NAME¶
chef-solo - The man page for the chef-solo command line tool.
chef-solo is an open source version of the chef-client that allows using
cookbooks with nodes without requiring access to a server. chef-solo runs
locally and requires that a cookbook (and any of its dependencies) be on the
same physical disk as the node. chef-solo is a limited-functionality version
of the chef-client and
does not support the following:
- •
- Node data storage
- •
- Search indexes
- •
- Centralized distribution of cookbooks
- •
- A centralized API that interacts with and integrates infrastructure
components
- •
- Authentication or authorization
- •
- Persistent attributes
The chef-solo executable can be run as a command-line tool.
OPTIONS¶
This command has the following syntax:
chef-solo OPTION VALUE OPTION VALUE ...
This command has the following options:
- -c CONFIG, --config CONFIG
- The configuration file to use.
- -d, --daemonize
- Indicates that the executable will be run as a daemon. This option is only
available on machines that run in UNIX or Linux environments. For machines
that are running Microsoft Windows that require similar functionality, use
the chef-client::service recipe in the chef-client cookbook:
http://community.opscode.com/cookbooks/chef-client. This will
install a chef-client service under Microsoft Windows using the Windows
Service Wrapper.
- -E ENVIRONMENT_NAME, --environment
ENVIRONMENT_NAME
- The name of the environment.
- -f, --[no-]fork
- Indicates that a chef-client run will be contained in a secondary process
with dedicated RAM. When the chef-client run is complete the RAM will be
returned to the master process. This option helps ensure that a
chef-client will use a steady amount of RAM over time because the master
process will not run recipes. This option will also help prevent memory
leaks (such as those that can be introduced by the code contained within a
poorly designed cookbook). Use --no-fork to disable running the
chef-client in fork node. Default value: --fork.
- -F FORMAT, --format FORMAT
- The output format: doc (default) or min.
Use doc to print the progress of the chef-client run using full
strings that display a summary of updates as they occur.
Use min to print the progress of the chef-client run using single
characters. A summary of updates is printed at the end of the chef-client
run. A dot ( .) is printed for events that do not have meaningful
status information, such as loading a file or synchronizing a cookbook.
For resources, a dot ( .) is printed when the resource is up to
date, an S is printed when the resource is skipped by not_if
or only_if, and a U is printed when the resource is updated.
Other formatting options are available when those formatters are configured
in the client.rb file using the add_formatter option.
- --force-formatter
- Indicates that formatter output will be used instead of logger
output.
- --force-logger
- Indicates that logger output will be used instead of formatter
output.
- -g GROUP, --group GROUP
- The name of the group that owns a process. This is required when starting
any executable as a daemon.
- -h, --help
- Shows help for the command.
- -i SECONDS, --interval SECONDS
- The frequency (in seconds) at which the chef-client runs.
- -j PATH, --json-attributes PATH
- The path to a file that contains JSON data. Use this option to override
normal attributes set elsewhere.
- -l LEVEL, --log_level LEVEL
- The level of logging that will be stored in a log file.
- -L LOGLOCATION, --logfile c
- The location in which log file output files will be saved. If this
location is set to something other than STDOUT, standard output
logging will still be performed (otherwise there would be no output other
than to a file). This is recommended when starting any executable as a
daemon.
- --[no-]color
- Indicates whether colored output will be used. Default setting:
--color.
- -N NODE_NAME, --node-name NODE_NAME
- The name of the node.
- -o RUN_LIST_ITEM, --override-runlist
RUN_LIST_ITEM
- Replace the current run list with the specified items.
- -r RECIPE_URL, --recipe-url RECIPE_URL
- The URL location from which a remote cookbook tar.gz will be
downloaded.
- -s SECONDS, --splay SECONDS
- A number (in seconds) to add to the interval that is used to
determine the frequency of chef-client runs. This number can help prevent
server load when there are many clients running at the same time.
- -u USER, --user USER
- The user that owns a process. This is required when starting any
executable as a daemon.
- -v, --version
- The version of the chef-client.
- -W, --why-run
- Indicates that the executable will be run in why-run mode, which is a type
of chef-client run that does everything except modify the system. Use
why-run mode to understand why the chef-client makes the decisions that it
makes and to learn more about the current and proposed state of the
system.
EXAMPLES¶
Use a URL
$ chef-solo -c ~/solo.rb -j ~/node.json -r http://www.example.com/chef-solo.tar.gz
where
-r uses the
remote_file resource to retrieve the tar.gz
archive into the
file_cache_path, and then extract it to
cookbooks_path.
Use a directory
$ chef-solo -c ~/solo.rb -j ~/node.json
where the
-r URL option is not used. chef-solo will look in the solo.rb
file to determine the directory in which cookbooks are located.
Use a URL for cookbook and JSON data
$ chef-solo -c ~/solo.rb -j http://www.example.com/node.json -r http://www.example.com/chef-solo.tar.gz
where
-r corresponds to
recipe_url and
-j corresponds to
json_attribs, both of which are configuration options in solo.rb.
AUTHOR¶
Chef
