instance and print JSON, which suits scripting and debugging a single resource. The Microsoft DSC engine adds the declarative flavor on top. It reads a whole configuration document, orders the resources by their dependencies, decides per instance whether to create, update or delete, reports one diff for the run, and predicts all of it with what-if before you commit. Most of this documentation assumes you drive the resources that way.

So install both. dsc-databricks implements resources, not the engine that drives them — see What the fork keeps and drops for where that line sits.

Step 1: Install the Microsoft DSC engine

Install the engine, version 3.2 or later, with the PSDSC module:

Install-PSResource -Name PSDSC -Repository PSGallery
Install-DscExe -IncludePrerelease

Verify the installation:

dsc --version

dsc 3.3.0-preview.4

Why 3.2 or later

Each manifest advertises what-if through the set method's whatIfArg. Engines older than 3.2 do not understand that manifest shape and will not offer dsc config set -w.

Step 2: Install Databricks DSC CLI

dsc-databricks is a CLI utility available on Windows, Linux, and macOS on both amd64 and arm64. Windows users can easily install it using winget.exe. For the other operationg systems, it can be taken from an archive from the releases page.

winget install --exact --id LibreDsc.DscDatabricks

winget places the executable on your PATH. Confirm it resolves:

dsc-databricks --version

Download the archive for your platform and extract it, for example to C:\dsc-resources\databricks or ~/.local/share/dsc-resources/databricks.

Add the directory to your PATH, or call the executable by its full path in the next step.

Step 3: Generate the resource manifests

The engine discovers resources from manifest files, not from the executable. dsc-databricks writes those manifests itself, one per resource type:

dsc-databricks manifest --out-dir C:\dsc-resources\databricks

This produces one libredsc.databricks.<name>.dsc.resource.json file per resource type.

Where you write them decides whether you need step 4. dsc searches every folder on your PATH, so manifests that land in a folder already on PATH — next to the executable, after a manual install — need no further configuration. Write them anywhere else and you point the engine at them yourself.

winget installs still need this step

winget puts the binary on your PATH but places no manifests, and its shim directory is not somewhere you want to write them. Pick a directory of your own and follow step 4. Re-run manifest --out-dir after upgrading, so the manifests match the binary.

(Optional) Step 4: Point the engine at the manifests

Skip this step if step 3 wrote the manifests to a folder that is already on your PATH; the engine searches those folders on its own. Otherwise set DSC_RESOURCE_PATH to the directory holding the manifests:

$env:DSC_RESOURCE_PATH = 'C:\dsc-resources\databricks'

export DSC_RESOURCE_PATH=~/.local/share/dsc-resources/databricks

Always make sure the above is set permanently if you use DSC's engine.

DSC_RESOURCE_PATH replaces PATH

Once you define it, the engine searches those folders instead of PATH, not in addition to it. List every directory holding manifests you want discovered, separated by ; on Windows and : elsewhere, or resources you previously relied on will disappear.

Step 5: Verify

dsc resource list LibreDsc.Databricks/*

All resources should be listed:

Type                                    Kind      Version  Capabilities
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
LibreDsc.Databricks/AccountUser         resource  0.1.0    gs-t-d---e---
LibreDsc.Databricks/Catalog             resource  0.1.0    gs-t-d---e---
...
LibreDsc.Databricks/WorkspaceSetting    resource  0.1.0    gs---d---e---

An empty list means the engine did not find the manifests. Check that step 3 actually wrote files, and that their directory is either on your PATH or listed in DSC_RESOURCE_PATH.

Step 6: Authenticate

Resources reach the workspace through the Databricks SDK for Go, which reads its credentials from the environment:

$env:DATABRICKS_HOST = 'https://adb-1234567890123456.7.azuredatabricks.net'
$env:DATABRICKS_TOKEN = '<your-personal-access-token>'

Configuration profiles, Microsoft Entra service principals and the other supported methods are covered in How to authenticate to Databricks.

Next steps