cron_access resource¶

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Use the cron_access resource to manage the /etc/cron.allow and /etc/cron.deny files. Note: This resource previously shipped in the cron cookbook as cron_manage, which it can still be used as for backwards compatibility with existing chef-client releases.

New in Chef Client 14.4.

Syntax¶

The cron_access resource has the following syntax:

cron_access 'name' do
  user      String # default value: 'name' unless specified
  action    Symbol # defaults to :allow if not specified
end

where:

cron_access is the resource.
name is the name given to the resource block.
action identifies which steps the chef-client will take to bring the node into the desired state.
user is the property available to this resource.

Actions¶

The cron_access resource has the following actions:

:allow: Default. Add the user to the cron.allow file.
:deny: Add the user to the cron.deny file.
: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¶

The cron_access resource has the following properties:

user

Ruby Type: String | Default Value: 'name'

The user to allow or deny. If not provided we’ll use the resource name.

ignore_failure

Ruby Type: true, false | Default Value: false

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

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

Examples¶

The following examples demonstrate various approaches for using resources in recipes:

Add the mike user to cron.allow

cron_access 'mike'

Add the mike user to cron.deny

cron_access 'mike' do
  action :deny
end

Specify the username with the user property

cron_access 'Deny the tomcat access to cron for security purposes' do
  user 'jenkins'
  action :deny
end