Installing executables with Powershell DSC

dsc, powershell, powershell-4.0

Solution

If you have a system where the software was already installed you can find the ProductID using:

Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_Product | fl Name,Version,InstallDate,InstallSource,PackageName,IdentifyingNumber

Example output:

Name              : Dell OpenManage Systems Management Software (64-Bit)
Version           : 7.3.0
InstallDate       : 20131009
InstallSource     : c:\Installs\OMSA\
PackageName       : SysMgmtx64.msi
IdentifyingNumber : {7CB08DC5-EA02-4076-BA7D-AD7736A3DE71}

Name              : Microsoft ASP.NET MVC 4 Runtime
Version           : 4.0.40804.0
InstallDate       : 20141111
InstallSource     : C:\windows\TEMP\IXP000.TMP\
PackageName       : AspNetMVC4.msi
IdentifyingNumber : {3FE312D5-B862-40CE-8E4E-A6D8ABF62736}

Where IdentifyingNumber is the GUID you should use in the package resource. Example for the above Dell software:

package OMSA
{
        Name = 'Dell OpenManage Systems Management Software (64-Bit)'
        ...
        ProductId = '7CB08DC5-EA02-4076-BA7D-AD7736A3DE71'
        Arguments = ...
}

Problem

I am trying to install Visual Studio 2013 using PowerShell DSC but I'm running into a few issues and hoping that you guys could clear it up for me. Is DSC capable for rebooting the node and then resuming an installation of VS? Does anyone know what this error means? "vs_ultimate.exe was installed, but the specified ProductId and/or Name does not match package details" Does anyone have any more specific examples of trying to install .exe with this method? How does someone find out the ProductID? Does anyone know the exact syntax of the ReturnCode? Any help would be great!

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