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Russet

Exit codes

A script or scheduled job can use the exit code of the russet command to check whether the command succeeded. This page lists the codes and the commands that return them.

Exit codes

Section titled “Exit codes”

The russet command returns the following codes:

Code Meaning Returned by
0 The command succeeded. Every verb, and russet VERB --help.
1 The command failed, and Russet printed the reason to standard error. Most verbs. For run and install, this code means that validation failed and no recipe ran. audit returns it when a finding reaches the --fail-on severity, and verify-trust-info returns it when an override fails verification. russet help and russet with no verb also return it.
2 Russet couldn’t parse an option. It printed the verb’s usage and the error. Every verb that accepts options.
70 At least one recipe failed while it ran. Other recipes in the same command might have succeeded. run and install.
255 The arguments were wrong for the verb, such as a missing recipe name. On Windows, the code is -1. run, install, audit, info, make-override, new-recipe, processor-info, repo-add, repo-delete, repo-update, update-trust-info, and verify-trust-info.

Handle exit codes in scripts

Section titled “Handle exit codes in scripts”

Treat any exit code other than 0 as a failure. The following codes need different follow-up:

  • 1 from run or install: no recipe ran. Read standard error to find the recipe that failed validation, such as a missing recipe, a failed trust check on an override, or an unsupported processor.
  • 70 from run or install: some recipes ran. Use --report-plist to save a report, and read its failures array to find the recipes that failed.
  • 255 or -1: the command’s arguments are wrong. Check the command in your script.

Some commands return 0 even when part of the work failed:

  • repo-add and repo-update return 0 when Git fails.
  • repo-delete returns 0 when it can’t find a recipe repository.
  • audit returns 0 when it can’t find a recipe, unless a finding reaches the --fail-on severity.

Check the output of these commands, or follow them with a command that verifies the result, such as russet repo-list.

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