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Custom Resource DSL

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Use the Custom Resource DSL to define behaviors within custom resources, such as:

  • Loading the value of a specific property
  • Comparing the current property value against a desired property value
  • Telling Chef Infra Client when and how to make changes

action_class

The converge_if_changed method may be used multiple times. The following example shows how to use the converge_if_changed method to compare the multiple desired property values against the current property values (as loaded by the load_current_value method).

property :path, String
property :content, String
property :mode, String

load_current_value do |desired|
  if ::File.exist?(desired.path)
    content IO.read(desired.path)
    mode ::File.stat(desired.path).mode
  end
end

action :create do
  converge_if_changed :content do
    IO.write(new_resource.path, new_resource.content)
  end
  converge_if_changed :mode do
    ::File.chmod(new_resource.mode, new_resource.path)
  end
end

where

  • load_current_value loads the property values for both content and mode
  • A converge_if_changed block tests only content
  • A converge_if_changed block tests only mode

Chef Infra Client will only update the property values that require updates and will not make changes when the property values are already in the desired state

converge_if_changed

Use the converge_if_changed method inside an action block in a custom resource to compare the desired property values against the current property values (as loaded by the load_current_value method). Use the converge_if_changed method to ensure that updates only occur when property values on the system are not the desired property values and to otherwise prevent a resource from being converged.

To use the converge_if_changed method, wrap it around the part of a recipe or custom resource that should only be converged when the current state is not the desired state:

action :some_action do
  converge_if_changed do
    # some property
  end
end

For example, a custom resource defines two properties (content and path) and a single action (:create). Use the load_current_value method to load the property value to be compared, and then use the converge_if_changed method to tell Chef Infra Client what to do if that value is not the desired value:

property :content, String
property :path, String, name_property: true

load_current_value do
  if ::File.exist?(path)
    content IO.read(path)
  end
end

action :create do
  converge_if_changed do
    IO.write(new_resource.path, new_resource.content)
  end
end

When the file does not exist, the IO.write(new_resource.path, new_resource.content) code is executed and the Chef Infra Client output will print something similar to:

Recipe: recipe_name::block
  * resource_name[blah] action create
    - update my_file[blah]
    -   set content to "hola mundo" (was "hello world")

Converging Multiple Properties

The converge_if_changed method may be used multiple times. The following example shows how to use the converge_if_changed method to compare the multiple desired property values against the current property values (as loaded by the load_current_value method).

property :path, String
property :content, String
property :mode, String

load_current_value do |desired|
  if ::File.exist?(desired.path)
    content IO.read(desired.path)
    mode ::File.stat(desired.path).mode
  end
end

action :create do
  converge_if_changed :content do
    IO.write(new_resource.path, new_resource.content)
  end
  converge_if_changed :mode do
    ::File.chmod(new_resource.mode, new_resource.path)
  end
end

where

  • load_current_value loads the property values for both content and mode
  • A converge_if_changed block tests only content
  • A converge_if_changed block tests only mode

Chef Infra Client will only update the property values that require updates and will not make changes when the property values are already in the desired state

default_action

The default action in a custom resource is, by default, the first action listed in the custom resource. For example, action aaaaa is the default resource:

property :property_name, RubyType, default: 'value'

...

action :aaaaa do
 # the first action listed in the custom resource
end

action :bbbbb do
 # the second action listed in the custom resource
end

The default_action method may also be used to specify the default action. For example:

property :property_name, RubyType, default: 'value'

default_action :aaaaa

action :aaaaa do
 # the first action listed in the custom resource
end

action :bbbbb do
 # the second action listed in the custom resource
end

defines action aaaaa as the default action. If default_action :bbbbb is specified, then action bbbbb is the default action. Use this method for clarity in custom resources, if deliberately stating the default resource is desired, or to specify a default action that is not listed first in the custom resource.

load_current_value

Use the load_current_value method to load the specified property values from the node, and then use those values when the resource is converged. This method may take a block argument.

property :path, String
property :content, String
property :mode, String

load_current_value do |new_resource|
  if ::File.exist?(new_resource.path)
    content IO.read(new_resource.path)
    mode ::File.stat(new_resource.path).mode
  end
end

Use the load_current_value method to guard against property values being replaced. For example:

property :homepage, String
property :page_not_found, String

load_current_value do
  if ::File.exist?('/var/www/html/index.html')
    homepage IO.read('/var/www/html/index.html')
  end

  if ::File.exist?('/var/www/html/404.html')
    page_not_found IO.read('/var/www/html/404.html')
  end
end

This ensures the values for homepage and page_not_found are not changed to the default values when Chef Infra Client configures the node.

Block Arguments

Any properties that are marked identity: true, desired_state: false, or name_property: true will be directly available from load_current_value. If access to other properties of a resource is needed, use a block argument with load_current_value. The block argument will have the values of the requested resource. For example:

// Property is directly available example
property :action, String, name_property: true
property :content, String

load_current_value do |desired|
  puts "The user requested action = #{action} in the resource"
  puts "The user typed content = #{desired.content} in the resource"
end

// Block argument example
property :action, String
property :content, String

load_current_value do |desired|
  puts "The user requested action = #{desired.action} in the resource"
  puts "The user typed content = #{desired.content} in the resource"
end

property

Use the property method to define properties for the custom resource. The syntax is:

property :property_name, ruby_type, default: 'value', parameter: 'value'

where

  • :property_name is the name of the property
  • ruby_type is the optional Ruby type or array of types, such as String, Integer, true, or false
  • default: 'value' is the optional default value loaded into the resource
  • parameter: 'value' optional parameters

For example, the following properties define username and password properties with no default values specified:

property :username, String
property :password, String

ruby_type

The property ruby_type is a positional parameter. Use to ensure a property value is of a particular ruby class, such as true, false, nil, String, Array, Hash, Integer, Symbol. Use an array of ruby classes to allow a value to be of more than one type. For example:

property :aaaa, String

property :bbbb, Integer

property :cccc, Hash

property :dddd, [true, false]

property :eeee, [String, nil]

property :ffff, [Class, String, Symbol]

property :gggg, [Array, Hash]

validators

A validation parameter is used to add zero (or more) validation parameters to a property.

ParameterDescription

:callbacks

Use to define a collection of unique keys and values (a ruby hash) for which the key is the error message and the value is a lambda to validate the parameter. For example:

callbacks: {
             'should be a valid non-system port' => lambda {
               |p| p > 1024 && p < 65535
             }
           }

:default

Use to specify the default value for a property. For example:

default: 'a_string_value'
default: 123456789
default: []
default: ()
default: {}

:equal_to

Use to match a value with ==. Use an array of values to match any of those values with ==. For example:

equal_to: [true, false]
equal_to: ['php', 'perl']

:regex

Use to match a value to a regular expression. For example:

regex: [ /^([a-z]|[A-Z]|[0-9]|_|-)+$/, /^\d+$/ ]

:required

Indicates that a property is required. For example:

required: true

:respond_to

Use to ensure that a value has a given method. This can be a single method name or an array of method names. For example:

respond_to: valid_encoding?

Some examples of combining validation parameters:

property :spool_name, String, regex: /$\w+/

property :enabled, equal_to: [true, false, 'true', 'false'], default: true

desired_state

Add desired_state: to set the desired state property for a resource. This value may be true or false, and all properties default to true.

  • When true, the state of the property is determined by the state of the system
  • When false, the value of the property impacts how the resource executes, but it is not determined by the state of the system.

For example, if you were to write a resource to create volumes on a cloud provider you would need define properties such as volume_name, volume_size, and volume_region. The state of these properties would determine if your resource needed to converge or not. For the resource to function you would also need to define properties such as cloud_login and cloud_password. These are necessary properties for interacting with the cloud provider, but their state has no impact on decision to converge the resource or not, so you would set desired_state to false for these properties.

property :volume_name, String
property :volume_size, Integer
property :volume_region, String
property :cloud_login, String, desired_state: false
property :cloud_password, String, desired_state: false

identity

Add identity: to set a resource to a particular set of properties. This value may be true or false.

  • When true, data for that property is returned as part of the resource data set and may be available to external applications, such as reporting
  • When false, no data for that property is returned.

If no properties are marked true, the property that defaults to the name of the resource is marked true.

For example, the following properties define username and password properties with no default values specified, but with identity set to true for the user name:

property :username, String, identity: true
property :password, String

Working With Properties

The Custom Resource DSL includes several helper methods for accessing and manipulating the values of properties defined within a custom resource.

new_resource.property

Custom resources are designed to use core resources that are built into Chef. In some cases, it may be necessary to specify a property in the custom resource that is the same as a property in a core resource, for the purpose of overriding that property when used with the custom resource. For example:

property :command, String, name_property: true
property :version, String

# Useful properties from the `execute` resource
property :cwd, String
property :environment, Hash, default: {}
property :user, [String, Integer]
property :sensitive, [true, false], default: false

prefix = '/opt/languages/node'

load_current_value do
  current_value_does_not_exist! if node.run_state['nodejs'].nil?
  version node.run_state['nodejs'][:version]
end

action :run do
  execute 'execute-node' do
    cwd cwd
    environment environment
    user user
    sensitive sensitive
    # gsub replaces 10+ spaces at the beginning of the line with nothing
    command <<-CODE.gsub(/^ {10}/, '')
      #{prefix}/#{new_resource.version}/#{command}
    CODE
  end
end

where the property :cwd, property :environment, property :user, and property :sensitive are identical to properties in the execute resource, embedded as part of the action :run action. Because both the custom properties and the execute properties are identical, this will result in an error message similar to:

ArgumentError
-------------
wrong number of arguments (0 for 1)

To prevent this behavior, use new_resource. to tell Chef Infra Client to process the properties from the core resource instead of the properties in the custom resource. For example:

property :command, String, name_property: true
property :version, String

# Useful properties from the `execute` resource
property :cwd, String
property :environment, Hash, default: {}
property :user, [String, Integer]
property :sensitive, [true, false], default: false

prefix = '/opt/languages/node'

load_current_value do
  current_value_does_not_exist! if node.run_state['nodejs'].nil?
  version node.run_state['nodejs'][:version]
end

action :run do
  execute 'execute-node' do
    cwd new_resource.cwd
    environment new_resource.environment
    user new_resource.user
    sensitive new_resource.sensitive
    # gsub replaces 10+ spaces at the beginning of the line with nothing
    command <<-CODE.gsub(/^ {10}/, '')
      #{prefix}/#{new_resource.version}/#{new_resource.command}
    CODE
  end
end

where cwd new_resource.cwd, environment new_resource.environment, user new_resource.user, and sensitive new_resource.sensitive correctly use the properties of the execute resource and not the identically-named override properties of the custom resource.

property_is_set?

Use the property_is_set? method to check if the value for a property is set. The syntax is:

property_is_set?(:property_name)

The property_is_set? method will return true if the property is set.

For example, the following custom resource creates and/or updates user properties, but not their password. The property_is_set? method checks if the user has specified a password and then tells Chef Infra Client what to do if the password is not identical:

action :create do
  converge_if_changed do
    shell_out!("rabbitmqctl create_or_update_user #{username} --prop1 #{prop1} ... ")
  end

  if property_is_set?(:password)
    if shell_out("rabbitmqctl authenticate_user #{username} #{password}").error?
      converge_by "Updating password for user #{username} ..." do
        shell_out!("rabbitmqctl update_user #{username} --password #{password}")
      end
    end
  end
end

reset_property

Use the reset_property method to clear the value for a property as if it had never been set, and then use the default value. For example, to clear the value for a property named password:

reset_property(:password)

provides

Use the provides method to associate a custom resource with the Recipe DSL on different operating systems. When multiple custom resources use the same DSL, specificity rules are applied to determine the priority, from highest to lowest:

  1. provides :my_custom_resource, platform_version: ‘0.1.2’
  2. provides :my_custom_resource, platform: ‘platform_name’
  3. provides :my_custom_resource, platform_family: ‘platform_family’
  4. provides :my_custom_resource, os: ‘operating_system’
  5. provides :my_custom_resource

For example:

provides :my_custom_resource, platform: 'redhat' do |node|
  node['platform_version'].to_i >= 7
end

provides :my_custom_resource, platform: 'redhat'

provides :my_custom_resource, platform_family: 'rhel'

provides :my_custom_resource, os: 'linux'

provides :my_custom_resource

This allows you to use multiple custom resources files that provide the same resource to the user, but for different operating systems or operation system versions. With this you can eliminate the need for platform or platform version logic within your resources.

resource_name

Note

Cookbook and custom resource names should contain only alphanumeric characters. A hyphen (-) is a valid character and may be used in cookbook and custom resource names, but it is discouraged. Chef Infra Client will return an error if a hyphen is not converted to an underscore (_) when referencing from a recipe the name of a custom resource in which a hyphen is located.

Use the resource_name method at the top of a custom resource to declare a custom name for that resource. For example:

resource_name :my_resource_name

The resource_name is only used as a fallback name for display purposes. Even for display purposes, the name used in recipe code which matches a provides statement is favored over the resource_name setting, so the resource_name has little effect. In Chef Infra Client 16 and later, the first provides in a resource declaration also sets the fallback resource_name, so we do not recommend that users set the resource_name at all. The resource_name setting is necessary for backwards compatibility with Chef Infra Client 12 through 15.

For example, the httpd.rb file in the website cookbook could be assigned a custom resource name like this:

resource_name :httpd

property :homepage, String, default: '<h1>Hello world!</h1>'

action :create do
  package 'httpd'

  service 'httpd' do
    action [:enable, :start]
  end

  file '/var/www/html/index.html' do
    content new_resource.homepage
  end
end

and is then usable in a recipe like this:

httpd 'build website' do
  homepage '<h1>Welcome to the Example Co. website!</h1>'
  action :create
end

deprecated

Deprecating entire resources

Chef Infra Client 14+ provides new primitives that allow you to deprecate resources or properties with the same functionality used for deprecations in Chef Infra Client resources. This allows you make breaking changes to enterprise or community cookbooks with friendly notifications to downstream cookbook consumers directly in the Chef Infra Client run.

Deprecate the foo_bar resource in a cookbook

deprecated 'The foo_bar resource has been deprecated and will be removed in the next major release of this cookbook scheduled for 12/25/2021!'

property :thing, String, name_property: true

action :create do
 # Chef resource code
end

Deprecating a property

Deprecate the badly_named property in a resource:

property :badly_named, String, deprecated: 'The badly_named property has been deprecated and will be removed in the next major release of this cookbook scheduled for 12/25/2021!'

Deprecate and alias

Rename a property with a deprecation warning for users of the old property name:

deprecated_property_alias 'badly_named', 'really_well_named', 'The badly_named property was renamed really_well_named in the 2.0 release of this cookbook. Please update your cookbooks to use the new property name.'