CHEF-CLIENT(8)chef-clientCHEF-CLIENT(8)NAMEchef-client - The man page for the chef-client command line tool.
A chef-client is an agent that runs locally on every node that is reg‐
istered with the Chef server. When a chef-client is run, it will per‐
form all of the steps that are required to bring the node into the
expected state, including:
· Registering and authenticating the node with the Chef 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
NOTE:
The chef-client executable can be run as a daemon.
The chef-client executable is run as a command-line tool.
NOTE:
A client.rb file is used to specify the configuration details for
the chef-client.
· This file is loaded every time this executable is run
· On UNIX- and Linux-based machines, the default location for this
file is /etc/chef/client.rb; on Microsoft Windows machines, the
default location for this file is C:\chef\client.rb; use the
--config option from the command line to change this location
· This file is not created by default
· When a client.rb file is present in this directory, the settings
contained within that file will override the default configuration
settings
OPTIONS
This command has the following syntax:
chef-client OPTION VALUE OPTION VALUE ...
This command has the following options:
-A, --fatal-windows-admin-check
Use to cause a chef-client run to fail when the chef-client does
not have administrator privileges in Microsoft Windows.
--chef-zero-port PORT
The port on which chef-zero will listen.
-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 sin‐
gle 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
Use to show formatter output instead of logger output.
--force-logger
Use to show logger output 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.
Default value: 1800.
-j PATH, --json-attributes PATH
The path to a file that contains JSON data.
-k KEY_FILE, --client_key KEY_FILE
The location of the file which contains the client key. Default
value: /etc/chef/client.pem.
-K KEY_FILE, --validation_key KEY_FILE
The location of the file which contains the key used when a
chef-client is registered with a Chef server. A validation key
is signed using the validation_client_name for authentication.
Default value: /etc/chef/validation.pem.
-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 start‐
ing any executable as a daemon. Default value: STDOUT.
--[no-]color
Use to view colored output. 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.
--once Use to run the chef-client only once and to cancel interval and
splay options.
-P PID_FILE, --pid PID_FILE
The location in which a process identification number (pid) is
saved. An executable, when started as a daemon, will write the
pid to the specified file. Default value: /tmp/name-of-exe‐
cutable.pid.
-r RUN_LIST_ITEM, --runlist RUN_LIST_ITEM
Use to permanently replace the current run-list with the speci‐
fied run-list items.
-R, --enable-reporting
Use to enable data collection reporting during a chef-client
run.
RECIPE_FILE
The path to a recipe. For example, if a recipe file is in the
current directory, use recipe_file.rb. This is typically used
with the --local-mode option.
--run-lock-timeout SECONDS
The amount of time (in seconds) to wait for a chef-client run to
finish. Default value: not set (indefinite). Set to 0 to cause a
second chef-client to exit immediately.
-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.
-S CHEF_SERVER_URL, --server CHEF_SERVER_URL
The URL for the Chef server.
-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
Use to run the executable 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.
-z, --local-mode
Use to run the chef-client in local mode. This allows all com‐
mands that work against the Chef server to also work against the
local chef-repo.
RUN WITH ELEVATED PRIVILEGES
The chef-client may need to be run with elevated privileges in order to
get a recipe to converge correctly. On UNIX and UNIX-like operating
systems this can be done by running the command as root. On Microsoft
Windows this can be done by running the command prompt as an adminis‐
trator.
Linux
On Linux, the following error sometimes occurs when the permissions
used to run the chef-client are incorrect:
$ chef-client
[Tue, 29 Nov 2011 19:46:17 -0800] INFO: *** Chef 10.X.X ***
[Tue, 29 Nov 2011 19:46:18 -0800] WARN: Failed to read the private key /etc/chef/client.pem: #<Errno::EACCES: Permission denied - /etc/chef/client.pem>
This can be resolved by running the command as root. There are a few
ways this can be done:
· Log in as root and then run the chef-client
· Use su to become the root user, and then run the chef-client. For
example:
$ su
and then:
$ chef-client
· Use the sudo utility
$ sudo chef-client
· Give a user access to read /etc/chef and also the files accessed by
the chef-client. This requires super user privileges and, as such, is
not a recommended approach
Windows
On Microsoft Windows, running without elevated privileges (when they
are necessary) is an issue that fails silently. It will appear that the
chef-client completed its run successfully, but the changes will not
have been made. When this occurs, do one of the following to run the
chef-client as the administrator:
· Log in to the administrator account. (This is not the same as an
account in the administrator's security group.)
· Run the chef-client process from the administrator account while
being logged into another account. Run the following command:
$ runas /user:Administrator "cmd /C chef-client"
This will prompt for the administrator account password.
· Open a command prompt by right-clicking on the command prompt appli‐
cation, and then selecting Run as administrator. After the command
window opens, the chef-client can be run as the administrator
EXAMPLES
Start a Chef run when the chef-client is running as a daemon
A chef-client that is running as a daemon can be woken up and started
by sending the process a SIGUSR1. For example, to trigger a chef-client
run on a machine running Linux:
$ sudo killall -USR1chef-client
Start a Chef run manually
$ ps auxw|grep chef-client
to return something like:
root 66066 0.9 0.0 2488880 264 s001 S+ 10:26AM 0:03.05
/System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/1.8/usr/bin/ruby /usr/bin/chef-client -i 3600 -s 20
and then enter:
$ sudo kill -USR1 66066
AUTHOR
Chef
Chef 11.14 CHEF-CLIENT(8)
