windows_feature Resource

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Use the windows_feature resource to add, remove or entirely delete Windows features and roles. This resource calls the windows_feature_dism or windows_feature_powershell resources depending on the specified installation method, and defaults to DISM, which is available on both Workstation and Server editions of Windows.

New in Chef Infra Client 14.0.

Syntax

The full syntax for all of the properties that are available to the windows_feature resource is:

windows_feature 'name' do
  all                   true, false # default value: false
  feature_name          Array, String # default value: 'name' unless specified
  install_method        Symbol # default value: :windows_feature_dism
  management_tools      true, false # default value: false
  source                String
  timeout               Integer # default value: 600
  action                Symbol # defaults to :install if not specified
end

where:

• windows_feature is the resource.
• name is the name given to the resource block.
• action identifies which steps Chef Infra Client will take to bring the node into the desired state.
• all, feature_name, install_method, management_tools, source, and timeout are the properties available to this resource.

Actions

The windows_feature resource has the following actions:

:delete

Remove a Windows role or feature from the image.

:install

Install a Windows role or feature. (default)

:nothing

This resource block does not act unless notified by another resource to take action. Once notified, this resource block either runs immediately or is queued up to run at the end of a Chef Infra Client run.

:remove

Remove a Windows role or feature.

Properties

The windows_feature resource has the following properties:

all

Ruby Type: true, false | Default Value: false

Install all sub-features.

feature_name

Ruby Type: Array, String | Default Value: The resource block's name

The name of the feature(s) or role(s) to install if they differ from the resource block’s name. The same feature may have different names depending on the underlying installation method being used (ie DHCPServer vs DHCP; DNS-Server-Full-Role vs DNS).

install_method

Ruby Type: Symbol | Default Value: :windows_feature_dism
Allowed Values: :windows_feature_dism, :windows_feature_powershell, :windows_feature_servermanagercmd

The underlying installation method to use for feature installation. Specify :windows_feature_dism for DISM or :windows_feature_powershell for PowerShell.

management_tools

Ruby Type: true, false | Default Value: false

Install all applicable management tools for the roles, role services, or features (PowerShell-only).

source

Ruby Type: String

Specify a local repository for the feature install.

timeout

Ruby Type: Integer | Default Value: 600

Specifies a timeout (in seconds) for the feature installation.

Common Resource Functionality

Chef resources include common properties, notifications, and resource guards.

Common Properties

The following properties are common to every resource:

compile_time

Ruby Type: true, false | Default Value: false

Control the phase during which the resource is run on the node. Set to true to run while the resource collection is being built (the compile phase). Set to false to run while Chef Infra Client is configuring the node (the converge phase).

ignore_failure

Ruby Type: true, false, :quiet | Default Value: false

Continue running a recipe if a resource fails for any reason. :quiet will not display the full stack trace and the recipe will continue to run if a resource fails.

retries

Ruby Type: Integer | Default Value: 0

The number of attempts to catch exceptions and retry the resource.

retry_delay

Ruby Type: Integer | Default Value: 2

The delay in seconds between retry attempts.

sensitive

Ruby Type: true, false | Default Value: false

Ensure that sensitive resource data is not logged by Chef Infra Client.

Notifications

notifies

Ruby Type: Symbol, 'Chef::Resource[String]'

A resource may notify another resource to take action when its state changes. Specify a 'resource[name]', the :action that resource should take, and then the :timer for that action. A resource may notify more than one resource; use a notifies statement for each resource to be notified.

If the referenced resource does not exist, an error is raised. In contrast, subscribes will not fail if the source resource is not found.

A timer specifies the point during a Chef Infra Client run at which a notification is run. The following timers are available:

:before

Specifies that the action on a notified resource should be run before processing the resource block in which the notification is located.

:delayed

Default. Specifies that a notification should be queued up, and then executed at the end of a Chef Infra Client run.

:immediate, :immediately

Specifies that a notification should be run immediately, for each resource notified.

The syntax for notifies is:

notifies :action, 'resource[name]', :timer

subscribes

Ruby Type: Symbol, 'Chef::Resource[String]'

A resource may listen to another resource, and then take action if the state of the resource being listened to changes. Specify a 'resource[name]', the :action to be taken, and then the :timer for that action.

Note that subscribes does not apply the specified action to the resource that it listens to - for example:

file '/etc/nginx/ssl/example.crt' do
  mode '0600'
  owner 'root'
end

service 'nginx' do
  subscribes :reload, 'file[/etc/nginx/ssl/example.crt]', :immediately
end

In this case the subscribes property reloads the nginx service whenever its certificate file, located under /etc/nginx/ssl/example.crt, is updated. subscribes does not make any changes to the certificate file itself, it merely listens for a change to the file, and executes the :reload action for its resource (in this example nginx) when a change is detected.

If the other resource does not exist, the subscription will not raise an error. Contrast this with the stricter semantics of notifies, which will raise an error if the other resource does not exist.

A timer specifies the point during a Chef Infra Client run at which a notification is run. The following timers are available:

:before

Specifies that the action on a notified resource should be run before processing the resource block in which the notification is located.

:delayed

Default. Specifies that a notification should be queued up, and then executed at the end of a Chef Infra Client run.

:immediate, :immediately

Specifies that a notification should be run immediately, for each resource notified.

The syntax for subscribes is:

subscribes :action, 'resource[name]', :timer

Guards

A guard property can be used to evaluate the state of a node during the execution phase of a Chef Infra Client run. Based on the results of this evaluation, a guard property is then used to tell Chef Infra Client if it should continue executing a resource. A guard property accepts either a string value or a Ruby block value:

• A string is executed as a shell command. If the command returns 0, the guard is applied. If the command returns any other value, then the guard property is not applied. String guards in a powershell_script run Windows PowerShell commands and may return true in addition to 0.
• A block is executed as Ruby code that must return either true or false. If the block returns true, the guard property is applied. If the block returns false, the guard property is not applied.

A guard property is useful for ensuring that a resource is idempotent by allowing that resource to test for the desired state as it is being executed, and then if the desired state is present, for Chef Infra Client to do nothing.

The following properties can be used to define a guard that is evaluated during the execution phase of a Chef Infra Client run:

not_if

Prevent a resource from executing when the condition returns true.

only_if

Allow a resource to execute only if the condition returns true.

Examples

The following examples demonstrate various approaches for using the windows_feature resource in recipes:

Install the DHCP Server feature:

windows_feature 'DHCPServer' do
  action :install
end

Install the .Net 3.5.1 feature using repository files on DVD:

windows_feature "NetFx3" do
  action :install
  source 'd:\sources\sxs'
end

Remove Telnet Server and Client features:

windows_feature %w(TelnetServer TelnetClient) do
  action :remove
end

Add the SMTP Server feature using the PowerShell provider:

windows_feature 'smtp-server' do
  action :install
  all true
  install_method :windows_feature_powershell
end

Install multiple features using one resource with the PowerShell provider:

windows_feature %w(Web-Asp-Net45 Web-Net-Ext45) do
  action :install
  install_method :windows_feature_powershell
end

Install the Network Policy and Access Service feature, including the management tools:

windows_feature 'NPAS' do
  action :install
  management_tools true
  install_method :windows_feature_powershell
end