knife environment¶
An environment is a way to map an organization’s real-life workflow to what can be configured and managed when using Chef Infra. This mapping is accomplished by setting attributes and pinning cookbooks at the environment level. With environments, you can change cookbook configurations depending on the system’s designation. For example, by designating different staging and production environments, you can then define the correct URL of a database server for each environment. Environments also allow organizations to move new cookbook releases from staging to production with confidence by stepping releases through testing environments before entering production.
Use the knife environment subcommand to manage environments within a single organization on the Chef Infra Server.
Note
Review the list of common options available to this (and all) knife subcommands and plugins.
compare¶
Use the compare argument to compare the cookbook version constraints that are set on one (or more) environments.
Syntax¶
This argument has the following syntax:
$ knife environment compare [ENVIRONMENT_NAME...] (options)
Options¶
This argument has the following options:
-a,--all- Upload all environments found at the specified path.
-m,--mismatch- Show only matching versions.
Examples¶
The following examples show how to use this knife subcommand:
Compare cookbook versions in a single environment
To compare cookbook versions for a single environment:
$ knife environment compare development
to return something similar to:
development
apache 2.3.1
windows 4.1.2
Compare cookbook versions for multiple environments
To compare cookbook versions for multiple environments:
$ knife environment compare development staging
to return something similar to:
development staging
apache 2.3.1 1.2.2
windows 4.1.2 1.0.0
postgresql 1.0.0 1.0.0
Compare cookbook versions for all environments
To compare all cookbook versions for all environments:
$ knife environment compare --all
to return something similar to:
staging development
ulimit latest latest
redisio latest latest
journly latest latest
aws latest latest
test latest latest
unicorn latest latest
sensu latest latest
runit latest latest
templater latest latest
powershell latest latest
openssl latest latest
rbenv latest latest
rabbitmq latest latest
postgresql latest latest
mysql latest latest
ohai latest latest
git latest latest
erlang latest latest
ssh_known_hosts latest latest
nginx latest latest
database latest latest
yum latest latest
xfs latest latest
apt latest latest
dmg latest latest
chef_handler latest latest
windows 1.0.0 4.1.2
create¶
Use the create argument to add an environment object to the Chef Infra Server. When this argument is run, knife will open $EDITOR to enable editing of the ENVIRONMENT description field (unless a description is specified as part of the command). When finished, knife will add the environment to the Chef Infra Server.
Syntax¶
This argument has the following syntax:
$ knife environment create ENVIRONMENT_NAME -d --description ENVIRONMENT_DESCRIPTION
Options¶
This argument has the following options:
--description DESCRIPTION- The description of the environment. This value populates the description field for the environment on the Chef Infra Server.
Note
See config.rb for more information about how to add certain knife options as settings in the config.rb file.
Examples¶
The following examples show how to use this knife subcommand:
Create an environment
To create an environment named dev with a description of The development environment.:
$ knife environment create dev -d --description "The development environment."
delete¶
Use the delete argument to delete an environment from a Chef Infra Server.
Options¶
This command does not have any specific options.
Examples¶
The following examples show how to use this knife subcommand:
Delete an environment
To delete an environment named dev, enter:
$ knife environment delete dev
Type Y to confirm a deletion.
edit¶
Use the edit argument to edit the attributes of an environment. When this argument is run, knife will open $EDITOR to enable editing of ENVIRONMENT attributes. When finished, knife will update the Chef Infra Server with those changes.
Options¶
This command does not have any specific options.
Examples¶
The following examples show how to use this knife subcommand:
Edit an environment
To edit an environment named devops, enter:
$ knife environment edit devops
from file¶
Use the from file argument to add or update an environment using a JSON or Ruby DSL description.
Options¶
This argument has the following options:
-a,--all- Upload all environments found at the specified path.
Note
See config.rb for more information about how to add certain knife options as settings in the config.rb file.
Examples¶
The following examples show how to use this knife subcommand:
Create an environment from a JSON file
To add an environment using data contained in a JSON file:
$ knife environment from file "path to JSON file"
list¶
Use the list argument to list all of the environments that are currently available on the Chef Infra Server.
Examples¶
The following examples show how to use this knife subcommand:
View a list of environments
To view a list of environments:
$ knife environment list -w
show¶
Use the show argument to display information about the specified environment.
Options¶
This argument has the following options:
-a ATTR,--attribute ATTR- The attribute (or attributes) to show.
Examples¶
The following examples show how to use this knife subcommand:
Show environments
To view information about the dev environment enter:
$ knife environment show dev
to return:
% knife environment show dev
chef_type: environment
cookbook_versions:
default_attributes:
description:
json_class: Chef::Environment
name: dev
override_attributes:
\\
\\
\\
\\
Show environments as JSON
To view information in JSON format, use the -F common option as part of the command like this:
$ knife environment show devops -F json
Other formats available include text, yaml, and pp.