# Minitest chef handler tests for windows/IIS

**URL:** <https://discourse.chef.io/t/minitest-chef-handler-tests-for-windows-iis/5225>\
**Category:** Chef Infra (archive)\
**Created:** [April 12, 2014, 12:18am UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/minitest-chef-handler-tests-for-windows-iis/5225 "2014-04-12T00:18:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ostap36](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f6c823/32.png) [@ostap36](https://discourse.chef.io/u/ostap36)\
**Post date:** [April 12, 2014, 12:18am UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/minitest-chef-handler-tests-for-windows-iis/5225/1 "2014-04-12T00:18:49Z")

</div>

Hello,

I am looking to automate functional checks post chef-client run on a windows node. For instance is IIS running? configured up to spec? needed files/dirs., web.config settings are in place? etc…

Is minitest chef handler a viable approach for windows, any examples out there for windows? Or does it depend case by case, assertion by assertion?

Are there any alternative methods? Checked Opscode’s IIS cookbook and didn’t see any explicit tests.

Serverspec seems to be for \*nux only.

Thank you in advance.

Alex

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![steve](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.chef.io/steve/32/294_2.png) [@steve](https://discourse.chef.io/u/steve)\
**Post date:** [April 13, 2014, 7:00am UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/minitest-chef-handler-tests-for-windows-iis/5225/2 "2014-04-13T07:00:08Z")

</div>

Depending on how they're written, minitests should run equally well on  
Windows and Linux. We have a few cross-platform cookbooks that we test  
with minitest-chef-handler ... and many more that are primarily intended  
for Linux and don't get as much attention on other platforms. However, I  
do have counterparts who work regularly in Windows and they don't seem to  
have any problems writing and running minitests for Windows. So I can  
personally attest that the minitest handler does run on Windows.

I haven't dug too deeply into Serverspec (it's hard enough convincing  
people to adopt Chef and testing methodologies, let alone throwing a whole  
new independent framework into the mix...), but my limited tire-kicking and  
code review suggests that Serverspec relies on SSH or local execution, but  
is otherwise a Ruby implementation relying on Specinfra, which claims to  
have Windows support.

So "on paper" Serverspec should work for you.

I really wish Windows were easier to test / work with from a non-Windows  
host. Pondering the idea of having a dedicated Parallels (Virtuozzo) host  
to spin up and converge Windows containers (running minitests, of course).  
From a really distant "I haven't installed this anywhere yet" perspective,  
it seems like a good idea.

On Fri, Apr 11, 2014 at 5:18 PM, Alex Myasnikov \<  
[amyasnikov@practicefusion.com](mailto:amyasnikov@practicefusion.com)\> wrote:

> Hello,
> 
> I am looking to automate functional checks post chef-client run on a  
> windows node. For instance is IIS running? configured up to spec? needed  
> files/dirs., web.config settings are in place? etc...
> 
> Is minitest chef handler a viable approach for windows, any examples out  
> there for windows? Or does it depend case by case, assertion by assertion?
> 
> Are there any alternative methods? Checked Opscode's IIS cookbook and  
> didn't see any explicit tests.
> 
> Serverspec seems to be for \*nux only.
> 
> Thank you in advance.
> 
> Alex

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Kenneth\_Barry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3da27b/32.png) [@Kenneth\_Barry](https://discourse.chef.io/u/Kenneth_Barry)\
**Post date:** [April 14, 2014, 9:51pm UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/minitest-chef-handler-tests-for-windows-iis/5225/3 "2014-04-14T21:51:22Z")

</div>

We made tools to perform healthchecks which are installed via chef, and  
kicked off periodically.

Also, are you not configuring iis with chef?

On Sun, Apr 13, 2014 at 12:00 AM, steve . [leftathome@gmail.com](mailto:leftathome@gmail.com) wrote:

> Depending on how they're written, minitests should run equally well on  
> Windows and Linux. We have a few cross-platform cookbooks that we test  
> with minitest-chef-handler ... and many more that are primarily intended  
> for Linux and don't get as much attention on other platforms. However, I  
> do have counterparts who work regularly in Windows and they don't seem to  
> have any problems writing and running minitests for Windows. So I can  
> personally attest that the minitest handler does run on Windows.
> 
> I haven't dug too deeply into Serverspec (it's hard enough convincing  
> people to adopt Chef and testing methodologies, let alone throwing a whole  
> new independent framework into the mix...), but my limited tire-kicking and  
> code review suggests that Serverspec relies on SSH or local execution, but  
> is otherwise a Ruby implementation relying on Specinfra, which claims to  
> have Windows support.
> 
> So "on paper" Serverspec should work for you.
> 
> I really wish Windows were easier to test / work with from a non-Windows  
> host. Pondering the idea of having a dedicated Parallels (Virtuozzo) host  
> to spin up and converge Windows containers (running minitests, of course).  
> From a really distant "I haven't installed this anywhere yet" perspective,  
> it seems like a good idea.
> 
> On Fri, Apr 11, 2014 at 5:18 PM, Alex Myasnikov \<  
> [amyasnikov@practicefusion.com](mailto:amyasnikov@practicefusion.com)\> wrote:
> 
> > Hello,
> > 
> > I am looking to automate functional checks post chef-client run on a  
> > windows node. For instance is IIS running? configured up to spec? needed  
> > files/dirs., web.config settings are in place? etc...
> > 
> > Is minitest chef handler a viable approach for windows, any examples out  
> > there for windows? Or does it depend case by case, assertion by assertion?
> > 
> > Are there any alternative methods? Checked Opscode's IIS cookbook and  
> > didn't see any explicit tests.
> > 
> > Serverspec seems to be for \*nux only.
> > 
> > Thank you in advance.
> > 
> > Alex

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![steve](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.chef.io/steve/32/294_2.png) [@steve](https://discourse.chef.io/u/steve)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2014, 5:02am UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/minitest-chef-handler-tests-for-windows-iis/5225/4 "2014-04-15T05:02:14Z")

</div>

Not sure if you mean me or the OP, Kenneth, but I'll answer just in case:

I don't personally configure IIS with Chef but we do have a cookbook with  
that capability for people who are so inclined.

On Mon, Apr 14, 2014 at 2:51 PM, Kenneth Barry [kbarry-x@tunein.com](mailto:kbarry-x@tunein.com) wrote:

> We made tools to perform healthchecks which are installed via chef, and  
> kicked off periodically.
> 
> Also, are you not configuring iis with chef?
> 
> On Sun, Apr 13, 2014 at 12:00 AM, steve . [leftathome@gmail.com](mailto:leftathome@gmail.com) wrote:
> 
> > Depending on how they're written, minitests should run equally well on  
> > Windows and Linux. We have a few cross-platform cookbooks that we test  
> > with minitest-chef-handler ... and many more that are primarily intended  
> > for Linux and don't get as much attention on other platforms. However, I  
> > do have counterparts who work regularly in Windows and they don't seem to  
> > have any problems writing and running minitests for Windows. So I can  
> > personally attest that the minitest handler does run on Windows.
> > 
> > I haven't dug too deeply into Serverspec (it's hard enough convincing  
> > people to adopt Chef and testing methodologies, let alone throwing a whole  
> > new independent framework into the mix...), but my limited tire-kicking and  
> > code review suggests that Serverspec relies on SSH or local execution, but  
> > is otherwise a Ruby implementation relying on Specinfra, which claims to  
> > have Windows support.
> > 
> > So "on paper" Serverspec should work for you.
> > 
> > I really wish Windows were easier to test / work with from a non-Windows  
> > host. Pondering the idea of having a dedicated Parallels (Virtuozzo) host  
> > to spin up and converge Windows containers (running minitests, of course).  
> > From a really distant "I haven't installed this anywhere yet" perspective,  
> > it seems like a good idea.
> > 
> > On Fri, Apr 11, 2014 at 5:18 PM, Alex Myasnikov \<  
> > [amyasnikov@practicefusion.com](mailto:amyasnikov@practicefusion.com)\> wrote:
> > 
> > > Hello,
> > > 
> > > I am looking to automate functional checks post chef-client run on a  
> > > windows node. For instance is IIS running? configured up to spec? needed  
> > > files/dirs., web.config settings are in place? etc…
> > > 
> > > Is minitest chef handler a viable approach for windows, any examples out  
> > > there for windows? Or does it depend case by case, assertion by assertion?
> > > 
> > > Are there any alternative methods? Checked Opscode’s IIS cookbook and  
> > > didn’t see any explicit tests.
> > > 
> > > Serverspec seems to be for \*nux only.
> > > 
> > > Thank you in advance.
> > > 
> > > Alex

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Kenneth\_Barry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3da27b/32.png) [@Kenneth\_Barry](https://discourse.chef.io/u/Kenneth_Barry)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2014, 2:22pm UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/minitest-chef-handler-tests-for-windows-iis/5225/5 "2014-04-15T14:22:11Z")

</div>

There is an iis cookbook, but it's not of beta. Yes it work. Yes it will handle everything it says it can handle, but that doesn't include anything other than the basic iis configuration.

The good news is opscode has plans for making it more better fastly

> On Apr 14, 2014, at 10:02 PM, "steve ." [leftathome@gmail.com](mailto:leftathome@gmail.com) wrote:
> 
> Not sure if you mean me or the OP, Kenneth, but I'll answer just in case:
> 
> I don't personally configure IIS with Chef but we do have a cookbook with that capability for people who are so inclined.
> 
> > On Mon, Apr 14, 2014 at 2:51 PM, Kenneth Barry [kbarry-x@tunein.com](mailto:kbarry-x@tunein.com) wrote:  
> > We made tools to perform healthchecks which are installed via chef, and kicked off periodically.
> > 
> > Also, are you not configuring iis with chef?
> > 
> > > On Sun, Apr 13, 2014 at 12:00 AM, steve . [leftathome@gmail.com](mailto:leftathome@gmail.com) wrote:  
> > > Depending on how they're written, minitests should run equally well on Windows and Linux. We have a few cross-platform cookbooks that we test with minitest-chef-handler ... and many more that are primarily intended for Linux and don't get as much attention on other platforms. However, I do have counterparts who work regularly in Windows and they don't seem to have any problems writing and running minitests for Windows. So I can personally attest that the minitest handler does run on Windows.
> > > 
> > > I haven't dug too deeply into Serverspec (it's hard enough convincing people to adopt Chef and testing methodologies, let alone throwing a whole new independent framework into the mix...), but my limited tire-kicking and code review suggests that Serverspec relies on SSH or local execution, but is otherwise a Ruby implementation relying on Specinfra, which claims to have Windows support.
> > > 
> > > So "on paper" Serverspec should work for you.
> > > 
> > > I really wish Windows were easier to test / work with from a non-Windows host. Pondering the idea of having a dedicated Parallels (Virtuozzo) host to spin up and converge Windows containers (running minitests, of course). From a really distant "I haven't installed this anywhere yet" perspective, it seems like a good idea.
> > > 
> > > > On Fri, Apr 11, 2014 at 5:18 PM, Alex Myasnikov [amyasnikov@practicefusion.com](mailto:amyasnikov@practicefusion.com) wrote:  
> > > > Hello,
> > > > 
> > > > I am looking to automate functional checks post chef-client run on a windows node. For instance is IIS running? configured up to spec? needed files/dirs., web.config settings are in place? etc…
> > > > 
> > > > Is minitest chef handler a viable approach for windows, any examples out there for windows? Or does it depend case by case, assertion by assertion?
> > > > 
> > > > Are there any alternative methods? Checked Opscode’s IIS cookbook and didn’t see any explicit tests.
> > > > 
> > > > Serverspec seems to be for \*nux only.
> > > > 
> > > > Thank you in advance.
> > > > 
> > > > Alex