Provided by: chef_11.8.2-2_all 
NAME
knife-node - The man page for the knife node subcommand.
A node is any physical, virtual, or cloud machine that is configured to be maintained by a
chef-client.
The knife node subcommand is used to manage the nodes that exist on a server.
This subcommand has the following syntax:
$ knife node [ARGUMENT] (options)
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).
BULK DELETE
The bulk delete argument is used to delete one or more nodes that match a pattern defined
by a regular expression. The regular expression must be within quotes and not be
surrounded by forward slashes (/).
Syntax
This argument has the following syntax:
$ knife node bulk delete REGEX
Options
This command does not have any specific options.
Examples
To bulk delete many nodes, use a regular expression to define the pattern:
$ knife node bulk delete "^[0-9]{3}$"
Type Y to confirm a deletion.
CREATE
The create argument is used to add a node to the server. Node data is stored as JSON on
the server.
Syntax
This argument has the following syntax:
$ knife node create NODE_NAME
Options
This command does not have any specific options.
Examples
To add a node, enter:
$ knife node create node1
In the $EDITOR enter the node data in JSON:
## sample:
{
"normal": {
},
"name": "foobar",
"override": {
},
"default": {
},
"json_class": "Chef::Node",
"automatic": {
},
"run_list": [
"recipe[zsh]",
"role[webserver]"
],
"chef_type": "node"
}
When finished, save it.
DELETE
The delete argument is used to delete a node from the server.
Note Deleting a node will not delete any corresponding API clients.
Syntax
This argument has the following syntax:
$ knife node delete NODE_NAME
Options
This command does not have any specific options.
Examples
To delete a node called "dev", enter:
$ knife node delete dev
EDIT
The edit argument is used to edit the details of a node on a server. Node data is stored
as JSON on the server.
Syntax
This argument has the following syntax:
$ knife node edit NODE_NAME (options)
Options
This argument has the following options:
-a, --all
Displays a node in the $EDITOR. By default, attributes that are default, override,
or automatic are not shown.
Examples
To edit the data for a node named "node1", enter:
$ knife node edit node1 -a
Update the role data in JSON:
## sample:
{
"normal": {
},
"name": "node1",
"override": {
},
"default": {
},
"json_class": "Chef::Node",
"automatic": {
},
"run_list": [
"recipe[devops]",
"role[webserver]"
],
"chef_type": "node"
}
When finished, save it.
FROM FILE
The from file argument is used to create a node using existing node data as a template.
Syntax
This argument has the following syntax:
$ knife node from file FILE
Options
This command does not have any specific options.
Examples
To add a node using data contained in a JSON file:
$ knife node from file "path to JSON file"
LIST
The list argument is used to view all of the nodes that exist on a server.
Syntax
This argument has the following syntax:
$ knife node list (options)
Options
This argument has the following options:
-w, --with-uri
Indicates that the corresponding URIs will be shown.
Examples
To verify the list of nodes that are registered with the server, enter:
$ knife node list
to return something similar to:
i-12345678
rs-123456
RUN_LIST ADD
The run_list add argument is used to add run list items (roles or recipes) to a node. A
recipe must be in one of the following formats: fully qualified, cookbook, or default.
Both roles and recipes must be in quotes, for example: 'role[ROLE_NAME]' or
'recipe[COOKBOOK::RECIPE_NAME]'. Use a comma to separate roles and recipes when adding
more than one, like this:
'recipe[COOKBOOK::RECIPE_NAME],COOKBOOK::RECIPE_NAME,role[ROLE_NAME]'.
Syntax
This argument has the following syntax:
$ knife node run_list add NODE_NAME RUN_LIST_ITEM (options)
Options
This argument has the following options:
-a ITEM, --after ITEM
Use this to add the run list item after the specified run list item.
Examples
To add a role to a run list, enter:
$ knife node run_list add node 'role[ROLE_NAME]'
To add roles and recipes to a run list, enter:
$ knife node run_list add node 'recipe[COOKBOOK::RECIPE_NAME],recipe[COOKBOOK::RECIPE_NAME],role[ROLE_NAME]'
To add a recipe to a run list using the fully qualified format, enter:
$ knife node run_list add node 'recipe[COOKBOOK::RECIPE_NAME]'
To add a recipe to a run list using the cookbook format, enter:
$ knife node run_list add node 'COOKBOOK::RECIPE_NAME'
To add the default recipe of a cookbook to a run list, enter:
$ knife node run_list add node 'COOKBOOK'
RUN_LIST REMOVE
The run_list remove argument is used to remove run list items (roles or recipes) from a
node. A recipe must be in one of the following formats: fully qualified, cookbook, or
default. Both roles and recipes must be in quotes, for example: 'role[ROLE_NAME]' or
'recipe[COOKBOOK::RECIPE_NAME]'. Use a comma to separate roles and recipes when removing
more than one, like this:
'recipe[COOKBOOK::RECIPE_NAME],COOKBOOK::RECIPE_NAME,role[ROLE_NAME]'.
Syntax
This argument has the following syntax:
$ knife node run_list remove NODE_NAME RUN_LIST_ITEM
Options
This command does not have any specific options.
Examples
To remove a role from a run list, enter:
$ knife node run_list remove node 'role[ROLE_NAME]'
To remove a recipe from a run list using the fully qualified format, enter:
$ knife node run_list remove node 'recipe[COOKBOOK::RECIPE_NAME]'
SHOW
The show argument is used to display information about a node.
Syntax
This argument has the following syntax:
$ knife node show NODE_NAME (options)
Options
This argument has the following options:
-a ATTR, --attribute ATTR
The attribute (or attributes) to show.
-l, --long
Display long output when searching nodes while using the default summary format.
-m, --medium
Display more, but not all, of a node's data when searching using the default
summary format.
-r, --run-list
Indicates that only the run-list will be shown.
Examples
To view all data for a node named "build", enter:
$ knife node show build
to return:
Node Name: build
Environment: _default
FQDN:
IP:
Run List:
Roles:
Recipes:
Platform:
To show basic information about a node, truncated and nicely formatted:
knife node show <node_name>
To show all information about a node, nicely formatted:
knife node show -l <node_name>
To list a single node attribute:
knife node show <node_name> -a <attribute_name>
where <attribute_name> is something like kernel or platform. (This doesn't work for nested
attributes like node[kernel][machine] because knife node show doesn't understand nested
attributes.)
To view the FQDN for a node named "i-12345678", enter:
$ knife node show i-12345678 -a fqdn
to return:
fqdn: ip-10-251-75-20.ec2.internal
To view the run list for a node named "dev", enter:
$ knife node show dev -r
To view information in JSON format, use the -F common option as part of the command like
this:
$ knife role show devops -F json
Other formats available include text, yaml, and pp.
To view node information in raw JSON, use the -l or --long option:
knife node show -l -F json <node_name>
and/or:
knife node show -l --format=json <node_name>
AUTHOR
Opscode
Chef 11.8.0 KNIFE-NODE(1)