After staging, the MOF files are ready for execution on the target node. An MOF is always executed as soon as it is delivered to a target node regardless of whether the target node is configured for push or pull management. The LCM runs on a configurable schedule, but this schedule controls when the LCM pulls the new MOFs from the DSC pull server and when it checks the system state against the described desired state in the MOF file. When the LCM executes the MOF successfully, it renames the Pending.mof file to Current.mof file.

The following diagram shows the execution phase:

The execution phase operates the same no matter which deployment mode is in use, push or pull. However, different operations are started in the pull mode in comparison to the push mode, besides the obvious interactive nature of the push mode.