breakpoint Resource

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To suggest a change, edit the breakpoint.rb file and submit a pull request to the Chef Infra Client repository.

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Use the breakpoint resource to add breakpoints to recipes. Run the chef-shell in Chef Infra 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.

New in Chef Infra Client 12.0.

Syntax

The full syntax for all of the properties that are available to the breakpoint resource is:

breakpoint 'name' do
  action      Symbol # defaults to :break if not specified
end

where:

breakpoint is the resource.
name is the name given to the resource block.
action identifies which steps Chef Infra Client will take to bring the node into the desired state.

Actions

The breakpoint resource has the following actions:

:break: Add a breakpoint for use with chef-shell (default)
:nothing: This resource block does not act unless notified by another resource to take action. Once notified, this resource block either runs immediately or is queued up to run at the end of a Chef Infra 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 at `~/.chef/config.rb` and any JSON attributes passed. 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 Infra Client. During startup, it reads the Chef Infra Client configuration file from `~/.chef/client.rb` and contacts the Chef Infra Server to get the node's run_list, attributes, and cookbooks. Chef Infra 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
If a NAMED_CONF is given, chef-shell will load ~/.chef/NAMED_CONF/chef_shell.rb
If no NAMED_CONF is given chef-shell will load ~/.chef/chef_shell.rb if it exists
If no chef_shell.rb can be found, chef-shell falls back to load:
- /etc/chef/client.rb if -z option is given.
- /etc/chef/solo.rb if –solo-legacy-mode option is given.
- .chef/config.rb if -s option is given.
- .chef/knife.rb if -s option is given.

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 Chef Infra Client. For example, to configure chef-shell to authenticate to the Chef Infra 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 Infra Client

By default, chef-shell loads in standalone mode and does not connect to the Chef Infra Server. The chef-shell can be run as a Chef Infra Client to verify functionality that is only available when Chef Infra Client connects to the Chef Infra 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 Infra 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 Infra Server, chef-shell can list, show, search for and edit cookbooks, clients, nodes, roles, environments, policyfiles, and data bags.

The syntax for managing objects on the Chef Infra 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

Where:

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”, enter:

chef (preprod) > nodes.list

Which will return something similar to:

=> [node[i-f09a939b], node[i-049a936f], node[i-eaaaa581], node[i-9154b1fb],
    node[i-6a213101], node[i-c2687aa9], node[i-7abeaa11], node[i-4eb8ac25],
    node[i-9a2030f1], node[i-a06875cb], node[i-145f457f], node[i-e032398b],
    node[i-dc8c98b7], node[i-6afdf401], node[i-f49b119c], node[i-5abfab31],
    node[i-78b8ac13], node[i-d99678b3], node[i-02322269], node[i-feb4a695],
    node[i-9e2232f5], node[i-6e213105], node[i-cdde3ba7], node[i-e8bfb083],
    node[i-743c2c1f], node[i-2eaca345], node[i-aa7f74c1], node[i-72fdf419],
    node[i-140e1e7f], node[i-f9d43193], node[i-bd2dc8d7], node[i-8e7f70e5],
    node[i-78f2e213], node[i-962232fd], node[i-4c322227], node[i-922232f9],
    node[i-c02728ab], node[i-f06c7b9b]]

The list command can take a code block, which will applied (but not saved), to each object that is returned from the server. For example:

chef (preprod) > nodes.list {|n| puts "#{n.name}: #{n.run_list}" }