Fix file.managed omitting mode from changes when creating a file

[HarnageaGabriel]

Summary

• check_file_meta() in salt/modules/file.py has two early-return points that fire when the target file does not yet exist (lstats falsy). Both skipped the entire mode/user/group comparison block, so file.managed only ever reported {'newfile': name} (test=True) or a diff (real run) when creating a file — never the mode being applied. When the file already existed, mode/user/group changes were reported correctly.
• This makes it impossible to audit, from state output alone, what permissions a newly-created file will get (e.g. mode: '0600' vs an unspecified umask-derived mode produce byte-identical changes).
• Fix: on the new-file paths, report the requested mode/user/group directly (there's nothing to diff against), guarded the same way as the existing-file case (skipped on Windows). Both early-return points are updated so behavior is consistent regardless of new_file_diff.

Fixes #69969

Test plan

• Added unit tests in tests/pytests/unit/modules/file/test_file_check.py covering a nonexistent target path with mode/user/group specified, for both new_file_diff=True/False, and for the ignore_ordering/tuple-return path.
• Verified existing-file behavior is unchanged (no regression).
• Added changelog/69969.fixed.md.

Note: ran pytest tests/pytests/unit/modules/file/test_file_check.py on Windows; the OS-gated tests (skip_on_windows) skip there since mode/user/group aren't applicable on Windows — the fix's logic was additionally verified directly against check_file_meta() with salt.utils.platform.is_windows() patched to False, confirming the new/existing-file paths behave as expected.

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

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[twangboy]

Let's make these changes on the 3008.x branch, please.

[twangboy]

1. Unhandled Defaults / Inherited Permissions

Relying strictly on if variable is not None: only captures parameters explicitly passed to check_file_meta. If a user relies on Salt defaults or inherited OS permissions (leaving user, group, or mode as None), these details won't be recorded in changes during file creation. Consider resolving default values or falling back to stats data when these variables are None.

2. Code Duplication

This exact non-Windows metadata check is duplicated verbatim at lines 6322–6328. Refactoring this into a local helper function will keep the logic DRY and consistent across both branches.

Suggested Refactor

def _add_file_meta_changes(changes_dict, stats_data=None):
    if salt.utils.platform.is_windows():
        return

    # Fall back to stats/defaults if parameters were omitted
    target_user = user or (stats_data.get("user") if stats_data else None)
    target_group = group or (stats_data.get("group") if stats_data else None)
    target_mode = mode or (stats_data.get("mode") if stats_data else None)

    for key, val in [("user", target_user), ("group", target_group), ("mode", target_mode)]:
        if val is not None:
            changes_dict[key] = val

You can then simplify both conditional blocks in check_file_meta:

# Line 6216
if not lstats and not new_file_diff:
    changes["newfile"] = name
    _add_file_meta_changes(changes, lstats)

# Line 6321
if not lstats:
    _add_file_meta_changes(changes, lstats)

You'll also need to add some tests for when the default values are used to make sure the user/group/mode values are reported as changes.