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

[Laurent < >]

Hi,

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

Ok.
dpkg-reconfigure is idempotent but from what i read the resource will
be set updated_by_last_action on every run. (dpkg-reconfigure always
returns 0 whether changes have been made or not)

I'd say option 3 is the only way to go. What extra packages are you
thinking of ?

-- 
Laurent