diff --git a/providers/helper.rb b/providers/helper.rb
index 9c9a46f..929dbf9 100644
--- a/providers/helper.rb
+++ b/providers/helper.rb
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+include Chef::Mixin::ShellOut
+
 def resource_exists?(name)
   cmd = Mixlib::ShellOut.new("crm configure show | grep #{name}")
   cmd.environment['HOME'] = ENV.fetch('HOME', '/root')
@@ -9,3 +11,10 @@ def resource_exists?(name)
     false
   end
 end
+
+def resource_running?(name)
+  cmd = shell_out! "crm", "resource", "status", name
+  Chef::Log.info cmd.stdout
+  cmd.stdout.include? "resource #{name} is running"
+end
+
diff --git a/providers/primitive.rb b/providers/primitive.rb
index 61c3eac..091952e 100644
--- a/providers/primitive.rb
+++ b/providers/primitive.rb
@@ -84,3 +84,19 @@ action :delete do
   new_resource.updated_by_last_action(true)
   Chef::Log.info "Deleted primitive '#{name}'."
 end
+
+action :start do
+  name = new_resource.name
+  raise "no such resource #{name}" unless resource_exists?(name)
+  next if resource_running?(name)
+  shell_out! %w(crm resource start) + [name]
+  Chef::Log.info "Successfully started primitive '#{name}'."
+end
+
+action :stop do
+  name = new_resource.name
+  raise "no such resource #{name}" unless resource_exists?(name)
+  next unless resource_running?(name)
+  shell_out! %w(crm resource stop) + [name]
+  Chef::Log.info "Successfully stopped primitive '#{name}'."
+end
diff --git a/resources/primitive.rb b/resources/primitive.rb
index 925a051..acbc605 100644
--- a/resources/primitive.rb
+++ b/resources/primitive.rb
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 #
 
-actions :create, :delete
+actions :create, :delete, :start, :stop
 
 default_action :create