knife-environment (1)

The man page for the knife environment subcommand. an environment is a way to map an organizations real-life workflow to what can be configured and managed when using server. every organization begins with a single environment called the _default environment, which cannot be modified (or deleted). additional environments can be created to reflect each organizations patterns and workflow. for example, creating production, staging, testing, and development environments. generally, an environment is also associated with one (or more) cookbook versions. the knife environment subcommand is used to manage environments within a single organization on the server.

COMMON OPTIONS

The following options may be used with any of the arguments available to the knife environment 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.

COMPARE

The compare argument is used to compare the cookbook version constraints that are set on one (or more) environments.

Syntax

This argument has the following syntax:

$ knife environment compare [ENVIRONMENT_NAME...] (options)

Options

This argument has the following options:

-a, --all

Indicates that all environments found at the specified path will be uploaded.

-m, --mismatch

Use to show only matching versions.

Example

To compare cookbook versions for a single environment:

$ knife environment compare development

to return something similar to:

           development
apache     2.3.1
windows    4.1.2

To compare cookbook versions for multiple environments:

$ knife environment compare development staging

to return something similar to:

              development    staging
apache        2.3.1          1.2.2
windows       4.1.2          1.0.0
postgresql    1.0.0          1.0.0

To compare all cookbook versions for all environments:

$ knife environment compare --all

to return something similar to:

                   staging  development
ulimit             latest   latest
redisio            latest   latest
journly            latest   latest
aws                latest   latest
test               latest   latest
unicorn            latest   latest
sensu              latest   latest
runit              latest   latest
templater          latest   latest
powershell         latest   latest
openssl            latest   latest
rbenv              latest   latest
rabbitmq           latest   latest
postgresql         latest   latest
mysql              latest   latest
ohai               latest   latest
git                latest   latest
erlang             latest   latest
ssh_known_hosts    latest   latest
nginx              latest   latest
database           latest   latest
yum                latest   latest
xfs                latest   latest
apt                latest   latest
dmg                latest   latest
chef_handler       latest   latest
windows            1.0.0    4.1.2

CREATE

The create argument is used to add an environment object to the server. When this argument is run, Knife will open $EDITOR to enable editing of the ENVIRONMENT description field (unless a description is specified as part of the command). When finished, Knife will add the environment to the server.

Syntax

This argument has the following syntax:

$ knife environment create ENVIRONMENT_NAME -d DESCRIPTION

Options

This argument has the following options:

-d DESCRIPTION, --description DESCRIPTION

The description of the environment. This value will populate the description field for the environment on the server.

Examples

To create an environment named "dev" with a description of "The development environment.":

$ knife environment create dev -d "The development environment."

DELETE

The delete argument is used to delete an environment from a server.

Syntax

This argument has the following syntax:

$ knife environment delete ENVIRONMENT_NAME

Options

This command does not have any specific options.

Examples

To delete an environment named "dev", enter:

$ knife environment delete dev

Type Y to confirm a deletion.

EDIT

The edit argument is used to edit the attributes of an environment. When this argument is run, Knife will open $EDITOR to enable editing of ENVIRONMENT attributes. When finished, Knife will update the server with those changes.

Syntax

This argument has the following syntax:

$ knife environment edit ENVIRONMENT_NAME

Options

This command does not have any specific options.

Examples

To edit an environment named "devops", enter:

$ knife environment edit devops

FROM FILE

The from file argument is used to add or update an environment using a JSON or Ruby DSL description. It must be run with the create or edit arguments.

Syntax

This argument has the following syntax:

$ knife environment [create | edit] from file FILE (options)

Options

This argument has the following options:

-a, --all

Indicates that all environments found at the specified path will be uploaded.

Examples

To add an environment using data contained in a JSON file:

$ knife environment create devops from file "path to JSON file"

or:

$ knife environment edit devops from file "path to JSON file"

LIST

The list argument is used to list all of the environments that are currently available on the server.

Syntax

This argument has the following syntax:

$ knife environment list -w

Options

This argument has the following options:

-w, --with-uri

Indicates that the corresponding URIs will be shown.

Examples

To view a list of environments:

$ knife environment list -w

SHOW

The show argument is used to display information about the specified environment.

Syntax

This argument has the following syntax:

$ knife environment show ENVIRONMENT_NAME

Options

This command does not have any specific options.

Examples

To view information about the "dev" environment enter:

$ knife environment show dev

to return:

% knife environment show dev
chef_type:            environment
cookbook_versions:
default_attributes:
description:
json_class:           Chef::Environment
name:                 dev
override_attributes:

\\
\\
\\
\\

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.

AUTHOR

Chef