batch

Use the batch resource to execute a batch script using the cmd.exe interpreter. The batch resource creates and executes a temporary file (similar to how the script resource behaves), rather than running the command inline. This resource inherits actions (:run and :nothing) and properties (creates, cwd, environment, group, path, timeout, and user) from the execute resource. Commands that are executed with this resource are (by their nature) not idempotent, as they are typically unique to the environment in which they are run. Use not_if and only_if to guard this resource for idempotence.

Syntax

A batch resource block executes a batch script using the cmd.exe interpreter:

batch 'echo some env vars' do
  code <<-EOH
    echo %TEMP%
    echo %SYSTEMDRIVE%
    echo %PATH%
    echo %WINDIR%
    EOH
end

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

batch 'name' do
  architecture               Symbol
  code                       String
  command                    String, Array
  creates                    String
  cwd                        String
  flags                      String
  group                      String, Integer
  guard_interpreter          Symbol
  interpreter                String
  notifies                   # see description
  provider                   Chef::Provider::Batch
  returns                    Integer, Array
  subscribes                 # see description
  timeout                    Integer, Float
  user                       String, Integer
  action                     Symbol # defaults to :run if not specified
end

where

• batch is the resource
• name is the name of the resource block
• command is the command to be run and cwd is the location from which the command is run
• :action identifies the steps the chef-client will take to bring the node into the desired state
• architecture, code, command, creates, cwd, flags, group, guard_interpreter, interpreter, provider, returns, timeout, and user are properties of this resource, with the Ruby type shown. See “Properties” section below for more information about all of the properties that may be used with this resource.

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

Run a batch file.

Properties

This resource has the following properties:

architecture

Ruby Type: Symbol

The architecture of the process under which a script is executed. If a value is not provided, the chef-client defaults to the correct value for the architecture, as determined by Ohai. An exception is raised when anything other than :i386 is specified for a 32-bit process. Possible values: :i386 (for 32-bit processes) and :x86_64 (for 64-bit processes).

code

Ruby Type: String

A quoted (” ”) string of code to be executed.

command

Ruby Types: String, Array

The name of the command to be executed.

creates

Ruby Type: String

Prevent a command from creating a file when that file already exists.

cwd

Ruby Type: String

The current working directory from which a command is run.

flags

Ruby Type: String

One or more command line flags that are passed to the interpreter when a command is invoked.

group

Ruby Types: String, Integer

The group name or group ID that must be changed before running a command.

guard_interpreter

Ruby Type: Symbol

Default value: :batch. When this property is set to :batch, the 64-bit version of the cmd.exe shell will be used to evaluate strings values for the not_if and only_if properties. Set this value to :default to use the 32-bit version of the cmd.exe shell.

ignore_failure

Ruby Types: TrueClass, FalseClass

Continue running a recipe if a resource fails for any reason. Default value: false.

interpreter

Ruby Type: String

The script interpreter to use during code execution. Changing the default value of this property is not supported.

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 notifiy 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 very 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

provider

Ruby Type: Chef Class

Optional. Explicitly specifies a provider.

retries

Ruby Type: Integer

The number of times to catch exceptions and retry the resource. Default value: 0.

retry_delay

Ruby Type: Integer

The retry delay (in seconds). Default value: 2.

returns

Ruby Types: Integer, Array

The return value for a command. This may be an array of accepted values. An exception is raised when the return value(s) do not match. Default value: 0.

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.

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 very 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 Types: Integer, Float

The amount of time (in seconds) a command is to wait before timing out. Default value: 3600.

user

Ruby Types: String, Integer

A user name or identifier that must be changed before running a command.

Guards

A guard property can be used to evaluate the state of a node during the execution phase of the chef-client run. Based on the results of this evaluation, a guard property is then used to tell the chef-client if it should continue executing a resource. A guard property accepts either a string value or a Ruby block value:

• A string is executed as a shell command. If the command returns 0, the guard is applied. If the command returns any other value, then the guard property is not applied. String guards in a powershell_script run Windows PowerShell commands and may return true in addition to 0.
• A block is executed as Ruby code that must return either true or false. If the block returns true, the guard property is applied. If the block returns false, the guard property is not applied.

A guard property is useful for ensuring that a resource is idempotent by allowing that resource to test for the desired state as it is being executed, and then if the desired state is present, for the chef-client to do nothing.

Attributes

The following properties can be used to define a guard that is evaluated during the execution phase of the chef-client run:

not_if

Prevent a resource from executing when the condition returns true.

only_if

Allow a resource to execute only if the condition returns true.

Arguments

The following arguments can be used with the not_if or only_if guard properties:

:user

Specify the user that a command will run as. For example:

not_if 'grep adam /etc/passwd', :user => 'adam'

:group

Specify the group that a command will run as. For example:

not_if 'grep adam /etc/passwd', :group => 'adam'

:environment

Specify a Hash of environment variables to be set. For example:

not_if 'grep adam /etc/passwd', :environment => {
  'HOME' => '/home/adam'
}

:cwd

Set the current working directory before running a command. For example:

not_if 'grep adam passwd', :cwd => '/etc'

:timeout

Set a timeout for a command. For example:

not_if 'sleep 10000', :timeout => 10

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.

Unzip a file, and then move it

To run a batch file that unzips and then moves Ruby, do something like:

batch 'unzip_and_move_ruby' do
  code <<-EOH
    7z.exe x #{Chef::Config[:file_cache_path]}/ruby-1.8.7-p352-i386-mingw32.7z
      -oC:\\source -r -y
    xcopy C:\\source\\ruby-1.8.7-p352-i386-mingw32 C:\\ruby /e /y
    EOH
end

batch 'echo some env vars' do
  code <<-EOH
    echo %TEMP%
    echo %SYSTEMDRIVE%
    echo %PATH%
    echo %WINDIR%
    EOH
end

or:

batch 'unzip_and_move_ruby' do
  code <<-EOH
    7z.exe x #{Chef::Config[:file_cache_path]}/ruby-1.8.7-p352-i386-mingw32.7z
      -oC:\\source -r -y
    xcopy C:\\source\\ruby-1.8.7-p352-i386-mingw32 C:\\ruby /e /y
    EOH
end

batch 'echo some env vars' do
  code 'echo %TEMP%\\necho %SYSTEMDRIVE%\\necho %PATH%\\necho %WINDIR%'
end