windows_package Resource

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Use the windows_package resource to manage packages on the Microsoft Windows platform. The windows_package resource supports these installer formats:

• Microsoft Installer Package (MSI)
• Nullsoft Scriptable Install System (NSIS)
• Inno Setup (inno)
• Wise
• InstallShield
• Custom installers such as installing a non-.msi file that embeds an .msi-based installer

To enable idempotence of the :install action or to enable the :remove action with no source property specified, package_name MUST be an exact match of the name used by the package installer. The names of installed packages Windows knows about can be found in Add/Remove programs, in the output of ohai packages, or in the DisplayName property in one of the following in the Windows registry:

• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall
• HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall

Syntax

A windows_package resource block manages a package on a node, typically by installing it. The simplest use of the windows_package resource is:

windows_package ''package_name''

which will install the named package using all of the default options and the default action (:install).'

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

windows_package 'name' do
  checksum                    String
  installer_type              Symbol
  options                     String
  package_name                String
  remote_file_attributes      Hash
  returns                     String, Integer, Array
  source                      String # default value: "The resource block's name"
  timeout                     String, Integer # default value: "600 (seconds)"
  version                     String
  action                      Symbol # defaults to :install if not specified
end

where:

• windows_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.
• checksum, installer_type, options, package_name, remote_file_attributes, returns, source, timeout, and version are the properties available to this resource.

Actions

The windows_package resource has the following actions:

:install

Install a package. If a version is specified, install the specified version of the package. (default)

:nothing

This resource block doesn’t 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.

:remove

Properties

The windows_package resource has the following properties:

checksum

Ruby Type: String

The SHA-256 checksum of the file. Use to prevent a file from being re-downloaded. When the local file matches the checksum, Chef Infra Client does not download it. Use when a URL is specified by the source property.

installer_type

Ruby Type: Symbol
Allowed Values: :custom, :inno, :installshield, :msi, :nsis, :wise

A symbol that specifies the type of package. Possible values: :custom (such as installing a non-.msi file that embeds an .msi-based installer), :inno (Inno Setup), :installshield (InstallShield), :msi (Microsoft Installer Package (MSI)), :nsis (Nullsoft Scriptable Install System (NSIS)), :wise (Wise).

options

Ruby Type: String

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

package_name

Ruby Type: String

An optional property to set the package name if it differs from the resource block’s name.

remote_file_attributes

Ruby Type: Hash

If the source package to install is at a remote location, this property allows you to define a hash of properties which will be used by the underlying remote_file resource used to fetch the source.

returns

Ruby Type: String, Integer, Array of integers | Default Value: 0 (success) and 3010 (success where a reboot is necessary)

A comma-delimited list of return codes that indicate the success or failure of the package command that was run.

source

Ruby Type: String | Default Value: The resource block's name

The path to a package in the local file system. The location of the package may be at a URL.

If the source property is not specified, the package name MUST be exactly the same as the display name found in Add/Remove programs or exactly the same as the DisplayName property in the appropriate registry key, which may be one of the following:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall

Note

If there are multiple versions of a package installed with the same display name, all of those packages will be removed unless a version is provided in the version property or unless it can be discovered in the installer file specified by the source property.

timeout

Ruby Type: String, Integer | Default Value: 600 (seconds)

The amount of time (in seconds) to wait before timing out.

version

Ruby Type: String

The version of a package to be installed or upgraded.

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 won’t 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 isn’t 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 doesn’t exist, an error is raised. In contrast, subscribes won’t fail if the source resource isn’t 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, for each 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 doesn’t 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 doesn’t 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 doesn’t exist, the subscription won’t raise an error. Contrast this with the stricter semantics of notifies, which will raise an error if the other resource doesn’t 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, for each 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 isn’t 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 isn’t 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’s being executed, and then if the desired state is present, for Chef Infra Client to don’thing.

The following properties can be used to define a guard that’s 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.

Examples

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

Install a package:

windows_package '7zip' do
  action :install
  source 'C:\7z920.msi'
end

Specify a URL for the source attribute:

windows_package '7zip' do
  source 'http://www.7-zip.org/a/7z938-x64.msi'
end

Specify path and checksum:

windows_package '7zip' do
  source 'http://www.7-zip.org/a/7z938-x64.msi'
  checksum '7c8e873991c82ad9cfc123415254ea6101e9a645e12977dcd518979e50fdedf3'
end

Modify remote_file resource attributes:

The windows_package resource may specify a package at a remote location using the remote_file_attributes property. This uses the remote_file resource to download the contents at the specified URL and passes in a Hash that modifies the properties of the remote_file resource.

windows_package '7zip' do
  source 'http://www.7-zip.org/a/7z938-x64.msi'
  remote_file_attributes ({
    :path => 'C:\7zip.msi',
    :checksum => '7c8e873991c82ad9cfc123415254ea6101e9a645e12977dcd518979e50fdedf3'
  })
end

Download a nsis (Nullsoft) package resource:

windows_package 'Mercurial 3.6.1 (64-bit)' do
  source 'https://www.mercurial-scm.org/release/windows/Mercurial-3.6.1-x64.exe'
  checksum 'febd29578cb6736163d232708b834a2ddd119aa40abc536b2c313fc5e1b5831d'
end

Download a custom package:

windows_package 'Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Redistributable' do
  source 'https://download.microsoft.com/download/6/B/B/6BB661D6-A8AE-4819-B79F-236472F6070C/vcredist_x86.exe'
  installer_type :custom
  options '/Q'
end