CHEF-4762: added comments about expected return values in http_request with action :head

2 files changed, 4 insertions, 1 deletions

diff --git a/lib/chef/provider/http_request.rb b/lib/chef/provider/http_request.rb
index e45d2336bb..2bbd20aa2c 100644
--- a/lib/chef/provider/http_request.rb
+++ b/lib/chef/provider/http_request.rb
@@ -36,7 +36,8 @@ class Chef
       # Send a HEAD request to @new_resource.url, with ?message=@new_resource.message
       def action_head
         message = check_message(@new_resource.message)
-        # returns true from Chef::REST if returns 2XX (Net::HTTPSuccess)
+        # CHEF-4762: we expect a nil return value from Chef::HTTP for a "200 Success" response
+        # and false for a "304 Not Modified" response
         modified = @http.head(
           "#{@new_resource.url}?message=#{message}",
           @new_resource.headers
diff --git a/spec/unit/provider/http_request_spec.rb b/spec/unit/provider/http_request_spec.rb
index 0dba30405c..850e752408 100644
--- a/spec/unit/provider/http_request_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/unit/provider/http_request_spec.rb
@@ -103,6 +103,8 @@ describe Chef::Provider::HttpRequest do
       end
     end
 
+    # CHEF-4762: we expect a nil return value for a "200 Success" response
+    # and false for a "304 Not Modified" response
     describe "action_head" do
       before do
         @provider.http = @http