Recipes execution order

Hello!!!

I’m trying to do some research on how evaluate chef recipes when they
are executed.

For example:

I have a lot of recipes inside my Apache2 cookbook.

default.rb
god_monitor.rb
iptables.rb
logrotate.rb


Is there a way to establish a weight for the recipes order??..

A) default.rb -> god_monitor.rb -> iptables.rb -> logrotate.rb = 2.3
B) default.rb -> iptables.rb -> god_monitor.rb -> logrotate.rb = 3.6
C) logrotate.rb -> default.rb -> god_monitor.rb -> iptables.rb = 1
D) default.rb -> god_monitor.rb -> iptables.rb -> logrotate.rb = 6.1

In this case is better to execute D than, B than, A than C.

Cheers!

On Jun 10, 2014, at 1:18 AM, Carlos Camacho carlos.camacho@frontiersin.org wrote:

Hello!!!

I'm trying to do some research on how evaluate chef recipes when they
are executed.

For example:

I have a lot of recipes inside my Apache2 cookbook.

default.rb
god_monitor.rb
iptables.rb
logrotate.rb
...
...
...

Is there a way to establish a weight for the recipes order??..

A) default.rb -> god_monitor.rb -> iptables.rb -> logrotate.rb = 2.3
B) default.rb -> iptables.rb -> god_monitor.rb -> logrotate.rb = 3.6
C) logrotate.rb -> default.rb -> god_monitor.rb -> iptables.rb = 1
D) default.rb -> god_monitor.rb -> iptables.rb -> logrotate.rb = 6.1

In this case is better to execute D than, B than, A than C.

Recipes execute in the order you tell them to. First the run list is recursively expanded so roles are replaced by their run list until you just have a list of recipes. Then each is executed in order. If, while executing, it hits an include_recipe, then it executes that recipe at that point. All other file types where it loads all of them are executed is ASCII sort order.

--Noah

Perfect,

But in my case I'm trying to model something in chef in which the
order of cookbooks or recipes can vary.

For example:

Using
DB and WEB roles.
Apache and MySQL cookbooks.
A set of recipes for each cookbook.

Now i want to create a node within the DB and WEB roles.

I want to know if there are cases in which is better to apply the WEB
then the DB roles recipes or DB first and then WEB.

Any idea of situations like this? In which the order of the execution
can improve the system behavior (For example, the execution time for
all recipes, or roles, or environments)?

Cheers!!!

On Tue, Jun 10, 2014 at 11:16 AM, Noah Kantrowitz noah@coderanger.net wrote:

On Jun 10, 2014, at 1:18 AM, Carlos Camacho carlos.camacho@frontiersin.org wrote:

Hello!!!

I'm trying to do some research on how evaluate chef recipes when they
are executed.

For example:

I have a lot of recipes inside my Apache2 cookbook.

default.rb
god_monitor.rb
iptables.rb
logrotate.rb
...
...
...

Is there a way to establish a weight for the recipes order??..

A) default.rb -> god_monitor.rb -> iptables.rb -> logrotate.rb = 2.3
B) default.rb -> iptables.rb -> god_monitor.rb -> logrotate.rb = 3.6
C) logrotate.rb -> default.rb -> god_monitor.rb -> iptables.rb = 1
D) default.rb -> god_monitor.rb -> iptables.rb -> logrotate.rb = 6.1

In this case is better to execute D than, B than, A than C.

Recipes execute in the order you tell them to. First the run list is recursively expanded so roles are replaced by their run list until you just have a list of recipes. Then each is executed in order. If, while executing, it hits an include_recipe, then it executes that recipe at that point. All other file types where it loads all of them are executed is ASCII sort order.

--Noah

Recipes and roles that you actually put in a run list should be self-contained. This means that they should both be order-independent and idempotent, so it shouldn't matter either way.

--Noah

On Jun 10, 2014, at 2:51 AM, Carlos Camacho carlos.camacho@frontiersin.org wrote:

Perfect,

But in my case I'm trying to model something in chef in which the
order of cookbooks or recipes can vary.

For example:

Using
DB and WEB roles.
Apache and MySQL cookbooks.
A set of recipes for each cookbook.

Now i want to create a node within the DB and WEB roles.

I want to know if there are cases in which is better to apply the WEB
then the DB roles recipes or DB first and then WEB.

Any idea of situations like this? In which the order of the execution
can improve the system behavior (For example, the execution time for
all recipes, or roles, or environments)?

Cheers!!!

On Tue, Jun 10, 2014 at 11:16 AM, Noah Kantrowitz noah@coderanger.net wrote:

On Jun 10, 2014, at 1:18 AM, Carlos Camacho carlos.camacho@frontiersin.org wrote:

Hello!!!

I'm trying to do some research on how evaluate chef recipes when they
are executed.

For example:

I have a lot of recipes inside my Apache2 cookbook.

default.rb
god_monitor.rb
iptables.rb
logrotate.rb
...
...
...

Is there a way to establish a weight for the recipes order??..

A) default.rb -> god_monitor.rb -> iptables.rb -> logrotate.rb = 2.3
B) default.rb -> iptables.rb -> god_monitor.rb -> logrotate.rb = 3.6
C) logrotate.rb -> default.rb -> god_monitor.rb -> iptables.rb = 1
D) default.rb -> god_monitor.rb -> iptables.rb -> logrotate.rb = 6.1

In this case is better to execute D than, B than, A than C.

Recipes execute in the order you tell them to. First the run list is recursively expanded so roles are replaced by their run list until you just have a list of recipes. Then each is executed in order. If, while executing, it hits an include_recipe, then it executes that recipe at that point. All other file types where it loads all of them are executed is ASCII sort order.

--Noah

Perfect, now ill try to change the answer.

Im modeling SPL's as part of my PhD course. Now i really like Chef and
i wish to be able to model a condition in which the execution order of
a Chef process (Calculating the recipes run list for example) can
vary. If a i execute A firt then B or B first and then A.

Any idea? It will be an example of how to apply a formal semantics to
calculate the best product. Im assuming that Chef is a SPL which
generates valid configurations (Products) to be installed on a node.

Cheers!

On Tue, Jun 10, 2014 at 12:22 PM, Noah Kantrowitz noah@coderanger.net wrote:

Recipes and roles that you actually put in a run list should be self-contained. This means that they should both be order-independent and idempotent, so it shouldn't matter either way.

--Noah

On Jun 10, 2014, at 2:51 AM, Carlos Camacho carlos.camacho@frontiersin.org wrote:

Perfect,

But in my case I'm trying to model something in chef in which the
order of cookbooks or recipes can vary.

For example:

Using
DB and WEB roles.
Apache and MySQL cookbooks.
A set of recipes for each cookbook.

Now i want to create a node within the DB and WEB roles.

I want to know if there are cases in which is better to apply the WEB
then the DB roles recipes or DB first and then WEB.

Any idea of situations like this? In which the order of the execution
can improve the system behavior (For example, the execution time for
all recipes, or roles, or environments)?

Cheers!!!

On Tue, Jun 10, 2014 at 11:16 AM, Noah Kantrowitz noah@coderanger.net wrote:

On Jun 10, 2014, at 1:18 AM, Carlos Camacho carlos.camacho@frontiersin.org wrote:

Hello!!!

I'm trying to do some research on how evaluate chef recipes when they
are executed.

For example:

I have a lot of recipes inside my Apache2 cookbook.

default.rb
god_monitor.rb
iptables.rb
logrotate.rb
...
...
...

Is there a way to establish a weight for the recipes order??..

A) default.rb -> god_monitor.rb -> iptables.rb -> logrotate.rb = 2.3
B) default.rb -> iptables.rb -> god_monitor.rb -> logrotate.rb = 3.6
C) logrotate.rb -> default.rb -> god_monitor.rb -> iptables.rb = 1
D) default.rb -> god_monitor.rb -> iptables.rb -> logrotate.rb = 6.1

In this case is better to execute D than, B than, A than C.

Recipes execute in the order you tell them to. First the run list is recursively expanded so roles are replaced by their run list until you just have a list of recipes. Then each is executed in order. If, while executing, it hits an include_recipe, then it executes that recipe at that point. All other file types where it loads all of them are executed is ASCII sort order.

--Noah

Hi Carlos,

You can define a recipe which invokes include_recipe conditionally,
thereby affecting the execution order, if that's truly all you need.
But there are two things to watch out for:

  1. If the same recipe is included multiple times, only the first
    inclusion will be processed.

  2. The evaluation of recipes in Chef is done in the preprocessing stage,
    so it won't have access to
    values produced during subsequent resource processing.

If your algorithm needs to access dynamic values, you have to implement
it in a resource such as ruby_block or in custom resources that you
define. The Chef DSL is essentially a macro expansion, so any control
structure such as conditionals or iteration in the recipes will be
expanded to produce static text, which is then evaluated in the ordinary
manner.

Cheers,
Dan

http://docs.opscode.com/chef/dsl_recipe.html#include-recipes

On 14-06-10 10:51 AM, Carlos Camacho wrote:

Perfect, now ill try to change the answer.

Im modeling SPL's as part of my PhD course. Now i really like Chef and
i wish to be able to model a condition in which the execution order of
a Chef process (Calculating the recipes run list for example) can
vary. If a i execute A firt then B or B first and then A.

Any idea? It will be an example of how to apply a formal semantics to
calculate the best product. Im assuming that Chef is a SPL which
generates valid configurations (Products) to be installed on a node.

Cheers!

On Tue, Jun 10, 2014 at 12:22 PM, Noah Kantrowitz noah@coderanger.net wrote:

Recipes and roles that you actually put in a run list should be self-contained. This means that they should both be order-independent and idempotent, so it shouldn't matter either way.

--Noah

On Jun 10, 2014, at 2:51 AM, Carlos Camacho carlos.camacho@frontiersin.org wrote:

Perfect,

But in my case I'm trying to model something in chef in which the
order of cookbooks or recipes can vary.

For example:

Using
DB and WEB roles.
Apache and MySQL cookbooks.
A set of recipes for each cookbook.

Now i want to create a node within the DB and WEB roles.

I want to know if there are cases in which is better to apply the WEB
then the DB roles recipes or DB first and then WEB.

Any idea of situations like this? In which the order of the execution
can improve the system behavior (For example, the execution time for
all recipes, or roles, or environments)?

Cheers!!!

On Tue, Jun 10, 2014 at 11:16 AM, Noah Kantrowitz noah@coderanger.net wrote:

On Jun 10, 2014, at 1:18 AM, Carlos Camacho carlos.camacho@frontiersin.org wrote:

Hello!!!

I'm trying to do some research on how evaluate chef recipes when they
are executed.

For example:

I have a lot of recipes inside my Apache2 cookbook.

default.rb
god_monitor.rb
iptables.rb
logrotate.rb
...
...
...

Is there a way to establish a weight for the recipes order??..

A) default.rb -> god_monitor.rb -> iptables.rb -> logrotate.rb = 2.3
B) default.rb -> iptables.rb -> god_monitor.rb -> logrotate.rb = 3.6
C) logrotate.rb -> default.rb -> god_monitor.rb -> iptables.rb = 1
D) default.rb -> god_monitor.rb -> iptables.rb -> logrotate.rb = 6.1

In this case is better to execute D than, B than, A than C.
Recipes execute in the order you tell them to. First the run list is recursively expanded so roles are replaced by their run list until you just have a list of recipes. Then each is executed in order. If, while executing, it hits an include_recipe, then it executes that recipe at that point. All other file types where it loads all of them are executed is ASCII sort order.

--Noah

You are right, maybe the recipes are not the most accurate approach to
show an example of my research line
(http://simba.fdi.ucm.es/at/1-s2.0-S0950584913001262-main.pdf)

I think Chef is not a good example for my research line, because i
want to say things like this.

Execute cookbookA -> cookbookB is bettter than execute cookbookB -> cookbookA

Or

Execute recipeA -> recipeB is better than execute recipeB -> recipeA

Better (Run faster, Occupy less memory, etc..)

But i cant find any situation in which i can say things like this.
If you have any idea they will be welcome!

Cheers!

On Tue, Jun 10, 2014 at 8:24 PM, Dan Razzell danr@activestate.com wrote:

Hi Carlos,

You can define a recipe which invokes include_recipe conditionally, thereby
affecting the execution order, if that's truly all you need. But there are
two things to watch out for:

  1. If the same recipe is included multiple times, only the first inclusion
    will be processed.

  2. The evaluation of recipes in Chef is done in the preprocessing stage, so
    it won't have access to
    values produced during subsequent resource processing.

If your algorithm needs to access dynamic values, you have to implement it
in a resource such as ruby_block or in custom resources that you define.
The Chef DSL is essentially a macro expansion, so any control structure such
as conditionals or iteration in the recipes will be expanded to produce
static text, which is then evaluated in the ordinary manner.

Cheers,
Dan

http://docs.opscode.com/chef/dsl_recipe.html#include-recipes

On 14-06-10 10:51 AM, Carlos Camacho wrote:

Perfect, now ill try to change the answer.

Im modeling SPL's as part of my PhD course. Now i really like Chef and
i wish to be able to model a condition in which the execution order of
a Chef process (Calculating the recipes run list for example) can
vary. If a i execute A firt then B or B first and then A.

Any idea? It will be an example of how to apply a formal semantics to
calculate the best product. Im assuming that Chef is a SPL which
generates valid configurations (Products) to be installed on a node.

Cheers!

On Tue, Jun 10, 2014 at 12:22 PM, Noah Kantrowitz noah@coderanger.net
wrote:

Recipes and roles that you actually put in a run list should be
self-contained. This means that they should both be order-independent and
idempotent, so it shouldn't matter either way.

--Noah

On Jun 10, 2014, at 2:51 AM, Carlos Camacho carlos.camacho@frontiersin.org
wrote:

Perfect,

But in my case I'm trying to model something in chef in which the
order of cookbooks or recipes can vary.

For example:

Using
DB and WEB roles.
Apache and MySQL cookbooks.
A set of recipes for each cookbook.

Now i want to create a node within the DB and WEB roles.

I want to know if there are cases in which is better to apply the WEB
then the DB roles recipes or DB first and then WEB.

Any idea of situations like this? In which the order of the execution
can improve the system behavior (For example, the execution time for
all recipes, or roles, or environments)?

Cheers!!!

On Tue, Jun 10, 2014 at 11:16 AM, Noah Kantrowitz noah@coderanger.net
wrote:

On Jun 10, 2014, at 1:18 AM, Carlos Camacho carlos.camacho@frontiersin.org
wrote:

Hello!!!

I'm trying to do some research on how evaluate chef recipes when they
are executed.

For example:

I have a lot of recipes inside my Apache2 cookbook.

default.rb
god_monitor.rb
iptables.rb
logrotate.rb
...
...
...

Is there a way to establish a weight for the recipes order??..

A) default.rb -> god_monitor.rb -> iptables.rb -> logrotate.rb = 2.3
B) default.rb -> iptables.rb -> god_monitor.rb -> logrotate.rb = 3.6
C) logrotate.rb -> default.rb -> god_monitor.rb -> iptables.rb = 1
D) default.rb -> god_monitor.rb -> iptables.rb -> logrotate.rb = 6.1

In this case is better to execute D than, B than, A than C.

Recipes execute in the order you tell them to. First the run list is
recursively expanded so roles are replaced by their run list until you just
have a list of recipes. Then each is executed in order. If, while executing,
it hits an include_recipe, then it executes that recipe at that point. All
other file types where it loads all of them are executed is ASCII sort
order.

--Noah

That kind of analysis is not performed at the level of recipes. Once a converge starts, it is pretty straight forward (on purpose) and effectively just executes linearly. That said, there is that kind of solver run at the level of cookbook versions. When chef-client starts up it figures out which cookbooks it needs based on the run list expansion, and then asks the chef-server to find the best set of versions for those. This takes in to account the inter-cookbook dependencies, environment constraints, and tries to use more recent versions when possible. The intent isn't to offer multiple convergence paths though, that seems too complex to hold a mental model of, and therefore exceptionally likely to break :slight_smile:

--Noah

On Jun 11, 2014, at 12:38 AM, Carlos Camacho carlos.camacho@frontiersin.org wrote:

You are right, maybe the recipes are not the most accurate approach to
show an example of my research line
(http://simba.fdi.ucm.es/at/1-s2.0-S0950584913001262-main.pdf)

I think Chef is not a good example for my research line, because i
want to say things like this.

Execute cookbookA -> cookbookB is bettter than execute cookbookB -> cookbookA

Or

Execute recipeA -> recipeB is better than execute recipeB -> recipeA

Better (Run faster, Occupy less memory, etc..)

But i cant find any situation in which i can say things like this.
If you have any idea they will be welcome!

Cheers!

On Tue, Jun 10, 2014 at 8:24 PM, Dan Razzell danr@activestate.com wrote:

Hi Carlos,

You can define a recipe which invokes include_recipe conditionally, thereby
affecting the execution order, if that's truly all you need. But there are
two things to watch out for:

  1. If the same recipe is included multiple times, only the first inclusion
    will be processed.

  2. The evaluation of recipes in Chef is done in the preprocessing stage, so
    it won't have access to
    values produced during subsequent resource processing.

If your algorithm needs to access dynamic values, you have to implement it
in a resource such as ruby_block or in custom resources that you define.
The Chef DSL is essentially a macro expansion, so any control structure such
as conditionals or iteration in the recipes will be expanded to produce
static text, which is then evaluated in the ordinary manner.

Cheers,
Dan

http://docs.opscode.com/chef/dsl_recipe.html#include-recipes

On 14-06-10 10:51 AM, Carlos Camacho wrote:

Perfect, now ill try to change the answer.

Im modeling SPL's as part of my PhD course. Now i really like Chef and
i wish to be able to model a condition in which the execution order of
a Chef process (Calculating the recipes run list for example) can
vary. If a i execute A firt then B or B first and then A.

Any idea? It will be an example of how to apply a formal semantics to
calculate the best product. Im assuming that Chef is a SPL which
generates valid configurations (Products) to be installed on a node.

Cheers!

On Tue, Jun 10, 2014 at 12:22 PM, Noah Kantrowitz noah@coderanger.net
wrote:

Recipes and roles that you actually put in a run list should be
self-contained. This means that they should both be order-independent and
idempotent, so it shouldn't matter either way.

--Noah

On Jun 10, 2014, at 2:51 AM, Carlos Camacho carlos.camacho@frontiersin.org
wrote:

Perfect,

But in my case I'm trying to model something in chef in which the
order of cookbooks or recipes can vary.

For example:

Using
DB and WEB roles.
Apache and MySQL cookbooks.
A set of recipes for each cookbook.

Now i want to create a node within the DB and WEB roles.

I want to know if there are cases in which is better to apply the WEB
then the DB roles recipes or DB first and then WEB.

Any idea of situations like this? In which the order of the execution
can improve the system behavior (For example, the execution time for
all recipes, or roles, or environments)?

Cheers!!!

On Tue, Jun 10, 2014 at 11:16 AM, Noah Kantrowitz noah@coderanger.net
wrote:

On Jun 10, 2014, at 1:18 AM, Carlos Camacho carlos.camacho@frontiersin.org
wrote:

Hello!!!

I'm trying to do some research on how evaluate chef recipes when they
are executed.

For example:

I have a lot of recipes inside my Apache2 cookbook.

default.rb
god_monitor.rb
iptables.rb
logrotate.rb
...
...
...

Is there a way to establish a weight for the recipes order??..

A) default.rb -> god_monitor.rb -> iptables.rb -> logrotate.rb = 2.3
B) default.rb -> iptables.rb -> god_monitor.rb -> logrotate.rb = 3.6
C) logrotate.rb -> default.rb -> god_monitor.rb -> iptables.rb = 1
D) default.rb -> god_monitor.rb -> iptables.rb -> logrotate.rb = 6.1

In this case is better to execute D than, B than, A than C.

Recipes execute in the order you tell them to. First the run list is
recursively expanded so roles are replaced by their run list until you just
have a list of recipes. Then each is executed in order. If, while executing,
it hits an include_recipe, then it executes that recipe at that point. All
other file types where it loads all of them are executed is ASCII sort
order.

--Noah

Perfect i also thought that recipes are explored linearly as they were
in the run list.

Can you tell me a case (if there is) in which when the chef-client
figures out which cookbooks it needs. To decide for example, why
choose cookbookA then cookbookB or choose cookbookB then cookbookA??
But not using constraints or dependencies, i mean for example,
choosing cookbookA then cookbookB is better because executing
cookbookA first then cookbookB takes less time or overload less the
system or something similar?

Cheers!

On Wed, Jun 11, 2014 at 9:45 AM, Noah Kantrowitz noah@coderanger.net wrote:

That kind of analysis is not performed at the level of recipes. Once a converge starts, it is pretty straight forward (on purpose) and effectively just executes linearly. That said, there is that kind of solver run at the level of cookbook versions. When chef-client starts up it figures out which cookbooks it needs based on the run list expansion, and then asks the chef-server to find the best set of versions for those. This takes in to account the inter-cookbook dependencies, environment constraints, and tries to use more recent versions when possible. The intent isn't to offer multiple convergence paths though, that seems too complex to hold a mental model of, and therefore exceptionally likely to break :slight_smile:

--Noah

On Jun 11, 2014, at 12:38 AM, Carlos Camacho carlos.camacho@frontiersin.org wrote:

You are right, maybe the recipes are not the most accurate approach to
show an example of my research line
(http://simba.fdi.ucm.es/at/1-s2.0-S0950584913001262-main.pdf)

I think Chef is not a good example for my research line, because i
want to say things like this.

Execute cookbookA -> cookbookB is bettter than execute cookbookB -> cookbookA

Or

Execute recipeA -> recipeB is better than execute recipeB -> recipeA

Better (Run faster, Occupy less memory, etc..)

But i cant find any situation in which i can say things like this.
If you have any idea they will be welcome!

Cheers!

On Tue, Jun 10, 2014 at 8:24 PM, Dan Razzell danr@activestate.com wrote:

Hi Carlos,

You can define a recipe which invokes include_recipe conditionally, thereby
affecting the execution order, if that's truly all you need. But there are
two things to watch out for:

  1. If the same recipe is included multiple times, only the first inclusion
    will be processed.

  2. The evaluation of recipes in Chef is done in the preprocessing stage, so
    it won't have access to
    values produced during subsequent resource processing.

If your algorithm needs to access dynamic values, you have to implement it
in a resource such as ruby_block or in custom resources that you define.
The Chef DSL is essentially a macro expansion, so any control structure such
as conditionals or iteration in the recipes will be expanded to produce
static text, which is then evaluated in the ordinary manner.

Cheers,
Dan

http://docs.opscode.com/chef/dsl_recipe.html#include-recipes

On 14-06-10 10:51 AM, Carlos Camacho wrote:

Perfect, now ill try to change the answer.

Im modeling SPL's as part of my PhD course. Now i really like Chef and
i wish to be able to model a condition in which the execution order of
a Chef process (Calculating the recipes run list for example) can
vary. If a i execute A firt then B or B first and then A.

Any idea? It will be an example of how to apply a formal semantics to
calculate the best product. Im assuming that Chef is a SPL which
generates valid configurations (Products) to be installed on a node.

Cheers!

On Tue, Jun 10, 2014 at 12:22 PM, Noah Kantrowitz noah@coderanger.net
wrote:

Recipes and roles that you actually put in a run list should be
self-contained. This means that they should both be order-independent and
idempotent, so it shouldn't matter either way.

--Noah

On Jun 10, 2014, at 2:51 AM, Carlos Camacho carlos.camacho@frontiersin.org
wrote:

Perfect,

But in my case I'm trying to model something in chef in which the
order of cookbooks or recipes can vary.

For example:

Using
DB and WEB roles.
Apache and MySQL cookbooks.
A set of recipes for each cookbook.

Now i want to create a node within the DB and WEB roles.

I want to know if there are cases in which is better to apply the WEB
then the DB roles recipes or DB first and then WEB.

Any idea of situations like this? In which the order of the execution
can improve the system behavior (For example, the execution time for
all recipes, or roles, or environments)?

Cheers!!!

On Tue, Jun 10, 2014 at 11:16 AM, Noah Kantrowitz noah@coderanger.net
wrote:

On Jun 10, 2014, at 1:18 AM, Carlos Camacho carlos.camacho@frontiersin.org
wrote:

Hello!!!

I'm trying to do some research on how evaluate chef recipes when they
are executed.

For example:

I have a lot of recipes inside my Apache2 cookbook.

default.rb
god_monitor.rb
iptables.rb
logrotate.rb
...
...
...

Is there a way to establish a weight for the recipes order??..

A) default.rb -> god_monitor.rb -> iptables.rb -> logrotate.rb = 2.3
B) default.rb -> iptables.rb -> god_monitor.rb -> logrotate.rb = 3.6
C) logrotate.rb -> default.rb -> god_monitor.rb -> iptables.rb = 1
D) default.rb -> god_monitor.rb -> iptables.rb -> logrotate.rb = 6.1

In this case is better to execute D than, B than, A than C.

Recipes execute in the order you tell them to. First the run list is
recursively expanded so roles are replaced by their run list until you just
have a list of recipes. Then each is executed in order. If, while executing,
it hits an include_recipe, then it executes that recipe at that point. All
other file types where it loads all of them are executed is ASCII sort
order.

--Noah

The Chef Client makes no choices like that -- it only runs things in
the order you specify. It will not re-order things for you.

  • Julian

On Wed, Jun 11, 2014 at 6:30 AM, Carlos Camacho
carlos.camacho@frontiersin.org wrote:

Perfect i also thought that recipes are explored linearly as they were
in the run list.

Can you tell me a case (if there is) in which when the chef-client
figures out which cookbooks it needs. To decide for example, why
choose cookbookA then cookbookB or choose cookbookB then cookbookA??
But not using constraints or dependencies, i mean for example,
choosing cookbookA then cookbookB is better because executing
cookbookA first then cookbookB takes less time or overload less the
system or something similar?

Cheers!

On Wed, Jun 11, 2014 at 9:45 AM, Noah Kantrowitz noah@coderanger.net wrote:

That kind of analysis is not performed at the level of recipes. Once a converge starts, it is pretty straight forward (on purpose) and effectively just executes linearly. That said, there is that kind of solver run at the level of cookbook versions. When chef-client starts up it figures out which cookbooks it needs based on the run list expansion, and then asks the chef-server to find the best set of versions for those. This takes in to account the inter-cookbook dependencies, environment constraints, and tries to use more recent versions when possible. The intent isn't to offer multiple convergence paths though, that seems too complex to hold a mental model of, and therefore exceptionally likely to break :slight_smile:

--Noah

On Jun 11, 2014, at 12:38 AM, Carlos Camacho carlos.camacho@frontiersin.org wrote:

You are right, maybe the recipes are not the most accurate approach to
show an example of my research line
(http://simba.fdi.ucm.es/at/1-s2.0-S0950584913001262-main.pdf)

I think Chef is not a good example for my research line, because i
want to say things like this.

Execute cookbookA -> cookbookB is bettter than execute cookbookB -> cookbookA

Or

Execute recipeA -> recipeB is better than execute recipeB -> recipeA

Better (Run faster, Occupy less memory, etc..)

But i cant find any situation in which i can say things like this.
If you have any idea they will be welcome!

Cheers!

On Tue, Jun 10, 2014 at 8:24 PM, Dan Razzell danr@activestate.com wrote:

Hi Carlos,

You can define a recipe which invokes include_recipe conditionally, thereby
affecting the execution order, if that's truly all you need. But there are
two things to watch out for:

  1. If the same recipe is included multiple times, only the first inclusion
    will be processed.

  2. The evaluation of recipes in Chef is done in the preprocessing stage, so
    it won't have access to
    values produced during subsequent resource processing.

If your algorithm needs to access dynamic values, you have to implement it
in a resource such as ruby_block or in custom resources that you define.
The Chef DSL is essentially a macro expansion, so any control structure such
as conditionals or iteration in the recipes will be expanded to produce
static text, which is then evaluated in the ordinary manner.

Cheers,
Dan

http://docs.opscode.com/chef/dsl_recipe.html#include-recipes

On 14-06-10 10:51 AM, Carlos Camacho wrote:

Perfect, now ill try to change the answer.

Im modeling SPL's as part of my PhD course. Now i really like Chef and
i wish to be able to model a condition in which the execution order of
a Chef process (Calculating the recipes run list for example) can
vary. If a i execute A firt then B or B first and then A.

Any idea? It will be an example of how to apply a formal semantics to
calculate the best product. Im assuming that Chef is a SPL which
generates valid configurations (Products) to be installed on a node.

Cheers!

On Tue, Jun 10, 2014 at 12:22 PM, Noah Kantrowitz noah@coderanger.net
wrote:

Recipes and roles that you actually put in a run list should be
self-contained. This means that they should both be order-independent and
idempotent, so it shouldn't matter either way.

--Noah

On Jun 10, 2014, at 2:51 AM, Carlos Camacho carlos.camacho@frontiersin.org
wrote:

Perfect,

But in my case I'm trying to model something in chef in which the
order of cookbooks or recipes can vary.

For example:

Using
DB and WEB roles.
Apache and MySQL cookbooks.
A set of recipes for each cookbook.

Now i want to create a node within the DB and WEB roles.

I want to know if there are cases in which is better to apply the WEB
then the DB roles recipes or DB first and then WEB.

Any idea of situations like this? In which the order of the execution
can improve the system behavior (For example, the execution time for
all recipes, or roles, or environments)?

Cheers!!!

On Tue, Jun 10, 2014 at 11:16 AM, Noah Kantrowitz noah@coderanger.net
wrote:

On Jun 10, 2014, at 1:18 AM, Carlos Camacho carlos.camacho@frontiersin.org
wrote:

Hello!!!

I'm trying to do some research on how evaluate chef recipes when they
are executed.

For example:

I have a lot of recipes inside my Apache2 cookbook.

default.rb
god_monitor.rb
iptables.rb
logrotate.rb
...
...
...

Is there a way to establish a weight for the recipes order??..

A) default.rb -> god_monitor.rb -> iptables.rb -> logrotate.rb = 2.3
B) default.rb -> iptables.rb -> god_monitor.rb -> logrotate.rb = 3.6
C) logrotate.rb -> default.rb -> god_monitor.rb -> iptables.rb = 1
D) default.rb -> god_monitor.rb -> iptables.rb -> logrotate.rb = 6.1

In this case is better to execute D than, B than, A than C.

Recipes execute in the order you tell them to. First the run list is
recursively expanded so roles are replaced by their run list until you just
have a list of recipes. Then each is executed in order. If, while executing,
it hits an include_recipe, then it executes that recipe at that point. All
other file types where it loads all of them are executed is ASCII sort
order.

--Noah

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