About the Handler DSL

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Use the Handler DSL to attach a callback to an event. If the event occurs during a Chef Infra Client run, the associated callback is executed. For example:

• Sending email if a Chef Infra Client run fails
• Aggregating statistics about resources updated during a Chef Infra Client runs to StatsD

on Method

Use the on method to associate an event type with a callback. The callback defines what steps are taken if the event occurs during a Chef Infra Client run and is defined using arbitrary Ruby code. The syntax is as follows:

Chef.event_handler do
  on :event_type do
    # some Ruby
  end
end

where

• Chef.event_handler declares a block of code within a recipe that is processed when the named event occurs during a Chef Infra Client run
• on defines the block of code that will tell Chef Infra Client how to handle the event
• :event_type is a valid exception event type, such as :run_start, :run_failed, :converge_failed, :resource_failed, or :recipe_not_found

For example:

Chef.event_handler do
  on :converge_start do
    puts "Ohai! I have started a converge."
  end
end

Event Types

The following table describes the events that may occur during a Chef Infra Client run. Each of these events may be referenced in an on method block by declaring it as the event type.

Examples

The following examples show ways to use the Handler DSL.

Send Email

Use the on method to create an event handler that sends email when a Chef Infra Client run fails. This will require:

• A way to tell Chef Infra Client how to send email
• An event handler that describes what to do when the :run_failed event is triggered
• A way to trigger the exception and test the behavior of the event handler

Define How Email is Sent

Use a library to define the code that sends email when a Chef Infra Client run fails. Name the file helper.rb and add it to a cookbook’s /libraries directory:

require 'net/smtp'

module HandlerSendEmail
  class Helper
    def send_email_on_run_failure(node_name)
      message = "From: Chef <chef@chef.io>\n"
      message << "To: Grant <grantmc@chef.io>\n"
      message << "Subject: Chef run failed\n"
      message << "Date: #{Time.now.rfc2822}\n\n"
      message << "Chef run failed on #{node_name}\n"
      Net::SMTP.start('localhost', 25) do |smtp|
        smtp.send_message message, 'chef@chef.io', 'grantmc@chef.io'
      end
    end
  end
end

Add the Handler

Invoke the library helper in a recipe:

Chef.event_handler do
  on :run_failed do
    HandlerSendEmail::Helper.new.send_email_on_run_failure(
      Chef.run_context.node.name
    )
  end
end

• Use Chef.event_handler to define the event handler
• Use the on method to specify the event type

Within the on block, tell Chef Infra Client how to handle the event when it’s triggered.

Test the Handler

Use the following code block to trigger the exception and have the Chef Infra Client send email to the specified email address:

ruby_block 'fail the run' do
  block do
    raise 'deliberately fail the run'
  end
end

etcd Locks

The following example shows how to prevent concurrent Chef Infra Client runs from both holding a lock on etcd:

lock_key = "#{node.chef_environment}/#{node.name}"

Chef.event_handler do
  on :converge_start do |run_context|
    Etcd.lock_acquire(lock_key)
  end
end

Chef.event_handler do
  on :converge_complete do
    Etcd.lock_release(lock_key)
  end
end

HipChat Notifications

Event messages can be sent to a team communication tool like HipChat. For example, if a Chef Infra Client run fails:

Chef.event_handler do
  on :run_failed do |exception|
    hipchat_notify exception.message
  end
end

or send an alert on a configuration change:

Chef.event_handler do
  on :resource_updated do |resource, action|
    if resource.to_s == 'template[/etc/nginx/nginx.conf]'
      Helper.hipchat_message("#{resource} was updated by chef")
    end
  end
end

attribute_changed event hook

In a cookbook library file, you can add this in order to print out all attribute changes in cookbooks:

Chef.event_handler do
  on :attribute_changed do |precedence, key, value|
    puts "setting attribute #{precedence}#{key.map { |n| "[\"#{n}\"]" }.join} = #{value}"
  end
end

If you want to setup a policy that override attributes should never be used:

Chef.event_handler do
  on :attribute_changed do |precedence, key, value|
    raise 'override policy violation' if precedence == :override
  end
end