reboot

Use the reboot resource to reboot a node, a necessary step with some installations on certain platforms. This resource is supported for use on the Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux platforms.

Syntax

A reboot resource block reboots a node:

reboot 'app_requires_reboot' do
  action :request_reboot
  reason 'Need to reboot when the run completes successfully.'
  delay_mins 5
end

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

reboot 'name' do
  delay_mins                 Fixnum
  notifies                   # see description
  reason                     String
  subscribes                 # see description
  action                     Symbol
end

where

• reboot is the resource
• name is the name of the resource block
• :action identifies the steps the chef-client will take to bring the node into the desired state
• delay_mins and reason 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:

:cancel

Cancel a reboot request.

: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.

:reboot_now

Reboot a node so that the chef-client may continue the installation process.

:request_reboot

Reboot a node at the end of a chef-client run.

Properties

This resource has the following properties:

delay_mins

Ruby Type: Fixnum

The amount of time (in minutes) to delay a reboot request.

ignore_failure

Ruby Types: TrueClass, FalseClass

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

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 timer is available:

:immediate, :immediately

Specifies that a notification should be run immediately, per resource notified.

reason

Ruby Type: String

A string that describes the reboot action.

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.

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 timer is available:

:immediate, :immediately

Specifies that a notification should be run immediately, per resource notified.

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.

Reboot a node immediately

reboot 'now' do
  action :nothing
  reason 'Cannot continue Chef run without a reboot.'
  delay_mins 2
end

execute 'foo' do
  command '...'
  notifies :reboot_now, 'reboot[now]', :immediately
end

Reboot a node at the end of a chef-client run

reboot 'app_requires_reboot' do
  action :request_reboot
  reason 'Need to reboot when the run completes successfully.'
  delay_mins 5
end

Cancel a reboot

reboot 'cancel_reboot_request' do
  action :cancel
  reason 'Cancel a previous end-of-run reboot request.'
end

Rename computer, join domain, reboot

The following example shows how to rename a computer, join a domain, and then reboot the computer:

reboot 'Restart Computer' do
  action :nothing
end

powershell_script 'Rename and Join Domain' do
  code <<-EOH
    ...your rename and domain join logic here...
  EOH
  not_if <<-EOH
    $ComputerSystem = gwmi win32_computersystem
    ($ComputerSystem.Name -like '#{node['some_attribute_that_has_the_new_name']}') -and
      $ComputerSystem.partofdomain)
  EOH
  notifies :reboot_now, 'reboot[Restart Computer]', :immediately
end

where:

• The powershell_script resource block renames a computer, and then joins a domain
• The reboot resource restarts the computer
• The not_if guard prevents the Windows PowerShell script from running when the settings in the not_if guard match the desired state
• The notifies statement tells the reboot resource block to run if the powershell_script block was executed during the chef-client run