Chef : Pass parameters to a ruby_block in Chef

Question

How do you pass parameters to a ruby_block in chef.

If I have

  notifies :create, "ruby_block[createErb]", :immediately

and I want pass a parameter (fileToConvert) to this ruby_block (createErb) at the time that I notify.

ruby_block "createErb" do
  block do
    ErbCreator.new(fileToConvert)
  end
  action :nothing
end

How would I do this?

Answer 1

Short answer - you can't.

RubyBlock is a Chef resource, so it does not accept arbitrary parameters. In your example, I would recommend creating a Chef Extension (LWRP or HWRP):

In your resource:

# resources/erb_create.rb
actions :create
default_action :create

attribute :filename, name_attribute: true
# more attributes

And in your provider:

# providers/erb_create.rb
action(:create) do
  ErbCreator.new(new_resource.filename)
  # ... etc
end

Then in a recipe:

# recipes/default.rb
cookbook_erb_create 'filename'

You can read more about LWRPs on the Chef Docs.