chef_client

[edit on GitHub]

Warning

This functionality was available with Chef Provisioning and was packaged in the ChefDK.

Chef Provisioning was officially end-of-life on August 31, 2019 and is no longer included with ChefDK. The Chef Provisioning source code and drivers have been moved into the chef-boneyard organization. If you are a current user of Chef Provisioning, please contact your Chef Customer Success Manager or Account Representative to review your options.

Chef Infra Client is an agent that runs locally on every node that is under management by Chef Infra Server. When Chef Infra Client runs, performs all of the steps required for bringing a node into the expected state, including:

• Registering and authenticating the node with Chef Infra Server
• Building the node object
• Synchronizing cookbooks
• Compiling the resource collection by loading each of the required cookbooks, including recipes, attributes, and all other dependencies
• Taking the appropriate and required actions to configure the node
• Looking for exceptions and notifications, handling each as required

Use the chef_client resource to manage clients.

Syntax

The syntax for using the chef_client resource in a recipe is as follows:

chef_client 'name' do
  attribute 'value' # see properties section below
  ...
  action :action # see actions section below
end

where

• chef_client tells Chef Infra Client to use the Chef::Provider::ChefClient provider during a Chef Infra Client run
• name is the name of the resource block; when the name property is not specified as part of a recipe, name is also the name of the Chef Infra Client
• attribute is zero (or more) of the properties that are available for this resource
• action identifies which steps Chef Infra Client will take to bring the node into the desired state

Actions

This resource has the following actions:

:create

Default. Use to create a chef-client.

:delete

Use to delete a chef-client.

: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.

:regenerate_keys

Use to regenerate the RSA public key for a chef-client.

Properties

This resource has the following properties:

admin

Use to specify whether Chef Infra Client is an API client.

chef_server

The URL for the Chef server.

complete

Use to specify if this resource defines a chef-client completely. When true, any property not specified by this resource will be reset to default property values.

ignore_failure

Ruby Type: true, false | Default Value: false

Continue running a recipe if a resource fails for any reason.

name

The name of Chef Infra Client.

notifies

Ruby Type: Symbol, ‘Chef::Resource[String]’

A resource may notify another resource to take action when its state changes. Specify a 'resource[name]', the :action that resource should take, and then the :timer for that action. A resource may notify more than one resource; use a notifies statement for each resource to be notified.

A timer specifies the point during a Chef Infra Client run at which a notification is run. The following timers are available:

:before

Specifies that the action on a notified resource should be run before processing the resource block in which the notification is located.

:delayed

Default. Specifies that a notification should be queued up, and then executed at the end of a Chef Infra Client run.

:immediate, :immediately

Specifies that a notification should be run immediately, per resource notified.

The syntax for notifies is:

notifies :action, 'resource[name]', :timer

output_key_format

Use to specify the format of a public key. Possible values: pem, der, or openssh. Default value: openssh.

output_key_path

Use to specify the path to the location in which a public key will be written.

raw_json

Chef Infra Client as JSON data. For example:

{
  "clientname": "client_name",
  "orgname": "org_name",
  "validator": false,
  "certificate": "-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----\n
                  ...
                  1234567890abcdefghijklmnopq\n
                  ...
                  -----END CERTIFICATE-----\n",
  "name": "node_name"
}

retries

Ruby Type: Integer | Default Value: 0

The number of attempts to catch exceptions and retry the resource.

retry_delay

Ruby Type: Integer | Default Value: 2

The retry delay (in seconds).

source_key

Use to copy a public or private key, but apply a different format and password. Use in conjunction with source_key_pass_phrase` and source_key_path.

source_key_pass_phrase

The pass phrase for the public key. Use in conjunction with source_key` and source_key_path.

source_key_path

The path to the public key. Use in conjunction with source_key` and source_key_pass_phrase.

subscribes

Ruby Type: Symbol, ‘Chef::Resource[String]’

A resource may listen to another resource, and then take action if the state of the resource being listened to changes. Specify a 'resource[name]', the :action to be taken, and then the :timer for that action.

Note that subscribes does not apply the specified action to the resource that it listens to - for example:

file '/etc/nginx/ssl/example.crt' do
  mode '0600'
  owner 'root'
end

service 'nginx' do
  subscribes :reload, 'file[/etc/nginx/ssl/example.crt]', :immediately
end

In this case the subscribes property reloads the nginx service whenever its certificate file, located under /etc/nginx/ssl/example.crt, is updated. subscribes does not make any changes to the certificate file itself, it merely listens for a change to the file, and executes the :reload action for its resource (in this example nginx) when a change is detected.

A timer specifies the point during a Chef Infra Client run at which a notification is run. The following timers are available:

:before

Specifies that the action on a notified resource should be run before processing the resource block in which the notification is located.

:delayed

Default. Specifies that a notification should be queued up, and then executed at the end of a Chef Infra Client run.

:immediate, :immediately

Specifies that a notification should be run immediately, per resource notified.

The syntax for subscribes is:

subscribes :action, 'resource[name]', :timer

validator

Use to specify if Chef Infra Client is a chef-validator.