windows_task Resource
This page is generated from the Chef Infra Client source code.To suggest a change, edit the windows_task.rb file and submit a pull request to the Chef Infra Client repository.
Use the windows_task resource to create, delete or run a Windows scheduled task.
New in Chef Infra Client 13.0.
Syntax
The full syntax for all of the properties that are available to the windows_task resource is:
windows_task 'name' do
backup Integer, false # default value: 5
command String
cwd String
day String, Integer
description String
disallow_start_if_on_batteries true, false # default value: false
execution_time_limit String, Integer # default value: "PT72H (72 hours in ISO8601 duration format)"
force true, false # default value: false
frequency Symbol
frequency_modifier Integer, String # default value: 1
idle_time Integer
interactive_enabled true, false # default value: false
minutes_duration String, Integer
minutes_interval String, Integer
months String
password String
priority Integer # default value: 7
random_delay String, Integer
run_level Symbol # default value: :limited
start_day String # default value: The current date.
start_time String
start_when_available true, false # default value: false
stop_if_going_on_batteries true, false # default value: false
task_name String # default value: 'name' unless specified
user String # default value: The localized SYSTEM user for the node.
action Symbol # defaults to :create if not specified
end
where:
windows_task
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.backup
,command
,cwd
,day
,description
,disallow_start_if_on_batteries
,execution_time_limit
,force
,frequency
,frequency_modifier
,idle_time
,interactive_enabled
,minutes_duration
,minutes_interval
,months
,password
,priority
,random_delay
,run_level
,start_day
,start_time
,start_when_available
,stop_if_going_on_batteries
,task_name
, anduser
are the properties available to this resource.
Actions
The windows_task resource has the following actions:
:create
- Creates a scheduled task, or updates an existing task if any property has changed. (default)
:delete
- Deletes a scheduled task.
:disable
- Disables a scheduled task.
:enable
- Enables a scheduled task.
:end
- Ends a scheduled task.
: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.
:run
- Runs a scheduled task.
Properties
The windows_task resource has the following properties:
backup
- Ruby Type: Integer, false | Default Value:
5
Number of backups to keep of the task when modified/deleted. Set to false to disable backups.
New in Chef Infra Client 17.0
command
- Ruby Type: String
The command to be executed by the windows scheduled task.
cwd
- Ruby Type: String
The directory the task will be run from.
day
- Ruby Type: String, Integer
The day(s) on which the task runs.
- Use this property when setting
frequency
to:monthly
or:weekly
. - Valid values with frequency
:weekly
areMON
-SUN
or*
. - Valid values with frequency
:monthly
are1-31
,MON
-SUN
, andLASTDAY
. - Use
MON
-SUN
orLASTDAY
if you are settingfrequency_modifier
as “FIRST, SECOND, THIRD etc.” else use 1-31. - Multiple days should be comma separated. e.g
1, 2, 3
orMON, WED, FRI
.
- Use this property when setting
description
- Ruby Type: String
The task description.
New in Chef Client 14.7
disallow_start_if_on_batteries
- Ruby Type: true, false | Default Value:
false
Disallow start of the task if the system is running on battery power.
New in Chef Client 14.4
execution_time_limit
- Ruby Type: String, Integer | Default Value:
PT72H (72 hours in ISO8601 duration format)
The maximum time the task will run. This field accepts either seconds or an ISO8601 duration value.
force
- Ruby Type: true, false | Default Value:
false
When used with create, will update the task.
frequency
- Ruby Type: SymbolAllowed Values:
:daily, :hourly, :minute, :monthly, :none, :on_idle, :on_logon, :once, :onstart, :weekly
The frequency with which to run the task.
Note
This property is required in Chef Infra Client 14.1 or later.
Note
The
:once
value requires thestart_time
property to be set.
frequency_modifier
- Ruby Type: Integer, String | Default Value:
1
- For frequency
:minute
valid values are 1 to 1439 - For frequency
:hourly
valid values are 1 to 23 - For frequency
:daily
valid values are 1 to 365 - For frequency
:weekly
valid values are 1 to 52 - For frequency
:monthly
valid values are('FIRST', 'SECOND', 'THIRD', 'FOURTH', 'LAST')
OR1-12
.- e.g. If user want to run the task on
second week of the month
usefrequency_modifier
value asSECOND
. Multiple values for weeks of the month should be comma separated e.g."FIRST, THIRD, LAST"
. - To run task every (n) months use values 1 to 12.
- e.g. If user want to run the task on
- For frequency
idle_time
- Ruby Type: Integer
For
:on_idle
frequency, the time (in minutes) without user activity that must pass to trigger the task, from1
-999
.
interactive_enabled
- Ruby Type: true, false | Default Value:
false
Allow task to run interactively or non-interactively. Requires user and password to also be set.
minutes_duration
- Ruby Type: String, Integer
minutes_interval
- Ruby Type: String, Integer
months
- Ruby Type: String
The Months of the year on which the task runs, such as:
JAN, FEB
or*
. Multiple months should be comma delimited. e.g.Jan, Feb, Mar, Dec
.
password
- Ruby Type: String
The user’s password. The user property must be set if using this property.
priority
- Ruby Type: Integer | Default Value:
7
Use to set Priority Levels range from 0 to 10.
random_delay
- Ruby Type: String, Integer
Delays the task up to a given time (in seconds).
run_level
- Ruby Type: Symbol | Default Value:
:limited
Allowed Values::highest, :limited
Run with
:limited
or:highest
privileges.
start_day
- Ruby Type: String | Default Value:
The current date.
Specifies the first date on which the task runs in MM/DD/YYYY format.
start_time
- Ruby Type: String
Specifies the start time to run the task, in HH:mm format.
start_when_available
- Ruby Type: true, false | Default Value:
false
To start the task at any time after its scheduled time has passed.
New in Chef Client 14.15
stop_if_going_on_batteries
- Ruby Type: true, false | Default Value:
false
Scheduled task option when system is switching on battery.
New in Chef Client 14.4
task_name
- Ruby Type: String | Default Value:
The resource block's name
An optional property to set the task name if it differs from the resource block’s name. Example:
Task Name
or/Task Name
user
- Ruby Type: String | Default Value:
The localized SYSTEM user for the node.
The user to run the task as.
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 (theconverge 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 anotifies
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 returntrue
in addition to0
. - A block is executed as Ruby code that must return either
true
orfalse
. If the block returnstrue
, the guard property is applied. If the block returnsfalse
, 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.
PropertiesThe 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_task resource in recipes:
Create a scheduled task to run every 15 minutes as the Administrator user:
windows_task 'chef-client' do
user 'Administrator'
password 'password'
command 'chef-client'
run_level :highest
frequency :minute
frequency_modifier 15
end
Create a scheduled task to run every 2 days:
windows_task 'chef-client' do
command 'chef-client'
run_level :highest
frequency :daily
frequency_modifier 2
end
Create a scheduled task to run on specific days of the week:
windows_task 'chef-client' do
command 'chef-client'
run_level :highest
frequency :weekly
day 'Mon, Thu'
end
Create a scheduled task to run only once:
windows_task 'chef-client' do
command 'chef-client'
run_level :highest
frequency :once
start_time '16:10'
end
Create a scheduled task to run on current day every 3 weeks and delay upto 1 min:
windows_task 'chef-client' do
command 'chef-client'
run_level :highest
frequency :weekly
frequency_modifier 3
random_delay '60'
end
Create a scheduled task to run weekly starting on Dec 28th 2018:
windows_task 'chef-client 8' do
command 'chef-client'
run_level :highest
frequency :weekly
start_day '12/28/2018'
end
Create a scheduled task to run every Monday, Friday every 2 weeks:
windows_task 'chef-client' do
command 'chef-client'
run_level :highest
frequency :weekly
frequency_modifier 2
day 'Mon, Fri'
end
Create a scheduled task to run when computer is idle with idle duration 20 min:
windows_task 'chef-client' do
command 'chef-client'
run_level :highest
frequency :on_idle
idle_time 20
end
Delete a task named “old task”:
windows_task 'old task' do
action :delete
end
Enable a task named “chef-client”:
windows_task 'chef-client' do
action :enable
end
Disable a task named “ProgramDataUpdater” with TaskPath “\Microsoft\Windows\Application Experience\ProgramDataUpdater”
windows_task '\Microsoft\Windows\Application Experience\ProgramDataUpdater' do
action :disable
end