[chef] Re: Gem install on Ubuntu 12

[Chris Roberts < >]

Hi Steve. Sorry for the confusion with the chef_gem cookbook. It provides  
chef_gem compatibility for older versions of Chef and is no longer required  
in versions of Chef 10.12.0 and greater.

The chef_gem resource is _not_ deprecated, rather the chef_gem cookbook is  
deprecated as of the 10.12.0 version of Chef. At that point the cookbook is simply a no- 
op. On previous versions, it provides fixes for omnibus based installs in  
0.10.10 and provides the actual resource for versions < 0.10.9.

With regards to chef_gem itself, the resource simply makes it easier for  
working with gems required by cookbooks that are not meant for the system  
itself.

- Chris


Steve Bennett writes:

> « HTML content follows »
> On 23 July 2012 17:52, AJ Christensen  
> <<URL:mailto:
>  >
>  > wrote:
>
>
>    I fear you've seen a case where an out of date cookbook in an old
>    version of a snapshot repository hasn't been updated to use 'chef_gem'
>    resource to install gem to the Opscode Chef embedded Ruby
>    installation.
>
>    In the culprit recipe, if you change gem_package "pg" etc to chef_gem
>    "pg", that should remedy it!
>
>
>
> Should gem_package be deprecated, then?
>  
>
>
>    Most of the Opscode cookbooks on the community site have been updated
>    to support the new Omnibus based installations.
>
>    At Heavy Water, we developed the 'chef_gem' cookbook to allow "Forward
>    Compatibility" for ~> 0.10.0 to use the 'chef_gem' resource.
>
>
>
> Whee, confusing.  
> From <URL:http://community.opscode.com/cookbooks/chef_gem>http://community.op 
> scode.com/cookbooks/chef_gem:
>
>
> --
> This cookbook is a transition cookbook aimed at helping move from the pre- 
> chef_gem era to the post chef_gem era. The chef_gem resource was introducde  
> in Chef 0.10.9, providing an easy mechanism for installing and using gems  
> required by Chef internally. When used within an omnibus installation,  
> chef_gems are installed within the embedded Ruby.
> --
>
>
> From the perspective of someone who just wants to get a cookbook to work,  
> this is a lot of confusing detail about the internals of Chef, gems, etc.  
> What is the "post-Chef_gem era"? Is chef_gem being phased out?
>  
> Steve