Support chef-client < 12.5.1

[chris-rock]

Cookbook version

latest

Chef-client version

< 12.5.1

Platform Details

all

Scenario:

Run the audit cookbook in chef-client < 12.5.1

Steps to Reproduce:

Run the audit cookbook as part of a converge run.

Expected Result:

audit cookbook works fine, even with older versions of the Chef Client

Actual Result:

use_automatic_resource_name is not supported

[jeremymv2]

@chris-rock this pretty much means not using the new Custom Resources implementation (https://docs.chef.io/custom_resources.html) for the profile and report libraries and going back to the more traditional LWRP. I think it'll open it up to more customers ultimately who haven't updated.

[chris-rock]

@jeremymv2 Yes, that is exactly what I am proposing ;-)

[jeremymv2]

@chris-rock I've got the implementation ready that will work with chef client 11,12; however one big snag..

Inspec gem 0.19.3 doesn't jive well with any chef-client < 12.4.1 !

  ------------------
  Unable to activate r-train-0.10.7, because mixlib-shellout-2.0.1 conflicts with mixlib-shellout (~> 2.1)

  Cookbook Trace:
  ---------------
    /var/chef/cache/cookbooks/audit/recipes/default.rb:23:in `from_file'

  Relevant File Content:
  ----------------------
  /var/chef/cache/cookbooks/audit/recipes/default.rb:

   16:  # WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
   17:  # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
   18:  # limitations under the License.
   19:
   20:  ensure_gem_installed('inspec', node['audit']['inspec']['opts'])
   21:
   22:  Gem.clear_paths
   23>> require 'inspec'

[jeremymv2]

I tried vendoring the inspec gem but I'm not pleased with that as a solution since it installs a total of 35 gems, including some that build native extensions for a total of 27MB:

~/Devel/ChefProject/chef-compliance/cookbooks/audit (master *%=)$ gem install --no-rdoc --no-ri --install-dir files/default/vendor --no-user-install inspec
Fetching: thor-0.19.1.gem (100%)
Successfully installed thor-0.19.1
Fetching: rubyzip-1.2.0.gem (100%)
Successfully installed rubyzip-1.2.0
Fetching: rubyntlm-0.6.0.gem (100%)
Successfully installed rubyntlm-0.6.0
Fetching: nori-2.6.0.gem (100%)
Successfully installed nori-2.6.0
Fetching: multi_json-1.11.2.gem (100%)
Successfully installed multi_json-1.11.2
Fetching: little-plugger-1.1.4.gem (100%)
Successfully installed little-plugger-1.1.4
Fetching: logging-2.1.0.gem (100%)
Successfully installed logging-2.1.0
Fetching: httpclient-2.8.0.gem (100%)
Successfully installed httpclient-2.8.0
Fetching: builder-3.2.2.gem (100%)
Successfully installed builder-3.2.2
Fetching: gyoku-1.3.1.gem (100%)
Successfully installed gyoku-1.3.1
Fetching: ffi-1.9.10.gem (100%)
Building native extensions.  This could take a while...
Successfully installed ffi-1.9.10
Fetching: gssapi-1.2.0.gem (100%)
Successfully installed gssapi-1.2.0
Fetching: winrm-1.7.3.gem (100%)
Successfully installed winrm-1.7.3
Fetching: erubis-2.7.0.gem (100%)
Successfully installed erubis-2.7.0
Fetching: winrm-fs-0.4.2.gem (100%)
Successfully installed winrm-fs-0.4.2
Fetching: net-ssh-3.1.1.gem (100%)
Successfully installed net-ssh-3.1.1
Fetching: net-scp-1.2.1.gem (100%)
Successfully installed net-scp-1.2.1
Fetching: mixlib-shellout-2.2.6.gem (100%)
Successfully installed mixlib-shellout-2.2.6
Fetching: json-1.8.3.gem (100%)
Building native extensions.  This could take a while...
Successfully installed json-1.8.3
Fetching: excon-0.49.0.gem (100%)
 Successfully installed excon-0.49.0
Fetching: docker-api-1.26.2.gem (100%)
Successfully installed docker-api-1.26.2
Fetching: r-train-0.10.7.gem (100%)
Successfully installed r-train-0.10.7
Fetching: rspec-support-3.4.1.gem (100%)
Successfully installed rspec-support-3.4.1
Fetching: diff-lcs-1.2.5.gem (100%)
Successfully installed diff-lcs-1.2.5
Fetching: rspec-expectations-3.4.0.gem (100%)
Successfully installed rspec-expectations-3.4.0
Fetching: rspec-core-3.4.4.gem (100%)
Successfully installed rspec-core-3.4.4
Fetching: rspec-its-1.2.0.gem (100%)
Successfully installed rspec-its-1.2.0
Fetching: rspec-mocks-3.4.1.gem (100%)
Successfully installed rspec-mocks-3.4.1
Fetching: rspec-3.4.0.gem (100%)
Successfully installed rspec-3.4.0
Fetching: rainbow-2.1.0.gem (100%)
Successfully installed rainbow-2.1.0
Fetching: slop-3.6.0.gem (100%)
Successfully installed slop-3.6.0
Fetching: method_source-0.8.2.gem (100%)
Successfully installed method_source-0.8.2
Fetching: coderay-1.1.1.gem (100%)
Successfully installed coderay-1.1.1
Fetching: pry-0.10.3.gem (100%)
Successfully installed pry-0.10.3
Fetching: inspec-0.19.3.gem (100%)
Successfully installed inspec-0.19.3
35 gems installed

[chris-rock]

@jeremymv2 we just released a new version of train that should resolve the issue and includes inspec/train#89

[jeremymv2]

@chris-rock The more I look at my HWRP implementation, the more it makes me uncomfortable with the idea. Custom resources were invented for a reason; they're just a much more elegant way.

I'd vote to scrap this idea and just require chef-client >= 12.5.1 with custom resource support as that will introduce the least amount of tech debt moving forward.

[chris-rock]

@jeremymv2 that makes sense. Therefore, our cookbook requires chef-client 12.5.1, latest version is already 12.9.x
Thanks @jeremymv2 for your time and effort to evaluate this issue! I close it for now.