COMMON OPTIONS

The following options may be used with any of the arguments available to the knife cookbook subcommand:

--chef-zero-port PORT

The port on which chef-zero will listen.

-c CONFIG_FILE, --config CONFIG_FILE

The configuration file to use.

-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 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 whether colored output will be used.

--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, --verbose

Set for more verbose outputs. Use -VV for maximum verbosity.

-v, --version

The version of the chef-client.

-y, --yes

Indicates that the response to all confirmation prompts will be "Yes" (and that Knife will not ask for confirmation).

-z, --local-mode

Indicates that the chef-client will be run in local mode, which allows all commands that work against the server to also work against the local chef-repo.

BULK DELETE

The bulk delete argument is used to delete cookbook files 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 cookbook bulk delete REGEX (options)

Options

This argument has the following options:

-p, --purge

Indicates that a cookbook (or cookbook version) will be removed entirely from the server. This action should be used carefully because only one copy of any single file is stored on the server. Consequently, purging a cookbook will disable any other cookbook that references one or more files from a cookbook that has been purged.

Examples

Use a regular expression to define the pattern used to bulk delete cookbooks:

$ knife cookbook bulk delete "^[0-9]{3}$" -p

CREATE

The create argument is used to create a new cookbook directory on the local machine, including the following directories and files:

  • cookbook/attributes

  • cookbook/CHANGELOG.md

  • cookbook/definitions

  • cookbook/files/default

  • cookbook/libraries

  • cookbook/metadata.rb

  • cookbook/providers

  • cookbook/README.md (or .rdoc)

  • cookbook/recipes/default.rb

  • cookbook/resources

  • cookbook/templates/default

    After the cookbook is created, it can be uploaded to the server using the knife upload argument.

    Syntax

    This argument has the following syntax:

    $ knife cookbook create COOKBOOK_NAME (options)
    

    Options

    This argument has the following options:

-C COPYRIGHT_HOLDER, --copyright COPYRIGHT_HOLDER

The name of the copyright holder. This option will place a copyright notice that contains the name of the copyright holder in each of the pre-created files. If this option is not specified, a copyright name of "your_company_name" will be used instead; it can be easily modified later.

-I LICENSE, --license LICENSE

The type of license under which a cookbook is distributed: apachev2, gplv2, gplv3, mit, or none (default). This option will place the appropriate license notice in the pre-created files: Apache v2.0 (for apachev2), GPL v2 (for gplv2), GPL v3 (for gplv3), MIT (for mit), or license 'Proprietary - All Rights Reserved (for none). Be aware of the licenses for files inside of a cookbook and be sure to follow any restrictions they describe.

-m EMAIL, --email EMAIL

The email address for the individual who maintains the cookbook. This option will place an email address in each of the pre-created files. If this option is not specified, an email name of "your_email" will be used instead; it can be easily modified later.

-o PATH, --cookbook-path PATH

The directory in which cookbook are created. This can be a colon-separated path.

-r FORMAT, --readme-format FORMAT

The document format of the readme file: md (markdown) and rdoc (Ruby docs).

Examples

To create a cookbook named "my_cookbook" with copyright, email, license, and readme format options specified, enter:

$ knife cookbook create my_cookbook -C "My Name" -m "[email protected]" -I apachev2 -r md

to return something like:

** Creating cookbook my_cookbook
** Creating README for cookbook: my_cookbook
** Creating metadata for cookbook: my_cookbook

DELETE

The delete argument is used to delete a specified cookbook or cookbook version on the server (and not locally).

Syntax

This argument has the following syntax:

$ knife cookbook delete COOKBOOK_NAME [COOKBOOK_VERSION] (options)

Options

This argument has the following options:

-a, --all

Indicates that a cookbook and every version of that cookbook will be deleted.

COOKBOOK_VERSION

The version of a cookbook to be deleted. If a cookbook has only one version, this option does not need to be specified. If a cookbook has more than one version and this option is not specified, Knife will prompt for a version.

-p, --purge

Indicates that a cookbook (or cookbook version) will be removed entirely from the server. This action should be used carefully because only one copy of any single file is stored on the server. Consequently, purging a cookbook will disable any other cookbook that references one or more files from a cookbook that has been purged.

Examples

$ knife cookbook delete cookbook_name version

For example:

$ knife cookbook delete smartmon 0.8

Type Y to confirm a deletion.

DOWNLOAD

The download argument is used to download a cookbook from the server to the current working directory.

Syntax

This argument has the following syntax:

$ knife cookbook download COOKBOOK_NAME [COOKBOOK_VERSION] (options)

Options

This argument has the following options:

-d DOWNLOAD_DIRECTORY, --dir DOWNLOAD_DIRECTORY

The directory into which a cookbook will be downloaded.

-f, --force

Indicates that an existing directory will be overwritten.

-N, --latest

Indicates that the most recent version of a cookbook will be downloaded.

Examples

To download a cookbook named "smartmon", enter:

$ knife cookbook download smartmon

LIST

The list argument is used to view a list of cookbooks that are currently available on the server. The list will contain only the most recent version for each cookbook by default.

Syntax

This argument has the following syntax:

$ knife cookbook list (options)

Options

This argument has the following options:

-a, --all

Indicates that all available versions of each cookbook will be returned.

-w, --with-uri

Indicates that the corresponding URIs will be shown.

Examples

To view a list of cookbooks:

$ knife cookbook list

METADATA

The metadata argument is used to generate the metadata for one or more cookbooks.

Syntax

This argument has the following syntax:

$ knife cookbook metadata (options)

Options

This argument has the following options:

-a, --all

Indicates that metadata should be generated for all cookbooks, and not just for a specified cookbook.

-o PATH:PATH, --cookbook-path PATH:PATH

The directory in which cookbook are created. This can be a colon-separated path.

Examples

$ knife cookbook metadata -a

METADATA FROM FILE

The metadata from file argument is used to load the metadata for a cookbook from a file.

Syntax

This argument has the following syntax:

$ knife cookbook metadata from file FILE

Options

This command does not have any specific options.

Examples

$ knife cookbook metadta from file /path/to/file

SHOW

The show argument is used to view information about a cookbook, parts of a cookbook (attributes, definitions, files, libraries, providers, recipes, resources, and templates), or a file that is associated with a cookbook (including attributes such as checksum or specificity).

Syntax

This argument has the following syntax:

$ knife cookbook show COOKBOOK_NAME [COOKBOOK_VERSION] [PART...] [FILE_NAME] (options)

Options

This argument has the following options:

COOKBOOK_VERSION

The version of a cookbook to be shown. If a cookbook has only one version, this option does not need to be specified. If a cookbook has more than one version and this option is not specified, a list of cookbook versions will be returned.

-f FQDN, --fqdn FQDN

The FQDN of the host.

FILE_NAME

The name of a file that is associated with a cookbook.

-p PLATFORM, --platform PLATFORM

The platform for which a cookbook is designed.

PART

The part of the cookbook to show: attributes, definitions, files, libraries, providers, recipes, resources, or templates. More than one part can be specified.

-V PLATFORM_VERSION, --platform-version PLATFORM_VERSION

The version of the platform.

-w, --with-uri

Indicates that the corresponding URIs will be shown.

Examples

To get the list of available versions of a cookbook named "getting-started", enter:

$ knife cookbook show getting-started

to return something like:

getting-started   0.3.0  0.2.0

To show a list of data about a cookbook using the name of the cookbook and the version, enter:

$ knife cookbook show getting-started 0.3.0

to return something like:

attributes:
  checksum:     fa0fc4abf3f6787aeb5c3c5c35de667c
  name:         default.rb
  path:         attributes/default.rb
  specificity:  default
  url:          https://somelongurlhere.com
chef_type:      cookbook_version
cookbook_name:  getting-started
definitions:    []
files:          []
frozen?:        false
json_class:     Chef::CookbookVersion
libraries:      []

To only view data about "templates", enter:

$ knife cookbook show getting-started 0.3.0 templates

to return something like:

checksum:     a29d6f254577b830091f140c3a78b1fe
name:         chef-getting-started.txt.erb
path:         templates/default/chef-getting-started.txt.erb
specificity:  default
url:          https://someurlhere.com

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.

TEST

The test argument is used to test a cookbook for syntax errors. This argument uses Ruby syntax checking to verify every file in a cookbook that ends in .rb and Embedded Ruby (ERB).

Syntax

This argument has the following syntax:

$ knife cookbook test COOKBOOK_NAME (options)

Options

This argument has the following options:

-a, --all

Indicates that all cookbooks will be tested.

-o PATH:PATH, --cookbook-path PATH:PATH

The directory in which cookbook are created. This can be a colon-separated path.

Examples

$ knife cookbook test cookbook_name

UPLOAD

The upload argument is used to upload one or more cookbooks (and any files that are associated with those cookbooks) from a local repository to the server. Only files that do not already exist on the server will be uploaded.

Note

Use a chefignore file to prevent the upload of specific files and file types, such as temporary files or files placed in folders by version control systems. The chefignore file must be located in the root of the cookbook repository and must use rules similar to filename globbing (as defined by the Ruby File.fnmatch syntax).

Syntax

This argument has the following syntax:

$ knife cookbook upload [COOKBOOK_NAME...] (options)

Options

This argument has the following options:

-a, --all

Indicates that all cookbooks will be uploaded.

-d, --include-dependencies

Indicates that when a cookbook has a dependency on one (or more) cookbooks, those cookbooks will also be uploaded.

--force

Indicates that a cookbook should be updated even if the --freeze flag has been set.

--freeze

Indicates that a cookbook cannot be modified; any changes to this cookbook must be included as a new version. Only the --force option can override this setting.

-o PATH:PATH, --cookbook-path PATH:PATH

The directory in which cookbook are created. This can be a colon-separated path.

Examples

$ knife cookbook upload cookbook_name

To upload a cookbook, and then prevent other users from being able to make changes to it, enter:

$ knife cookbook upload redis --freeze

to return something like:

Uploading redis...
Upload completed

If a cookbook is frozen and the --force option is not specified, Knife will return an error message similar to the following:

Uploading redis...
ERROR: Version 0.1.6 of cookbook redis is frozen. Use --force to override.

AUTHOR

Chef