[3006.x] fix: file.directory state children_only kwarg did not work

changelog/64497.fixed.md

@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Fixed an issue in the ``file.directory`` state where the ``children_only`` keyword
+argument was not being respected.

salt/states/file.py

@@ -721,6 +721,7 @@ def _check_directory(
     exclude_pat=None,
     max_depth=None,
     follow_symlinks=False,
+    children_only=False,
 ):
     """
     Check what changes need to be made on a directory
@@ -792,10 +793,12 @@ def _check_directory(
                     )
                     if fchange:
                         changes[path] = fchange
-    # Recurse skips root (we always do dirs, not root), so always check root:
-    fchange = _check_dir_meta(name, user, group, dir_mode, follow_symlinks)
-    if fchange:
-        changes[name] = fchange
+    # Recurse skips root (we always do dirs, not root), so check root unless
+    # children_only is specified:
+    if not children_only:
+        fchange = _check_dir_meta(name, user, group, dir_mode, follow_symlinks)
+        if fchange:
+            changes[name] = fchange
     if clean:
         keep = _gen_keep_files(name, require, walk_d)
 
@@ -3954,6 +3957,7 @@ def directory(
             exclude_pat,
             max_depth,
             follow_symlinks,
+            children_only,
         )
 
     if tchanges:

tests/pytests/functional/states/file/test_directory.py

@@ -113,6 +113,48 @@ def _get_oct_mode(name):
             assert _mode == _get_oct_mode(untouched_dir)
 
 
+@pytest.mark.skip_on_windows
+def test_directory_children_only(file, tmp_path):
+    """
+    file.directory with children_only=True
+    """
+
+    name = tmp_path / "directory_children_only_dir"
+    name.mkdir(0o0700)
+
+    strayfile = name / "strayfile"
+    strayfile.touch()
+    os.chmod(strayfile, 0o700)
+
+    straydir = name / "straydir"
+    straydir.mkdir(0o0700)
+
+    # none of the children nor parent are currently set to the correct mode
+    ret = file.directory(
+        name=str(name),
+        file_mode="0644",
+        dir_mode="0755",
+        recurse=["mode"],
+        children_only=True,
+    )
+    assert ret.result is True
+
+    # Assert parent directory's mode remains unchanged
+    assert (
+        oct(name.stat().st_mode)[-3:] == "700"
+    ), f"Expected mode 700 for {name}, got {oct(name.stat().st_mode)[-3:]}"
+
+    # Assert child file's mode is changed
+    assert (
+        oct(strayfile.stat().st_mode)[-3:] == "644"
+    ), f"Expected mode 644 for {strayfile}, got {oct(strayfile.stat().st_mode)[-3:]}"
+
+    # Assert child directory's mode is changed
+    assert (
+        oct(straydir.stat().st_mode)[-3:] == "755"
+    ), f"Expected mode 755 for {straydir}, got {oct(straydir.stat().st_mode)[-3:]}"
+
+
 def test_directory_clean(file, tmp_path):
     """
     file.directory with clean=True