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Use the yum_package resource to install, upgrade, and remove packages with Yum for the Red Hat and CentOS platforms. The yum_package resource is able to resolve provides data for packages much like Yum can do when it is run from the command line. This allows a variety of options for installing packages, like minimum versions, virtual provides, and library names.

Syntax

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

yum_package 'name' do
  allow_downgrade      true, false # default value: true
  arch                 String, Array
  flush_cache          Hash # default value: {"before"=>false, "after"=>false}
  options              String, Array
  package_name         String, Array
  source               String
  timeout              String, Integer
  version              String, Array
  yum_binary           String
  action               Symbol # defaults to :install if not specified
end

where:

• yum_package is the resource.
• name is the name given to the resource block.
• action identifies which steps Chef Infra Client will take to bring the node into the desired state.
• allow_downgrade, arch, flush_cache, options, package_name, source, timeout, version, and yum_binary are the properties available to this resource.

Actions

The yum_package resource has the following actions:

:install

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

:lock

Locks the yum package to a specific version.

:nothing

This resource block does not act unless notified by another resource to take action. Once notified, this resource block either runs immediately or is queued up to run at the end of a Chef Infra Client run.

:purge

Purge a package. This action typically removes the configuration files as well as the package.

:remove

Remove a package.

:unlock

Unlocks the yum package so that it can be upgraded to a newer version.

:upgrade

Install a package and/or ensure that a package is the latest version. This action will ignore the version attribute.

Properties

The yum_package resource has the following properties:

allow_downgrade

Ruby Type: true, false | Default Value: true

Allow downgrading a package to satisfy requested version requirements.

arch

Ruby Type: String, Array

The architecture of the package to be installed or upgraded. This value can also be passed as part of the package name.

flush_cache

Ruby Type: Hash | Default Value: {"before"=>false, "after"=>false}

Flush the in-memory cache before or after a Yum operation that installs, upgrades, or removes a package. Accepts a Hash in the form: { :before => true/false, :after => true/false } or an Array in the form [ :before, :after ].

Yum automatically synchronizes remote metadata to a local cache. Chef Infra Client creates a copy of the local cache, and then stores it in-memory during a Chef Infra Client run. The in-memory cache allows packages to be installed during a Chef Infra Client run without the need to continue synchronizing the remote metadata to the local cache while the Chef Infra Client run is in-progress.

As an array:

yum_package 'some-package' do
  #...
  flush_cache [ :before ]
  #...
end

and as a Hash:

yum_package 'some-package' do
  #...
  flush_cache( { :after => true } )
  #...
end

Note

The flush_cache property does not flush the local Yum cache! Use Yum tools—yum clean headers, yum clean packages, yum clean all—to clean the local Yum cache.

options

Ruby Type: String, Array

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

package_name

Ruby Type: String, Array

One of the following: the name of a package, the name of a package and its architecture, the name of a dependency. Default value: the name of the resource block. See “Syntax” section above for more information.

source

Ruby Type: String

The optional path to a package on the local file system.

timeout

Ruby Type: String, Integer

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. This property is ignored when using the :upgrade action.

yum_binary

Ruby Type: String

The path to the yum binary.

Multiple Packages

A resource may specify multiple packages and/or versions for platforms that use Apt, Chocolatey, DNF, Homebrew, Pacman, or Zypper package managers. Specifying multiple packages and/or versions allows a single transaction to:

• Download the specified packages and versions via a single HTTP transaction
• Update or install multiple packages with a single resource during a Chef Infra Client run

For example, installing multiple packages:

package %w(package1 package2)

Installing multiple packages with versions:

package %w(package1 package2) do
  version [ '1.3.4-2', '4.3.6-1']
end

Upgrading multiple packages:

package %w(package1 package2) do
  action :upgrade
end

Removing multiple packages:

package %w(package1 package2) do
  action :remove
end

Purging multiple packages:

package %w(package1 package2) do
  action :purge
end

Notifications, via an implicit name:

package %w(package1 package2) do
  action :nothing
end

log 'call a notification' do
  notifies :install, 'package[package1, package2]', :immediately
end

Common Resource Functionality

Chef resources include common properties, notifications, and resource guards.

Common Properties

The following properties are common to every resource:

compile_time

Ruby Type: true, false | Default Value: false

Control the phase during which the resource is run on the node. Set to true to run while the resource collection is being built (the compile phase). Set to false to run while Chef Infra Client is configuring the node (the converge phase).

ignore_failure

Ruby Type: true, false, :quiet | Default Value: false

Continue running a recipe if a resource fails for any reason. :quiet will not display the full stack trace and the recipe will continue to run if a resource fails.

retries

Ruby Type: Integer | Default Value: 0

The number of attempts to catch exceptions and retry the resource.

retry_delay

Ruby Type: Integer | Default Value: 2

The delay in seconds between retry attempts.

sensitive

Ruby Type: true, false | Default Value: false

Ensure that sensitive resource data is not logged by Chef Infra Client.

Notifications

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.

If the referenced resource does not exist, an error is raised. In contrast, subscribes will not fail if the source resource is not found.

A timer specifies the point during a Chef Infra 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 a Chef Infra 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

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.

If the other resource does not exist, the subscription will not raise an error. Contrast this with the stricter semantics of notifies, which will raise an error if the other resource does not exist.

A timer specifies the point during a Chef Infra 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 a Chef Infra 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

Guards

A guard property can be used to evaluate the state of a node during the execution phase of a Chef Infra Client run. Based on the results of this evaluation, a guard property is then used to tell Chef Infra 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 Chef Infra Client to do nothing.

The following properties can be used to define a guard that is evaluated during the execution phase of a Chef Infra 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.

Multiple Packages

A resource may specify multiple packages and/or versions for platforms that use Apt, Chocolatey, DNF, Homebrew, Pacman, or Zypper package managers. Specifying multiple packages and/or versions allows a single transaction to:

• Download the specified packages and versions via a single HTTP transaction
• Update or install multiple packages with a single resource during a Chef Infra Client run

For example, installing multiple packages:

package %w(package1 package2)

Installing multiple packages with versions:

package %w(package1 package2) do
  version [ '1.3.4-2', '4.3.6-1']
end

Upgrading multiple packages:

package %w(package1 package2) do
  action :upgrade
end

Removing multiple packages:

package %w(package1 package2) do
  action :remove
end

Purging multiple packages:

package %w(package1 package2) do
  action :purge
end

Notifications, via an implicit name:

package %w(package1 package2) do
  action :nothing
end

log 'call a notification' do
  notifies :install, 'package[package1, package2]', :immediately
end

Examples

The following examples demonstrate various approaches for using the yum_package resource in recipes:

Install an exact version:

yum_package 'netpbm = 10.35.58-8.el8'

Install a minimum version:

yum_package 'netpbm >= 10.35.58-8.el8'

Install a minimum version using the default action:

yum_package 'netpbm'

Install a version without worrying about the exact release:

yum_package 'netpbm-10.35*'

To install a package:

yum_package 'netpbm' do
  action :install
end

To install a partial minimum version:

yum_package 'netpbm >= 10'

To install a specific architecture:

yum_package 'netpbm' do
  arch 'i386'
end

or:

yum_package 'netpbm.x86_64'

To install a specific version-release

yum_package 'netpbm' do
  version '10.35.58-8.el8'
end

Handle cookbook_file and yum_package resources in the same recipe:

When a cookbook_file resource and a yum_package resource are both called from within the same recipe, use the flush_cache attribute to dump the in-memory Yum cache, and then use the repository immediately to ensure that the correct package is installed:

cookbook_file '/etc/yum.repos.d/custom.repo' do
  source 'custom'
  mode '0755'
end

yum_package 'pkg-that-is-only-in-custom-repo' do
  action :install
  flush_cache [ :before ]
end