[chef] Re: Package doesnt notify service?

[Vladimir Girnet < >]

On May 8, 2012, at 2:07 PM, Geoff Meakin wrote:

Hi Phil,

I think you misunderstood (1)

1. On a chef run, dont assume that the database should always be started.

There might have been good reasons it was taken down by a sysadmin

I'm trying to *NOT* ensure the database is always started.
For example as a sysadmin i may have taken my database down for very good reasons whilst I sort some stuff out. I dont want chef restarting it automatically

I think you are missing then the main feature of Chef configuration management - to ensure system is always in a correct state. 

A better way for solving your problem will be to use "not_if/only_if" for "service" resource. For example, do no start the service if there is a specific file present on the system. When you need to have your database down, just create that file, and chef will not do anything. Removing the file will mean for chef to do all required things. 

Cheers

--
Vladimir Girnet
Infrastructure Engineer
Tacit Knowledge
http://www.tacitknowledge.com