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chef-server-ctl (executable)

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The Chef Infra Server includes a command-line utility named chef-server-ctl. This command-line tool is used to start and stop individual services, reconfigure the Chef Infra Server, run chef-pedant, and then tail Chef Infra Server log files.

Backup / Restore

Use the following commands to manage backups of Chef Infra Server data, and then to restore those backups.

backup

The backup subcommand is used to back up all Chef Infra Server data. This subcommand:

  • Requires rsync to be installed on the Chef Infra Server prior to running the command
  • Requires a chef-server-ctl reconfigure prior to running the command
  • Should not be run in a Chef Infra Server configuration with an external PostgreSQL database; use knife ec backup instead
  • Puts the initial backup in the /var/opt/chef-backup directory as a tar.gz file; move this backup to a new location for safe keeping

Options

This subcommand has the following options:

-y, --yes

Use to specify if the Chef Infra Server can go offline during tar.gz-based backups.

--pg-options

Use to specify and pass additional options PostgreSQL during backups. See the PostgreSQL documentation for more information.

-c, --config-only

Backup the Chef Infra Server configuration without backing up data.

-t, --timeout

Set the maximum amount of time in seconds to wait for shell commands (default 600). This option should be set to greater than 600 for backups taking longer than 10 minutes.

-h, --help

Show help message.

Syntax

This subcommand has the following syntax:

chef-server-ctl backup

restore

The restore subcommand is used to restore Chef Infra Server data from a backup that was created by the backup subcommand. This subcommand may also be used to add Chef Infra Server data to a newly-installed server. Do not run this command in a Chef Infra Server configuration that uses an external PostgreSQL database; use knife ec backup instead. This subcommand:

  • Requires rsync installed on the Chef Infra Server before running the command
  • Requires a chef-server-ctl reconfigure before running the command

Ideally, the restore server will have the same FQDN as the server that you backed up. If the restore server has a different FQDN, then:

  1. Replace the FQDN in the /etc/opscode/chef-server.rb.
  2. Replace the FQDN in the /etc/opscode/chef-server-running.json.
  3. Delete the old SSL certificate, key and -ssl.conf file from /var/opt/opscode/nginx/ca.
  4. If you use a CA-issued certificate instead of a self-signed certificate, copy the CA-issued certificate and key into /var/opt/opscode/nginx/ca.
  5. Update the /etc/chef/client.rb file on each client to point to the new server FQDN.
  6. Run chef-server-ctl reconfigure.
  7. Run ``chef-server-ctl restore`.

Options

This subcommand has the following options:

-c, --cleanse

Use to remove all existing data on the Chef Infra Server; it will be replaced by the data in the backup archive.

-d DIRECTORY, --staging-dir DIRECTORY

Use to specify that the path to an empty directory to be used during the restore process. This directory must have enough disk space to expand all data in the backup archive.

--pg-options

:   Use to specify and pass additional options PostgreSQL during backups. See the [PostgreSQL documentation](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/13/runtime-config.html) for more information.

`-t`, `--timeout`

:   Set the maximum amount of time in seconds to wait for shell commands. Set to greater than 600 for backups that take longer than 10 minutes. Default: 600.

`-h`, `--help`

:   Show help message.


**Syntax**

This subcommand has the following syntax:

```bash
chef-server-ctl restore PATH_TO_BACKUP (options)

Examples

chef-server-ctl restore /path/to/tar/archive.tar.gz

cleanse

The cleanse subcommand is used to re-set the Chef Infra Server to the state it was in prior to the first time the reconfigure subcommand is run. This command will destroy all data, configuration files, and logs. The software that was put on-disk by the package installation will remain; re-run chef-server-ctl reconfigure to recreate the default data and configuration files.

Options

This subcommand has the following options:

--with-external

Use to specify that Chef Infra Server data on an external PostgreSQL database should be removed.

Syntax

This subcommand has the following syntax:

chef-server-ctl cleanse

gather-logs

The gather-logs subcommand is used to gather the Chef Infra Server log files into a tarball that contains all of the important log files and system information.

This subcommand has the following syntax:

chef-server-ctl gather-logs

help

The help subcommand is used to print a list of all available chef-server-ctl commands.

This subcommand has the following syntax:

chef-server-ctl help

install

The install subcommand is used to install premium features of the Chef Infra Server: Chef management console and Chef Infra Client run reporting, high availability configurations, and Chef Infra Server replication.

Warning

The chef-server-ctl install command no longer works in the 12.5 (and earlier) versions of the Chef Infra Server due to a change in how packages are downloaded from Chef.

Syntax

This subcommand has the following syntax:

chef-server-ctl install name_of_addon (options)

where name_of_addon represents the command line value associated with the add-on or premium feature.

Options

This subcommand has the following options:

--path PATH

Use to specify the location of a package. This option is not required when packages are downloaded from https://packages.chef.io/.

Use Downloads

The install subcommand downloads packages from https://packages.chef.io by default. For systems that are not behind a firewall (and have connectivity to https://packages.chef.io), these packages can be installed as described below.

  1. Install add-ons

    Install Chef Manage with:

    sudo chef-server-ctl install chef-manage

  2. Reconfigure the server

    sudo chef-server-ctl reconfigure

  3. Reconfigure add-ons

    Reconfigure Chef Manage with:

    sudo chef-manage-ctl reconfigure

Finally, accept the Chef License:

sudo chef-manage-ctl reconfigure --accept-license

Use Local Packages

Use the install subcommand with the --path option to install the Chef Manage (chef-manage) add-on for Chef Infra Server.

sudo chef-server-ctl install PACKAGE_NAME --path /path/to/package/directory

For example:

sudo chef-server-ctl install chef-manage --path /root/packages

The chef-server-ctl command will install the first chef-manage package found in the /root/packages directory.

Key Rotation

Use the following commands to manage public and private key rotation for users and clients.

add-client-key

Use the add-client-key subcommand to add a client key.

Syntax

This subcommand has the following syntax:

chef-server-ctl add-client-key ORG_NAME CLIENT_NAME [--public-key-path PATH] [--expiration-date DATE] [--key-name NAME]

Warning

All options for this subcommand must follow all arguments.

Options

This subcommand has the following options:

CLIENT_NAME

The name of the client that you wish to add a key for.

-e DATE --expiration-date DATE

An ISO 8601 formatted string: YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ. For example: 2013-12-24T21:00:00Z. If not passed, expiration will default to infinity.

-k NAME --key-name NAME

String defining the name of your new key for this client. If not passed, it will default to the fingerprint of the public key.

ORG_NAME

The short name for the organization to which the client belongs.

-p PATH --public-key-path PATH

The location to a file containing valid PKCS#1 public key to be added. If not passed, then the server will generate a new one for you and return the private key to STDOUT.

add-user-key

Use the add-user-key subcommand to add a user key.

Syntax

This subcommand has the following syntax:

chef-server-ctl add-user-key USER_NAME [--public-key-path PATH] [--expiration-date DATE] [--key-name NAME]

Warning

All options for this subcommand must follow all arguments.

Options

This subcommand has the following options:

-e DATE --expiration-date DATE

An ISO 8601 formatted string: YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ. For example: 2013-12-24T21:00:00Z. If not passed, expiration will default to infinity.

-k NAME --key-name NAME

String defining the name of your new key for this user. If not passed, it will default to the fingerprint of the public key.

-p PATH --public-key-path PATH

The location to a file containing valid PKCS#1 public key to be added. If not passed, then the server will generate a new one for you and return the private key to STDOUT.

USER_NAME

The user name for the user for which a key is added.

delete-client-key

Use the delete-client-key subcommand to delete a client key.

Syntax

This subcommand has the following syntax:

chef-server-ctl delete-client-key ORG_NAME CLIENT_NAME KEY_NAME

Options

This subcommand has the following arguments:

ORG_NAME

The short name for the organization to which the client belongs.

CLIENT_NAME

The name of the client.

KEY_NAME

The unique name to be assigned to the key you wish to delete.

delete-user-key

Use the delete-user-key subcommand to delete a user key.

Syntax

This subcommand has the following syntax:

chef-server-ctl delete-user-key USER_NAME KEY_NAME

Warning

The parameters for this subcommand must be in the order specified above.

Options

This subcommand has the following arguments:

USER_NAME

The user name.

KEY_NAME

The unique name to be assigned to the key you wish to delete.

list-client-keys

Use the list-client-keys subcommand to list client keys.

Syntax

This subcommand has the following syntax:

chef-server-ctl list-client-keys ORG_NAME CLIENT_NAME [--verbose]

Warning

All options for this subcommand must follow all arguments.

Options

This subcommand has the following options:

CLIENT_NAME

The name of the client.

ORG_NAME

The short name for the organization to which the client belongs.

--verbose

Use to show the full public key strings in command output.

list-user-keys

Use the list-user-keys subcommand to list client keys.

Syntax

This subcommand has the following syntax:

chef-server-ctl list-user-keys USER_NAME [--verbose]

Warning

All options for this subcommand must follow all arguments.

Options

This subcommand has the following options:

USER_NAME

The user name you wish to list keys for.

--verbose

Use to show the full public key strings in command output.

Example

To view a list of user keys (including public key output):

chef-server-ctl list-user-keys applejack --verbose

Returns:

2 total key(s) found for user applejack

key_name: test-key
expires_at: Infinity
public_key:
-----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----
MIIBIjANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQEFAAOCAQ8AMIIBCgKCAQEA4q9Dh+bwJSjhU/VI4Y8s
9WsbIPfpmBpoZoZVPL7V6JDfIaPUkdcSdZpynhRLhQwv9ScTFh65JwxC7wNhVspB
4bKZeW6vugNGwCyBIemMfxMlpKZQDOc5dnBiRMMOgXSIimeiFtL+NmMXnGBBHDaE
b+XXI8oCZRx5MTnzEs90mkaCRSIUlWxOUFzZvnv4jBrhWsd/yBM/h7YmVfmwVAjL
VST0QG4MnbCjNtbzToMj55NAGwSdKHCzvvpWYkd62ZOquY9f2UZKxYCX0bFPNVQM
EvBQGdNG39XYSEeF4LneYQKPHEZDdqe7TZdVE8ooU/syxlZgADtvkqEoc4zp1Im3
2wIDAQAB
-----END PUBLIC KEY-----

key_name: default
expires_at: Infinity
public_key:
-----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----
MIIBIjANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQEFAAOCAQ8AMIIBCgKCAQEA4q9Dh+bwJSjhU/VI4Y8s
9WsbIPfpmBpoZoZVPL7V6JDfIaPUkdcSdZpynhRLhQwv9ScTFh65JwxC7wNhVspB
4bKZeW6vugNGwCyBIemMfxMlpKZQDOc5dnBiRMMOgXSIimeiFtL+NmMXnGBBHDaE
b+XXI8oCZRx5MTnzEs90mkaCRSIUlWxOUFzZvnv4jBrhWsd/yBM/h7YmVfmwVAjL
VST0QG4MnbCjNtbzToMj55NAGwSdKHCzvvpWYkd62ZOquY9f2UZKxYCX0bFPNVQM
EvBQGdNG39XYSEeF4LneYQKPHEZDdqe7TZdVE8ooU/syxlZgADtvkqEoc4zp1Im3
2wIDAQAB
-----END PUBLIC KEY-----

Secrets Management

Use the following commands to manage and rotate shared secrets and service credentials. The secrets file used for storing these is located at /etc/opscode/private-chef-secrets.json on your Chef Infra Server. It should be owned and readable only by root.

set-secret

The set-secret subcommand allows storing shared secrets and service credentials. Only secrets known to Chef Infra Server can be stored.

Syntax

This subcommand has the following syntax:

chef-server-ctl set-secret GROUP NAME

There are various ways to pass the secret to this command:

  1. as a third argument:

    chef-server-ctl set-secret ldap bind_password secretpassword

  2. via an environment variable:

    export LDAP.BIND_PASSWORD="secretpassword"
chef-server-ctl set-secret ldap bind_password

  3. via an interactive prompt:

    chef-server-ctl set-secret ldap bind_password
Enter ldap bind_password:    (no terminal output)
Re-enter ldap bind_password: (no terminal output)

Options

This subcommand has the following options:

--with-restart

If any services depend on the secret being changed, attempt to restart them after changing the secret. Added in Chef Infra Server 12.16.2.

remove-secret

The remove-secret subcommand allows removing a stored shared secret and service credential.

Syntax

This subcommand has the following syntax:

chef-server-ctl remove-secret GROUP NAME

Example

chef-server-ctl remove-secret ldap bind_password

show-secret

The show-secret subcommand allows viewing a stored shared secret and service credential.

Syntax

This subcommand has the following syntax:

chef-server-ctl show-secret GROUP NAME

set-db-superuser-password

The set-db-superuser-password subcommand allows storing the database superuser password.

Syntax

This subcommand has the following syntax:

chef-server-ctl set-db-superuser-password

Similar to set-secret, the superuser password can also be provided via the environment variable DB_PASSWORD.

set-actions-password

The set-actions-password subcommand allows storing the RabbitMQ Actions password.

Syntax

This subcommand has the following syntax:

chef-server-ctl set-actions-password

Similar to set-secret, the action password can also be provided via the environment variable ACTIONS_PASSWORD.

oc-id-show-app

The oc-id-show-app subcommand allows for retrieving the client ID and client secret for applications known to oc-id. Note that with insecure_addon_compat disabled, this data will no longer be written to /etc/opscode/oc-id-applications/APP.json.

Syntax

This subcommand has the following syntax:

chef-server-ctl oc-id-show-app APP

Example

chef-server-ctl oc-id-show-app supermarket
{
  "name": "supermarket",
  "uid": "0bad0f2eb04e935718e081fb71asdfec3681c81acb9968a8e1e32451d08b",
  "secret": "17cf1141cc971a10ce307611beda7ffadstr4f1bc98d9f9ca76b9b127879",
  "redirect_uri": "https://supermarket.mycompany.com/auth/chef_oauth2/callback"
}

require-credential-rotation

The require-credential-rotation subcommand takes the Chef Infra Server offline and requires a complete service credential rotation before the Chef Infra Server(s) in your cluster can restart again. Run rotate-shared-secrets to create a new shared secret, salt, and generate the new service credentials. Then copy the secrets file to each Chef Infra Server and run sudo chef-server-ctl reconfigure on each server to complete the rotation process.

Note

Credential rotation does not rotate the pivotal, user, or client keys, or remove any Chef Infra Server policy or cookbooks that have been uploaded.

Syntax

This subcommand has the following syntax:

chef-server-ctl require-credential-rotation (options)

Options

This subcommand has the following options:

-y, --yes

Bypass a prompt in the terminal and agree that you want to disable the Chef Infra Server, and require credential rotation.

rotate-all-credentials

The rotate-all-credentials subcommand generates new credential values for all service credentials by incrementing the credential version number and creating a new hash value. You can choose whether to copy the updated secrets file to each node in the cluster and reconfiguring or by running this subcommand on all the nodes.

Syntax

This subcommand has the following syntax:

chef-server-ctl rotate-all-credentials

rotate-credentials

The rotate-credentials subcommand generates new credential values for all credentials for a given service by incrementing the value and creating a new hash value. You can choose whether to copy the updated secrets file to each node in the cluster and reconfiguring or by running this subcommand for that specific service on all the nodes.

Syntax

This subcommand has the following syntax:

chef-server-ctl rotate-credentials SERVICE_NAME

rotate-shared-secrets

The rotate-shared-secrets subcommand creates a new shared secret and salt, in addition to generating new service credentials. It also resets the credential_version number for the services to 0. After you have run this subcommand, a new shared secret has been created, so you must copy the secrets file to each Chef Infra Server and run sudo chef-server-ctl reconfigure on them to complete the rotation process.

Syntax

This subcommand has the following syntax:

chef-server-ctl rotate-shared-secrets

show-service-credentials

The show-service-credentials subcommand shows all of the service credentials for services running on the local Chef Infra Server.

Syntax

This subcommand has the following syntax:

chef-server-ctl show-service-credentials

cleanup-bifrost

The cleanup-bifrost subcommand removes unused authorization objects from the authorization database (called bifrost). These unused objects can accumulate on long-running Chef Infra Servers as a result of failed object creation requests. For most users, the unused authorization objects do not substantially affect the performance of Chef Infra Server; however in certain situations it can be helpful to clean them up. This command is primarily intended for use by Chef support.

Syntax

This subcommand has the following syntax:

chef-server-ctl cleanup-bifrost OPTIONS

Options

This subcommand has the following options:

--estimate-only

Provides an estimate of the number of unused objects that will be deleted, without deleting anything.

--wait-time SECONDS

The number of seconds to wait for in-flight requests to complete. Only decrease this value if you are running the command when the Chef Infra Server is not taking requests.

--force-cleanup

Removes internal tracking tables used during the cleanup process. Manual cleanup of these tables is only required if the cleanup command is killed unexpectedly.

--batch-size

The number of orphaned authorization actors to delete at a time.

Manage Organizations

Use the org-create, org-delete, org-list, org-show, org-user-add and org-user-remove commands to manage organizations.

org-create

The org-create subcommand is used to create an organization. (The validation key for the organization is returned to STDOUT when creating an organization with this command.)

Syntax

This subcommand has the following syntax:

chef-server-ctl org-create ORG_NAME "ORG_FULL_NAME" (options)

where:

  • The name must begin with a lower-case letter or digit, may only contain lower-case letters, digits, hyphens, and underscores, and must be between 1 and 255 characters. For example: chef.
  • The full name must begin with a non-white space character and must be between 1 and 1023 characters. For example: "Chef Software, Inc.".

Options

This subcommand has the following options:

-a USER_NAME, --association_user USER_NAME

Associate a user with an organization and add them to the admins and billing_admins security groups.

-f FILE_NAME, --filename FILE_NAME

Write the ORGANIZATION-validator.pem to FILE_NAME instead of printing it to STDOUT.

Examples

chef-server-ctl org-create prod Production

chef-server-ctl org-create staging Staging -a chef-admin

chef-server-ctl org-create dev Development -f /tmp/id-dev.key

chef-server-ctl org-create dev Development --association_user grantmc

org-delete

The org-delete subcommand is used to delete an organization.

Syntax

This subcommand has the following syntax:

chef-server-ctl org-delete ORG_NAME

Examples

chef-server-ctl org-delete infra-testing-20140909

chef-server-ctl org-delete pedant-testing-org

org-list

The org-list subcommand is used to list all of the organizations currently present on the Chef Infra Server.

Syntax

This subcommand has the following syntax:

chef-server-ctl org-list (options)

Options

This subcommand has the following options:

-a, --all-orgs

Show all organizations.

-w, --with-uri

Show the corresponding URIs.

org-show

The org-show subcommand is used to show the details for an organization.

Syntax

This subcommand has the following syntax:

chef-server-ctl org-show ORG_NAME

org-user-add

The org-user-add subcommand is used to add a user to an organization.

Syntax

This subcommand has the following syntax:

chef-server-ctl org-user-add ORG_NAME USER_NAME (options)

Options

This subcommand has the following options:

--admin

Add the user to the admins group.

Examples

chef-server-ctl org-user-add prod john_smith

chef-server-ctl org-user-add preprod testmaster

chef-server-ctl org-user-add dev grantmc --admin

org-user-remove

The org-user-remove subcommand is used to remove a user from an organization.

Warning

A user who belongs to the admins group must be removed from the group before they may be removed from an organization. To remove a user from the admins group, run the following:

EDITOR=vi knife edit /groups/admins.json

make the required changes, and then save the file.

Syntax

This subcommand has the following syntax:

chef-server-ctl org-user-remove ORG_NAME USER_NAME (options)

Options

This subcommand has the following options:

--force

Force the removal of a user from the organization’s admins and billing-admins groups.

Examples

chef-server-ctl org-user-remove prod john_smith

chef-server-ctl org-user-remove prod testmaster

chef-server-ctl org-user-remove grantmc --force

password

The password subcommand is used to change a user’s password. When Active Directory or LDAP is enabled, this command enables (or disables) the system recovery password for that user. For example:

This subcommand has the following syntax:

chef-server-ctl password USERNAME

This subcommand has the following options:

--disable

Use this option to disable a user’s system recovery password.

Examples

For example, to change a user’s password, enter:

chef-server-ctl password adamjacobs

and then enter the password and confirm it:

Enter the new password:  ******
Enter the new password again:  ******

to return:

Password for adamjacobs successfully set.

To disable a system recovery password:

chef-server-ctl password adamjacobs --disable

to return:

Password for adamjacobs successfully disabled for System Recovery.

psql

The psql subcommand is used to log into the PostgreSQL database associated with the named service. This subcommand:

  • Uses psql (the interactive terminal for PostgreSQL)
  • Has read-only access by default
  • Is the recommended way to interact with any PostgreSQL database that is part of the Chef Infra Server
  • Automatically handles authentication

Syntax

This subcommand has the following syntax:

chef-server-ctl psql SERVICE_NAME (options)

Options

This subcommand has the following options:

--write

Use to enable write access to the PostgreSQL database.

reconfigure

The reconfigure subcommand is used when changes are made to the chef-server.rb file to reconfigure the server. When changes are made to the chef-server.rb file, they will not be applied to the Chef Infra Server configuration until after this command is run. This subcommand will also restart any services for which the service_name['enabled'] setting is set to true.

This subcommand has the following syntax:

chef-server-ctl reconfigure

reindex

The reindex subcommand is used to reload Chef Infra Server data from PostgreSQL to Elasticsearch.

This subcommand has the following syntax:

chef-server-ctl reindex

Note

Chef Infra Server versions earlier than 14.5 configured with nginx['enable_non_ssl'] = false and fips = true require export CSC_LB_URL=https://127.0.0.1 to run the command chef-server-ctl reindex <options>

Options

This subcommand has the following options:

-a, --all-orgs

Use to reindex all organizations on the Chef Infra Server. This option will override any organization specified as part of the command, i.e. chef-server-ctl reindex ORG_NAME -a will reindex all organizations and not just the specified organization.

-d, --disable-api

Use to disable the Chef Infra Server API to prevent writes during reindexing.

-t, --with-timing

Use to print timing information for the reindex processes.

-w, --wait

Use to wait for the reindexing queue to clear before exiting. This option only works when run on a standalone Chef Infra Server or on a primary backend Chef server within a legacy tier.

Server Admins

The server-admins group is a global group that grants its members permission to create, read, update, and delete user accounts, with the exception of superuser accounts. The server-admins group is useful for users who are responsible for day-to-day administration of the Chef Infra Server, especially user management via the knife user subcommand. Before members can be added to the server-admins group, they must already have a user account on the Chef Infra Server.

Scenario

The following user accounts exist on the Chef Infra Server: pivotal (a superuser account), alice, bob, carol, and dan. Run the following command to view a list of users on the Chef Infra Server:

chef-server-ctl user-list

and it returns the same list of users:

pivotal
alice
bob
carol
dan

Alice is a member of the IT team whose responsibilities include day-to-day administration of the Chef Infra Server, in particular managing the user accounts on the Chef Infra Server that are used by the rest of the organization. From a workstation, Alice runs the following command:

knife user list -c ~/.chef/alice.rb

and it returns the following error:

ERROR: You authenticated successfully to <chef_server_url> as alice
       but you are not authorized for this action
Response: Missing read permission

Alice is not a superuser and does not have permissions on other users because user accounts are global to organizations in the Chef Infra Server. Let’s add Alice to the server-admins group:

chef-server-ctl grant-server-admin-permissions alice

and it returns the following response:

User alice was added to server-admins.

Alice can now create, read, update, and delete user accounts on the Chef Infra Server, even for organizations to which Alice is not a member. From a workstation, Alice re-runs the following command:

knife user list -c ~/.chef/alice.rb

which now returns:

pivotal
alice
bob
carol
dan

Alice is now a server administrator and can use the following knife subcommands to manage users on the Chef Infra Server:

  • knife user-create
  • knife user-delete
  • knife user-edit
  • knife user-list
  • knife user-show

For example, Alice runs the following command:

knife user edit carol -c ~/.chef/alice.rb

and the $EDITOR opens in which Alice makes changes, and then saves them.

Superuser Accounts

Superuser accounts may not be managed by users who belong to the server-admins group. For example, Alice attempts to delete the pivotal superuser account:

knife user delete pivotal -c ~/.chef/alice.rb

and the following error is returned:

ERROR: You authenticated successfully to <chef_server_url> as user1
       but you are not authorized for this action
Response: Missing read permission

Alice’s action is unauthorized even with membership in the server-admins group.

Manage server-admins Group

Membership of the server-admins group is managed with a set of chef-server-ctl subcommands:

  • chef-server-ctl grant-server-admin-permissions
  • chef-server-ctl list-server-admins
  • chef-server-ctl remove-server-admin-permissions

Add Members

The grant-server-admin-permissions subcommand is used to add a user to the server-admins group. Run the command once per user added.

This subcommand has the following syntax:

chef-server-ctl grant-server-admin-permissions USER_NAME

where USER_NAME is the user to add to the list of server administrators.

For example:

chef-server-ctl grant-server-admin-permissions bob

returns:

User bob was added to server-admins. This user can now list,
read, and create users (even for orgs they are not members of)
for this Chef Infra Server.

Remove Members

The remove-server-admin-permissions subcommand is used to remove a user from the server-admins group. Run the command once per user removed.

This subcommand has the following syntax:

chef-server-ctl remove-server-admin-permissions USER_NAME

where USER_NAME is the user to remove from the list of server administrators.

For example:

chef-server-ctl remove-server-admin-permissions bob

returns:

User bob was removed from server-admins. This user can no longer
list, read, and create users for this Chef Infra Server except for where
they have default permissions (such as within an org).

List Membership

The list-server-admins subcommand is used to return a list of users who are members of the server-admins group.

This subcommand has the following syntax:

chef-server-ctl list-server-admins

and will return a list of users similar to:

pivotal
alice
bob
carol
dan

show-config

The show-config subcommand is used to view the configuration that will be generated by the reconfigure subcommand. This command is most useful in the early stages of a deployment to ensure that everything is built properly prior to installation.

This subcommand has the following syntax:

chef-server-ctl show-config

uninstall

The uninstall subcommand is used to remove the Chef Infra Server application, but without removing any of the data. This subcommand will shut down all services (including the runit process supervisor).

This subcommand has the following syntax:

chef-server-ctl uninstall

Note

To revert the uninstall subcommand, run the reconfigure subcommand (because the start subcommand is disabled by the uninstall command).

upgrade

The upgrade subcommand is used to upgrade the Chef Infra Server.

Syntax

This subcommand has the following syntax:

chef-server-ctl upgrade (options)

Options

This subcommand has the following options:

-d DIRECTORY, --chef11-data-dir DIRECTORY

The directory in which Chef Infra Server 11 data is located. Default value: a temporary directory.

-e DIRECTORY, --chef12-data-dir DIRECTORY

The directory in which Chef Infra Server 12 data is located. Default value: a temporary directory.

-f FULL_NAME, --full-org-name FULL_NAME

The full name of the Chef Infra Server organization. The full name must begin with a non-white space character and must be between 1 and 1023 characters. For example: Chef Software, Inc.. If this option is not specified, the upgrade command will prompt for it.

-h, --help

Use to show help for the chef-server-ctl upgrade subcommand.

-k KEY_PATH, --key KEY_PATH

The Chef Infra Server 11 admin.pem key for the API client. This is the key used to download Chef Infra Server 11 data. Default value: /etc/chef-server/admin.pem.

-o ORG_NAME, --org-name ORG_NAME

The name of the Chef Infra Server organization. The name must begin with a lower-case letter or digit, may only contain lower-case letters, digits, hyphens, and underscores, and must be between 1 and 255 characters. For example: chef. If this option is not specified, the upgrade command will prompt for it.

-s URL, --chef11-server-url URL

The URL for the Chef Infra Server version 11. Default value: https://localhost.

-t NUMBER, --upload-threads NUMBER

The number of threads to use when migrating cookbooks. Default value: 10.

-u USER, --user

Create a client as an admin client. This is required for any user to access Chef as an administrator.

-x URL, --chef12-server-url URL

The URL for the Chef Infra Server, version 12. Default value: https://localhost.

-y, --yes

Use to skip confirmation prompts during the upgrade process.

User Management

Use the user-create, user-delete, user-edit, user-list and user-show subcommands to manage users.

user-create

The user-create subcommand is used to create a user. (The validation key for the organization may be returned to STDOUT when creating a user with this command.)

Syntax

This subcommand has the following syntax:

chef-server-ctl user-create USER_NAME FIRST_NAME [MIDDLE_NAME] LAST_NAME EMAIL 'PASSWORD' (options)

Options

This subcommand has the following options:

-f FILE_NAME, --filename FILE_NAME

Write the USER.pem to a file instead of STDOUT.

Examples

chef-server-ctl user-create john_smith John Smith john_smith@example.com p@s5w0rD!

chef-server-ctl user-create jane_doe Jane Doe jane_doe@example.com p@s5w0rD! -f /tmp/jane_doe.key

chef-server-ctl user-create waldendude Henry David Thoreau waldendude@example.com excursions

user-delete

The user-delete subcommand is used to delete a user.

Syntax

This subcommand has the following syntax:

chef-server-ctl user-delete USER_NAME

Examples

chef-server-ctl user-delete john_smith

chef-server-ctl user-delete jane_doe

Options

This subcommand has the following options:

-R, --remove-from-admin-groups

Removes a user who is in one or more ‘admin’ groups unless that user is the only member of the ‘admin’ group(s).

user-edit

The user-edit subcommand is used to edit the details for a user. The data will be made available in the $EDITOR for editing.

Syntax

This subcommand has the following syntax:

chef-server-ctl user-edit USER_NAME

Examples

chef-server-ctl user-edit john_smith

chef-server-ctl user-edit jane_doe

user-list

The user-list subcommand is used to view a list of users.

Syntax

This subcommand has the following syntax:

chef-server-ctl user-list (options)

Options

This subcommand has the following options:

-w, --with-uri

Show the corresponding URIs.

user-show

The user-show subcommand is used to show the details for a user.

Syntax

This subcommand has the following syntax:

chef-server-ctl user-show USER_NAME (options)

Options

This subcommand has the following options:

-l, --with-orgs

Show all organizations.

Service Subcommands

This command has a built in process supervisor that ensures all of the required services are in the appropriate state at any given time. The supervisor starts two processes per service and provides the following subcommands for managing services: hup, int, kill, once, restart, service-list, start, status, stop, tail, and term.

Warning

The following commands are disabled when an external PostgreSQL database is configured for the Chef Infra Server: hup, int, kill, once, restart, start, stop, tail, and term.

hup

The hup subcommand is used to send a SIGHUP to all services. This command can also be run for an individual service by specifying the name of the service in the command.

This subcommand has the following syntax:

chef-server-ctl hup SERVICE_NAME

where SERVICE_NAME represents the name of any service that is listed after running the service-list subcommand.

int

The int subcommand is used to send a SIGINT to all services. This command can also be run for an individual service by specifying the name of the service in the command.

This subcommand has the following syntax:

chef-server-ctl int SERVICE_NAME

where SERVICE_NAME represents the name of any service that is listed after running the service-list subcommand.

kill

The kill subcommand is used to send a SIGKILL to all services. This command can also be run for an individual service by specifying the name of the service in the command.

This subcommand has the following syntax:

chef-server-ctl kill SERVICE_NAME

where SERVICE_NAME represents the name of any service that is listed after running the service-list subcommand.

once

The supervisor for the Chef Infra Server is configured to restart any service that fails, unless that service has been asked to change its state. The once subcommand is used to tell the supervisor to not attempt to restart any service that fails.

This command is useful when troubleshooting configuration errors that prevent a service from starting. Run the once subcommand followed by the status subcommand to look for services in a down state and/or to identify which services are in trouble. This command can also be run for an individual service by specifying the name of the service in the command.

This subcommand has the following syntax:

chef-server-ctl once SERVICE_NAME

where SERVICE_NAME represents the name of any service that is listed after running the service-list subcommand.

restart

The restart subcommand is used to restart all services enabled on the Chef Infra Server or to restart an individual service by specifying the name of that service in the command.

Warning

When running the Chef Infra Server in a high availability configuration, restarting all services may trigger failover.

This subcommand has the following syntax:

chef-server-ctl restart SERVICE_NAME

where SERVICE_NAME represents the name of any service that is listed after running the service-list subcommand. When a service is successfully restarted the output should be similar to:

ok: run: service_name: (pid 12345) 1s

service-list

The service-list subcommand is used to display a list of all available services. A service that is enabled is labeled with an asterisk (*).

This subcommand has the following syntax:

chef-server-ctl service-list

start

The start subcommand is used to start all services that are enabled in the Chef Infra Server. This command can also be run for an individual service by specifying the name of the service in the command.

This subcommand has the following syntax:

chef-server-ctl start SERVICE_NAME

where SERVICE_NAME represents the name of any service that is listed after running the service-list subcommand. When a service is successfully started the output should be similar to:

ok: run: service_name: (pid 12345) 1s

The supervisor for the Chef Infra Server is configured to wait seven seconds for a service to respond to a command from the supervisor. If you see output that references a timeout, it means that a signal has been sent to the process, but that the process has yet to actually comply. In general, processes that have timed out are not a big concern, unless they are failing to respond to the signals at all. If a process is not responding, use a command like the kill subcommand to stop the process, investigate the cause (if required), and then use the start subcommand to re-enable it.

status

The status subcommand is used to show the status of all services available to the Chef Infra Server. The results will vary based on the configuration of a given server. This subcommand has the following syntax:

chef-server-ctl status

and will return the status for all services. Status can be returned for individual services by specifying the name of the service as part of the command:

chef-server-ctl status SERVICE_NAME

where SERVICE_NAME represents the name of any service that is listed after running the service-list subcommand.

When service status is requested, the output should be similar to:

run: service_name: (pid 12345) 12345s; run: log: (pid 1234) 67890s

where

  • run: is the state of the service (run: or down:)
  • service_name: is the name of the service for which status is returned
  • (pid 12345) is the process identifier
  • 12345s is the uptime of the service, in seconds

For example:

down: opscode-erchef: (pid 35546) 10s

By default, runit will restart services automatically when the services fail. Therefore, runit may report the status of a service as run: even when there is an issue with that service. When investigating why a particular service is not running as it should be, look for the services with the shortest uptimes. For example, the list below indicates that the opscode-erchef should be investigated further:

run: oc-id
run: opscode-chef: (pid 4327) 13671s; run: log: (pid 4326) 13671s
run: opscode-erchef: (pid 5383) 5s; run: log: (pid 4382) 13669s

Log Files

A typical status line for a service that is running any of the Chef Infra Server front-end services is similar to the following:

run: name_of_service: (pid 1486) 7819s; run: log: (pid 1485) 7819s

where:

  • run describes the state in which the supervisor attempts to keep processes. This state is either run or down. If a service is in a down state, it should be stopped
  • name_of_service is the service name, for example: opscode-erchef
  • (pid 1486) 7819s; is the process identifier followed by the amount of time (in seconds) the service has been running
  • run: log: (pid 1485) 7819s is the log process. It is typical for a log process to have a longer run time than a service; this is because the supervisor does not need to restart the log process in order to connect the supervised process

If the service is down, the status line will appear similar to the following:

down: opscode-erchef: 3s, normally up; run: log: (pid 1485) 8526s

where

  • down indicates that the service is in a down state
  • 3s, normally up; indicates that the service is normally in a run state and that the supervisor would attempt to restart this service after a reboot

stop

The stop subcommand is used to stop all services enabled on the Chef Infra Server. This command can also be run for an individual service by specifying the name of the service in the command.

This subcommand has the following syntax:

chef-server-ctl stop SERVICE_NAME

where SERVICE_NAME represents the name of any service that is listed after running the service-list subcommand. When a service is successfully stopped the output should be similar to:

ok: down: service_name: 0s, normally up

For example:

chef-server-ctl stop

will return something similar to:

ok: down: nginx: 393s, normally up
ok: down: opscode-chef: 391s, normally up
ok: down: opscode-erchef: 391s, normally up
ok: down: opscode-solr4: 389s, normally up
ok: down: postgresql: 388s, normally up
ok: down: redis_lb: 387s, normally up

tail

The tail subcommand is used to follow all of the Chef Infra Server logs for all services. This command can also be run for an individual service by specifying the name of the service in the command.

This subcommand has the following syntax:

chef-server-ctl tail SERVICE_NAME

where SERVICE_NAME represents the name of any service that is listed after running the service-list subcommand.

term

The term subcommand is used to send a SIGTERM to all services. This command can also be run for an individual service by specifying the name of the service in the command.

This subcommand has the following syntax:

chef-server-ctl term SERVICE_NAME

where SERVICE_NAME represents the name of any service that is listed after running the service-list subcommand.

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