`winget configure` fails if `Microsoft.DSC` pre-requisites are not met

[guillermooo]

Relevant area(s)

WinGet CLI

Relevant command(s)

winget configure

Brief description of your issue

winget configure -f foo.winget doesn't work if DSC prerequisites are not met in a fresh install of Windows 11. Error:

The configuration unit failed due to an internal error: -532462766

The following works (user is admin):

winget install Microsoft.DSC
winget configure -f foo.winget

Steps to reproduce

It's unclear whether the resources in the .winget configuration file make any difference, but my impression is they don't. Issue can be consistenty reproduced as above.

Expected behavior

A fresh install of Windows should be configurable via winget configure -f foo.winget alone, no previous steps required.

Actual behavior

Additional steps required to set up fresh Windows install via winget configure as above.

Environment

Windows Package Manager v1.12.470
Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Windows: Windows.Desktop v10.0.26200.7922
System Architecture: X64
Package: Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller v1.27.470.0

Winget Directories
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Logs                               %LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalState\Diag…
User Settings                      %LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalState\sett…
Portable Links Directory (User)    %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\WinGet\Links
Portable Links Directory (Machine) C:\Program Files\WinGet\Links
Portable Package Root (User)       %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\WinGet\Packages
Portable Package Root              C:\Program Files\WinGet\Packages
Portable Package Root (x86)        C:\Program Files (x86)\WinGet\Packages
Installer Downloads                %USERPROFILE%\Downloads
Configuration Modules              %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\WinGet\Configuration\Modules

Links
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Privacy Statement   https://aka.ms/winget-privacy
License Agreement   https://aka.ms/winget-license
Third Party Notices https://aka.ms/winget-3rdPartyNotice
Homepage            https://aka.ms/winget
Windows Store Terms https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/storedocs/terms-of-sale

Admin Setting                             State
--------------------------------------------------
LocalManifestFiles                        Disabled
BypassCertificatePinningForMicrosoftStore Disabled
InstallerHashOverride                     Disabled
LocalArchiveMalwareScanOverride           Disabled
ProxyCommandLineOptions                   Disabled
DefaultProxy                              Disabled

[guillermooo]

Found DSC v3 [Microsoft.DSC]
Version: 3.1.2
Publisher: Microsoft Corporation
Publisher Url: https://github.com/PowerShell
Publisher Support Url: https://github.com/PowerShell/DSC/issues
Moniker: dscv3
Description:
  DSCv3 is the latest iteration of Microsoft's Desired State Configuration platform.
  DSCv3 is an open source command line application that abstracts the management of software components declaratively and idempotently.
  DSCv3 runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows without any external dependencies.

  With DSCv3, you can:

  - Author resources to manage your systems in any language
  - Invoke individual resources
  - Create configuration documents that define the desired state of a system
Homepage: https://github.com/PowerShell/DSC
License: MIT
License Url: https://github.com/PowerShell/DSC/blob/main/LICENSE
Copyright: Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation
Copyright Url: https://github.com/PowerShell/DSC/blob/main/LICENSE
Release Notes:
  ## What's Changed

  - Update to version 3.1.2 with fix for relative paths in resource manifest by @SteveL-MSFT in #1235
  - 3.1 pipeline by @SteveL-MSFT in #1239
Release Notes Url: https://github.com/PowerShell/DSC/releases/tag/v3.1.2
Documentation:
  Microsoft Learn: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/dsc/overview?view=dsc-3.0
Tags:
  config-as-code
  configuration
  configuration-as-code
  desired-state-configuration
  dsc
  dscv3
  idempotent
Installer:
  Installer Type: portable (zip)
  Installer Url: https://github.com/PowerShell/DSC/releases/download/v3.1.2/DSC-3.1.2-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc.zip
  Installer SHA256: 8dc83ccd773d5a43f5907f01034c75c64771dc0e90d53b837c11747af3d87d43
  Release Date: 2025-11-07
  Offline Distribution Supported: true
  Dependencies:
    - Package Dependencies:
        Microsoft.VCRedist.2015+.x64

[denelon]

I think the challenge here is that the one being used by default by WinGet is the "packaged" version coming from the Microsoft Store as opposed to the one in the community repository. You can specify which instance of DSC.exe you want WinGet to use, but by default, WinGet is looking for the packaged version.

[denelon]

This could be more of a documentation issue.