knife.rb Optional Settings
knife.rb Optional Settings
In addition to the default settings in a knife.rb file, there are other subcommand-specific settings that can be added. When a subcommand is run, knife will use:
- A value passed via the command-line
- A value contained in the knife.rb file
- The default value
A value passed via the command line will override a value in the knife.rb file; a value in a knife.rb file will override a default value.
Warning
Many optional settings should not be added to the knife.rb file. The reasons for not adding them can vary. For example, using --yes as a default in the knife.rb file will cause knife to always assume that “Y” is the response to any prompt, which may lead to undesirable outcomes. Other settings, such as --hide-healthy (used only with the knife status subcommand) or --bare-directories (used only with the knife list subcommand) probably aren’t used often enough (and in the same exact way) to justify adding them to the knife.rb file. In general, if the optional settings are not listed on the main knife-rb topic, then add settings only after careful consideration- Do not use optional settings in a production environment until after the setting’s performance has been validated in a safe testing environment-
The following list describes all of the optional settings that can be added to the knife-rb file:
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
knife[:admin] | Create a client as an admin client. This is required for any user to access Open Source Chef as an administrator. |
knife[:after] | Add a run-list item after the specified run-list item. |
knife[:all] | Indicates that all environments, cookbooks, cookbook versions, metadata, and/or data bags will be uploaded, deleted, generated, or tested. The context depends on which knife subcommand and argument is used. |
knife[:all_versions] | Return all available versions for every cookbook. |
knife[:admin] | Create a client as an admin client. This is required for any user to access Open Source Chef as an administrator. (This setting is available only for the open source Chef server.) |
knife[:admin_client_name] | |
knife[:bare_directories] | Prevent a directory’s children from showing when a directory matches a pattern. |
knife[:bootstrap_proxy] | The proxy server for the node that is the target of a bootstrap operation. |
knife[:bootstrap_version] | The version of the chef-client to install. |
knife[:bootstrap_template] | |
knife[:chef_repo_path] | The path to the chef-repo. |
knife[:concurrency] | The number of allowed concurrent connections. |
knife[:config_file] | The configuration file to use. |
knife[:depends] | Ensure that when a cookbook has a dependency on one (or more) cookbooks, those cookbooks are also uploaded. |
knife[:description] | The description for an environment and/or a role. |
knife[:disable_editing] | Prevent the $EDITOR from being opened and accept data as-is. |
knife[:distro] |
The template file to be used during a bootstrap operation. The following distributions are supported:
When this option is used, knife searches for the template file in the following order:
Do not use the |
knife[:download_directory] | The directory in which cookbooks are located. |
knife[:editor] | The $EDITOR that is used for all interactive commands. |
knife[:environment] | The name of the environment. |
knife[:exec] | A string of code that to be executed. |
knife[:file] | Save a private key to the specified file name. |
knife[:force] | Overwrite an existing directory. |
knife[:fqdn] | FQDN |
knife[:freeze] | Require changes to a cookbook be included as a new version. Only the --force option can override this setting. |
knife[:forward_agent] | Enable SSH agent forwarding. |
knife[:hide_healthy] | Hide nodes on which a chef-client run has occurred within the previous hour. |
knife[:host_key_verify] | Use --no-host-key-verify to disable host key verification. |
knife[:identity_file] | The SSH identity file used for authentication. Key-based authentication is recommended. |
knife[:initial] | Create a API client, typically an administrator client on a freshly-installed Chef server. |
knife[:input] | The name of a file to be used with the PUT or a POST request. |
knife[:latest] | Download the most recent version of a cookbook. |
knife[:manual] | Define a search query as a space-separated list of servers. |
knife[:method] | The request method: DELETE, GET, POST, or PUT. |
knife[:name_only] | Show only the names of modified files. |
knife[:name_status] | Show only the names of files with a status of Added, Deleted, Modified, or Type Changed. |
knife[:no_deps] | Ensure that all cookbooks to which the installed cookbook has a dependency are not installed. |
knife[:platform] | The platform for which a cookbook is designed. |
knife[:platform_version] | The version of the platform. |
knife[:pretty] | Use --no-pretty to disable pretty-print output for JSON. |
knife[:print_after] | Show data after a destructive operation. |
knife[:purge] | Entirely remove a cookbook (or cookbook version) from the Chef server. Use this action carefully because only one copy of any single file is stored on the Chef server. Consequently, purging a cookbook disables any other cookbook that references one or more files from the cookbook that has been purged. |
knife[:readme_format] | The document format of the readme file: md (markdown) and rdoc (Ruby docs). |
knife[:recurse] | Use to recursively delete, disable, or list a directory. |
knife[:repo_mode] | The layout of the local chef-repo. Possible values: static, everything, or hosted_everything. Use static for just roles, environments, cookbooks, and data bags. By default, everything and hosted_everything are dynamically selected depending on the server type. |
knife[:repository] | The path to the chef-repo. |
knife[:run_list] | A comma-separated list of roles and/or recipes to be applied. |
knife[:script_path] | A colon-separated path at which Ruby scripts are located. |
knife[:secret] | The encryption key that is used for values contained within a data bag item. |
knife[:secret_file] | The path to the file that contains the encryption key. |
knife[:server_name] | Same as node_name. Recommended configuration is to allow Ohai to collect this value during each chef-client run. |
knife[:sort_reverse] | Sort a list by last run time, descending. |
knife[:ssh_attribute] | The attribute used when opening an SSH connection. |
knife[:ssh_gateway] | The SSH tunnel or gateway that is used to run a bootstrap action on a machine that is not accessible from the workstation. |
knife[:ssh_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 prompts for the password. |
knife[:ssh_port] | The SSH port. |
knife[:ssh_user] | The SSH user name. |
knife[:template_file] | The path to a template file to be used during a bootstrap operation. |
knife[:use current_branch] | Ensure that the current branch is used. |
knife[:use_sudo] | Execute a bootstrap operation with sudo. |
knife[:user] and/or knife[:user_home]
| The user name used by knife to sign requests made by the API client to the Chef server. Authentication fails if the user name does not match the private key. |
knife[:user_key] | Save a public key to the specified file name. |
knife[:user_password] | The user password. |
knife[:yes] | Respond to all confirmation prompts with “Yes”. |
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https://docs-archive.chef.io/release/11-18/config_rb_knife_optional_settings.html
