# Chef Workstation

**URL:** https://discourse.chef.io/c/workstation/28.md

[Latest](https://discourse.chef.io/latest.md) · [Categories](https://discourse.chef.io/categories.md)

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## [About the Chef Workstation category](https://discourse.chef.io/t/about-the-chef-workstation-category/21508)

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**Author:** [@jeffreystrauss](https://discourse.chef.io/u/jeffreystrauss)\
**Replies:** 0

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Chef Workstation is Chef's modern developer tool kit that includes Chef Infra Client, InSpec, and Habitat plus a host of resources, helpers, and testing tools that make automating infrastructure, application, and securit…

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## [Knife search command issue on latest chef workstation 26.0.18](https://discourse.chef.io/t/knife-search-command-issue-on-latest-chef-workstation-26-0-18/24711)

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**Author:** [@Steven.Z](https://discourse.chef.io/u/Steven.Z)\
**Replies:** 3\
**Last updated:** [July 17, 2026, 10:41am UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/knife-search-command-issue-on-latest-chef-workstation-26-0-18/24711 "2026-07-17T10:41:28Z")

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if you use knife search include condition "TO", "AND", "OR", "NOT" it will show bleow errors ERROR: Chef::Exceptions::InvalidSearchQuery: Invalid search object type nil (NilClass), must be a String or Symbol.Usage: sear…

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## [Knife compliance bug in new chef-workstation 26?](https://discourse.chef.io/t/knife-compliance-bug-in-new-chef-workstation-26/24712)

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**Author:** [@Steven.Z](https://discourse.chef.io/u/Steven.Z)\
**Replies:** 1\
**Last updated:** [May 12, 2026, 8:13am UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/knife-compliance-bug-in-new-chef-workstation-26/24712 "2026-05-12T08:13:58Z")

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knife compliance internal /hab/pkgs/core/ruby3\_4/3.4.8/20260306111612/lib/ruby/3.4.0/rubygems/core\_ext/kernel\_require.rb:136:in 'Kernel#require': cannot load such file -- html/table (LoadError)from internal /hab/pkgs/co…

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## [Chef Workstation 26.0.18 not shown on download page](https://discourse.chef.io/t/chef-workstation-26-0-18-not-shown-on-download-page/24646)

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**Author:** [@Steven.Z](https://discourse.chef.io/u/Steven.Z)\
**Replies:** 2\
**Last updated:** [April 20, 2026, 1:05pm UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/chef-workstation-26-0-18-not-shown-on-download-page/24646 "2026-04-20T13:05:49Z")

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Hi guys, Did you find the link of latest Chef Workstation 26.0.18 from your download page? Mine is still 25.13.7.

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## [Chef\_environment](https://discourse.chef.io/t/chef-environment/24252)

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**Author:** [@charr](https://discourse.chef.io/u/charr)\
**Replies:** 5\
**Last updated:** [September 3, 2025, 7:24pm UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/chef-environment/24252 "2025-09-03T19:24:12Z")

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I am looking for a way to override the node.chef\_environment either with a kitchen.yml or a policy file. The backstory is we have cookbooks written for the old role base instead of policy files. These cookbooks have ite…

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## [Test Kitchen GitHub Action Ignoring Local Chef Config](https://discourse.chef.io/t/test-kitchen-github-action-ignoring-local-chef-config/24089)

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**Author:** [@nourshoreibah](https://discourse.chef.io/u/nourshoreibah)\
**Replies:** 3\
**Last updated:** [July 2, 2025, 2:14pm UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/test-kitchen-github-action-ignoring-local-chef-config/24089 "2025-07-02T14:14:27Z")

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Hello. I'm using the test-kitchen GitHub Action and am running into trouble with chef-cli not using my local Chef config. When I run knife config show in a step before the Test Kitchen action, it correctly finds my conf…

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## [Chef vault issue with workstation](https://discourse.chef.io/t/chef-vault-issue-with-workstation/23990)

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**Author:** [@priyanshu](https://discourse.chef.io/u/priyanshu)\
**Replies:** 0\
**Last updated:** [April 30, 2025, 4:34am UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/chef-vault-issue-with-workstation/23990 "2025-04-30T04:34:11Z")

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I installed chef workstation for opensource but see this error when trying to decrypt chef vault. Only create function of chef vault is working but edit update delete functions are showing this error. kindly assist. ER…

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## [Chef Vault Issue](https://discourse.chef.io/t/chef-vault-issue/23922)

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**Author:** [@priyanshu](https://discourse.chef.io/u/priyanshu)\
**Replies:** 2\
**Last updated:** [April 29, 2025, 7:01am UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/chef-vault-issue/23922 "2025-04-29T07:01:58Z")

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Hi Community ! Good Day I am trying to use chef vault in my infra but after creating vault i am unable to perform any function such as update/show/delete and getting this error when running from my workstation - Kindly…

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## [Error in connecting chef-server with node](https://discourse.chef.io/t/error-in-connecting-chef-server-with-node/23745)

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**Author:** [@vishn\_uchandra28](https://discourse.chef.io/u/vishn_uchandra28)\
**Replies:** 0\
**Last updated:** [March 1, 2025, 3:44pm UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/error-in-connecting-chef-server-with-node/23745 "2025-03-01T15:44:34Z")

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Hey, I am doing bootstraping to connect chef-server with node but getting an error ERROR:You authenticated successfully to https://api.chef.io/organisation/richkid as Vishnu but you are not authorised for this action R…

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## [Inconsistency in client\_key loading cli/knife](https://discourse.chef.io/t/inconsistency-in-client-key-loading-cli-knife/23537)

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**Author:** [@Roland\_Moriz](https://discourse.chef.io/u/Roland_Moriz)\
**Replies:** 2\
**Last updated:** [December 12, 2024, 10:59pm UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/inconsistency-in-client-key-loading-cli-knife/23537 "2024-12-12T22:59:00Z")

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I'm still on a traditional layout working successfully with knife: Layout $WORKSPACE/.chef/knife.rb $WORKSPACE/.chef/username.pem $WORKSPACE/roles/ $WORKSPACE/cookbooks/ $WORKSPACE/nodes/ … relevant contents $WORKSPAC…

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## [Policyfiles written for ChefDK](https://discourse.chef.io/t/policyfiles-written-for-chefdk/23446)

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**Author:** [@darkn3rd](https://discourse.chef.io/u/darkn3rd)\
**Replies:** 2\
**Last updated:** [November 17, 2024, 9:36pm UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/policyfiles-written-for-chefdk/23446 "2024-11-17T21:36:40Z")

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I understand that ChefDK is deprecated and we should be using Chef Workstation. However, I am finding many official tutorials are still written for ChefDK and have not been updated. One of them in particular is one on …

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## [How to use policyfiles for local/testing w supermarket cookbooks?](https://discourse.chef.io/t/how-to-use-policyfiles-for-local-testing-w-supermarket-cookbooks/23434)

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**Author:** [@darkn3rd](https://discourse.chef.io/u/darkn3rd)\
**Replies:** 3\
**Last updated:** [November 12, 2024, 1:57am UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/how-to-use-policyfiles-for-local-testing-w-supermarket-cookbooks/23434 "2024-11-12T01:57:24Z")

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I want to write a blog to show how to develop/test locally with Chef and Vagrant using cookbooks from the Supermarket. So I need an easy way to fetch external cookbooks for local test. I came across Policyfiles, but th…

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## [LoadError : "cannot load such file -- bcrypt\_pbkdf\_ext"](https://discourse.chef.io/t/loaderror-cannot-load-such-file-bcrypt-pbkdf-ext/23202)

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**Author:** [@karthjag](https://discourse.chef.io/u/karthjag)\
**Replies:** 0\
**Last updated:** [July 26, 2024, 6:55am UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/loaderror-cannot-load-such-file-bcrypt-pbkdf-ext/23202 "2024-07-26T06:55:56Z")

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I, \[2024-07-26T12:04:26.065268 #2584\] INFO -- Kitchen: -----\> Starting Kitchen (v2.2.5) I, \[2024-07-26T12:04:40.283267 #2584\] INFO -- Kitchen: -----\> Cleaning up any prior instances of \<default-roboxes-x64-rhel8\> I, \[2…

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## [Ohai command not pulling in custom plugin](https://discourse.chef.io/t/ohai-command-not-pulling-in-custom-plugin/23007)

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**Author:** [@Noble](https://discourse.chef.io/u/Noble)\
**Replies:** 0\
**Last updated:** [April 16, 2024, 3:30pm UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/ohai-command-not-pulling-in-custom-plugin/23007 "2024-04-16T15:30:15Z")

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Ohai.plugin(:myPlugin) do provides 'my\_asset\_tag' collect\_data do my\_uid = File.open('/usr/local/lp/etc/lp-UID').first.chomp my\_asset\_tag my\_uid end end The plugin shows up in the /etc/chef/ohai directory…

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## [Testing chef-vault in kitchen without the deprecated chef-vault cookbook](https://discourse.chef.io/t/testing-chef-vault-in-kitchen-without-the-deprecated-chef-vault-cookbook/22776)

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**Author:** [@christo](https://discourse.chef.io/u/christo)\
**Replies:** 0\
**Last updated:** [February 7, 2024, 6:02pm UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/testing-chef-vault-in-kitchen-without-the-deprecated-chef-vault-cookbook/22776 "2024-02-07T18:02:24Z")

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Hi, I used to test cookbooks that utilize chef-vault with the chef-vault cookbook and node\['chef-vault'\]\['databag\_fallback'\] enabled in my kitchen.yml. I know that the chef-vault cookbook is deprecated, but I did not f…

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## [Configure docker image chef/chefworkstation](https://discourse.chef.io/t/configure-docker-image-chef-chefworkstation/22644)

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**Author:** [@bartv](https://discourse.chef.io/u/bartv)\
**Replies:** 4\
**Last updated:** [December 11, 2023, 8:18pm UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/configure-docker-image-chef-chefworkstation/22644 "2023-12-11T20:18:46Z")

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Hello, I have trouble configuring chefworkstation running in a docker container for use in jenkins pipeline. I managed to configure knife using a .chef folder in the docker working directory, but chef commands are not …

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## [Attribute used in http\_request](https://discourse.chef.io/t/attribute-used-in-http-request/22392)

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**Author:** [@ls50800977](https://discourse.chef.io/u/ls50800977)\
**Replies:** 1\
**Last updated:** [October 4, 2023, 2:11pm UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/attribute-used-in-http-request/22392 "2023-10-04T14:11:35Z")

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Hi Community, I am new to Chef and am trying to resolve a problem. Basically what I need is to read a value from a local file and set it as a variable which gets used later in a http request as the token. I have the re…

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## [Error while running a cookbook - Undefined method \`depends' for cookbook](https://discourse.chef.io/t/error-while-running-a-cookbook-undefined-method-depends-for-cookbook/22283)

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**Author:** [@VInothini](https://discourse.chef.io/u/VInothini)\
**Replies:** 3\
**Last updated:** [September 15, 2023, 4:08pm UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/error-while-running-a-cookbook-undefined-method-depends-for-cookbook/22283 "2023-09-15T16:08:23Z")

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I'm getting below error though I added depends 'alphard-python' in metadata.rb and added to the run list. How do I resolve this dependency error? Recipe Compile Error in /var/chef/cache/cookbooks/wavefront/recipes/defau…

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## [Chef Workstation free](https://discourse.chef.io/t/chef-workstation-free/22374)

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**Author:** [@adam-number-1](https://discourse.chef.io/u/adam-number-1)\
**Replies:** 0\
**Last updated:** [September 12, 2023, 10:59am UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/chef-workstation-free/22374 "2023-09-12T10:59:31Z")

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I am new to chef and I would like to try some free version of Chef Workstation. I registered for downloading the 0.4.2 version, but someone called me telling me it actually contains commercial products... how to understa…

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## [Vulnerability Scan for Chef](https://discourse.chef.io/t/vulnerability-scan-for-chef/22358)

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**Author:** [@sk185227](https://discourse.chef.io/u/sk185227)\
**Replies:** 0\
**Last updated:** [September 6, 2023, 7:24am UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/vulnerability-scan-for-chef/22358 "2023-09-06T07:24:31Z")

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Which tool can be used to check the security vulnerabilities in Chef cookbooks.

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## [Can't bootstrap node with knife due to ssh issue](https://discourse.chef.io/t/cant-bootstrap-node-with-knife-due-to-ssh-issue/22265)

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**Author:** [@kxia](https://discourse.chef.io/u/kxia)\
**Replies:** 5\
**Last updated:** [August 11, 2023, 2:56am UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/cant-bootstrap-node-with-knife-due-to-ssh-issue/22265 "2023-08-11T02:56:15Z")

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Hello, Knife can't bootstrap a node with an error below: $ knife bootstrap -x chefclient -p 22 -i /home/chefclient/.ssh/id\_rsa -N node name -E environment --sudo --bootstrap-version '12.7.2' --run-list zulu\_jdk Doi…

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## [Knife bootstrapping is not working in say ssh authentication fails](https://discourse.chef.io/t/knife-bootstrapping-is-not-working-in-say-ssh-authentication-fails/22253)

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**Author:** [@sum11545](https://discourse.chef.io/u/sum11545)\
**Replies:** 0\
**Last updated:** [July 20, 2023, 11:43am UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/knife-bootstrapping-is-not-working-in-say-ssh-authentication-fails/22253 "2023-07-20T11:43:53Z")

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command which i use :- knife bootstrap 172.31.29.129 --ssh-user ec2-user --sudo -i node.pem -N node1 error :- Are you sure you want to continue connecting ? (Y/N) Y WARN: \[SSH\] PTY requested: stderr will be merged in…

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## [Why use the workstation](https://discourse.chef.io/t/why-use-the-workstation/22190)

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**Author:** [@JihyeongL](https://discourse.chef.io/u/JihyeongL)\
**Replies:** 0\
**Last updated:** [July 7, 2023, 8:00am UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/why-use-the-workstation/22190 "2023-07-07T08:00:10Z")

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the question is "Is it possible to upload a cookbook without the workstation?" cuz, between the workstation and the chef-server, they use a restful API, thus I think it is possible to upload the cookbook without workstat…

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## [Windows Node in Chef](https://discourse.chef.io/t/windows-node-in-chef/22186)

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**Author:** [@aayush18602](https://discourse.chef.io/u/aayush18602)\
**Replies:** 1\
**Last updated:** [July 3, 2023, 5:23am UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/windows-node-in-chef/22186 "2023-07-03T05:23:48Z")

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Hi I have installed and setup my Workstation and Chef Server on Amazon Linux and I want to bootstrap into Windows node. I could not find the appropriate knife bootstrap command through which I can bootstrap it

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## [Long paths in Windows](https://discourse.chef.io/t/long-paths-in-windows/22023)

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**Author:** [@mahohmei](https://discourse.chef.io/u/mahohmei)\
**Replies:** 2\
**Last updated:** [June 13, 2023, 4:40pm UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/long-paths-in-windows/22023 "2023-06-13T16:40:31Z")

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Trying to kitchen converge using Chef's own CIS remediation "canned" code, and I get the following failures due to the 260-character limit in Windows. I have already tried "git config --global core.longpaths true", and I…

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## [Chef workstation issues bootstrapping](https://discourse.chef.io/t/chef-workstation-issues-bootstrapping/22009)

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**Author:** [@brandon\_rli](https://discourse.chef.io/u/brandon_rli)\
**Replies:** 2\
**Last updated:** [April 21, 2023, 1:09pm UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/chef-workstation-issues-bootstrapping/22009 "2023-04-21T13:09:51Z")

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Having issues bootstrapping Windows 2022 R2 servers with chef workstation with following versions. 23.4.1032 23.3.1030 However 22.12.1024 works correctly. We have tried to install these versions on both an old 2012 R…

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## [Pass resource name to cron command?](https://discourse.chef.io/t/pass-resource-name-to-cron-command/22007)

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**Author:** [@Jacob](https://discourse.chef.io/u/Jacob)\
**Replies:** 0\
**Last updated:** [April 17, 2023, 6:29pm UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/pass-resource-name-to-cron-command/22007 "2023-04-17T18:29:33Z")

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Hi! I am looking for how to re-use the name of the cron resource as a variable in the cron entry it writes. In other words, I'd like to pass the name chef uses to refer to the the cron entry as a parameter to the scrip…

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## [Latest version of chef workstation is broken and all previous version download links are not working](https://discourse.chef.io/t/latest-version-of-chef-workstation-is-broken-and-all-previous-version-download-links-are-not-working/21932)

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**Author:** [@red888](https://discourse.chef.io/u/red888)\
**Replies:** 1\
**Last updated:** [April 3, 2023, 7:52am UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/latest-version-of-chef-workstation-is-broken-and-all-previous-version-download-links-are-not-working/21932 "2023-04-03T07:52:08Z")

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I have this problem: Workstation 23.2.1028 - knife ssl - uninitialized class variable · Issue #3072 · chef/chef-workstation · GitHub The only versions for mac aarch64 I can download are 23.3.1030 and 23.2.1028, all the …

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## [Chef capture can not unmarshal array](https://discourse.chef.io/t/chef-capture-can-not-unmarshal-array/21856)

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**Author:** [@hinrichssj](https://discourse.chef.io/u/hinrichssj)\
**Replies:** 1\
**Last updated:** [February 20, 2023, 8:59pm UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/chef-capture-can-not-unmarshal-array/21856 "2023-02-20T20:59:04Z")

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Hey All, I am attempting to run chef capture \[NODE\_NAME\] -p \[PROFILE\] on a simple node to upgrade from Chef 13 to 18. (Upgrade Lab: Chef Infra Client 12 to latest) I get an error that seems to be with any cookbook whic…

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## [How to copy cookbook versions, data bags and policyfiles from one Chef organization to another](https://discourse.chef.io/t/how-to-copy-cookbook-versions-data-bags-and-policyfiles-from-one-chef-organization-to-another/21849)

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**Author:** [@bartv](https://discourse.chef.io/u/bartv)\
**Replies:** 0\
**Last updated:** [February 13, 2023, 12:34pm UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/how-to-copy-cookbook-versions-data-bags-and-policyfiles-from-one-chef-organization-to-another/21849 "2023-02-13T12:34:51Z")

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Hello, I'm looking for an (easy) way to copy Chef artifacts like cookbooks (but also specific versions), databags and policyfiles from one Chef orga to another. I want to set up a test organization and copy over all art…

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