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Use the group Chef InSpec audit resource to test a single group on the system.

The group resource uses the following system groups:

• On non-Windows systems the group resource tests a local group defined in the/etc/group file.

• On Windows systems the group resource tests a local group defined by Local Users and Groups.

Availability

Installation

This resource is distributed along with Chef InSpec itself. You can use it automatically.

Version

This resource first became available in v1.0.0 of InSpec.

Syntax

A group resource block declares a group, and then the details to be tested, such as if the group is a local group, the group identifier, or if the group exists:

describe group('group_name') do
  it { should exist }
  its('gid') { should eq 0 }
end

where

• 'group_name' must specify the name of a group to be tested on the system
• exist and 'gid' are valid matchers for this resource

Properties

gid

The gid property returns the named group identifier:

its('gid') { should eq 1234 }

members

The members property returns the members that belong to the group:

its('members') { should include 'root' }

where members returns:

• an array of group members for Windows Platform.

  Example: ["member1", "member2"]

• a CSV formatted string of group members for Non-Windows Platforms.

  Example: "member1,member2"

members_array

The members_array property returns the members that belong to a group just like the members property, but the value returned by this property is always an array of group members.

its('members_array') { should include 'root' }

Examples

The following examples show how to use this Chef InSpec audit resource.

Test the group identifier for the root group

describe group('root') do
  it { should exist }
  its('gid') { should eq 0 }
end

Matchers

For a full list of available matchers, please visit our matchers page.

be_local

The be_local matcher tests if the group is a local group:

it { should be_local }

exist

The exist matcher tests if the named group exists:

it { should exist }