Using Recipes to Run Scripts

Important

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If you already have a script that performs the required customization tasks, the simplest approach to extending a layer is often to implement a simple recipe to run the script. You can then assign the recipe to the appropriate lifecycle events, typically Setup or Deploy, or use the execute_recipes stack command to run the recipe manually.

The following example runs a shell script on Linux instances, but you can use the same approach for other types of script, including Windows PowerShell scripts.

cookbook_file "/tmp/lib-installer.sh" do
  source "lib-installer.sh"
  mode 0755
end

execute "install my lib" do
  command "sh /tmp/lib-installer.sh"
end

The cookbook_file resource represents a file that is stored in a subdirectory of a cookbook's files directory, and transfers the file to a specified location on the instance. This example transfers a shell script, lib-installer.sh, to the instance's /tmp directory and sets the file's mode to 0755. For more information, see cookbook_file.

The execute resource represents a command, such as a shell command. This example runs lib-installer.sh. For more information, see execute.

You can also run a script by incorporating it into a recipe. The following example runs a bash script, but Chef also supports Csh, Perl, Python, and Ruby.

script "install_something" do
  interpreter "bash"
  user "root"
  cwd "/tmp"
  code <<-EOH
    #insert bash script
  EOH
end

The script resource represents a script. The example specifies a bash interpreter, sets user to "root", and sets the working directory to /tmp. It then runs the bash script in the code block, which can include as many lines as required. For more information, see script.

For more information on how to use recipes to run scripts, see Example 7: Running Commands and Scripts. For an example of how to run a PowerShell script on a Windows instance, see Running a Windows PowerShell Script.