This document provides an overview of using Chef to manage server environments. It describes Chef as a client-server system that uses declarative recipes to define the desired end state of a server rather than specifying step-by-step configuration processes. Key concepts covered include cookbooks, recipes, attributes, data bags, the Chef server, Chef client, Ohai, and Knife. The document also discusses development tools like Berkshelf and Vagrant, and outlines the typical development cycle of creating a cookbook, developing and testing it, uploading the recipe to the Chef server, and executing it on client servers.

1. Using Chef to Manage
Your Server
Environments

2. About Blend

3. DevOps
(Development / Operations)
Combines disciplines of
software development /
QA with system
administration

4. Building/Deploying
• Manually
• Build scripts
• “I want to tell this computer how it should be set up, and
let it do the rest”

5. Chef
• Client/Server system for managing configuration
• Declarative Recipes define end state instead of
construction process
• Idempotent - re-running script only causes changes to
execute

6. No scripts - recipes
• Cookbooks - modules for adding support for software
• Recipes - contained by cookbooks, define server
configuration, templates, etc
• Attributes - configurable variables consumed by
recipes
• Recipes provide defaults, can be overridden by server,
role, or environment
• Some generated automatically
• Data Bags - hold arbitrary configuration data

7. Parts and pieces
• Chef Server - holds cookbooks and configuration for
your organization
• Chef Client - installed on servers via bootstrap process
to execute recipes, solo and client flavors
• Ohai - discovery utility that extracts automatic attributes
from servers
• Knife - command line tool for managing chef

8. Managing/Orchestration
• Chef Solo - One server, no management, cookbooks go
on server
• Hosted Chef - Opscode-provided server, fine-grained
permission controls
• Chef Server - Self-hosted chef management server
• Chef supports git, but git repo and servers don’t talk

9. Development cycle
• Create cookbook
• Develop/Test
• Upload recipe to chef server
• Execute on client servers

10. Blend Server Layout
/Sites
.conf - all apache vhost configs symlink here
[sitename]
conf - apache and other configs
htdocs - web app, usually apache root dir
logs - apache and other logs
deploy - deploy scripts

11. Development tools
• Berkshelf - code gen and dependency management
• Vagrant - automated testing environments

12. Linkses
• Chef - community.opscode.com
• Berkshelf - berkshelf.com
• Vagrant - vagrantup.com
• Epic Tutorial -
vialstudios.com/guide-authoring-cookbooks.html

13. Questions?
Joe Kepley
Blend Interactive
http://blendinteractive.com
http://github.com/blendinteractive
http://joind.in/8102
@joekepley