[chef] chef-server Cookbook

[Joshua Timberman < >]

Ohai Chefs,

Chef Server 12 is generally available, but CHEF’s `chef-server` cookbook is not up to date to support it. I’d like to talk briefly about the future of this cookbook.

Internally at CHEF, we’ve been working on two new cookbooks: `chef-server-ingredient`[0], which provides a resource for managing “Chef Server packages” from packagecloud, and `chef-server-cluster`[1], which is a set of recipes used with chef-provisioning to stand up a multi-node Chef Server cluster. The main use case is for our internal operations team to use this as the basis for building Hosted Chef, but it can also be a reference point for others to consume, or use for ideas to build their own.

While server clusters are great, that doesn’t fit everyone’s needs or use case. A single standalone Chef Server may be sufficient for your organization, or for testing purposes. The scope of the `chef-server` cookbook is to fulfill the “standalone” topology of Chef Server. It’s purpose will be:

1. Install chef-server-core package.

2. Write out /etc/opscode/chef-server.rb content.

3. Run chef-server-ctl reconfigure.

This is what the default recipe does now. However, it doesn’t do so with the Package Cloud repositories that we have in place - it reimplements the `install.sh` script as an “omnitruck client API library.” While this works, the package repositories are an easier-to-consume way to get Chef Server installed on a standalone system, and the code is a lot more maintainable.

Here’s the plan for how we’ll address this in the `chef-server` cookbook:

1. The default recipe will be refactored to use the `chef_server_ingredient` resource, and we will support Chef Server 12.

2. We’ll create a chef11 branch, which will be for Chef Server 11.

3. The cookbook will be updated for testing with test-kitchen.

4. We’ll make a major version bump of the cookbook, and release it to Supermarket, too.

We won't support a dual-configurable v11 vs v12 option. If you need Chef Server 11, use the 2.1.x version of the cookbook.

Complex configuration scenarios such as tiered or ha topologies are not supported with this cookbook. The configuration hash will remain supported, but we recommend using `chef-server-cluster` cookbook for non-standalone topologies. We’ll have more guidance about how to set up a “wrapper” cookbook, the use of chef-server-cluster, or using the `chef-server-ingredient` cookbook to achieve customized deployments in the future.

Thank you for your patience and understanding. If you have questions or concerns please reach out to me, " target="_blank"> .

Cheers,

Joshua

[0]: https://github.com/opscode-cookbooks/chef-server-ingredient

[1]: https://github.com/opscode-cookbooks/chef-server-cluster