Provided by: chef_11.8.2-2_all 
NAME
knife-bootstrap - The man page for the knife bootstrap subcommand.
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 server.
The knife bootstrap subcommand is used 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 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.
Common Options
The following options can be run with all Knife sub-commands and plug-ins:
-c CONFIG, --config CONFIG
The configuration file to use.
--color
Indicates that colored output will be used.
-d, --disable-editing
Indicates that $EDITOR will not be opened; data will be accepted as-is.
--defaults
Indicates that Knife will use the default value, instead of asking a user to provide one.
-e EDITOR, --editor EDITOR
The $EDITOR that is used for all interactive commands.
-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.
-f FILE_NAME, --file FILE_NAME
Indicates that the private key will be saved to a specified file name.
-F FORMAT, --format FORMAT
The output format: summary (default), text, json, yaml, and pp.
-h, --help
Shows help for the command.
-k KEY, --key KEY
The private key that Knife will use to sign requests made by the API client to the server.
--no-color
Indicates that color will not be used in the output.
-p PASSWORD, --password PASSWORD
The user password.
--print-after
Indicates that data will be shown after a destructive operation.
-s URL, --server-url URL
The URL for the server.
-u USER, --user USER
The user name used by Knife to sign requests made by the API client to the server. Authentication
will fail if the user name does not match the private key.
-v, --version
The version of the chef-client.
-V, --verbose
Set for more verbose outputs. Use -VV for maximum verbosity.
-y, --yes
Indicates that the response to all confirmation prompts will be "Yes" (and that Knife will not ask
for confirmation).
Syntax
This argument has the following syntax:
$ knife bootstrap FQDN_or_IP_ADDRESS (options)
Options
This subcommand has the following options:
-A, --forward-agent
Indicates that SSH agent forwarding is enabled.
--bootstrap-proxy PROXY_URL
The proxy server for the node that is the target of a bootstrap operation.
--bootstrap-version VERSION
The version of the chef-client to install.
-d DISTRO, --distro DISTRO
The template file to be used during a bootstrap operation. The following distributions are
supported: chef-full (the default bootstrap), centos5-gems, fedora13-gems, ubuntu10.04-gems,
ubuntu10.04-apt, ubuntu12.04-gems, and the name of a custom bootstrap template file. When this
option is used, Knife will search for the template file in the following order: the bootstrap/
folder in the current working directory, the bootstrap/ folder in the chef-repo, the bootstrap/
folder in the ~/.chef/ directory, or a default bootstrap file. Do not use the --template-file
option when --distro is specified.
-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 of the bootstrap. The hint is contained in a file and is
formatted as JSON: {"attribute":"value","attribute":"value"...}. HINT_NAME is the name of the hint
and HINT_FILE is the name of the hint file located at /etc/chef/ohai/hints/HINT_FILE.json. Use
multiple --hint options in the command to specify multiple hints.
-i IDENTITY_FILE, --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.
--[no-]host-key-verify
Use --no-host-key-verify to disable host key verification. Default setting: --host-key-verify.
-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 will prompt for the password.
--prerelease
Indicates that pre-release gems should be installed.
-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.
--secret-file FILE
The path to the file that contains the encryption key.
--sudo Indicates that a bootstrap operation should be executed using sudo.
--template-file TEMPLATE
The path to a template file that will be used during a bootstrap operation. Do not use the
--distro option when --template-file is specified.
--use-sudo-password
Indicates that a bootstrap operation is done using sudo, with the password specified by the -P (or
--ssh-password) option.
-x USERNAME, --ssh-user USERNAME
The SSH user name.
Examples
To pass an SSH password as part of the command:
$ knife bootstrap 192.168.1.1 -x username -P PASSWORD --sudo
To use a file that contains a private key:
$ knife bootstrap 192.168.1.1 -x username -i ~/.ssh/id_rsa --sudo
AUTHOR
Opscode
Chef 11.8.0 KNIFE-BOOTSTRAP(1)