[chef] Re: What is a simple method to arrange e-mail notification of failed convergence?

[Phil Mocek < >]

Daniel DeLeo wrote:
> there are already ones written that do what you’re asking, like
> this one: https://github.com/kisoku/chef-handler-mail

That's not quite what I'm asking, which is for a simple method to
configure chef-client to send an e-mail to a particular address if
convergence fails.  Apparently, to use chef-handler-email, I need
to install one or more gems on client systems (that sounds like a
half-day of dependency hell), or use the provided LWRP in a recipe
of my creation.  If that's the simplest way to get an e-mail from
chef-client on failure, I'm disappointed, and concerned that I
have miscommunicated my goal.

> A super simple example is provided in the docs you linked:
> https://docs.getchef.com/essentials_handlers.html#syntax if you
> just want to copy pasta that code.

That appears to be a simple example *of how to write a custom
handler*.  I do not want to write a custom handler.  All I really
need to customize is the e-mail address to which notifications
should be sent, like cron's MAILTO setting.

> If you’re interested in other community-contributed handlers,
> there’s a list at the bottom of the documentation page:
> https://docs.getchef.com/essentials_handlers.html#community-handlers

That is preferable to writing my own handler.  It still appears to
require writing a recipe.  I'm busy writing recipes to deploy and
configure software and virtual infrastructure.  I just want to
tell chef-client to send an e-mail when it fails.

> Also, there is a chef_handler cookbook that will manage handlers
> for you, some documentation on that is here:
> https://docs.getchef.com/resource_chef_handler.html ;(GH:
> https://github.com/opscode-cookbooks/chef_handler)

That's also useful, and also far more complicated than I hoped it
would be just to get chef-client to send an e-mail on failure.

I feel like I must be missing something.  My goal, here, seems
likely to be a common one, and Chef generally handles those well
without much work on the user's part.

Thanks for the suggestions, Daniel.  I suspect I will end up using
some of what you referenced.

-- 
Phil Mocek
https://mocek.org