ifconfig

Use the ifconfig resource to manage interfaces.

Syntax

A ifconfig resource block manages interfaces, such as a static IP address:

ifconfig '33.33.33.80' do
  device 'eth1'
end

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

ifconfig 'name' do
  bcast                      String
  bootproto                  String
  device                     String
  hwaddr                     String
  inet_addr                  String
  mask                       String
  metric                     String
  mtu                        String
  network                    String
  notifies                   # see description
  onboot                     String
  onparent                   String
  provider                   Chef::Provider::Ifconfig
  subscribes                 # see description
  target                     String # defaults to 'name' if not specified
  action                     Symbol # defaults to :create if not specified
end

where

• ifconfig 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
• bcast, bootproto, device, hwaddr, inet_addr, mask, metric, mtu, network, onboot, onparent, provider, and target 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:

:add

Default. Run ifconfig to configure a network interface and (on some platforms) write a configuration file for that network interface.

:delete

Run ifconfig to disable a network interface and (on some platforms) delete that network interface’s configuration file.

:disable

Run ifconfig to disable a network interface.

:enable

Run ifconfig to enable a network interface.

: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.

Properties

This resource has the following properties:

bcast

Ruby Type: String

The broadcast address for a network interface. On some platforms this property is not set using ifconfig, but instead is added to the startup configuration file for the network interface.

bootproto

Ruby Type: String

The boot protocol used by a network interface.

device

Ruby Type: String

The network interface to be configured.

hwaddr

Ruby Type: String

The hardware address for the network interface.

ignore_failure

Ruby Types: TrueClass, FalseClass

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

inet_addr

Ruby Type: String

The Internet host address for the network interface.

mask

Ruby Type: String

The decimal representation of the network mask. For example: 255.255.255.0.

metric

Ruby Type: String

The routing metric for the interface.

mtu

Ruby Type: String

The maximum transmission unit (MTU) for the network interface.

network

Ruby Type: String

The address for the network interface.

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

onboot

Ruby Type: String

Bring up the network interface on boot.

onparent

Ruby Type: String

Bring up the network interface when its parent interface is brought up.

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

target

Ruby Type: String

The IP address that is to be assigned to the network interface. Default value: the name of the resource block See “Syntax” section above for more information.

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.

Configure a network interface

ifconfig "33.33.33.80" do
  bootproto "dhcp"
  device "eth1"
end

will create the following interface:

vagrant@default-ubuntu-1204:~$ cat /etc/network/interfaces.d/ifcfg-eth1
iface eth1 inet dhcp

Specify a boot protocol

ifconfig '192.186.0.1' do
  device 'eth0'
end

Specify a static IP address

ifconfig "33.33.33.80" do
  device "eth1"
end

will create the following interface:

iface eth1 inet static
  address 33.33.33.80

Update a static IP address with a boot protocol

ifconfig "33.33.33.80" do
  bootproto "dhcp"
  device "eth1"
end

will update the interface from static to dhcp:

iface eth1 inet dhcp
  address 33.33.33.80