Chef Provisioning¶

[edit on GitHub]

Chef provisioning is a collection of resources that enable the creation of machines and machine infrastructures using the chef-client. It has a plugin model that allows bootstrap operations to be done against any infrastructure, such as VirtualBox, DigitalOcean, Amazon EC2, LXC, bare metal, and more.

Chef provisioning is built around two major components: the machine resource and drivers.

Chef provisioning is packaged in the Chef development kit. Chef provisioning is a framework that allows clusters to be managed by the chef-client and the Chef server in the same way nodes are managed: with recipes. Use Chef provisioning to describe, version, deploy, and manage clusters of any size and complexity using a common set of tools.

In-Parallel Processing¶

In certain situations Chef provisioning will run multiple machine processes in-parallel, as long as each of the individual machine resources have the same declared action. The machine_batch resource is used to run in-parallel processes.

Chef provisioning will processes resources in-parallel automatically, unless:

The recipe contains complex scripts, such as when a file resource sits in-between two machine resources in a single recipe. In this situation, the resources will be run sequentially
The actions specified for each individual machine resource are not identical; for example, if resource A is set to :converge and resource B is set to :destroy, then they may not be processed in-parallel

To disable in-parallel processing, add the auto_machine_batch setting to the client.rb file, and then set it to false.

For example, a recipe that looks like:

machine 'a'
machine 'b'
machine 'c'

will show output similar to:

$ CHEF_DRIVER=fog:AWS chef-apply cluster.rb
...
Converging 1 resources
Recipe: @recipe_files::/Users/jkeiser/oc/environments/metal-test-local/cluster.rb
  * machine_batch[default] action converge
    - [a] creating machine a on fog:AWS:862552916454
    - [a]   key_name: "metal_default"
    - [a]   tags: {"Name"=>"a", ...}
    - [a]   name: "a"
    - [b] creating machine b on fog:AWS:862552916454
    - [b]   key_name: "metal_default"
    - [b]   tags: {"Name"=>"b", ...}
    - [b]   name: "b"
    - [c] creating machine c on fog:AWS:862552916454
    - [c]   key_name: "metal_default"
    - [c]   tags: {"Name"=>"c", ...}
    - [c]   name: "c"
    - [b] machine b created as i-eb778fb9 on fog:AWS:862552916454
    - create node b at http://localhost:8889
    -   add normal.tags = nil
    -   add normal.metal = {"location"=>{"driver_url"=>"fog:AWS:862552916454", ...}}
    - [a] machine a created as i-e9778fbb on fog:AWS:862552916454
    - create node a at http://localhost:8889
    -   add normal.tags = nil
    -   add normal.metal = {"location"=>{"driver_url"=>"fog:AWS:862552916454", ...}}
    - [c] machine c created as i-816d95d3 on fog:AWS:862552916454
    - create node c at http://localhost:8889
    -   add normal.tags = nil
    -   add normal.metal = {"location"=>{"driver_url"=>"fog:AWS:862552916454", ...}}
    - [b] waiting for b (i-eb778fb9 on fog:AWS:862552916454) to be ready ...
    - [c] waiting for c (i-816d95d3 on fog:AWS:862552916454) to be ready ...
    - [a] waiting for a (i-e9778fbb on fog:AWS:862552916454) to be ready ...
...
        Running handlers:
        Running handlers complete

        Chef Client finished, 0/0 resources updated in 4.053363945 seconds
    - [c] run 'chef-client -l auto' on c

Running handlers:
Running handlers complete
Chef Client finished, 1/1 resources updated in 59.64014 seconds

At the end, it shows 1/1 resources updated. The three machine resources are replaced with a single machine_batch resource, which then runs each of the individual machine processes in-parallel.

Drivers¶

The following drivers are available for Chef provisioning:

Driver	Description
Amazon Web Services	A Chef provisioning driver for Amazon Web Services (AWS).
Fog	A Chef provisioning driver for Fog.
OpenNebula	A Chef provisioning driver for OpenNebula.
SSH	A Chef provisioning driver for SSH.
vSphere	A Chef provisioning driver for VMware vSphere.

Driver-specific Resources¶

A driver-specific resource is a statement of configuration policy that:

Describes the desired state for a configuration item that is created using Chef provisioning
Declares the steps needed to bring that item to the desired state
Specifies a resource type—such as package, template, or service
Lists additional details (also known as properties), as necessary
Are grouped into recipes, which describe working configurations

Machine Resources¶

A resource is a statement of configuration policy that:

Describes the desired state for a configuration item
Declares the steps needed to bring that item to the desired state
Specifies a resource type—such as package, template, or service
Lists additional details (also known as resource properties), as necessary
Are grouped into recipes, which describe working configurations

load_balancer¶

Use the load_balancer resource to create or destroy a load balancer.

Syntax¶

The syntax for using the load_balancer resource in a recipe is as follows:

load_balancer 'name' do
  attribute 'value' # see properties section below
  ...
  action :action # see actions section below
end

where

load_balancer tells the chef-client to use the Chef::Provider::LoadBalancer provider during the chef-client run
name is the name of the resource block
attribute is zero (or more) of the properties that are available for this resource
action identifies which steps the chef-client will take to bring the node into the desired state

Actions¶

This resource has the following actions:

:create: Default.

:destroy

:nothing: Define this resource block to do nothing until notified by another resource to take action. When this resource is notified, this resource block is either run immediately or it is queued up to be run at the end of the Chef Client run.

Properties¶

This resource has the following properties:

driver

Ruby Type: Chef::Provisioning::Driver

Use to specify the driver to be used for provisioning.

ignore_failure

Ruby Type: true, false | Default Value: false

Continue running a recipe if a resource fails for any reason.

load_balancer_options

…

machines

…

name

Ruby Type: String

The name of the load balancer.

notifies

Ruby Type: Symbol, ‘Chef::Resource[String]’

A resource may notify another resource to take action when its state changes. Specify a 'resource[name]', the :action that resource should take, and then the :timer for that action. A resource may notify more than one resource; use a notifies statement for each resource to be notified.

A timer specifies the point during the Chef Client run at which a notification is run. The following timers are available:

:before: Specifies that the action on a notified resource should be run before processing the resource block in which the notification is located.
:delayed: Default. Specifies that a notification should be queued up, and then executed at the end of the Chef Client run.
:immediate, :immediately: Specifies that a notification should be run immediately, per resource notified.

The syntax for notifies is:

notifies :action, 'resource[name]', :timer

retries

Ruby Type: Integer | Default Value: 0

The number of times to catch exceptions and retry the resource.

retry_delay

Ruby Type: Integer | Default Value: 2

The retry delay (in seconds).

subscribes

Ruby Type: Symbol, ‘Chef::Resource[String]’

A resource may listen to another resource, and then take action if the state of the resource being listened to changes. Specify a 'resource[name]', the :action to be taken, and then the :timer for that action.

Note that subscribes does not apply the specified action to the resource that it listens to - for example:

file '/etc/nginx/ssl/example.crt' do
   mode '0600'
   owner 'root'
end

service 'nginx' do
   subscribes :reload, 'file[/etc/nginx/ssl/example.crt]', :immediately
end

In this case the subscribes property reloads the nginx service whenever its certificate file, located under /etc/nginx/ssl/example.crt, is updated. subscribes does not make any changes to the certificate file itself, it merely listens for a change to the file, and executes the :reload action for its resource (in this example nginx) when a change is detected.

A timer specifies the point during the Chef Client run at which a notification is run. The following timers are available:

:before: Specifies that the action on a notified resource should be run before processing the resource block in which the notification is located.
:delayed: Default. Specifies that a notification should be queued up, and then executed at the end of the Chef Client run.
:immediate, :immediately: Specifies that a notification should be run immediately, per resource notified.

The syntax for subscribes is:

subscribes :action, 'resource[name]', :timer

Providers¶

This resource has the following providers:

Chef::Provider::LoadBalancer, load_balancer: The default provider for all recipes.

Examples¶

None.

machine¶

Use the machine resource to define one (or more) machines, and then converge entire clusters of machines. This allows clusters to be maintained in a version control system and to be defined using multi-machine orchestration scenarios. For example, spinning up small test clusters and using them for continuous integration and local testing, building clusters that auto-scale, moving a set of machines in one cluster to another, building images, and so on.

Each machine is declared as a separate application topology, defined using operating system- and provisioner-independent files. Recipes (defined in cookbooks) are used to manage them. The chef-client is used to converge the individual nodes (machines) within the cluster.

Syntax¶

The syntax for using the machine resource in a recipe is as follows:

machine 'name' do
  attribute 'value' # see properties section below
  ...
  action :action # see actions section below
end

where

machine tells the chef-client to use the Chef::Provider::Machine provider during the chef-client run
name is the name of the resource block and also the name of the machine
attribute is zero (or more) of the properties that are available for this resource
action identifies which steps the chef-client will take to bring the node into the desired state

Actions¶

This resource has the following actions:

:allocate: Use to create a machine, return its machine identifier, and then (depending on the provider) boot the machine to an image. This reserves the machine with the provider and subsequent :allocate actions against this machine no longer need to create the machine, just update it.
:converge: Default. Use to create a machine, return its machine identifier, boot the machine to an image with the specified parameters and transport, install the chef-client, and then converge the machine.
:converge_only: Use to converge a machine, but only if the machine is in a ready state.
:destroy: Use to destroy a machine.
:nothing: Define this resource block to do nothing until notified by another resource to take action. When this resource is notified, this resource block is either run immediately or it is queued up to be run at the end of the Chef Client run.
:ready: Use to create a machine, return its machine identifier, and then boot the machine to an image with the specified parameters and transport. This machine is in a ready state and may be connected to (via SSH or other transport).
:setup: Use to create a machine, return its machine identifier, boot the machine to an image with the specified parameters and transport, and then install the chef-client. This machine is in a ready state, has the chef-client installed, and all of the configuration data required to apply the run-list to the machine.
:stop: Use to stop a machine.

Properties¶

This resource has the following properties:

admin

Ruby Type: true, false

Use to specify whether the chef-client is an API client.

allow_overwrite_keys

Ruby Type: true, false

Use to overwrite the key on a machine when it is different from the key specified by source_key.

attribute

Use to specify an attribute, and then modify that attribute with the specified value. The following patterns may be used to specify the value.

attribute <name>, <value>

attribute [<path>], <value>

The following example will set attribute a to b:

attribute 'a', 'b'

The following example will set attribute node['a']['b']['c'] to d and will ignore attributes a.b.x, a.b.y, etc.:

attribute %w[a b c], 'd'

The following example is similar to %w[a b c], 'd':

attribute 'a', { 'b' => { 'c' => 'd' } }

Each modified attribute should be specified individually. This attribute should not be used in the same recipe as attributes.

attributes

Use to specify a Hash that contains all of the normal attributes to be applied to a machine. This attribute should not be used in the same recipe as attribute.

chef_config

Ruby Type: String

Use to specify a string that contains extra configuration settings for a machine.

chef_environment

The name of the environment.

chef_server

Ruby Type: Hash

The URL for the Chef server.

complete

Use to specify if all of the normal attributes specified by this resource represent a complete specification of normal attributes for a machine. When true, any attributes not specified will be reset to their default values. For example, if a machine resource is empty and sets complete to true, all existing attributes will be reset:

machine "foo" do
  complete "true"
end

converge

Ruby Type: true, false

Use to manage convergence when used with the :create action. Set to false to prevent convergence. Set to true to force convergence. When nil, the machine will converge only if something changes.

driver

Ruby Type: Chef::Provisioning::Driver

Use to specify the URL for the driver to be used for provisioning.

files

Ruby Type: Hash

A list of files to upload. Syntax: REMOTE_PATH => LOCAL_PATH_OR_HASH.

For example:

files '/remote/path.txt' => '/local/path.txt'

or:

files '/remote/path.txt' => {
  :local_path => '/local/path.txt'
}

or:

files '/remote/path.txt' => { :content => 'foo' }

from_image

Ruby Type: String

Use to specify an image created by the machine_image resource.

ignore_failure

Ruby Type: true, false | Default Value: false

Continue running a recipe if a resource fails for any reason.

machine_options

Ruby Type: Hash

A Hash that is specifies driver options.

name

Ruby Type: String

The name of the machine.

notifies

Ruby Type: Symbol, ‘Chef::Resource[String]’

A resource may notify another resource to take action when its state changes. Specify a 'resource[name]', the :action that resource should take, and then the :timer for that action. A resource may notify more than one resource; use a notifies statement for each resource to be notified.

A timer specifies the point during the Chef Client run at which a notification is run. The following timers are available:

:before: Specifies that the action on a notified resource should be run before processing the resource block in which the notification is located.
:delayed: Default. Specifies that a notification should be queued up, and then executed at the end of the Chef Client run.
:immediate, :immediately: Specifies that a notification should be run immediately, per resource notified.

The syntax for notifies is:

notifies :action, 'resource[name]', :timer

ohai_hints

Ruby Type: Hash

An Ohai hint to be set on the target node. For example: 'ec2' => { 'a' => 'b' } creates file ec2.json with json contents { 'a': 'b' }.

private_key_options

Ruby Type: Hash

Use to generate a private key of the desired size, type, and so on.

public_key_format

Ruby Type: String | Default Value: pem

Use to specify the format of a public key. Possible values: pem and der.

public_key_path

Ruby Type: String

The path to a public key.

raw_json

The machine as JSON data. For example:

{
  "name": "node1",
  "chef_environment": "_default",
  "json_class": "Chef::Node",
  "automatic": {
    "languages": {
      "ruby": {
        ...
      },
    ...
  ...
}

recipe

Use to add a recipe to the run-list for a machine. Use this property multiple times to add multiple recipes to a run-list. Use this property along with role to define a run-list. The order in which the recipe and role properties are specified will determine the order in which they are added to the run-list. This property should not be used in the same recipe as run_list. For example:

recipe 'foo'
role 'bar'
recipe 'baz'

remove_recipe

Use to remove a recipe from the run-list for the machine.

remove_role

Use to remove a role from the run-list for the machine.

remove_tag

Use to remove a tag.

retries

Ruby Type: Integer | Default Value: 0

The number of times to catch exceptions and retry the resource.

retry_delay

Ruby Type: Integer | Default Value: 2

The retry delay (in seconds).

role

Use to add a role to the run-list for the machine. Use this property multiple times to add multiple roles to a run-list. Use this property along with recipe to define a run-list. The order in which the recipe and role properties are specified will determine the order in which they are added to the run-list. This property should not be used in the same recipe as run_list. For example:

recipe 'foo'
role 'bar'
recipe 'baz'

run_list

An array of strings that specifies the run-list to apply to a machine. This property should not be used in the same recipe as recipe and role. For example:

[ 'recipe[COOKBOOK::RECIPE]','COOKBOOK::RECIPE','role[NAME]' ]

source_key

Use to copy a private key, but apply a different format and password. Use in conjunction with source_key_pass_phrase` and source_key_path.

source_key_pass_phrase

Ruby Type: String

The pass phrase for the private key. Use in conjunction with source_key` and source_key_path.

source_key_path

Ruby Type: String

The path to the private key. Use in conjunction with source_key` and source_key_pass_phrase.

subscribes

Ruby Type: Symbol, ‘Chef::Resource[String]’

A resource may listen to another resource, and then take action if the state of the resource being listened to changes. Specify a 'resource[name]', the :action to be taken, and then the :timer for that action.

Note that subscribes does not apply the specified action to the resource that it listens to - for example:

file '/etc/nginx/ssl/example.crt' do
   mode '0600'
   owner 'root'
end

service 'nginx' do
   subscribes :reload, 'file[/etc/nginx/ssl/example.crt]', :immediately
end

In this case the subscribes property reloads the nginx service whenever its certificate file, located under /etc/nginx/ssl/example.crt, is updated. subscribes does not make any changes to the certificate file itself, it merely listens for a change to the file, and executes the :reload action for its resource (in this example nginx) when a change is detected.

A timer specifies the point during the Chef Client run at which a notification is run. The following timers are available:

:before: Specifies that the action on a notified resource should be run before processing the resource block in which the notification is located.
:delayed: Default. Specifies that a notification should be queued up, and then executed at the end of the Chef Client run.
:immediate, :immediately: Specifies that a notification should be run immediately, per resource notified.

The syntax for subscribes is:

subscribes :action, 'resource[name]', :timer

tag

Use to add a tag.

tags

Use to add one (or more) tags. This will remove any tag currently associated with the machine. For example: tags :a, :b, :c.

validator

Ruby Type: true, false

Use to specify if the chef-client is a chef-validator.

Providers¶

This resource has the following providers:

Chef::Provider::Machine, machine: The default provider for all recipes.

Examples¶

Build machines dynamically

machine 'mario' do
  recipe 'postgresql'
  recipe 'mydb'
  tag 'mydb_master'
end

num_webservers = 1

1.upto(num_webservers) do |i|
  machine "luigi#{i}" do
    recipe 'apache'
    recipe 'mywebapp'
  end
end

Get a remote file onto a new machine

A deployment process requires more than just setting up machines. For example, files may need to be copied to machines from remote locations. The following example shows how to use the remote_file resource to grab a tarball from a URL, create a machine, copy that tarball to the machine, and then get that machine running by using a recipe that installs and configures that tarball on the machine:

remote_file 'mytarball.tgz' do
  url 'https://myserver.com/mytarball.tgz'
end

machine 'x'
  action :allocate
end

machine_file '/tmp/mytarball.tgz' do
  machine 'x'
  local_path 'mytarball.tgz'
  action :upload
end

machine 'x' do
  recipe 'untarthatthing'
  action :converge
end

Build machines that depend on each other

The following example shows how to create two identical machines, both of which cannot exist without the other. The first machine resource block creates the first machine by omitting the recipe that requires the other machine to be defined. The second resource block creates the second machine; because the first machine exists, both recipes can be run. The third resource block applies the second recipe to the first machine:

machine 'server_a' do
  recipe 'base_recipes'
end

machine 'server_b' do
  recipe 'base_recipes'
  recipe 'theserver'
end

machine 'server_a' do
  recipe 'theserver'
end

Use a loop to build many machines

1.upto(10) do |i|
  machine "hadoop#{i}" do
    recipe 'hadoop'
  end
end

Converge multiple machine types, in-parallel

The machine_batch resource can be used to converge multiple machine types, in-parallel, even if each machine type has different drivers. For example:

machine_batch do
  machine 'db' do
    recipe 'mysql'
  end
  1.upto(50) do |i|
    machine "#{web}#{i}" do
      recipe 'apache'
    end
  end
end

Build a machine from a machine image

machine_image 'web_image' do
  recipe 'apache2'
end

machine 'web_machine' do
 from_image 'web_image'
end

machine_batch¶

Use the machine_batch resource to explicitly declare a parallel process when building machines.

Syntax¶

The syntax for using the machine_batch resource in a recipe is as follows:

machine_batch 'name' do
  attribute 'value' # see properties section below
  ...
  action :action # see actions section below
end

where

machine_batch tells the chef-client to use the Chef::Provider::MachineBatch provider during the chef-client run
name is the name of the resource block
attribute is zero (or more) of the properties that are available for this resource
action identifies which steps the chef-client will take to bring the node into the desired state

Actions¶

This resource has the following actions:

:allocate

:converge: Default.

:converge_only

:destroy

:nothing: Define this resource block to do nothing until notified by another resource to take action. When this resource is notified, this resource block is either run immediately or it is queued up to be run at the end of the Chef Client run.

:ready

:setup

:stop

Properties¶

This resource has the following attributes:

chef_server

Ruby Type: Hash

The URL for the Chef server.

driver

Ruby Type: Chef::Provisioning::Driver

Use to specify the driver to be used for provisioning.

files

…

from_recipe

…

ignore_failure

Ruby Type: true, false | Default Value: false

Continue running a recipe if a resource fails for any reason.

machine_options

…

machines

…

max_simultaneous

…

notifies

Ruby Type: Symbol, ‘Chef::Resource[String]’

A resource may notify another resource to take action when its state changes. Specify a 'resource[name]', the :action that resource should take, and then the :timer for that action. A resource may notify more than one resource; use a notifies statement for each resource to be notified.

A timer specifies the point during the Chef Client run at which a notification is run. The following timers are available:

:before: Specifies that the action on a notified resource should be run before processing the resource block in which the notification is located.
:delayed: Default. Specifies that a notification should be queued up, and then executed at the end of the Chef Client run.
:immediate, :immediately: Specifies that a notification should be run immediately, per resource notified.

The syntax for notifies is:

notifies :action, 'resource[name]', :timer

retries

Ruby Type: Integer | Default Value: 0

The number of times to catch exceptions and retry the resource.

retry_delay

Ruby Type: Integer | Default Value: 2

The retry delay (in seconds).

subscribes

Ruby Type: Symbol, ‘Chef::Resource[String]’

A resource may listen to another resource, and then take action if the state of the resource being listened to changes. Specify a 'resource[name]', the :action to be taken, and then the :timer for that action.

Note that subscribes does not apply the specified action to the resource that it listens to - for example:

file '/etc/nginx/ssl/example.crt' do
   mode '0600'
   owner 'root'
end

service 'nginx' do
   subscribes :reload, 'file[/etc/nginx/ssl/example.crt]', :immediately
end

In this case the subscribes property reloads the nginx service whenever its certificate file, located under /etc/nginx/ssl/example.crt, is updated. subscribes does not make any changes to the certificate file itself, it merely listens for a change to the file, and executes the :reload action for its resource (in this example nginx) when a change is detected.

A timer specifies the point during the Chef Client run at which a notification is run. The following timers are available:

:before: Specifies that the action on a notified resource should be run before processing the resource block in which the notification is located.
:delayed: Default. Specifies that a notification should be queued up, and then executed at the end of the Chef Client run.
:immediate, :immediately: Specifies that a notification should be run immediately, per resource notified.

The syntax for subscribes is:

subscribes :action, 'resource[name]', :timer

Providers¶

This resource has the following providers:

Chef::Provider::MachineBatch, machine_batch: The default provider for all recipes.

Examples¶

Set up multiple machines, in-parallel

machine_batch do
  action :setup
  machines 'a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e'
end

Converge multiple machines, in-parallel

machine_batch do
  action :converge
  machines 'a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e'
end

Stop multiple machines, in-parallel

machine_batch do
  action :stop
  machines 'a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e'
end

Destroy multiple machines, in-parallel

machine_batch do
  action :delete
  machines 'a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e'
end

Converge multiple machine types, in-parallel

The machine_batch resource can be used to converge multiple machine types, in-parallel, even if each machine type has different drivers. For example:

machine_batch do
  machine 'db' do
    recipe 'mysql'
  end
  1.upto(50) do |i|
    machine "#{web}#{i}" do
      recipe 'apache'
    end
  end
end

machine_execute¶

Use the machine_execute resource to run a command on a remote machine in much the same way the execute resource is used to run a command on a local machine.

Syntax¶

The syntax for using the machine_execute resource in a recipe is as follows:

machine_execute 'name' do
  attribute 'value' # see properties section below
  ...
  action :action # see actions section below
end

where

machine_execute tells the chef-client to use the Chef::Provider::MachineExecute provider during the chef-client run
name is the name of the resource block; when the command property is not specified as part of a recipe, name is also the command to be run
attribute is zero (or more) of the properties that are available for this resource
action identifies which steps the chef-client will take to bring the node into the desired state

Actions¶

This resource has the following actions:

:nothing: Define this resource block to do nothing until notified by another resource to take action. When this resource is notified, this resource block is either run immediately or it is queued up to be run at the end of the Chef Client run.
:run: Default. Use to run a machine.

Properties¶

This resource has the following properties:

chef_server

Ruby Type: Hash

The URL for the Chef server.

command

Ruby Type: String

The name of the command to be executed. Default value: the name of the resource block. See “Syntax” section above for more information.

driver

Ruby Type: Chef::Provisioning::Driver

Use to specify the driver to be used for provisioning.

ignore_failure

Ruby Type: true, false | Default Value: false

Continue running a recipe if a resource fails for any reason.

live_stream

Ruby Type: true, false | Default Value: false

machine

Ruby Type: String

Use to specify the machine type.

notifies

Ruby Type: Symbol, ‘Chef::Resource[String]’

A resource may notify another resource to take action when its state changes. Specify a 'resource[name]', the :action that resource should take, and then the :timer for that action. A resource may notify more than one resource; use a notifies statement for each resource to be notified.

A timer specifies the point during the Chef Client run at which a notification is run. The following timers are available:

:before: Specifies that the action on a notified resource should be run before processing the resource block in which the notification is located.
:delayed: Default. Specifies that a notification should be queued up, and then executed at the end of the Chef Client run.
:immediate, :immediately: Specifies that a notification should be run immediately, per resource notified.

The syntax for notifies is:

notifies :action, 'resource[name]', :timer

retries

Ruby Type: Integer | Default Value: 0

The number of times to catch exceptions and retry the resource.

retry_delay

Ruby Type: Integer | Default Value: 2

The retry delay (in seconds).

subscribes

Ruby Type: Symbol, ‘Chef::Resource[String]’

A resource may listen to another resource, and then take action if the state of the resource being listened to changes. Specify a 'resource[name]', the :action to be taken, and then the :timer for that action.

Note that subscribes does not apply the specified action to the resource that it listens to - for example:

file '/etc/nginx/ssl/example.crt' do
   mode '0600'
   owner 'root'
end

service 'nginx' do
   subscribes :reload, 'file[/etc/nginx/ssl/example.crt]', :immediately
end

In this case the subscribes property reloads the nginx service whenever its certificate file, located under /etc/nginx/ssl/example.crt, is updated. subscribes does not make any changes to the certificate file itself, it merely listens for a change to the file, and executes the :reload action for its resource (in this example nginx) when a change is detected.

A timer specifies the point during the Chef Client run at which a notification is run. The following timers are available:

:before: Specifies that the action on a notified resource should be run before processing the resource block in which the notification is located.
:delayed: Default. Specifies that a notification should be queued up, and then executed at the end of the Chef Client run.
:immediate, :immediately: Specifies that a notification should be run immediately, per resource notified.

The syntax for subscribes is:

subscribes :action, 'resource[name]', :timer

Providers¶

This resource has the following providers:

Chef::Provider::MachineExecute, machine_execute: The default provider for all recipes.

Examples¶

None.

machine_file¶

Use the machine_file resource to manage a file on a remote machine in much the same way the file resource is used to manage a file on a local machine.

Syntax¶

The syntax for using the machine_file resource in a recipe is as follows:

machine_file 'name' do
  attribute 'value' # see properties section below
  ...
  action :action # see actions section below
end

where

machine_file tells the chef-client to use the Chef::Provider::MachineFile provider during the chef-client run
name is the name of the resource block; when the path property is not specified as part of a recipe, name is also the path to a file
attribute is zero (or more) of the properties that are available for this resource
action identifies which steps the chef-client will take to bring the node into the desired state

Actions¶

This resource has the following actions:

:delete: Use to delete a file from a machine.
:download: Use to download a file from a machine.
:nothing: Define this resource block to do nothing until notified by another resource to take action. When this resource is notified, this resource block is either run immediately or it is queued up to be run at the end of the Chef Client run.
:upload: Default. Use to upload a file to a machine.

Properties¶

This resource has the following properties:

chef_server

Ruby Type: Hash

The URL for the Chef server.

content

A string that is written to the file. The contents of this property replace any previous content when this property has something other than the default value. The default behavior will not modify content.

driver

Ruby Type: Chef::Provisioning::Driver

Use to specify the driver to be used for provisioning.

group

Ruby Type: String

A string or ID that identifies the group owner by group name, including fully qualified group names such as domain\group or group@domain. If this value is not specified, existing groups remain unchanged and new group assignments use the default POSIX group (if available).

ignore_failure

Ruby Type: true, false | Default Value: false

Continue running a recipe if a resource fails for any reason.

local_path

Ruby Type: String

The local path to a file.

machine

Ruby Type: String

Use to specify the machine type.

mode

Ruby Type: String

If mode is not specified and if the file already exists, the existing mode on the file is used. If mode is not specified, the file does not exist, and the :create action is specified, the chef-client assumes a mask value of '0777' and then applies the umask for the system on which the file is to be created to the mask value. For example, if the umask on a system is '022', the chef-client uses the default value of '0755'.

The behavior is different depending on the platform.

UNIX- and Linux-based systems: A quoted 3-5 character string that defines the octal mode that is passed to chmod. For example: '755', '0755', or 00755. If the value is specified as a quoted string, it works exactly as if the chmod command was passed. If the value is specified as an integer, prepend a zero (0) to the value to ensure that it is interpreted as an octal number. For example, to assign read, write, and execute rights for all users, use '0777' or '777'; for the same rights, plus the sticky bit, use 01777 or '1777'.

Microsoft Windows: A quoted 3-5 character string that defines the octal mode that is translated into rights for Microsoft Windows security. For example: '755', '0755', or 00755. Values up to '0777' are allowed (no sticky bits) and mean the same in Microsoft Windows as they do in UNIX, where 4 equals GENERIC_READ, 2 equals GENERIC_WRITE, and 1 equals GENERIC_EXECUTE. This property cannot be used to set :full_control. This property has no effect if not specified, but when it and rights are both specified, the effects are cumulative.

notifies

Ruby Type: Symbol, ‘Chef::Resource[String]’

A resource may notify another resource to take action when its state changes. Specify a 'resource[name]', the :action that resource should take, and then the :timer for that action. A resource may notify more than one resource; use a notifies statement for each resource to be notified.

A timer specifies the point during the Chef Client run at which a notification is run. The following timers are available:

:before: Specifies that the action on a notified resource should be run before processing the resource block in which the notification is located.
:delayed: Default. Specifies that a notification should be queued up, and then executed at the end of the Chef Client run.
:immediate, :immediately: Specifies that a notification should be run immediately, per resource notified.

The syntax for notifies is:

notifies :action, 'resource[name]', :timer

owner

Ruby Type: String

A string or ID that identifies the group owner by user name, including fully qualified user names such as domain\user or user@domain. If this value is not specified, existing owners remain unchanged and new owner assignments use the current user (when necessary).

path

Ruby Type: String

The full path to the file, including the file name and its extension. Default value: the name of the resource block. See “Syntax” section above for more information.

Microsoft Windows: A path that begins with a forward slash (/) will point to the root of the current working directory of the chef-client process. This path can vary from system to system. Therefore, using a path that begins with a forward slash (/) is not recommended.

retries

Ruby Type: Integer | Default Value: 0

The number of times to catch exceptions and retry the resource.

retry_delay

Ruby Type: Integer | Default Value: 2

The retry delay (in seconds).

subscribes

Ruby Type: Symbol, ‘Chef::Resource[String]’

A resource may listen to another resource, and then take action if the state of the resource being listened to changes. Specify a 'resource[name]', the :action to be taken, and then the :timer for that action.

Note that subscribes does not apply the specified action to the resource that it listens to - for example:

file '/etc/nginx/ssl/example.crt' do
   mode '0600'
   owner 'root'
end

service 'nginx' do
   subscribes :reload, 'file[/etc/nginx/ssl/example.crt]', :immediately
end

In this case the subscribes property reloads the nginx service whenever its certificate file, located under /etc/nginx/ssl/example.crt, is updated. subscribes does not make any changes to the certificate file itself, it merely listens for a change to the file, and executes the :reload action for its resource (in this example nginx) when a change is detected.

A timer specifies the point during the Chef Client run at which a notification is run. The following timers are available:

:before: Specifies that the action on a notified resource should be run before processing the resource block in which the notification is located.
:delayed: Default. Specifies that a notification should be queued up, and then executed at the end of the Chef Client run.
:immediate, :immediately: Specifies that a notification should be run immediately, per resource notified.

The syntax for subscribes is:

subscribes :action, 'resource[name]', :timer

Providers¶

This resource has the following providers:

Chef::Provider::MachineFile, machine_file: The default provider for all recipes.

Examples¶

Get a remote file onto a new machine

A deployment process requires more than just setting up machines. For example, files may need to be copied to machines from remote locations. The following example shows how to use the remote_file resource to grab a tarball from a URL, create a machine, copy that tarball to the machine, and then get that machine running by using a recipe that installs and configures that tarball on the machine:

remote_file 'mytarball.tgz' do
  url 'https://myserver.com/mytarball.tgz'
end

machine 'x'
  action :allocate
end

machine_file '/tmp/mytarball.tgz' do
  machine 'x'
  local_path 'mytarball.tgz'
  action :upload
end

machine 'x' do
  recipe 'untarthatthing'
  action :converge
end

machine_image¶

Use the machine_image resource to define a machine image. This image may then be used by the machine resource when building machines.

Syntax¶

The syntax for using the machine_image resource in a recipe is as follows:

machine_image 'name' do
  attribute 'value' # see properties section below
  ...
  action :action # see actions section below
end

where

machine_image tells the chef-client to use the Chef::Provider::MachineImage provider during the chef-client run
name is the name of the resource block and also the name of the machine image
attribute is zero (or more) of the properties that are available for this resource
action identifies which steps the chef-client will take to bring the node into the desired state

Actions¶

This resource has the following actions:

:archive: Use to archive a machine image.
:create: Default. Use to create a machine image.
:destroy: Use to destroy a machine image.
:nothing: Define this resource block to do nothing until notified by another resource to take action. When this resource is notified, this resource block is either run immediately or it is queued up to be run at the end of the Chef Client run.

Properties¶

This resource has the following properties:

attributes

Use to specify a hash of attributes to be applied to the machine image.

chef_environment

The name of the environment.

complete

Use to specify if all of the attributes specified in attributes represent a complete specification for the machine image. When true, any attributes not specified in attributes will be reset to their default values.

ignore_failure

Ruby Type: true, false | Default Value: false

Continue running a recipe if a resource fails for any reason.

image_options

Ruby Type: Hash

Use to specify options that are used with this machine image.

name

The name of the machine image.

notifies

Ruby Type: Symbol, ‘Chef::Resource[String]’

A resource may notify another resource to take action when its state changes. Specify a 'resource[name]', the :action that resource should take, and then the :timer for that action. A resource may notify more than one resource; use a notifies statement for each resource to be notified.

A timer specifies the point during the Chef Client run at which a notification is run. The following timers are available:

:before: Specifies that the action on a notified resource should be run before processing the resource block in which the notification is located.
:delayed: Default. Specifies that a notification should be queued up, and then executed at the end of the Chef Client run.
:immediate, :immediately: Specifies that a notification should be run immediately, per resource notified.

The syntax for notifies is:

notifies :action, 'resource[name]', :timer

raw_json

The machine image as JSON data. For example:

{

}

recipe

Use to add a recipe to the run-list for the machine image. Each recipe adds a single recipe to the run-list. The order in which recipe defines the run-list is the order in which Chef will execute the run-list on the machine image.

remove_recipe

Use to remove a recipe from the run-list for the machine image.

remove_role

Use to remove a role from the run-list for the machine image.

retries

Ruby Type: Integer | Default Value: 0

The number of times to catch exceptions and retry the resource.

retry_delay

Ruby Type: Integer | Default Value: 2

The retry delay (in seconds).

role

Use to add a role to the run-list for the machine image.

run_list

Use to specify the run-list to be applied to the machine image.

A run-list defines all of the information necessary for Chef to configure a node into the desired state. A run-list is:

An ordered list of roles and/or recipes that are run in the exact order defined in the run-list; if a recipe appears more than once in the run-list, the chef-client will not run it twice
Always specific to the node on which it runs; nodes may have a run-list that is identical to the run-list used by other nodes
Stored as part of the node object on the Chef server
Maintained using knife and then uploaded from the workstation to the Chef server, or maintained using Chef Automate

A run-list must be in one of the following formats: fully qualified, cookbook, or default. Both roles and recipes must be in quotes, for example:

'role[NAME]'

or

'recipe[COOKBOOK::RECIPE]'

Use a comma to separate roles and recipes when adding more than one item the run-list:

'recipe[COOKBOOK::RECIPE],COOKBOOK::RECIPE,role[NAME]'

subscribes

Ruby Type: Symbol, ‘Chef::Resource[String]’

A resource may listen to another resource, and then take action if the state of the resource being listened to changes. Specify a 'resource[name]', the :action to be taken, and then the :timer for that action.

Note that subscribes does not apply the specified action to the resource that it listens to - for example:

file '/etc/nginx/ssl/example.crt' do
   mode '0600'
   owner 'root'
end

service 'nginx' do
   subscribes :reload, 'file[/etc/nginx/ssl/example.crt]', :immediately
end

In this case the subscribes property reloads the nginx service whenever its certificate file, located under /etc/nginx/ssl/example.crt, is updated. subscribes does not make any changes to the certificate file itself, it merely listens for a change to the file, and executes the :reload action for its resource (in this example nginx) when a change is detected.

A timer specifies the point during the Chef Client run at which a notification is run. The following timers are available:

:before: Specifies that the action on a notified resource should be run before processing the resource block in which the notification is located.
:delayed: Default. Specifies that a notification should be queued up, and then executed at the end of the Chef Client run.
:immediate, :immediately: Specifies that a notification should be run immediately, per resource notified.

The syntax for subscribes is:

subscribes :action, 'resource[name]', :timer

tags

Use to specify the list of tags to be applied to the machine image. Any tag not specified in this list will be removed.

Providers¶

This resource has the following providers:

Chef::Provider::MachineImage, machine_image: The default provider for all recipes.

Examples¶

Build a machine from a machine image

machine_image 'web_image' do
  recipe 'apache2'
end

machine 'web_machine' do
 from_image 'web_image'
end

AWS Driver Resources¶

A driver-specific resource is a statement of configuration policy that:

Describes the desired state for a configuration item that is created using Chef provisioning
Declares the steps needed to bring that item to the desired state
Specifies a resource type—such as package, template, or service
Lists additional details (also known as properties), as necessary
Are grouped into recipes, which describe working configurations

The following Chef provisioning driver-specific resources are available for Amazon Web Services (AWS):

aws_auto_scaling_group
aws_cache_cluster
aws_cache_replication_group
aws_cache_subnet_group
aws_cloudsearch_domain
aws_dhcp_options
aws_ebs_volume
aws_eip_address
aws_image
aws_instance
aws_internet_gateway
aws_key_pair
aws_launch_configuration
aws_load_balancer
aws_network_acl
aws_network_interface
aws_rds_instance
aws_rds_subnet_group
aws_route_table
aws_s3_bucket
aws_security_group
aws_server_certificate
aws_sns_topic
aws_sqs_queue
aws_subnet
aws_vpc

For more information about these driver-specific resources, see AWS Driver Resources.

Fog Driver Resources¶

A driver-specific resource is a statement of configuration policy that:

Describes the desired state for a configuration item that is created using Chef provisioning
Declares the steps needed to bring that item to the desired state
Specifies a resource type—such as package, template, or service
Lists additional details (also known as properties), as necessary
Are grouped into recipes, which describe working configurations

The following Chef provisioning driver-specific resources are available for Fog:

fog_key_pair

For more information about these driver-specific resources, see Fog Driver Resources.