knife bootstrap

A node is any physical, virtual, or cloud machine that is configured to be maintained by a chef-client. A bootstrap is a process that installs the chef-client on a target system so that it can run as a chef-client and communicate with a Chef server. There are two ways to do this:

Use the knife bootstrap subcommand to run a bootstrap operation that installs the chef-client on the target system. The bootstrap operation must specify the IP address or FQDN of the target system.

Note

Starting with chef-client 12.0, use the knife ssl_fetch command to pull down the SSL certificates from the on-premises Chef server and add them to the /trusted_certs_dir on the workstation. This certificates is used during a knife bootstrap operation.

Note

To bootstrap the chef-client on Microsoft Windows machines, the knife-windows plugins is required, which includes the necessary bootstrap scripts that are used to do the actual installation.

Syntax

This subcommand has the following syntax:

$ knife bootstrap FQDN_or_IP_ADDRESS (options)

Options

Note

Review the list of common options available to this (and all) knife subcommands and plugins.

This subcommand has the following options:

-A, --forward-agent
Enable SSH agent forwarding.
--bootstrap-curl-options OPTIONS
Arbitrary options to be added to the bootstrap command when using cURL. This option may not be used in the same command with --bootstrap-install-command.
--bootstrap-install-command COMMAND
Execute a custom installation command sequence for the chef-client. This option may not be used in the same command with --bootstrap-curl-options, --bootstrap-install-sh, or --bootstrap-wget-options.
--bootstrap-install-sh URL
Fetch and execute an installation script at the specified URL. This option may not be used in the same command with --bootstrap-install-command.
--bootstrap-no-proxy NO_PROXY_URL_or_IP

A URL or IP address that specifies a location that should not be proxied.

Note

This option is used internally by Chef to help verify bootstrap operations during testing and should never be used during an actual bootstrap operation.

--bootstrap-proxy PROXY_URL
The proxy server for the node that is the target of a bootstrap operation.
--bootstrap-vault-file VAULT_FILE
The path to a JSON file that contains a list of vaults and items to be updated.
--bootstrap-vault-item VAULT_ITEM
A single vault and item to update as vault:item.
--bootstrap-vault-json VAULT_JSON

A JSON string that contains a list of vaults and items to be updated.

For example:

--bootstrap-vault-json '{ "vault1": ["item1", "item2"], "vault2": "item2" }'
--bootstrap-version VERSION
The version of the chef-client to install.
--bootstrap-wget-options OPTIONS
Arbitrary options to be added to the bootstrap command when using GNU Wget. This option may not be used in the same command with --bootstrap-install-command.
-E ENVIRONMENT, --environment ENVIRONMENT
The name of the environment. When this option is added to a command, the command will run only against the named environment.
-G GATEWAY, --ssh-gateway GATEWAY
The SSH tunnel or gateway that is used to run a bootstrap action on a machine that is not accessible from the workstation.
--hint HINT_NAME[=HINT_FILE]

An Ohai hint to be set on the target node.

Ohai hints are used to tell Ohai something about the system that it is running on that it would not be able to discover itself. An Ohai hint exists if a JSON file exists in the hint directory with the same name as the hint. For example, calling hint?('antarctica') in an Ohai plugin would return an empty hash if the file antarctica.json existed in the hints directory, and return nil if the file does not exist.

If the hint file contains JSON content, it will be returned as a hash from the call to hint?.

{
  "snow": true,
  "penguins": "many"
}

antarctica_hint = hint?('antarctica')
if antarctica_hint['snow']
  "There are #{antarctica_hint['penguins']} penguins here."
else
  'There is no snow here, and penguins like snow.'
end

The default directory in which hint files are located is /etc/chef/ohai/hints/. Use the Ohai::Config[:hints_path] setting in the client.rb file to customize this location.

HINT_FILE is the name of the JSON file. HINT_NAME is the name of a hint in a JSON file. Use multiple --hint options to specify multiple hints.

-i IDENTITY_FILE, --ssh-identity-file IDENTITY_FILE
The SSH identity file used for authentication. Key-based authentication is recommended.
-j JSON_ATTRIBS, --json-attributes JSON_ATTRIBS
A JSON string that is added to the first run of a chef-client.
-N NAME, --node-name NAME

The name of the node.

Note

This option is required for a validatorless bootstrap (as of chef-client version 12.4).

--[no-]host-key-verify
Use --no-host-key-verify to disable host key verification. Default setting: --host-key-verify.
--[no-]node-verify-api-cert
Verify the SSL certificate on the Chef server. When true, the chef-client always verifies the SSL certificate. When false, the chef-client uses the value of ssl_verify_mode to determine if the SSL certificate requires verification. If this option is not specified, the setting for verify_api_cert in the configuration file is applied.
--node-ssl-verify-mode PEER_OR_NONE

Set the verify mode for HTTPS requests.

Use none to do no validation of SSL certificates.

Use peer to do validation of all SSL certificates, including the Chef server connections, S3 connections, and any HTTPS remote_file resource URLs used in the chef-client run. This is the recommended setting.

-p PORT, --ssh-port PORT
The SSH port.
-P PASSWORD, --ssh-password PASSWORD
The SSH password. This can be used to pass the password directly on the command line. If this option is not specified (and a password is required) knife prompts for the password.
--prerelease
Install pre-release gems.
-r RUN_LIST, --run-list RUN_LIST
A comma-separated list of roles and/or recipes to be applied.
--secret SECRET
The encryption key that is used for values contained within a data bag item.
--secret-file FILE
The path to the file that contains the encryption key.
--sudo
Execute a bootstrap operation with sudo.
--sudo-preserve-home
Use to preserve the non-root user’s HOME environment.
-t TEMPLATE, --bootstrap-template TEMPLATE
The bootstrap template to use. This may be the name of a bootstrap template—chef-full, for example—or it may be the full path to an Embedded Ruby (ERB) template that defines a custom bootstrap. Default value: chef-full, which installs the chef-client using the omnibus installer on all supported platforms.
--use-sudo-password
Perform a bootstrap operation with sudo; specify the password with the -P (or --ssh-password) option.
-V -V
Run the initial chef-client run at the debug log-level (e.g. chef-client -l debug).
-x USERNAME, --ssh-user USERNAME
The SSH user name.

Note

See knife.rb for more information about how to add certain knife options as settings in the knife.rb file.

Validatorless Bootstrap

The ORGANIZATION-validator.pem is typically added to the .chef directory on the workstation. When a node is bootstrapped from that workstation, the ORGANIZATION-validator.pem is used to authenticate the newly-created node to the Chef server during the initial chef-client run. Starting with chef-client version 12.1, it is possible to bootstrap a node using the USER.pem file instead of the ORGANIZATION-validator.pem file. This is known as a “validatorless bootstrap”.

To create a node via the USER.pem file, simply delete the ORGANIZATION-validator.pem file on the workstation. For example:

$ rm -f /home/lamont/.chef/myorg-validator.pem

and then make the following changes in the knife.rb file:

  • Remove the validation_client_name setting
  • Edit the validation_key setting to be something that isn’t a path to an existent ORGANIZATION-validator.pem file. For example: /nonexist.

As long as a USER.pem is also present on the workstation from which the validatorless bootstrap operation will be initiated, the bootstrap operation will run and will use the USER.pem file instead of the ORGANIZATION-validator.pem file.

When running a validatorless knife bootstrap operation, the output is similar to:

desktop% knife bootstrap 10.1.1.1 -N foo01.acme.org \
  -E dev -r 'role[base]' -j '{ "foo": "bar" }' \
  --ssh-user vagrant --sudo
Node foo01.acme.org exists, overwrite it? (Y/N)
Client foo01.acme.org exists, overwrite it? (Y/N)
Creating new client for foo01.acme.org
Creating new node for foo01.acme.org
Connecting to 10.1.1.1
10.1.1.1 Starting first Chef Client run...
[....etc...]

knife bootstrap Options

Use the following options with a validatorless bootstrap to specify items that are stored in chef-vault:

--bootstrap-vault-file VAULT_FILE
The path to a JSON file that contains a list of vaults and items to be updated.
--bootstrap-vault-item VAULT_ITEM
A single vault and item to update as vault:item.
--bootstrap-vault-json VAULT_JSON

A JSON string that contains a list of vaults and items to be updated.

For example:

--bootstrap-vault-json '{ "vault1": ["item1", "item2"], "vault2": "item2" }'

Custom Templates

The chef-full distribution uses the omnibus installer. For most bootstrap operations, regardless of the platform on which the target node is running, using the chef-full distribution is the best approach for installing the chef-client on a target node. In some situations, using another supported distribution is necessary. And in some situations, a custom template may be required.

For example, the default bootstrap operation relies on an Internet connection to get the distribution to the target node. If a target node cannot access the Internet, then a custom template can be used to define a specific location for the distribution so that the target node may access it during the bootstrap operation.

For example, a bootstrap template file named “sea_power”:

$ knife bootstrap 123.456.7.8 -x username -P password --sudo --bootstrap-template "sea_power"

The following examples show how a bootstrap template file can be customized for various platforms.

Template Locations

A custom bootstrap template file must be located in a bootstrap/ directory, which is typically located within the ~/.chef/ directory on the local workstation.

Use the --bootstrap-template option with the knife bootstrap subcommand to specify the name of the bootstrap template file. This location is configurable when the following setting is added to the knife.rb file:

Setting Description
knife[:bootstrap_template] The path to a template file to be used during a bootstrap operation.

Ubuntu 12.04

The following example shows how to modify the default script for Ubuntu 14.04. First, copy the bootstrap template from the default location. If the chef-client is installed from a RubyGems, the full path can be found in the gem contents. For example:

$ gem contents chef | grep ubuntu12.04-gems
/Users/grantmc/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0/gems/chef-12.0.2/lib/chef/knife/bootstrap/ubuntu14.04-gems.erb

Copy the template to the chef-repo in the .chef/bootstrap directory:

$ cp /Users/grantmc/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0/gems/chef-12.0.2/
   lib/chef/knife/bootstrap/ubuntu14.04-gems.erb ~/chef-repo/.chef/
   bootstrap/ubuntu14.04-gems-mine.erb

Modify the template with any editor, then specify it using the --bootstrap-template option as part of the the knife bootstrap operation, or with any of the knife plug-ins that support cloud computing.

$ knife bootstrap 192.168.1.100 -r 'role[webserver]' -bootstrap-template ubuntu14.04-gems-mine

Alternatively, an example bootstrap template can be found in the git source for the chef-repo: https://github.com/chef/chef/tree/master/lib/chef/knife/bootstrap. Copy the template to ~/.chef-repo/.chef/bootstrap/ubuntu14.04-apt.erb and modify the template appropriately.

Debian and Apt

The following example shows how to use the knife bootstrap subcommand to create a client configuration file (/etc/chef/client.rb) that uses Hosted Chef as the Chef server. The configuration file will look something like:

log_level        :info
log_location     STDOUT
chef_server_url  'https://api.opscode.com/organizations/NAME'
validation_client_name 'ORGNAME-validator'

The knife bootstrap subcommand will look in three locations for the template that is used during the bootstrap operation. The locations are:

  1. A bootstrap directory in the installed knife library; the actual location may vary, depending how the chef-client is installed
  2. A bootstrap directory in the $PWD/.chef, e.g. in ~/chef-repo/.chef
  3. A bootstrap directory in the users $HOME/.chef

If, in the example above, the second location was used, then create the .chef/bootstrap/ directory in the chef-repo, and then create the Embedded Ruby (ERB) template file by running commands similar to the following:

mkdir ~/.chef/bootstrap
vi ~/.chef/bootstrap/debian6.0-apt.erb

When finished creating the directory and the Embedded Ruby (ERB) template file, edit the template to run the SSH commands. Then set up the validation certificate and the client configuration file.

Finally, run the chef-client on the node using a knife bootstrap command that specifies a run-list (the -r option). The bootstrap template can be called using a command similar to the following:

$ knife bootstrap mynode.example.com -r 'role[webserver]','role[production]' --bootstrap-template debian6.0-apt

Microsoft Windows

The following example shows how to modify the default script for Microsoft Windows and Windows PowerShell:

@setlocal

<%= "SETX HTTP_PROXY \"#{knife_config[:bootstrap_proxy]}\"" if knife_config[:bootstrap_proxy] %>
@mkdir <%= bootstrap_directory %>

> <%= bootstrap_directory %>\wget.ps1 (
 <%= win_wget_ps %>
)

:install
@rem Install Chef using chef-client MSI installer

<% url="http://reposerver.example.com/chef-client-12.0.2.windows.msi" -%>
@set "REMOTE_SOURCE_MSI_URL=<%= url %>"
@set "LOCAL_DESTINATION_MSI_PATH=<%= local_download_path %>"

@powershell -ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted -NoProfile -NonInteractive "& '<%= bootstrap_directory %>\wget.ps1' '%REMOTE_SOURCE_MSI_URL%' '%LOCAL_DESTINATION_MSI_PATH%'"

@REM Replace install_chef from knife-windows Gem with one that has extra flags to turn on Chef service feature -- only available in Chef >= 12.0.x
@REM <%= install_chef %>
@echo Installing Chef Client 12.0.2 with msiexec
@msiexec /q /i "%LOCAL_DESTINATION_MSI_PATH%" ADDLOCAL="ChefClientFeature,ChefServiceFeature"
@endlocal

@echo Writing validation key...

> <%= bootstrap_directory %>\validation.pem (
 <%= validation_key %>
)

@echo Validation key written.

<% if @config[:encrypted_data_bag_secret] -%>
> <%= bootstrap_directory %>\encrypted_data_bag_secret (
 <%= encrypted_data_bag_secret %>
)
<% end -%>

> <%= bootstrap_directory %>\client.rb (
 <%= config_content %>
)

> <%= bootstrap_directory %>\first-boot.json (
 <%= run_list %>
)

<%= start_chef %>

Examples

The following examples show how to use this knife subcommand:

Bootstrap a node

$ knife bootstrap 12.34.56.789 -P vanilla -x root -r 'recipe[apt],recipe[xfs],recipe[vim]'

which shows something similar to:

...
12.34.56.789 Chef Client finished, 12/12 resources updated in 78.942455583 seconds

Use knife node show to verify:

$ knife node show debian-wheezy.int.domain.org

which returns something similar to:

Node Name:   debian-wheezy.int.domain.org
Environment: _default
FQDN:        debian-wheezy.int.domain.org
IP:          12.34.56.789
Run List:    recipe[apt], recipe[xfs], recipe[vim]
Roles:
Recipes:     apt, xfs, vim, apt::default, xfs::default, vim::default
Platform:    debian 7.4
Tags:

Use an SSH password

$ knife bootstrap 192.168.1.1 -x username -P PASSWORD --sudo

Use a file that contains a private key

$ knife bootstrap 192.168.1.1 -x username -i ~/.ssh/id_rsa --sudo

Fetch and execute an installation script from a URL

$ knife bootstrap --bootstrap-install-sh http://mycustomserver.com/custom_install_chef_script.sh

Specify options when using cURL

$ knife bootstrap --bootstrap-curl-options "--proxy http://myproxy.com:8080"

Specify options when using GNU Wget

$ knife bootstrap --bootstrap-wget-options "-e use_proxy=yes -e http://myproxy.com:8080"

Specify a custom installation command sequence

$ knife bootstrap --bootstrap-install-command "curl -l http://mycustomserver.com/custom_install_chef_script.sh | sudo bash -s --"