[chef] cookbook files/ directory not syncd, chef-client a noop but shef -z "run_chef" works

[Charles Duffy < >]

I've got several very odd things, likely unrelated, happening in Chef 0.9.12 -- listed here in order of importance:

- "chef-client" exits without invoking any recipes, whereas "run_chef" in shef -z actually tries to run the cookbooks applied to this node.

- the files/ directory in one of my cookbooks isn't being pushed to the cache on my client

- the shef command cookbooks.all appears to display "nil" for each cookbook

Pointers on any of these would be appreciated.

cookbooks$ find yumrepo/

...

yumrepo/files/default/RPM-GPG-KEY-EPEL

...

cookbooks$ knife cookbook upload -o . yumrepo

INFO: Saving yumrepo

INFO: Validating ruby files

INFO: Validating templates

INFO: Syntax OK

INFO: Generating Metadata

INFO: Uploading files

INFO: Upload complete!

...and over on the client...

# chef-client

[Tue, 28 Dec 2010 23:05:51 +0000] INFO: Starting Chef Run (Version 0.9.12)

[Tue, 28 Dec 2010 23:06:09 +0000] INFO: Chef Run complete in 17.457648 seconds

[Tue, 28 Dec 2010 23:06:09 +0000] INFO: cleaning the checksum cache

[Tue, 28 Dec 2010 23:06:09 +0000] INFO: Running report handlers

[Tue, 28 Dec 2010 23:06:09 +0000] INFO: Report handlers complete

# shef -z

loading configuration: /etc/chef/client.rb

Session type: solo

Loading........done.

This is shef, the Chef shell.

 Chef Version: 0.9.12

 http://www.opscode.com/chef

 http://wiki.opscode.com/display/chef/Home

run `help' for help, `exit' or ^D to quit.

Ohai2u "> !

chef > cookbooks.all

 => [nil, nil, nil, nil, nil] 

chef > run_chef

...and things actually run as they should, until...

[Tue, 28 Dec 2010 23:09:22 +0000] ERROR: cookbook_file[/etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-EPEL] (/var/chef/cache/cookbooks/yumrepo/definitions/yumkey.rb:47:in `from_file') had an error:

cookbook yumrepo does not contain file files/RPM-GPG-KEY-EPEL

and indeed, /var/chef/cache/cookbooks/yumrepo/ has no files/ directory whatsoever.