[[chef-dev]] Re: [[chef-dev]] Changes to Opscode Cookbook attributes

[Paul Choi < >]

Joshua,

Thanks for updating the wiki page on attributes! Actually, I was trying 
to figure out how attributes work last week (the only way to change the 
default attributes for a running host was to enter changes in 
'override'...). I guess 'default' is set once a chef-client starts 
running and any changes to 'default' is ignored?

I think the wiki page update certainly helps. Maybe a "best practices" 
doc on when to use overrides, how to change attributes for a 
currently-running client, etc. would be helpful. Since Chef is so 
flexible I figure there's lots of different ways to do things, and I'd 
love to hear more of the wisdom of the community.

-Paul

Speaking of attributes and 'default' level vs. 'override' and others, is 
there an

On 7/10/10 8:39 PM, Joshua Timberman wrote:
> Ohai!
>
> I have updated all the Opscode cookbooks attributes files to use 'default' 
> instead of 'set_unless'. This coincides with the CHEF-838 ticket, which 
> changes the way that attributes are applied to the system. If you are not 
> using Chef 0.9 yet, this is a semantic change and you likely won't see any 
> difference, as the 'default' method for assigning attributes is a method 
> alias for 'set_unless' in the Chef Node object.
>
> If you are using Chef 0.9, please note that the 'default' is functionally 
> different than 'set_unless'. The 'default' method will set the attribute at 
> the default level in the Node's attributes. The 'set_unless' method will set 
> the attribute at the normal level in the Node's attributes unless the 
> attribute already exists (whether in normal, default or override).
>
> This change in the cookbooks makes them more consistent with the way that 
> these attributes are intended to be used. You can download new cookbooks from 
> the site with knife:
>
> knife cookbook site vendor COOKBOOK
>
> Or if you're using the github repository directly, you can update to the 
> latest revision from opscode/master.
>
> Let us know if you have any questions!
>
>