[chef] Re: Re: Re: Managing package preferences within chef (Debian, Ubuntu, RHEL, etc.)

[AJ Christensen < >]

Hello,

On 29 September 2012 10:26, Edward Morbius 
<
 >
 wrote:
> I don't care about mechanism so much as I care about result.

Using the Recipe DSL you can map node data into resources. This is a
common Chef practice/procedure.

Try building up a hash of packages/states and consuming that with the
Recipe DSL, turning 'em into Package resources:

attributes:

default['package_installer']['packages'] = {
  "htop" => :install,
  "bmon" => :remove
}

recipe:

node['package_installer']['packages'].map |pkg_name, pkg_action|
  package pkg_name do
    action pkg_action unless pkg_action.nil?
  end
end

Hope this helps; you should easily be able to add more packages/states
to a role, or event extend this example to use a data-bag -- usually
it is useful to care about the mechanism *and* the result!

Cheers,

AJ

>
> I'd like to specify a set of packages and the state in which they
> should exist on the system (including "not existing" as a state).
>
> I'd like to do this in as simple, intuitive, and maintainable manner
> as possible.


>
> On Fri, Sep 28, 2012 at 2:11 PM, Ranjib Dey 
> <
 >
>  wrote:
>> do you mean an array of packages?
>> %w{ pkg1 pkg2 pkg3}.each do |pkg|
>>    action :remove
>> end
>>
>>
>> On Sat, Sep 29, 2012 at 1:09 AM, Edward Morbius 
>> <
 >
>> wrote:
>>>
>>> We're looking for a lightweight way to specify package preferences
>>> (inclusion and exclusion) on chef-managed hosts.
>>>
>>> Ideally this would simply be a list of packages and desired
>>> installation states.  Primary target is Ubuntu / Debian, so:
>>>
>>> <packagename> <install|remove|purge>
>>>
>>> ... would be the general form.
>>>
>>>
>>> I'm not seeing an obvious established way of doing this, but it seems
>>> like the sort of thing that should exist.
>>>
>>> What am I missing?
>>>
>>> --
>>> Dr. Ed Morbius
>>> Chief Scientist / Philologist / Robot Wrangler / Powerplant Operator
>>> Krell Power Systems Unlimited
>>
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Dr. Ed Morbius
> Chief Scientist / Philologist / Robot Wrangler / Powerplant Operator
> Krell Power Systems Unlimited