Install ChefDK

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Use the Chef Development Kit installer to set up ChefDK on a workstation. ChefDK includes the chef-client, an embedded version of Ruby, RubyGems, and OpenSSL, as well as our tools: Test Kitchen, Cookstyle, Foodcritic and ChefSpec. The Chef installer puts everything into a unique directory (/opt/chefdk/ on macOS / Linux and C:\opscode\chefdk\ on Windows) so that these components will not interfere with other applications that may be running on the target machine.

Note

The Chef installer must run as a privileged user.

Note

Chef Workstation gives you everything you need to get started with Chef — ad hoc remote execution, remote scanning, configuration tasks, cookbook creation tools as well as robust dependency and testing software — all in one easy-to-install package. Chef Workstation replaces ChefDK, combining all the existing features with new features, such as ad-hoc task support and the new Chef Workstation desktop application. Chef will continue to maintain ChefDK, but new development will take place in Chef Workstation without backporting features.

Install

macOS

Note

ChefDK works without installing Xcode, but Xcode is required for native Ruby Gem installation. Run xcode-select --install from the terminal to install Xcode.

  1. Visit the ChefDK downloads page and select the appropriate package for your macOS version. Click on the Download button.
  2. Follow the steps to accept the license and install the Chef development kit. You will have the option to change your install location; by default the installer uses the /opt/chefdk/ directory.

Windows

  1. Visit the ChefDK downloads page and select the appropriate package for your Windows version. Click on the Download button.
  2. Follow the steps to accept the license and install the Chef development kit. You will have the option to change your install location; by default the installer uses the C:\opscode\chefdk\ directory.
  3. Optional: Set the default shell. On Microsoft Windows it is strongly recommended to use Windows PowerShell and cmd.exe.

See the ChefDK on Windows guide for additional caveats and configuration options specific to Windows.

Linux

  1. Visit the ChefDK downloads page and download the appropriate package for your distribution:

    wget https://packages.chef.io/files/stable/chefdk/3.2.30/ubuntu/18.04/chefdk_3.2.30-1_amd64.deb

  2. Use your distribution’s package manager to install the Chef Development Kit:

    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux:

      rpm -Uvh chefdk-3.2.30-1.el7.x86_64.rpm

    • Debian/Ubuntu:

      dpkg -i chefdk_3.2.30-1_amd64.deb

Next Steps

Now that you’ve installed ChefDK, proceed to the ChefDK Setup guide to configure your ChefDK installation.