Provided by: chef_12.14.60-3ubuntu1_all bug

NAME

       chef-client - The man page for the chef-client command line tool.

       A  chef-client  is  an  agent  that  runs  locally on every node that is under management by Chef. When a
       chef-client is run, it will perform all of the steps that  are  required  to  bring  the  node  into  the
       expected state, including:

       • Registering and authenticating the node with the Chef server

       • Building the node object

       • Synchronizing cookbooks

       • Compiling  the  resource  collection  by  loading  each  of  the required cookbooks, including recipes,
         attributes, and all other dependencies

       • Taking the appropriate and required actions to configure the node

       • Looking for exceptions and notifications, handling each as required

       The chef-client executable is run as a command-line tool.

       NOTE:
          A client.rb file is used to specify the configuration details for the chef-client.

          • This file is loaded every time this executable is run

          • On UNIX- and Linux-based machines, the default location for this  file  is  /etc/chef/client.rb;  on
            Microsoft  Windows  machines,  the  default  location  for  this  file is C:\chef\client.rb; use the
            --config option from the command line to change this location

          • This file is not created by default

          • When a client.rb file is present in this directory, the settings contained  within  that  file  will
            override the default configuration settings

OPTIONS

       This command has the following syntax:

          chef-client OPTION VALUE OPTION VALUE ...

       This command has the following options:

       -A, --fatal-windows-admin-check
              Use to cause a chef-client run to fail when the chef-client does not have administrator privileges
              in Microsoft Windows.

       --chef-zero-port PORT
              The port on which chef-zero will listen. If a port is not specified---individually,  as  range  of
              ports,  or  from  the chef_zero.port setting in the client.rb file---the chef-client will scan for
              ports between 8889-9999 and will pick the first port that is available.

       -F FORMAT, --format FORMAT
              The output format: doc (default) or min.

              Use doc to print the progress of the chef-client run using full strings that display a summary  of
              updates as they occur.

              Use min to print the progress of the chef-client run using single characters. A summary of updates
              is printed at the end of the chef-client run. A dot (.) is printed for events  that  do  not  have
              meaningful  status information, such as loading a file or synchronizing a cookbook. For resources,
              a dot (.) is printed when the resource is up to date, an S is printed when the resource is skipped
              by not_if or only_if, and a U is printed when the resource is updated.

              Other  formatting options are available when those formatters are configured in the client.rb file
              using the add_formatter option.

       --force-formatter
              Use to show formatter output instead of logger output.

       --force-logger
              Use to show logger output instead of formatter output.

       -g GROUP, --group GROUP
              The name of the group that owns a process. This is required when  starting  any  executable  as  a
              daemon.

       -h, --help
              Shows help for the command.

       -i SECONDS, --interval SECONDS
              The  frequency  (in  seconds)  at  which  the  chef-client  runs.  When  the chef-client is run at
              intervals, --splay and --interval values are applied before the chef-client  run.  Default  value:
              1800.

       -j PATH, --json-attributes PATH
              The path to a file that contains JSON data.

              Use this option to define a run_list object. For example, a JSON file similar to:

                 "run_list": [
                   "recipe[base]",
                   "recipe[foo]",
                   "recipe[bar]",
                   "role[webserver]"
                 ],

              may be used by running chef-client -j path/to/file.json.

              In certain situations this option may be used to update normal attributes.

              WARNING:
                 Any  other  attribute  type  that  is  contained  in this JSON file will be treated as a normal
                 attribute. For example, attempting to update override attributes using the -j option:

                     {
                       "name": "dev-99",
                       "description": "Install some stuff",
                       "override_attributes": {
                         "apptastic": {
                           "enable_apptastic": "false",
                           "apptastic_tier_name": "dev-99.bomb.com"
                         }
                       }
                     }

                 will result in a node object similar to:

                     {
                       "name": "maybe-dev-99",
                       "normal": {
                       "name": "dev-99",
                         "description": "Install some stuff",
                         "override_attributes": {
                           "apptastic": {
                             "enable_apptastic": "false",
                             "apptastic_tier_name": "dev-99.bomb.com"
                           }
                         }
                       }
                     }

       -k KEY_FILE, --client_key KEY_FILE
              The location of the file which contains the client key. Default value: /etc/chef/client.pem.

       -K KEY_FILE, --validation_key KEY_FILE
              The location of the file which contains the key used when a chef-client is registered with a  Chef
              server.  A  validation  key is signed using the validation_client_name for authentication. Default
              value: /etc/chef/validation.pem.

       -l LEVEL, --log_level LEVEL
              The level of logging that will be stored in a log file.

       -L LOGLOCATION, --logfile c
              The location in which log file output files will be saved. If this location is  set  to  something
              other  than  STDOUT,  standard output logging will still be performed (otherwise there would be no
              output other than to a file). This is recommended  when  starting  any  executable  as  a  daemon.
              Default value: STDOUT.

       --[no-]color
              Use to view colored output. Default setting: --color.

       -N NODE_NAME, --node-name NODE_NAME
              The name of the node.

       -o RUN_LIST_ITEM, --override-runlist RUN_LIST_ITEM
              Replace  the  current  run  list  with the specified items. This option will not clear the list of
              cookbooks (and related files) that is cached on the node.

       --once Use to run the chef-client only once and to cancel interval and splay options.

       -P PID_FILE, --pid PID_FILE
              The location in which a process identification number (pid) is saved. An executable, when  started
              as a daemon, will write the pid to the specified file. Default value: /tmp/name-of-executable.pid.

       -r RUN_LIST_ITEM, --runlist RUN_LIST_ITEM
              Use to permanently replace the current run-list with the specified run-list items.

       -R, --enable-reporting
              Use to enable Chef reporting, which performs data collection during a chef-client run.

       RECIPE_FILE
              The  path  to  a  recipe.  For  example,  if  a  recipe  file  is  in  the  current directory, use
              recipe_file.rb. This is typically used with the --local-mode option.

       --run-lock-timeout SECONDS
              The amount of time (in seconds) to wait for a chef-client run to finish. Default  value:  not  set
              (indefinite). Set to 0 to cause a second chef-client to exit immediately.

       -s SECONDS, --splay SECONDS
              A  number  (in  seconds)  to  add  to  the  interval  that  is  used to determine the frequency of
              chef-client runs. This number can help prevent server load when there are many clients running  at
              the same time. When the chef-client is run at intervals, --splay and --interval values are applied
              before the chef-client run.

       -S CHEF_SERVER_URL, --server CHEF_SERVER_URL
              The URL for the Chef server.

       -u USER, --user USER
              The user that owns a process. This is required when starting any executable as a daemon.

       -v, --version
              The version of the chef-client.

       -W, --why-run
              Use to run the executable in why-run mode, which is a type of chef-client run that does everything
              except  modify  the system. Use why-run mode to understand why the chef-client makes the decisions
              that it makes and to learn more about the current and proposed state of the system.

       -z, --local-mode
              Use to run the chef-client in local mode. This allows all commands  that  work  against  the  Chef
              server to also work against the local chef-repo.

RUN WITH ELEVATED PRIVILEGES

       The  chef-client  may  need  to  be  run  with  elevated  privileges in order to get a recipe to converge
       correctly. On UNIX and UNIX-like operating systems this can be done by running the command  as  root.  On
       Microsoft Windows this can be done by running the command prompt as an administrator.

   Linux
       On  Linux,  the  following  error  sometimes  occurs when the permissions used to run the chef-client are
       incorrect:

          $ chef-client
          [Tue, 29 Nov 2011 19:46:17 -0800] INFO: *** Chef 10.X.X ***
          [Tue, 29 Nov 2011 19:46:18 -0800] WARN: Failed to read the private key /etc/chef/client.pem: #<Errno::EACCES: Permission denied - /etc/chef/client.pem>

       This can be resolved by running the command as root. There are a few ways this can be done:

       • Log in as root and then run the chef-client

       • Use su to become the root user, and then run the chef-client. For example:

                $ su

            and then:

                $ chef-client

       • Use the sudo utility

                $ sudo chef-client

       • Give a user access to read /etc/chef and also the files accessed  by  the  chef-client.  This  requires
         super user privileges and, as such, is not a recommended approach

   Windows
       On  Microsoft  Windows,  running  without  elevated privileges (when they are necessary) is an issue that
       fails silently. It will appear that the chef-client completed its run successfully, but the changes  will
       not  have  been  made.  When  this  occurs,  do  one  of  the  following  to  run  the chef-client as the
       administrator:

       • Log in to the administrator account. (This is not  the  same  as  an  account  in  the  administrator's
         security group.)

       • Run the chef-client process from the administrator account while being logged into another account. Run
         the following command:

                $ runas /user:Administrator "cmd /C chef-client"

            This will prompt for the administrator account password.

       • Open a command prompt by right-clicking on the command prompt application, and then  selecting  Run  as
         administrator. After the command window opens, the chef-client can be run as the administrator

EXAMPLES

       Start a Chef run when the chef-client is running as a daemon

       A  chef-client  that is running as a daemon can be woken up and started by sending the process a SIGUSR1.
       For example, to trigger a chef-client run on a machine running Linux:

          $ sudo killall -USR1 chef-client

       Start a Chef run manually

          $ ps auxw|grep chef-client

       to return something like:

          root           66066   0.9  0.0  2488880    264 s001  S+   10:26AM   0:03.05
          /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/1.8/usr/bin/ruby /usr/bin/chef-client -i 3600 -s 20

       and then enter:

          $ sudo kill -USR1 66066

AUTHOR

       Chef

                                                    Chef 12.0                                     CHEF-CLIENT(8)