Resources

A manifest is an ordered list of resources. Each resource has a type, a name, and a set of attributes. The engine processes them in the order they appear in the YAML, which also determines the order in which the report displays them.

name: webserver

resources:
  - package:
      nginx:
        state: present

  - file:
      /etc/nginx/nginx.conf:
        source: templates/nginx.conf.tmpl
        owner: root
        group: root
        mode: "0644"
        vars:
          worker_connections: 1024

  - service:
      nginx:
        state: running
        enabled: true

Shape of a resource

Each list item is a single-key map whose key is the resource type:

- <type>:
    <name>:
      <attributes>

• The resource name identifies the instance — a package name, a file path, a service name. Two resources of the same type and name are not allowed in a single manifest.
• Attributes are type-specific. Unknown attributes are ignored at parse time; required-but-missing attributes cause a parse error.

Available resource types

• package — install or remove system packages via apt/dnf.
• file — manage file content, templates, ownership, and mode.
• service — start, stop, enable, or disable systemd units.
• command — run an arbitrary shell command with idempotency guards.
• hostname — set the system's static hostname via hostnamectl.
• sysctl — set a kernel parameter at runtime via sysctl.

Ordering and dependencies

Resources run in the order they appear. Maddock does not currently have explicit dependencies or notify/subscribe semantics — if a config file needs to be in place before a service starts, put it earlier in the list.

A typical pattern:

1. package — install the software.
2. file — drop config files into place.
3. service — start and enable the daemon.

Check vs apply

Every resource implements two phases:

• Check — query the current state, compare to desired, return a list of differences.
• Apply — converge to the desired state.

With --dry-run, only check runs; any resource with pending changes is reported as SKIPPED and the process exits with code 3.