What is the expected result of the exec resource "echo tests1 >> /etc/motd" when the condition is onlyif "test -f /etc/motd"?

The expected result of the exec resource with the specified command and condition is that it will indeed not execute if the file /etc/motd does not exist. The onlyif attribute serves as a conditional execution guard for the exec resource. In this scenario, the command echo tests1 >> /etc/motd will only run if the condition defined in the onlyif attribute evaluates to true.

The condition test -f /etc/motd checks specifically for the existence of the file. If the file is absent, the condition returns false, thus preventing the command from being executed, since the command's execution depends on the successful evaluation of the onlyif test. This ensures that there won't be any error related to trying to append to a non-existent file, thereby maintaining a clean and error-free execution of Puppet manifests.

In contexts where the file check fails, the command will simply not be executed, thus effectively safeguarding the operation according to the defined logic within Puppet's resource declaration.