[[chef-dev]] Re: [[chef-dev]] Re: [[chef-dev]] new package resource action :reconfig

[Dennis Klein < >]

On Aug 6, 2011, at 8:25 PM, Dennis Klein wrote:

> 
> On Aug 6, 2011, at 7:43 PM, 
> 
 
>  wrote:
> 
>> Yes, i think it's a good idea, how do you plan on making it idempotent ?
>> Have you written a new debconf resource and provider that the apt
>> package resource would require ?
>> 
>> -- 
>> Laurent
> 
> I see 3 options for idempotency:
> 
> 1. invoke the reconfiguration only if the :response_file has changed
>  - disadvantage: non-chef misconfigurations of a package will go unnoticed.
> 2. rely on idempotency of the reconfiguration facility on the specific 
> platforms
>  - disadvantage: if the platform implementation changes, idempotency may 
> not be given any more.
> 3. implement logic which retrievs the actual configuration values from the 
> node and decide, if a reconfiguration is needed. (maybe even put the 
> retrieval logic to ohai)
>  - disadvantage: intense coding necessary, in the case of apt, extra 
> packages need to be installed to be able to retrieve config values or you 
> have to reimplement a database client as part of the provider ...
> 
> So far I only implemented the :reconfig action for the apt provider. 
> Therefore I chose option 2, because dpkg-reconfigure is already idempotent.
> 
> --
> Dennis

https://gist.github.com/1129625 ;(this is only a hack, but to get an idea 
about how it could look like)

--
Dennis