Removed 'RequiredModules' attribute in PSD1

[psdgal]

Description

This attribute causes to download the latest version of the specified modules (e.g: Plater, Sampler, DscBuildHelpers). This behaviour happens also when someone runs build.ps1 -ResolveDependency, which causes dependency to broke (no matter what specified in RequiredModules.psd1).

In particular, given my RequiredModules.psd1

'Sampler.DscPipeline'        = '0.2.0-preview0001'
DscBuildHelpers              = '0.0.42'

I have got issue because of the new version (0.2.0) of DscBuildHelpers being downloaded, even if I wanted to force 0.0.42 to stay.

Task list

• [x] Added an entry to the change log under the Unreleased section of the file CHANGELOG.md. Entry should say what was changed and how that affects users (if applicable), and reference the issue being resolved (if applicable).
• [ ] Resource documentation added/updated in README.md.
• [ ] Resource parameter descriptions added/updated in README.md, schema.mof and comment-based help.
• [ ] Comment-based help added/updated.
• [ ] Localization strings added/updated in all localization files as appropriate.
• [ ] Examples appropriately added/updated.
• [ ] Unit tests added/updated. See DSC Community Testing Guidelines.
• [ ] Integration tests added/updated (where possible). See DSC Community Testing Guidelines.
• [ ] New/changed code adheres to DSC Community Style Guidelines.

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This change is 

[gaelcolas]

Please share your PSD1, it could be an issue with the order, but I suspect that's because PowerShellGet is "dumb" when it downloads a module, it just downloads all dependencies at once. Removing the code as you've done in your PR is the least favourite thing to do IMO...

Why do you pin this old version of DSCBuildHelpers? Maybe fixing something here would unblock you "more cleanly"

[raandree]

I did just run into the same issue. I am working with a private version of Sampler in a DSC project. I want this private version of Sampler to be used and removed the reference in the RequiredModules.psd1 and changed the .gitignore like this:

output/*
!output/RequiredModules/
output/RequiredModules/*
!output/RequiredModules/Sampler

I expect that Sampler will not be downloaded as a requirement but the version used that is present. However, the bootstrap process always tries to get the latest version from the gallery.

Plaster and Sampler are in any standard RequiredModules.psd1 created by Sampler anyway. Maybe DscBuildHelpers should stay but having Sampler in the list creates kind of a circular dependency.

[gaelcolas]

So far, I'm ok with removing Plaster because it's not directly used by this module and it's already in requiredModules from Sampler, but I guess that's not your issue.

Sampler is absolutely a dependency for Sampler.DscPipeline, and I don't want to remove it from there unfortunately.

The fact that we double-down in the RequiredModules.psd1 and also require Sampler is probably unecessary.

If you have a custom version of Sampler, it should be in your private PS repo and you should pin that version, so that even if PowerShellGet pulls Sampler as a dependeny, it's the right custom version for you.

Alternatively, you also need a custom version of Sampler.DscPipeline and the same thing applies...

Having custom versions of module is wrong... And for sampler, it's weird because you should be able to extend it instead of forking.

Side question, is the new version of PowerShellGet still pulling module dependencies if they're already available in PSModulePath? If not, is it an option to add to Sampler to use PowerShellGetv3?

[gaelcolas]

Discussed @raandree. Direct module dependencies ought to be specified. The only alternative here is to have a task that cleans up undesired versions, before they are loaded. If some features in 0.0.42 are missing, we're happy to discuss adding them back.