16.46. cdist-type__file(7)

16.46.1. NAME

cdist-type__file - Manage files.

16.46.2. DESCRIPTION

This cdist type allows you to create files, remove files and set file attributes on the target.

If the file already exists on the target, then if it is a:

regular file, and state is:
present
replace it with the source file if they are not equal
exists
do nothing
symlink
replace it with the source file
directory
replace it with the source file

One exception is that when state is pre-exists, an error is raised if the file would have been created otherwise (e.g. it is not present or not a regular file).

In any case, make sure that the file attributes are as specified.

16.46.3. REQUIRED PARAMETERS

None.

16.46.4. OPTIONAL PARAMETERS

state

'present', 'absent', 'exists' or 'pre-exists', defaults to 'present' where:

present
the file is exactly the one from source
absent
the file does not exist
exists
the file from source but only if it doesn't already exist
pre-exists
check that the file exists and is a regular file, but do not create or modify it
group
Group to chgrp to.
mode
Unix permissions, suitable for chmod.
owner
User to chown to.
source
If supplied, copy this file from the host running cdist to the target. If not supplied, an empty file or directory will be created. If source is '-' (dash), take what was written to stdin as the file content.
onchange
The code to run if file is modified.

16.46.5. MESSAGES

chgrp <group>
Changed group membership
chown <owner>
Changed owner
chmod <mode>
Changed mode
create
Empty file was created (no --source specified)
remove
File exists, but state is absent, file will be removed by generated code.
upload
File was uploaded

16.46.6. EXAMPLES

# Create  /etc/cdist-configured as an empty file
__file /etc/cdist-configured
# The same thing
__file /etc/cdist-configured --state present
# Use __file from another type
__file /etc/issue --source "$__type/files/archlinux" --state present
# Delete existing file
__file /etc/cdist-configured --state absent
# Supply some more settings
__file /etc/shadow --source "$__type/files/shadow" \
   --owner root --group shadow --mode 0640 \
   --state present
# Provide a default file, but let the user change it
__file /home/frodo/.bashrc --source "/etc/skel/.bashrc" \
   --state exists \
   --owner frodo --mode 0600
# Check that the file is present, show an error when it is not
__file /etc/somefile --state pre-exists
# Take file content from stdin
__file /tmp/whatever --owner root --group root --mode 644 --source - << DONE
    Here goes the content for /tmp/whatever
DONE

16.46.7. AUTHORS

Nico Schottelius <nico-cdist--@--schottelius.org>

16.46.8. COPYING

Copyright (C) 2011-2013 Nico Schottelius. You can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.