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Debug Recipes, Chef Infra Client Runs

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Elements of good approaches to building cookbooks and recipes that are reliable include:

  • A consistent syntax pattern when constructing recipes
  • Using the same patterns in Ruby
  • Using resources included in Chef Infra Client or community cookbooks before creating custom ones

Ideally, the best way to debug a recipe is to not have to debug it in the first place. That said, the following sections discuss various approaches to debugging recipes and failed Chef Infra Client runs.

Basic

Some simple ways to quickly identify common issues that can trigger recipe and/or Chef Infra Client run failures include:

  • Using an empty run-list
  • Using verbose logging with knife
  • Using logging with Chef Infra Client
  • Using the log resource in a recipe to define custom logging

Empty Run-lists

Use an empty run-list to determine if a failed Chef Infra Client run has anything to do with the recipes that are defined within that run-list. This is a quick way to discover if the underlying cause of a Chef Infra Client run failure is a configuration issue. If a failure persists even if the run-list is empty, check the following:

  • Configuration settings in the config.rb file
  • Permissions for the user to both the Chef Infra Server and to the node on which a Chef Infra Client run is to take place

Knife

Use the verbose logging that is built into knife:

-V, --verbose

Set for more verbose outputs. Use -VV for much more verbose outputs. Use -VVV for maximum verbosity, which may provide more information than is actually helpful.

Note

Plugins do not always support verbose logging.

Chef Infra Client

Use the verbose logging that is built into Chef Infra Client:

-l LEVEL, --log_level LEVEL

The level of logging to be stored in a log file. Possible levels: auto (default), debug, error, fatal, info, trace, or warn. Default value: warn (when a terminal is available) or info (when a terminal is not available).

-L LOGLOCATION, --logfile c

The location of the log file. This is recommended when starting any executable as a daemon. Default value: STDOUT.

log Resource

Use the log resource to create log entries. The log resource behaves like any other resource: built into the resource collection during the compile phase, and then run during the execution phase. (To create a log entry that is not built into the resource collection, use Chef::Log instead of the log resource.)

Note

By default, every log resource that executes will count as an updated resource in the updated resource count at the end of a Chef run. You can disable this behavior by adding count_log_resource_updates false to your Chef client.rb configuration file.

New in 12.0, -o RUN_LIST_ITEM. Changed in 12.0 -f no longer allows unforked intervals, -i SECONDS is applied before a Chef Infra Client run.

Syntax

A log resource block adds messages to the log file based on events that occur during a Chef Infra Client run:

log 'message' do
  message 'A message add to the log.'
  level :info
end

The full syntax for all of the properties that are available to the log resource is:

log 'name' do
  level        Symbol # default value: :info
  message      String # default value: 'name' unless specified
  action       Symbol # defaults to :write if not specified
end

where:

  • log is the resource.
  • name is the name given to the resource block.
  • action identifies which steps Chef Infra Client will take to bring the node into the desired state.
  • level and message are the properties available to this resource.

Actions

The log resource has the following actions:

:nothing

This resource block does not act unless notified by another resource to take action. Once notified, this resource block either runs immediately or is queued up to run at the end of a Chef Infra Client run.

:write

Default. Write to log.

Properties

The log resource has the following properties:

level

Ruby Type: Symbol | Default Value: :info

The logging level for displaying this message. Options (in order of priority): :debug, :info, :warn, :error, and :fatal.

message

Ruby Type: String | Default Value: The resource block's name

The message to be added to a log file. Default value: the name of the resource block. See “Syntax” section above for more information.

Examples

The following examples demonstrate various approaches for using resources in recipes:

Specify a log entry

log 'a string to log'

Set debug logging level

log 'a debug string' do
  level :debug
end

Create log entry when the contents of a data bag are used

log 'a debug string' do
  level :debug
end

Add a message to a log file

log 'message' do
  message 'This is the message that will be added to the log.'
  level :info
end

Advanced

Some more complex ways to debug issues with a Chef Infra Client run include:

  • Using the chef_handler cookbook
  • Using the chef-shell and the breakpoint resource to add breakpoints to recipes, and to then step through the recipes using the breakpoints
  • Using the debug_value method from chef-shell to identify the location(s) from which attribute values are being set
  • Using the ignore_failure method in a recipe to force Chef Infra Client to move past an error to see what else is going on in the recipe, outside of a known failure
  • Using chef-solo to run targeted Chef Infra Client runs for specific scenarios

chef_handler

Use a handler to identify situations that arise during a Chef Infra Client run, and then tell Chef Infra Client how to handle these situations when they occur.

There are three types of handlers:

HandlerDescription
exceptionAn exception handler is used to identify situations that have caused a Chef Infra Client run to fail. An exception handler can be loaded at the start of a Chef Infra Client run by adding a recipe that contains the chef_handler resource to a node's run-list. An exception handler runs when the failed? property for the run_status object returns true.
reportA report handler is used when a Chef Infra Client run succeeds and reports back on certain details about that Chef Infra Client run. A report handler can be loaded at the start of a Chef Infra Client run by adding a recipe that contains the chef_handler resource to a node's run-list. A report handler runs when the success? property for the run_status object returns true.
startA start handler is used to run events at the beginning of a Chef Infra Client run. A start handler can be loaded at the start of a Chef Infra Client run by adding the start handler to the start_handlers setting in the client.rb file or by installing the gem that contains the start handler by using the chef_gem resource in a recipe in the chef-client cookbook. (A start handler may not be loaded using the chef_handler resource.)

Read more about exception, report, and start handlers.

chef-shell

chef-shell is a recipe debugging tool that allows the use of breakpoints within recipes. chef-shell runs as an Interactive Ruby (IRb) session. chef-shell supports both recipe and attribute file syntax, as well as interactive debugging features.

chef-shell is tool that is run using an Interactive Ruby (IRb) session. chef-shell currently supports recipe and attribute file syntax, as well as interactive debugging features. chef-shell has three run modes:

ModeDescription
StandaloneDefault. No cookbooks are loaded, and the run-list is empty.
Solochef-shell acts as a Chef Solo Client. It attempts to load the chef-solo configuration file at ~/.chef/config.rb and any JSON attributes passed. If the JSON attributes set a run-list, it will be honored. Cookbooks will be loaded in the same way that chef-solo loads them. chef-solo mode is activated with the -s or --solo command line option, and JSON attributes are specified in the same way as for chef-solo, with -j /path/to/chef-solo.json.
Clientchef-shell acts as a Chef Infra Client. During startup, it reads the Chef Infra Client configuration file from ~/.chef/client.rb and contacts the Chef Infra Server to get the node's run_list, attributes, and cookbooks. Chef Infra Client mode is activated with the -z or --client options. You can also specify the configuration file with -c CONFIG and the server URL with -S SERVER_URL.

Configure

chef-shell determines which configuration file to load based on the following:

  1. If a configuration file is specified using the -c option, chef-shell will use the specified configuration file
  2. If a NAMED_CONF is given, chef-shell will load ~/.chef/NAMED_CONF/chef_shell.rb
  3. If no NAMED_CONF is given chef-shell will load ~/.chef/chef_shell.rb if it exists
  4. If no chef_shell.rb can be found, chef-shell falls back to load:
    • /etc/chef/client.rb if -z option is given.
    • /etc/chef/solo.rb if –solo-legacy-mode option is given.
    • .chef/config.rb if -s option is given.
    • .chef/knife.rb if -s option is given.

chef-shell.rb

The chef-shell.rb file can be used to configure chef-shell in the same way as the client.rb file is used to configure Chef Infra Client. For example, to configure chef-shell to authenticate to the Chef Infra Server, copy the node_name, client_key, and chef_server_url settings from the config.rb file:

node_name                'your-knife-clientname'
client_key               File.expand_path('~/.chef/my-client.pem')
chef_server_url          'https://api.opscode.com/organizations/myorg'

and then add them to the chef-shell.rb file. Other configuration possibilities include disabling Ohai plugins (which will speed up the chef-shell boot process) or including arbitrary Ruby code in the chef-shell.rb file.

Run as a Chef Infra Client

By default, chef-shell loads in standalone mode and does not connect to the Chef Infra Server. The chef-shell can be run as a Chef Infra Client to verify functionality that is only available when Chef Infra Client connects to the Chef Infra Server, such as search functionality or accessing data stored in data bags.

chef-shell can use the same credentials as knife when connecting to a Chef Infra Server. Make sure that the settings in chef-shell.rb are the same as those in config.rb, and then use the -z option as part of the command. For example:

chef-shell -z

Manage

When chef-shell is configured to access a Chef Infra Server, chef-shell can list, show, search for and edit cookbooks, clients, nodes, roles, environments, policyfiles, and data bags.

The syntax for managing objects on the Chef Infra Server is as follows:

chef-shell -z named_configuration

Where:

  • named_configuration is an existing configuration file in ~/.chef/named_configuration/chef_shell.rb, such as production, staging, or test.

Once in chef-shell, commands can be run against objects as follows:

chef (preprod) > items.command

Where:

  • items is the type of item to search for: cookbooks, clients, nodes, roles, environments or a data bag.
  • command is the command: list, show, find, or edit.

For example, to list all of the nodes in a configuration named “preprod”, enter:

chef (preprod) > nodes.list

Which will return something similar to:

=> [node[i-f09a939b], node[i-049a936f], node[i-eaaaa581], node[i-9154b1fb],
    node[i-6a213101], node[i-c2687aa9], node[i-7abeaa11], node[i-4eb8ac25],
    node[i-9a2030f1], node[i-a06875cb], node[i-145f457f], node[i-e032398b],
    node[i-dc8c98b7], node[i-6afdf401], node[i-f49b119c], node[i-5abfab31],
    node[i-78b8ac13], node[i-d99678b3], node[i-02322269], node[i-feb4a695],
    node[i-9e2232f5], node[i-6e213105], node[i-cdde3ba7], node[i-e8bfb083],
    node[i-743c2c1f], node[i-2eaca345], node[i-aa7f74c1], node[i-72fdf419],
    node[i-140e1e7f], node[i-f9d43193], node[i-bd2dc8d7], node[i-8e7f70e5],
    node[i-78f2e213], node[i-962232fd], node[i-4c322227], node[i-922232f9],
    node[i-c02728ab], node[i-f06c7b9b]]

The list command can take a code block, which will applied (but not saved), to each object that is returned from the server. For example:

chef (preprod) > nodes.list {|n| puts "#{n.name}: #{n.run_list}" }

will return something similar to:

=> i-f09a939b: role[lb], role[preprod], recipe[aws]
   i-049a936f: role[lb], role[preprod], recipe[aws]
   i-9154b1fb: recipe[erlang], role[base], role[couchdb], role[preprod],
   i-6a213101: role[chef], role[preprod]
   # more...

The show command can be used to display a specific node. For example:

chef (preprod) > load_balancer = nodes.show('i-f09a939b')

will return something similar to:

=> node[i-f09a939b]

Or:

chef (preprod) > load_balancer.ec2.public_hostname

will return something similar to:

=> "ec2-111-22-333-44.compute-1.amazonaws.com"

The find command can be used to search the Chef Infra Server from the chef-shell. For example:

chef (preprod) > pp nodes.find(:ec2_public_hostname => 'ec2*')

You can also format the results with a code block. For example:

chef (preprod) > pp nodes.find(:ec2_public_hostname => 'ec2*') {|n| n.ec2.ami_id } and nil

will return something similar to:

=> ["ami-f8927a91",
    "ami-f8927a91",
    "ami-a89870c1",
    "ami-a89870c1",
    "ami-a89870c1",
    "ami-a89870c1",
    "ami-a89870c1"
    # and more...

Or:

chef (preprod) > amis = nodes.find(:ec2_public_hostname => 'ec2*') {|n| n.ec2.ami_id }
chef (preprod) > puts amis.uniq.sort

will return something similar to:

=> ami-4b4ba522
   ami-a89870c1
   ami-eef61587
   ami-f8927a91

breakpoint Resource

chef-shell allows the current position in a run-list to be manipulated during a Chef Infra Client run. Add breakpoints to a recipe to take advantage of this functionality.

Use the breakpoint resource to add breakpoints to recipes. Run the chef-shell in Chef Infra Client mode, and then use those breakpoints to debug recipes. Breakpoints are ignored by Chef Infra Client during an actual Chef Infra Client run. That said, breakpoints are typically used to debug recipes only when running them in a non-production environment, after which they are removed from those recipes before the parent cookbook is uploaded to the Chef Infra Server.

Syntax

A breakpoint resource block creates a breakpoint in a recipe:

breakpoint 'name' do
  action :break
end

where

  • :break will tell Chef Infra Client to stop running a recipe; can only be used when Chef Infra Client is being run in chef-shell mode

Actions

The breakpoint resource has the following actions:

:break

Use to add a breakpoint to a recipe.

:nothing

This resource block does not act unless notified by another resource to take action. Once notified, this resource block either runs immediately or is queued up to run at the end of a Chef Infra Client run.

Attributes

This resource does not have any properties.

Examples

The following examples demonstrate various approaches for using resources in recipes:

A recipe without a breakpoint

yum_key node['yum']['elrepo']['key'] do
  url  node['yum']['elrepo']['key_url']
  action :add
end

yum_repository 'elrepo' do
  description 'ELRepo.org Community Enterprise Linux Extras Repository'
  key node['yum']['elrepo']['key']
  mirrorlist node['yum']['elrepo']['url']
  includepkgs node['yum']['elrepo']['includepkgs']
  exclude node['yum']['elrepo']['exclude']
  action :create
end

The same recipe with breakpoints

breakpoint "before yum_key node['yum']['repo_name']['key']" do
  action :break
end

yum_key node['yum']['repo_name']['key'] do
  url  node['yum']['repo_name']['key_url']
  action :add
end

breakpoint "after yum_key node['yum']['repo_name']['key']" do
  action :break
end

breakpoint "before yum_repository 'repo_name'" do
  action :break
end

yum_repository 'repo_name' do
  description 'description'
  key node['yum']['repo_name']['key']
  mirrorlist node['yum']['repo_name']['url']
  includepkgs node['yum']['repo_name']['includepkgs']
  exclude node['yum']['repo_name']['exclude']
  action :create
end

breakpoint "after yum_repository 'repo_name'" do
  action :break
end

where the name of each breakpoint is an arbitrary string. In the previous examples, the names are used to indicate if the breakpoint is before or after a resource, and then also to specify which resource.

Step Through Run-list

To explore how using the breakpoint to manually step through a Chef Infra Client run, create a simple recipe in chef-shell:

chef > recipe_mode
  chef:recipe > echo off
  chef:recipe > file "/tmp/before-breakpoint"
  chef:recipe > breakpoint "foo"
  chef:recipe > file "/tmp/after-breakpoint"

and then run Chef Infra Client:

chef:recipe > run_chef
  [Fri, 15 Jan 2020 14:17:49 -0800] DEBUG: Processing file[/tmp/before-breakpoint]
  [Fri, 15 Jan 2020 14:17:49 -0800] DEBUG: file[/tmp/before-breakpoint] using Chef::Provider::File
  [Fri, 15 Jan 2020 14:17:49 -0800] INFO: Creating file[/tmp/before-breakpoint] at /tmp/before-breakpoint
  [Fri, 15 Jan 2020 14:17:49 -0800] DEBUG: Processing [./bin/../lib/chef/mixin/recipe_definition_dsl_core.rb:56:in 'new']
  [Fri, 15 Jan 2020 14:17:49 -0800] DEBUG: [./bin/../lib/chef/mixin/recipe_definition_dsl_core.rb:56:in 'new'] using Chef::Provider::Breakpoint

Chef Infra Client ran the first resource before the breakpoint (file[/tmp/before-breakpoint]), but then stopped after execution. Chef Infra Client attempted to name the breakpoint after its position in the source file, but Chef Infra Client was confused because the resource was entered interactively. From here, chef-shell can resume the interrupted Chef Infra Client run:

chef:recipe > chef_run.resume
  [Fri, 15 Jan 2020 14:27:08 -0800] INFO: Creating file[/tmp/after-breakpoint] at /tmp/after-breakpoint

A quick view of the /tmp directory shows that the following files were created:

after-breakpoint
before-breakpoint

You can rewind and step through a Chef Infra Client run:

chef:recipe > Chef::Log.level = :debug # debug logging won't turn on automatically in this case
    => :debug
  chef:recipe > chef_run.rewind
    => 0
  chef:recipe > chef_run.step
  [Fri, 15 Jan 2020 14:40:52 -0800] DEBUG: Processing file[/tmp/before-breakpoint]
  [Fri, 15 Jan 2020 14:40:52 -0800] DEBUG: file[/tmp/before-breakpoint] using Chef::Provider::File
    => 1
  chef:recipe > chef_run.step
  [Fri, 15 Jan 2020 14:40:54 -0800] DEBUG: Processing [./bin/../lib/chef/mixin/recipe_definition_dsl_core.rb:56:in 'new']
  [Fri, 15 Jan 2020 14:40:54 -0800] DEBUG: [./bin/../lib/chef/mixin/recipe_definition_dsl_core.rb:56:in 'new'] using Chef::Provider::Breakpoint
    => 2
  chef:recipe > chef_run.step
  [Fri, 15 Jan 2020 14:40:56 -0800] DEBUG: Processing file[/tmp/after-breakpoint]
  [Fri, 15 Jan 2020 14:40:56 -0800] DEBUG: file[/tmp/after-breakpoint] using Chef::Provider::File
    => 3

From the output, the rewound run-list is shown, but when the resources are executed again, they will repeat their checks for the existence of files. If they exist, Chef Infra Client will skip creating them. If the files are deleted, then:

chef:recipe > ls("/tmp").grep(/breakpoint/).each {|f| rm "/tmp/#{f}" }
    => ["after-breakpoint", "before-breakpoint"]

Rewind, and then resume your Chef Infra Client run to get the expected results:

chef:recipe > chef_run.rewind
  chef:recipe > chef_run.resume
  [Fri, 15 Jan 2020 14:48:56 -0800] DEBUG: Processing file[/tmp/before-breakpoint]
  [Fri, 15 Jan 2020 14:48:56 -0800] DEBUG: file[/tmp/before-breakpoint] using Chef::Provider::File
  [Fri, 15 Jan 2020 14:48:56 -0800] INFO: Creating file[/tmp/before-breakpoint] at /tmp/before-breakpoint
  [Fri, 15 Jan 2020 14:48:56 -0800] DEBUG: Processing [./bin/../lib/chef/mixin/recipe_definition_dsl_core.rb:56:in 'new']
  [Fri, 15 Jan 2020 14:48:56 -0800] DEBUG: [./bin/../lib/chef/mixin/recipe_definition_dsl_core.rb:56:in 'new'] using Chef::Provider::Breakpoint
  chef:recipe > chef_run.resume
  [Fri, 15 Jan 2020 14:49:20 -0800] DEBUG: Processing file[/tmp/after-breakpoint]
  [Fri, 15 Jan 2020 14:49:20 -0800] DEBUG: file[/tmp/after-breakpoint] using Chef::Provider::File
  [Fri, 15 Jan 2020 14:49:20 -0800] INFO: Creating file[/tmp/after-breakpoint] at /tmp/after-breakpoint

Debug Existing Recipe

chef-shell can be used to debug existing recipes. The recipe first needs to be added to a run-list for the node, so that it is cached when starting chef-shell and then used for debugging. chef-shell will report which recipes are being cached when it is started:

loading configuration: none (standalone session)
Session type: standalone
Loading.............done.

Welcome to the chef-shell 15.8.23
For usage see https://docs.chef.io/chef_shell.html

run `help' for help, `exit' or ^D to quit.

chef (15.8.23)>

To just load one recipe from the run-list, go into the recipe and use the include_recipe command. For example:

chef > recipe_mode
  chef:recipe > include_recipe "getting-started"
    => [#< Chef::Recipe:0x10256f9e8 @cookbook_name="getting-started",
  ... output truncated ...

To load all of the recipes from a run-list, use code similar to the following:

node.run_list.expand(node.chef_environment).recipes.each do |r|
  include_recipe r
end

After the recipes that are to be debugged have been loaded, use the run_chef command to run them.

Advanced Debugging

In chef-shell, it is possible to get verbose debugging using the tracing feature in Interactive Ruby (IRb). chef-shell provides a shortcut for turning tracing on and off. For example:

chef > tracing on
tracing is on
=> nil
chef >

and:

chef > tracing off
#0:(irb):2:Object:-: tracing off
#0:/opt/chef-workstation/embedded/lib/ruby/gems/2.6.0/gems/chef-15.8.23/lib/chef/shell/ext.rb:109:Shell::Extensions::ObjectCoreExtensions:>:       def off
#0:/opt/chef-workstation/embedded/lib/ruby/gems/2.6.0/gems/chef-15.8.23/lib/chef/shell/ext.rb:110:Shell::Extensions::ObjectCoreExtensions:-:         :off
#0:/opt/chef-workstation/embedded/lib/ruby/gems/2.6.0/gems/chef-15.8.23/lib/chef/shell/ext.rb:111:Shell::Extensions::ObjectCoreExtensions:<:       end
#0:/opt/chef-workstation/embedded/lib/ruby/gems/2.6.0/gems/chef-15.8.23/lib/chef/shell/ext.rb:272:main:>:       def tracing(on_or_off)
#0:/opt/chef-workstation/embedded/lib/ruby/gems/2.6.0/gems/chef-15.8.23/lib/chef/shell/ext.rb:273:main:-:         conf.use_tracer = on_or_off.on_off_to_bool
#0:/opt/chef-workstation/embedded/lib/ruby/gems/2.6.0/gems/chef-15.8.23/lib/chef/shell/ext.rb:162:Shell::Extensions::Symbol:>:       def on_off_to_bool
#0:/opt/chef-workstation/embedded/lib/ruby/gems/2.6.0/gems/chef-15.8.23/lib/chef/shell/ext.rb:163:Shell::Extensions::Symbol:-:         to_s.on_off_to_bool
#0:/opt/chef-workstation/embedded/lib/ruby/gems/2.6.0/gems/chef-15.8.23/lib/chef/shell/ext.rb:149:Shell::Extensions::String:>:       def on_off_to_bool
#0:/opt/chef-workstation/embedded/lib/ruby/gems/2.6.0/gems/chef-15.8.23/lib/chef/shell/ext.rb:150:Shell::Extensions::String:-:         case self
#0:/opt/chef-workstation/embedded/lib/ruby/gems/2.6.0/gems/chef-15.8.23/lib/chef/shell/ext.rb:154:Shell::Extensions::String:-:           false
#0:/opt/chef-workstation/embedded/lib/ruby/gems/2.6.0/gems/chef-15.8.23/lib/chef/shell/ext.rb:158:Shell::Extensions::String:<:       end
#0:/opt/chef-workstation/embedded/lib/ruby/gems/2.6.0/gems/chef-15.8.23/lib/chef/shell/ext.rb:164:Shell::Extensions::Symbol:<:       end
tracing is off
=> nil
chef >

debug_value

Use the debug_value method to discover the location within the attribute precedence hierarchy from which a particular attribute (or sub-attribute) is set. This method is available when running chef-shell in Chef Infra Client mode:

chef-shell -z

For example, the following attributes exist in a cookbook. Some are defined in a role file:

default_attributes 'test' => { 'source' => 'role default' }
override_attributes 'test' => { 'source' => 'role override' }

And others are defined in an attributes file:

default[:test][:source]  = 'attributes default'
normal[:test][:source]      = 'attributes normal'
override[:test][:source] = 'attributes override'

To debug the location in which the value of node[:test][:source] is set, use chef-shell and run a command similar to:

pp node.debug_value('test', 'source')

This will pretty-print return all of the attributes and sub-attributes as an array of arrays; :not_present is returned for any attribute without a value:

[['set_unless_enabled?', false],
 ['default', 'attributes default'],
 ['env_default', :not_present],
 ['role_default', 'role default'],
 ['force_default', :not_present],
 ['normal', 'attributes normal'],
 ['override', 'attributes override'],
 ['role_override', 'role override'],
 ['env_override', :not_present],
 ['force_override', :not_present],
 ['automatic', :not_present]]

where

  • set_unless_enabled indicates if the attribute collection is in set_unless mode; this typically returns false
  • Each attribute type is listed in order of precedence
  • Each attribute value shown is the value that is set for that precedence level
  • :not_present is shown for any attribute precedence level that has no attributes

A blog post by Joshua Timberman provides another example of using this method.

ignore_failure Method

All resources share a set of common actions, attributes, and so on. Use the following attribute in a resource to help identify where an issue within a recipe may be located:

AttributeDescription
ignore_failureContinue running a recipe if a resource fails for any reason. Default value: false.

chef-solo

See chef-solo (executable) for complete CTL documentation.

chef-solo is a command that executes Chef Infra Client in a way that does not require the Chef Infra Server in order to converge cookbooks. chef-solo uses Chef Infra Client’s Chef local mode, and does not support the following functionality present in Chef Infra Client / server configurations:

  • Centralized distribution of cookbooks
  • A centralized API that interacts with and integrates infrastructure components
  • Authentication or authorization

Note

chef-solo can be run as a daemon.

The chef-solo executable is run as a command-line tool.

See chef-solo (executable) for complete CTL documentation.

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