erl_call

Use the erl_call resource to connect to a node located within a distributed Erlang system. 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 erl_call resource block connects to a node located within a distributed Erlang system:

erl_call 'list names' do
  code 'net_adm:names().'
  distributed true
  node_name 'chef@latte'
end

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

erl_call 'name' do
  code                       String
  cookie                     String
  distributed                TrueClass, FalseClass
  name_type                  String
  node_name                  String
  notifies                   # see description
  provider                   Chef::Provider::ErlCall
  subscribes                 # see description
  action                     Symbol # defaults to :run if not specified
end

where

• erl_call 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
• code, cookie, distributed, name_type, node_name, and provider 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

Prevent the Erlang call from running.

:run

Default. Run the Erlang call.

Properties

This resource has the following properties:

code

Ruby Type: String

The code to be executed on a node located within a distributed Erlang system. Default value: q().

cookie

Ruby Type: String

The magic cookie for the node to which a connection is made.

distributed

Ruby Types: TrueClass, FalseClass

The node is a distributed Erlang node. Default value: false.

ignore_failure

Ruby Types: TrueClass, FalseClass

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

name_type

Ruby Type: String

The node_name property as a short node name (sname) or a long node name (name). A node with a long node name cannot communicate with a node with a short node name. Default value: sname.

node_name

Ruby Type: String

The hostname to which the node is to connect. Default value: chef@localhost.

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:

: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.

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:

: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

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.

Run a command

erl_call 'list names' do
  code 'net_adm:names().'
  distributed true
  node_name 'chef@latte'
end