breakpoint resource¶

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Use the breakpoint resource to add breakpoints to recipes. Run the chef-shell in chef-client mode, and then use those breakpoints to debug recipes. Breakpoints are ignored by the chef-client during an actual chef-client run. That said, breakpoints are typically used to debug recipes only when running them in a non-production environment, after which they are removed from those recipes before the parent cookbook is uploaded to the Chef server.

Syntax¶

A breakpoint resource block creates a breakpoint in a recipe:

breakpoint 'name' do
  action :break
end

where

:break will tell the chef-client to stop running a recipe; can only be used when the chef-client is being run in chef-shell mode

Actions¶

This resource has the following actions:

:break: Use to add a breakpoint to a recipe.
:nothing: Define this resource block to do nothing until notified by another resource to take action. When this resource is notified, this resource block is either run immediately or it is queued up to be run at the end of the Chef Client run.

Properties¶

This resource does not have any properties.

Debug Recipes with chef-shell¶

chef-shell is a recipe debugging tool that allows the use of breakpoints within recipes. chef-shell runs as an Interactive Ruby (IRb) session. chef-shell supports both recipe and attribute file syntax, as well as interactive debugging features.

Modes¶

chef-shell is tool that is run using an Interactive Ruby (IRb) session. chef-shell currently supports recipe and attribute file syntax, as well as interactive debugging features. chef-shell has three run modes:

Mode	Description
Standalone	Default. No cookbooks are loaded, and the run-list is empty.
Solo	chef-shell acts as a chef-solo client. It attempts to load the chef-solo configuration file and JSON attributes. If the JSON attributes set a run-list, it will be honored. Cookbooks will be loaded in the same way that chef-solo loads them. chef-solo mode is activated with the `-s` or `--solo` command line option, and JSON attributes are specified in the same way as for chef-solo, with `-j /path/to/chef-solo.json`.
Client	chef-shell acts as a chef-client. During startup, it reads the chef-client configuration file and contacts the Chef server to get attributes and cookbooks. The run-list will be set in the same way as normal chef-client runs. chef-client mode is activated with the `-z` or `--client` options. You can also specify the configuration file with `-c CONFIG` and the server URL with `-S SERVER_URL`.

Configure¶

chef-shell determines which configuration file to load based on the following:

If a configuration file is specified using the -c option, chef-shell will use the specified configuration file
When chef-shell is started using a named configuration as an argument, chef-shell will search for a chef-shell.rb file in that directory under ~/.chef. For example, if chef-shell is started using production as the named configuration, the chef-shell will load a configuration file from ~/.chef/production/chef_shell.rb
If a named configuration is not provided, chef-shell will attempt to load the chef-shell.rb file from the .chef directory. For example: ~/.chef/chef_shell.rb
If a chef-shell.rb file is not found, chef-shell will attempt to load the client.rb file
If a chef-shell.rb file is not found, chef-shell will attempt to load the solo.rb file

chef-shell.rb¶

The chef-shell.rb file can be used to configure chef-shell in the same way as the client.rb file is used to configure the chef-client. For example, to configure chef-shell to authenticate to the Chef server, copy the node_name, client_key, and chef_server_url settings from the config.rb file:

node_name                'your-knife-clientname'
client_key               File.expand_path('~/.chef/my-client.pem')
chef_server_url          'https://api.opscode.com/organizations/myorg'

and then add them to the chef-shell.rb file. Other configuration possibilities include disabling Ohai plugins (which will speed up the chef-shell boot process) or including arbitrary Ruby code in the chef-shell.rb file.

Run as a chef-client¶

By default, chef-shell loads in standalone mode and does not connect to the Chef server. The chef-shell can be run as a chef-client to verify functionality that is only available when the chef-client connects to the Chef server, such as search functionality or accessing data stored in data bags.

chef-shell can use the same credentials as knife when connecting to a Chef server. Make sure that the settings in chef-shell.rb are the same as those in config.rb, and then use the -z option as part of the command. For example:

$ chef-shell -z

Manage¶

When chef-shell is configured to access a Chef server, chef-shell can list, show, search for and edit cookbooks, clients, nodes, roles, environments, and data bags.

The syntax for managing objects on the Chef server is as follows:

$ chef-shell -z named_configuration

where:

named_configuration is an existing configuration file in ~/.chef/named_configuration/chef_shell.rb, such as production, staging, or test

Once in chef-shell, commands can be run against objects as follows:

$ chef (preprod) > items.command

items is the type of item to search for: cookbooks, clients, nodes, roles, environments or a data bag
command is the command: list, show, find, or edit

For example, to list all of the nodes in a configuration named “preprod”:

$ chef (preprod) > nodes.list