windows_package resource

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Use the windows_package resource to manage Microsoft Installer Package (MSI) packages for the Microsoft Windows platform.

Syntax

A windows_package resource block manages a package on a node, typically by installing it. The simplest use of the windows_package resource is:

windows_package 'package_name'

which will install the named package using all of the default options and the default action (:install).

The full syntax for all of the properties that are available to the windows_package resource is:

windows_package 'name' do
  checksum                     String
  installer_type               Symbol
  options                      String
  package_name                 String, Array
  remote_file_attributes       Hash
  response_file                String
  response_file_variables      Hash
  returns                      String, Integer, Array # default value: [0]
  source                       String
  timeout                      String, Integer # default value: 600
  version                      String, Array
  action                       Symbol # defaults to :install if not specified
end

where:

• windows_package 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.
• checksum, installer_type, options, package_name, remote_file_attributes, response_file, response_file_variables, returns, source, timeout, and version are the properties available to this resource.

Actions

This resource has the following actions:

:install

Default. Install a package. If a version is specified, install the specified version of the package.

: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.

:remove

Remove a package.

Properties

This resource has the following properties:

checksum

Ruby Type: String

The SHA-256 checksum of the file. Use to prevent a file from being re-downloaded. When the local file matches the checksum, the chef-client does not download it. Use when a URL is specified by the source property.

ignore_failure

Ruby Type: true, false | Default Value: false

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

installer_type

Ruby Type: Symbol

A symbol that specifies the type of package. Possible values: :custom (such as installing a non-.msi file that embeds an .msi-based installer), :inno (Inno Setup), :installshield (InstallShield), :msi (Microsoft Installer Package (MSI)), :nsis (Nullsoft Scriptable Install System (NSIS)), :wise (Wise).

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

options

Ruby Type: String

One (or more) additional options that are passed to the command.

remote_file_attributes

Ruby Type: Hash

A package at a remote location define as a Hash of properties that modifes the properties of the remote_file resource.

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).

returns

Ruby Type: Integer, Array of integers | Default Value: 0

A comma-delimited list of return codes that indicate the success or failure of the command that was run remotely. This code signals a successful :install action.

source

Ruby Type: String

Optional. The path to a package in the local file system. The location of the package may be at a URL. Default value: the name of the resource block. See the “Syntax” section above for more information.

If the source property is not specified, the package name MUST be exactly the same as the display name found in Add/Remove programs or exactly the same as the DisplayName property in the appropriate registry key, which may be one of the following:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall

Note

If there are multiple versions of a package installed with the same display name, all of those packages will be removed unless a version is provided in the version property or unless it can be discovered in the installer file specified by the source property.

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

timeout

Ruby Type: String, Integer | Default Value: 600 (seconds)

The amount of time (in seconds) to wait before timing out.

version

Ruby Type: String, Array

The version of a package to be installed or upgraded.

Examples

The following examples demonstrate various approaches for using resources in recipes. If you want to see examples of how Chef uses resources in recipes, take a closer look at the cookbooks that Chef authors and maintains: https://github.com/chef-cookbooks.

Install a package

windows_package '7zip' do
  action :install
  source 'C:\7z920.msi'
end

Specify a URL for the source attribute

windows_package '7zip' do
  source 'http://www.7-zip.org/a/7z938-x64.msi'
end

Specify path and checksum

windows_package '7zip' do
  source 'http://www.7-zip.org/a/7z938-x64.msi'
  checksum '7c8e873991c82ad9cfc123415254ea6101e9a645e12977dcd518979e50fdedf3'
end

Modify remote_file resource attributes

The windows_package resource may specify a package at a remote location using the remote_file_attributes property. This uses the remote_file resource to download the contents at the specified URL and passes in a Hash that modifes the properties of the remote_file resource.

For example:

windows_package '7zip' do
  source 'http://www.7-zip.org/a/7z938-x64.msi'
  remote_file_attributes ({
    :path => 'C:\\7zip.msi',
    :checksum => '7c8e873991c82ad9cfc123415254ea6101e9a645e12977dcd518979e50fdedf3'
  })
end

Download a nsis (Nullsoft) package resource

windows_package 'Mercurial 3.6.1 (64-bit)' do
  source 'http://mercurial.selenic.com/release/windows/Mercurial-3.6.1-x64.exe'
  checksum 'febd29578cb6736163d232708b834a2ddd119aa40abc536b2c313fc5e1b5831d'
end

Download a custom package

windows_package 'Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Redistributable' do
  source 'https://download.microsoft.com/download/6/B/B/6BB661D6-A8AE-4819-B79F-236472F6070C/vcredist_x86.exe'
  installer_type :custom
  options '/Q'
end