This document provides an overview of organizing recipes and using version control with Chef cookbooks. It begins by outlining the learning objectives, then asks and answers some common questions about modifying recipes, packaging recipes into cookbooks, and using version control. It introduces the basics of Git version control and walks through exercises to generate a sample cookbook, add recipes, and initialize the cookbook as a Git repository. The document demonstrates how to create, apply, and verify a sample Apache web server recipe to install and configure Apache.

1. Cookbooks
Organizing Recipes
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2. After completing this module, you should be able to:
Modify a recipe
Use version control
Generate a Chef cookbook
Define a Chef recipe that sets up a web server
Objectives
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3. Questions You May Have
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4. Thinking about the workstation recipe, could we do
something like that for a web server?
Questions You May Have
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5. Thinking about the workstation recipe, could we do
something like that for a web server?
Is there a way to package up recipes you create with a
version number (and maybe a README)?
Questions You May Have
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6. Thinking about the workstation recipe, could we do
something like that for a web server?
Is there a way to package up recipes you create with a
version number (and maybe a README)?
I think Chef is able to generate something called a
cookbook. Shouldn't we start thinking about some
version control so we don't lose all our hard work?
Questions You May Have
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7. Slide 7 of 57

8. Versioning Pros and Cons
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9. Versioning Pros and Cons
Saving a copy of the original file as another filename.
$cpsetup.rbsetup.rb.bak
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10. Versioning Pros and Cons
Saving a copy of the original file as another filename.
$cpsetup.rbsetup.rb.bak
or
$cpsetup.rb{,.`date+%Y%m%d%H%M`}
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11. Versioning Pros and Cons
Saving a copy of the original file as another filename.
$cpsetup.rbsetup.rb.bak
or
$cpsetup.rb{,.`date+%Y%m%d%H%M`}
or
$cpsetup.rb{,.`date+%Y%m%d%H%M-$USER`}
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12. Git Version Control
git is a distributed revision control system with an emphasis on speed, data
integrity, and support for distributed, non-linear workflows.
We will be using git throughout the rest of this workshop.
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13. Add the additional policy to setup.rb:
The package named git is installed.
Then apply this recipe with chef-apply.
Lab Exercise: Install git
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14. Lab Exercise: Adding the git Package
~/setup.rb
package'nano'
package'vim'
package'emacs'
package'tree'
package'git'
file'/etc/motd'do
content'Propertyof...'
end
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15. Lab Exercise: Re-apply the Setup Recipe
$sudochef-applysetup.rb
Recipe:(chef-applycookbook)::(chef-applyrecipe)
*yum_package[nano]actioninstall(uptodate)
*yum_package[vim]actioninstall(uptodate)
*yum_package[emacs]actioninstall(uptodate)
*yum_package[tree]actioninstall(uptodate)
*yum_package[git]actioninstall
-installversion1.7.1-4.el6_7.1ofpackagegit
*file[/etc/motd]actioncreate(uptodate)
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16. How are we going to manage this file?
Does it need a README?
Group Exercise: Create a Cookbook
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17. How are we going to manage this file?
Does it need a README?
Objective:
☐ Use chef (CLI) to generate a cookbook to store our setup
recipe.
☐ Add the workstation cookbook to version control.
Group Exercise: Create a Cookbook
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18. What is chef?
An executable program that allows you generate cookbooks and cookbook
components.
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19. What can chef do?
$chef--help
Usage:
chef-h/--help
chef-v/--version
chefcommand[arguments...][options...]
AvailableCommands:
exec Runsthecommandincontextoftheembeddedruby
env PrintsenvironmentvariablesusedbyChefDK
gem Runsthegemcommandincontextoftheembeddedruby
generate Generateanewapp,cookbook,orcomponent
shell-init InitializeyourshelltouseChefDKasyourprimaryruby
install InstallcookbooksfromaPolicyfileandgeneratealockedcookbookset
update UpdatesaPolicyfile.lock.jsonwithlatestrun_listandcookbooks
...
undelete Undoadeletecommand
verify TesttheembeddedChefDKapplications
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20. Cookbooks
What is a Chef Cookbook?
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21. A Chef Cookbook is the fundamental unit of
configuration and policy distribution.
Cookbooks
What is a Chef Cookbook?
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22. A Chef Cookbook is the fundamental unit of
configuration and policy distribution.
Each cookbook defines a scenario, such as everything
needed to install and configure MySQL, and then it
contains all of the components that are required to
support that scenario.
Cookbooks
What is a Chef Cookbook?
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23. A Chef Cookbook is the fundamental unit of
configuration and policy distribution.
Each cookbook defines a scenario, such as everything
needed to install and configure MySQL, and then it
contains all of the components that are required to
support that scenario.
Read the first three paragraphs here:
http://docs.chef.io/cookbooks.html
Cookbooks
What is a Chef Cookbook?
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24. What Can chef generate Do?
$chefgenerate--help
Usage:chefgenerateGENERATOR[options]
Availablegenerators:
app Generateanapplicationrepo
cookbook Generateasinglecookbook
recipe Generateanewrecipe
attribute Generateanattributesfile
template Generateafiletemplate
file Generateacookbookfile
lwrp Generatealightweightresource/provider
repo GenerateaChefpolicyrepository
policyfile GenerateaPolicyfileforusewiththeinstall/pushcommands
generator CopyChefDK'sgeneratorcookbooksoyoucancustomizeit
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25. What Can chef generate cookbook Do?
$chefgeneratecookbook--help
Usage:chefgeneratecookbookNAME[options]
-C,--copyrightCOPYRIGHT Nameofthecopyrightholder-default...
-m,--emailEMAIL Emailaddressoftheauthor-defaults...
-a,--generator-argKEY=VALUE UsetosetarbitraryattributeKEYto...
-I,--licenseLICENSE all_rights,httpd,mit,gplv2,gplv3-...
-gGENERATOR_COOKBOOK_PATH, UseGENERATOR_COOKBOOK_PATHforthe...
--generator-cookbook
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26. Group Exercise: Let's Create a Cookbook
$cd~
$chefgeneratecookbookworkstation
InstallingCookbookGems:
CompilingCookbooks...
Recipe:code_generator::cookbook
*directory[/home/bmeyer/workstation]actioncreate
-createnewdirectory/home/bmeyer/workstation
*template[/home/bmeyer/workstation/metadata.rb]actioncreate_if_missing
-createnewfile/home/bmeyer/workstation/metadata.rb
-updatecontentinfile/home/bmeyer/workstation/metadata.rbfromnoneto0c09e4
(diffoutputsuppressedbyconfig)
*template[/home/bmeyer/workstation/README.md]actioncreate_if_missing
-createnewfile/home/bmeyer/workstation/README.md
-updatecontentinfile/home/bmeyer/workstation/README.mdfromnoneto590727
(diffoutputsuppressedbyconfig)
...
*execute[initialize-git]actionrun
-executegitinit.
*cookbook_file[/home/bmeyer/workstation/.gitignore]actioncreate
-createnewfile/home/bmeyer/workstation/.gitignore
-updatecontentinfile/home/bmeyer/workstation/.gitignorefromnonetodd37b2
(diffoutputsuppressedbyconfig)
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27. Group Exercise: The Cookbook Has a README.md file
$treeworkstation
workstation
├──Berksfile
├──chefignore
├──metadata.rb
├──README.md
├──recipes
│ └──default.rb
├──spec
│ ├──spec_helper.rb
...
└──test
└──integration
...
└──helpers
└──serverspec
└──spec_helper.rb
10directories,9files
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28. The description of the cookbook's features written in
Markdown.
README.md
http://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/syntax
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29. Group Exercise: The Cookbook Has Some Metadata
$treeworkstation
workstation
├──Berksfile
├──chefignore
├──metadata.rb
├──README.md
├──recipes
│ └──default.rb
├──spec
│ ├──spec_helper.rb
│ └──unit
│ └──recipes
│ └──default_spec.rb
10directories,9files
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30. Every cookbook requires a small amount of metadata.
metadata.rb
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31. Every cookbook requires a small amount of metadata.
Metadata is stored in a file called metadata.rbthat
lives at the top of each cookbook’s directory.
metadata.rb
http://docs.chef.io/config_rb_metadata.html
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32. Group Exercise: Let's Take a Look at the Metadata
$catworkstation/metadata.rb
name 'workstation'
maintainer 'TheAuthors'
maintainer_email'you@example.com'
license 'all_rights'
description 'Installs/Configuresworkstation'
long_description'Installs/Configuresworkstation'
version '0.1.0'
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33. Group Exercise: The Cookbook Has a Folder for Recipes
$treeworkstation
workstation
├──Berksfile
├──chefignore
├──metadata.rb
├──README.md
├──recipes
│ └──default.rb
├──spec
│ ├──spec_helper.rb
│ └──unit
│ └──recipes
│ └──default_spec.rb
10directories,9files
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34. Group Exercise: The Cookbook Has a Default Recipe
$catworkstation/recipes/default.rb
#CookbookName::workstation
#Recipe::default
#
#Copyright(c)2015TheAuthors,AllRightsReserved.
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35. Group Exercise: Move our setup.rb Recipe into the Cookbook
$mv-vsetup.rbworkstation/recipes/
`setup.rb'->`workstation/recipes/setup.rb'
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36. This is a probably a good point to capture the initial state
of our cookbook.
Objective:
☑ Use chef (CLI) to generate a cookbook to store our setup
recipe.
☐ Add the workstation cookbook to version control.
Group Exercise: Version Control
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37. Group Exercise: Move into the Cookbook Directory
$cdworkstation
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38. Group Exercise: Initialize the Directory as a git Repository
$gitinit
ReinitializedexistingGitrepositoryin/home/chef/workstation/.git/
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39. Group Exercise: Use git add to Stage Files to be Committed
$gitadd.
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40. The staging area has a file, generally contained in
your Git directory, that stores information about what
will go into your next commit.
It’s sometimes referred to as the “index”, but it’s also
common to refer to it as the staging area.
Staging Area
http://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Getting-Started-Git-Basics
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41. Group Exercise: Use git status to View the Staged Files
$gitstatus
#Onbranchmaster
#
#Initialcommit
#
#Changestobecommitted:
# (use"gitrm--cached<file>..."tounstage)
#
# newfile: .gitignore
# newfile: .kitchen.yml
# newfile: Berksfile
# newfile: README.md
# newfile: chefignore
# newfile: metadata.rb
# newfile: recipes/default.rb
# newfile: recipes/setup.rb
# newfile: spec/spec_helper.rb
# newfile: spec/unit/recipes/default_spec.rb
# newfile: test/integration/default/serverspec/default_spec.rb
# newfile: test/integration/helpers/serverspec/spec_helper.rb
#
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42. Group Exercise: Use git commit to Save the Staged Changes
$gitcommit-m"Initialworkstationcookbook"
[master(root-commit)ae6968b]Initialworkstationcookbook
Committer:ChefDKUser<chef@ip-172-31-11-224.ec2.internal>
Yournameandemailaddresswereconfiguredautomaticallybased
onyourusernameandhostname.Pleasecheckthattheyareaccurate.
Youcansuppressthismessagebysettingthemexplicitly:
gitconfig--globaluser.name"YourName"
gitconfig--globaluser.emailyou@example.com
Iftheidentityusedforthiscommitiswrong,youcanfixitwith:
gitcommit--amend--author='YourName<you@example.com>'
12fileschanged,207insertions(+),0deletions(-)
createmode100644.gitignore
createmode100644.kitchen.yml
createmode100644Berksfile
createmode100644README.md
createmode100644chefignore
createmode100644metadata.rb
createmode100644recipes/default.rb
createmode100644recipes/setup.rb
...
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43. If you use git versioning you should ultimately push
the local git repository to a shared remote git
repository.
In this way others could collaborate with you from a
centralized location.
Git Version Control
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44. Group Exercise: Move out of the Workstation Cookbook
$cd~
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45. Use chef generate to create a cookbook named apache.
Write and apply a recipe named server.rbwith the
policy:
The package named httpd is installed.
The file named /var/www/html/index.htmlis
created with the content <h1>Hello,world!</h1>
The service named httpd is started and enabled.
Apply the recipe with chef-apply.
Verify the site is available by running curl
http://localhost.
Lab Exercise: Setting up a Web Server
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46. Lab Exercise: Create a Cookbook
$chefgeneratecookbookapache
InstallingCookbookGems:
CompilingCookbooks...
Recipe:code_generator::cookbook
*directory[/home/bmeyer/apache]actioncreate
-createnewdirectory/home/bmeyer/apache
*template[/home/bmeyer/apache/metadata.rb]actioncreate_if_missing
-createnewfile/home/bmeyer/apache/metadata.rb
-updatecontentinfile/home/bmeyer/apache/metadata.rbfromnoneto37ed5f
(diffoutputsuppressedbyconfig)
*template[/home/bmeyer/apache/README.md]actioncreate_if_missing
-createnewfile/home/bmeyer/apache/README.md
-updatecontentinfile/home/bmeyer/apache/README.mdfromnoneto5c3d3a
(diffoutputsuppressedbyconfig)
...
*cookbook_file[/home/bmeyer/apache/.gitignore]actioncreate
-createnewfile/home/bmeyer/apache/.gitignore
-updatecontentinfile/home/bmeyer/apache/.gitignorefromnonetodd37b2
(diffoutputsuppressedbyconfig)
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47. Lab Exercise: Create a Cookbook
$chefgeneraterecipeapacheserver
InstallingCookbookGems:
CompilingCookbooks...
Recipe:code_generator::recipe
*directory[./apache/spec/unit/recipes]actioncreate(uptodate)
*cookbook_file[./apache/spec/spec_helper.rb]actioncreate_if_missing(uptodate)
*template[./apache/spec/unit/recipes/server_spec.rb]actioncreate_if_missing
-createnewfile./apache/spec/unit/recipes/server_spec.rb
-updatecontentinfile./apache/spec/unit/recipes/server_spec.rbfromnonetoa43970
(diffoutputsuppressedbyconfig)
*template[./apache/recipes/server.rb]actioncreate
-createnewfile./apache/recipes/server.rb
-updatecontentinfile./apache/recipes/server.rbfromnoneto3d6b92
(diffoutputsuppressedbyconfig)
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48. Lab Exercise: Create the Server Recipe
~/apache/recipes/server.rb
package'httpd'
file'/var/www/html/index.html'do
content'<h1>Hello,world!</h1>'
end
service'httpd'do
action[:enable,:start]
end
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49. Lab Exercise: Apply the Server Recipe
$sudochef-applyapache/recipes/server.rb
Recipe:(chef-applycookbook)::(chef-applyrecipe)
*yum_package[httpd]actioninstall
-installversion2.4.6-40.el7.centosofpackagehttpd
*file[/var/www/html/index.html]actioncreate
-createnewfile/var/www/html/index.html
-updatecontentinfile/var/www/html/index.htmlfromnoneto17d291
---/var/www/html/index.html 2016-04-0409:50:59.758483838-0500
+++/var/www/html/.chef-index.html20160404-21732-1o44k9g 2016-04-0409:50:59.758483838-0500
@@-1+1,2@@
+<h1>Hello,world!</h1>
*service[httpd]actionenable
-enableserviceservice[httpd]
*service[httpd]actionstart
-startserviceservice[httpd]
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50. Lab Exercise: Verify Website is Available
$curllocalhost
<h1>Hello,world!</h1>
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51. Group Exercise: Commit Your Work
$cdapache
$gitinit
$gitadd.
$gitcommit-m"InitialApacheCookbook"
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52. What file would you read first when examining a
cookbook?
Discussion
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53. What file would you read first when examining a
cookbook?
What other recipes might you include in the apache or
workstation cookbook?
Discussion
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54. What file would you read first when examining a
cookbook?
What other recipes might you include in the apache or
workstation cookbook?
Can resources accept multiple actions?
Discussion
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55. What file would you read first when examining a
cookbook?
What other recipes might you include in the apache or
workstation cookbook?
Can resources accept multiple actions?
How often would you commit changes with version
control?
Discussion
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56. Cookbooks
Versions
Version control
Q&A
What questions can we answer for you?
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57. On to Module 4
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