# Chef server will not start

**URL:** <https://discourse.chef.io/t/chef-server-will-not-start/2643>\
**Category:** Chef Infra (archive)\
**Created:** [April 8, 2012, 10:29am UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/chef-server-will-not-start/2643 "2012-04-08T10:29:35Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 10\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![David\_Montgomery](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/51bf81/32.png) [@David\_Montgomery](https://discourse.chef.io/u/David_Montgomery)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 10:29am UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/chef-server-will-not-start/2643/1 "2012-04-08T10:29:35Z")

</div>

Hi,

How do I deal with the below?

/etc/init.d/chef-server-webui start

- Starting chef-server-webui  
~ In 15468  
…fail!

root@li409-115:/etc/init.d# /etc/init.d/chef-server start

- Starting chef-server  
~ In 16011  
…fail!

There is nothing in the logs files in /var/log/chef/server.log or  
server-webui.log

starting chef client and sorl works.

So… how to resolve?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Will\_Maier](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.chef.io/will_maier/32/642_2.png) [@Will\_Maier](https://discourse.chef.io/u/Will_Maier)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 1:37pm UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/chef-server-will-not-start/2643/2 "2012-04-08T13:37:31Z")

</div>

Hi David-

On Sun, Apr 08, 2012 at 06:29:35PM +0800, David Montgomery wrote:

> How do I deal with the below?
> 
> /etc/init.d/chef-server-webui start
> 
> - Starting chef-server-webui  
> ~ In 15468  
> ...fail!
> 
> root@li409-115:/etc/init.d# /etc/init.d/chef-server start
> 
> - Starting chef-server  
> ~ In 16011  
> ...fail!
> 
> There is nothing in the logs files in /var/log/chef/server.log or  
> server-webui.log
> 
> starting chef client and sorl works.
> 
> So... how to resolve?

Increase the log level and define an output in /etc/chef/server.rb and try  
starting it again; you should see messages explaining the problem in whatever  
you designated as the log output. Details on the log settings here:

[http://wiki.opscode.com/display/chef/Chef+Configuration+Settings#ChefConfigurationSettings-logoutput](http://wiki.opscode.com/display/chef/Chef+Configuration+Settings#ChefConfigurationSettings-logoutput)

--

Will Maier

> **[wcm.aier.us — wcmaier](http://wcm.aier.us/)**
>
> Me, on the web.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![David\_Montgomery](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/51bf81/32.png) [@David\_Montgomery](https://discourse.chef.io/u/David_Montgomery)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 1:54pm UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/chef-server-will-not-start/2643/3 "2012-04-08T13:54:47Z")

</div>

Increased to fatal. Still no entry in server log.

On Sun, Apr 8, 2012 at 9:37 PM, Will Maier [wcmaier@m.aier.us](mailto:wcmaier@m.aier.us) wrote:

> Hi David-
> 
> On Sun, Apr 08, 2012 at 06:29:35PM +0800, David Montgomery wrote:
> 
> > How do I deal with the below?
> > 
> > /etc/init.d/chef-server-webui start
> > 
> > - Starting chef-server-webui  
> > ~ In 15468  
> > ...fail!
> > 
> > root@li409-115:/etc/init.d# /etc/init.d/chef-server start
> > 
> > - Starting chef-server  
> > ~ In 16011  
> > ...fail!
> > 
> > There is nothing in the logs files in /var/log/chef/server.log or  
> > server-webui.log
> > 
> > starting chef client and sorl works.
> > 
> > So... how to resolve?
> 
> Increase the log level and define an output in /etc/chef/server.rb and try  
> starting it again; you should see messages explaining the problem in whatever  
> you designated as the log output. Details on the log settings here:
> 
> [http://wiki.opscode.com/display/chef/Chef+Configuration+Settings#ChefConfigurationSettings-logoutput](http://wiki.opscode.com/display/chef/Chef+Configuration+Settings#ChefConfigurationSettings-logoutput)
> 
> --
> 
> Will Maier  
> [http://wcm.aier.us/](http://wcm.aier.us/)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Will\_Maier](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.chef.io/will_maier/32/642_2.png) [@Will\_Maier](https://discourse.chef.io/u/Will_Maier)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 1:58pm UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/chef-server-will-not-start/2643/4 "2012-04-08T13:58:17Z")

</div>

On Sun, Apr 08, 2012 at 09:54:47PM +0800, David Montgomery wrote:

> Increased to fatal. Still no entry in server log.

I'd suggest the following:

```
log_level :debug
log_location "/var/log/chef/server.log"
verbose_logging true

```

log\_level defines the minimum level a log must have to end up in your log file  
(or STDOUT); setting it to fatal would show nothing except fatal messages.

--

Will Maier

> **[wcm.aier.us — wcmaier](http://wcm.aier.us/)**
>
> Me, on the web.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![David\_Montgomery](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/51bf81/32.png) [@David\_Montgomery](https://discourse.chef.io/u/David_Montgomery)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 2:22pm UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/chef-server-will-not-start/2643/5 "2012-04-08T14:22:42Z")

</div>

Here are the outputs of the logs...

server.log  
[Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
to localhost:5984/\_all\_dbs  
[Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/id\_map  
[Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/nodes  
[Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/roles  
[Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/data\_bags  
[Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/clients  
[Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/users  
[Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/cookbooks  
[Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/sandboxes  
[Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/checksums  
[Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/environments  
[Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/id\_map/\_view/name\_to\_id  
[Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/id\_map/\_view/name\_to\_id  
[Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/id\_map/\_view/name\_to\_id  
[Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] INFO: Loading roles

server-webui.log  
[Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:19:54 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/users/\_view/all\_id  
[Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:19:54 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/id\_map/\_view/name\_to\_id

On Sun, Apr 8, 2012 at 9:58 PM, Will Maier [wcmaier@m.aier.us](mailto:wcmaier@m.aier.us) wrote:

> On Sun, Apr 08, 2012 at 09:54:47PM +0800, David Montgomery wrote:
> 
> > Increased to fatal. Still no entry in server log.
> 
> I'd suggest the following:
> 
> ```
> log_level :debug
> log_location "/var/log/chef/server.log"
> verbose_logging true
> 
> ```
> 
> log\_level defines the minimum level a log must have to end up in your log file  
> (or STDOUT); setting it to fatal would show nothing except fatal messages.
> 
> --
> 
> Will Maier  
> [http://wcm.aier.us/](http://wcm.aier.us/)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![KC\_Braunschweig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ea5d25/32.png) [@KC\_Braunschweig](https://discourse.chef.io/u/KC_Braunschweig)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 9:28pm UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/chef-server-will-not-start/2643/6 "2012-04-08T21:28:38Z")

</div>

Probably couchdb not running?

KC  
On Apr 8, 2012 7:22 AM, "David Montgomery" [davidmontgomery@gmail.com](mailto:davidmontgomery@gmail.com)  
wrote:

> Here are the outputs of the logs...
> 
> server.log  
> [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> to localhost:5984/\_all\_dbs  
> [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/id\_map  
> [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/nodes  
> [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/roles  
> [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/data\_bags  
> [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/clients  
> [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/users  
> [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/cookbooks  
> [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/sandboxes  
> [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/checksums  
> [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/environments  
> [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/id\_map/\_view/name\_to\_id  
> [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/id\_map/\_view/name\_to\_id  
> [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/id\_map/\_view/name\_to\_id  
> [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] INFO: Loading roles
> 
> server-webui.log  
> [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:19:54 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/users/\_view/all\_id  
> [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:19:54 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/id\_map/\_view/name\_to\_id
> 
> On Sun, Apr 8, 2012 at 9:58 PM, Will Maier [wcmaier@m.aier.us](mailto:wcmaier@m.aier.us) wrote:
> 
> > On Sun, Apr 08, 2012 at 09:54:47PM +0800, David Montgomery wrote:
> > 
> > > Increased to fatal. Still no entry in server log.
> > 
> > I'd suggest the following:
> > 
> > ```
> > log_level :debug
> > log_location "/var/log/chef/server.log"
> > verbose_logging true
> > 
> > ```
> > 
> > log\_level defines the minimum level a log must have to end up in your  
> > log file  
> > (or STDOUT); setting it to fatal would show nothing except fatal  
> > messages.
> > 
> > --
> > 
> > Will Maier  
> > [http://wcm.aier.us/](http://wcm.aier.us/)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![David\_Montgomery](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/51bf81/32.png) [@David\_Montgomery](https://discourse.chef.io/u/David_Montgomery)\
**Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 4:42am UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/chef-server-will-not-start/2643/7 "2012-04-09T04:42:08Z")

</div>

Yes..couchdb is running. I am rather new to chef. Is this a common  
issue with the server?

On Mon, Apr 9, 2012 at 5:28 AM, KC Braunschweig  
[kcbraunschweig@gmail.com](mailto:kcbraunschweig@gmail.com) wrote:

> Probably couchdb not running?
> 
> KC
> 
> On Apr 8, 2012 7:22 AM, "David Montgomery" [davidmontgomery@gmail.com](mailto:davidmontgomery@gmail.com)  
> wrote:
> 
> > Here are the outputs of the logs...
> > 
> > server.log  
> > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > to localhost:5984/\_all\_dbs  
> > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/id\_map  
> > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/nodes  
> > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/roles  
> > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/data\_bags  
> > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/clients  
> > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/users  
> > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/cookbooks  
> > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/sandboxes  
> > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/checksums  
> > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/environments  
> > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/id\_map/\_view/name\_to\_id  
> > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/id\_map/\_view/name\_to\_id  
> > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/id\_map/\_view/name\_to\_id  
> > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] INFO: Loading roles
> > 
> > server-webui.log  
> > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:19:54 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/users/\_view/all\_id  
> > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:19:54 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/id\_map/\_view/name\_to\_id
> > 
> > On Sun, Apr 8, 2012 at 9:58 PM, Will Maier [wcmaier@m.aier.us](mailto:wcmaier@m.aier.us) wrote:
> > 
> > > On Sun, Apr 08, 2012 at 09:54:47PM +0800, David Montgomery wrote:
> > > 
> > > > Increased to fatal. Still no entry in server log.
> > > 
> > > I'd suggest the following:
> > > 
> > > ```
> > > log_level :debug
> > > log_location "/var/log/chef/server.log"
> > > verbose_logging true
> > > 
> > > ```
> > > 
> > > log\_level defines the minimum level a log must have to end up in your  
> > > log file  
> > > (or STDOUT); setting it to fatal would show nothing except fatal  
> > > messages.
> > > 
> > > --
> > > 
> > > Will Maier  
> > > [http://wcm.aier.us/](http://wcm.aier.us/)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Jesse\_Nelson](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.chef.io/jesse_nelson/32/262_2.png) [@Jesse\_Nelson](https://discourse.chef.io/u/Jesse_Nelson)\
**Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 5:32am UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/chef-server-will-not-start/2643/8 "2012-04-09T05:32:30Z")

</div>

can try starting up the server with debug in the foreground  
"chef-server -N -ldebug" and see what it complains about.

On Mon, Apr 9, 2012 at 1:42 PM, David Montgomery  
[davidmontgomery@gmail.com](mailto:davidmontgomery@gmail.com) wrote:

> Yes..couchdb is running. I am rather new to chef. Is this a common  
> issue with the server?
> 
> On Mon, Apr 9, 2012 at 5:28 AM, KC Braunschweig  
> [kcbraunschweig@gmail.com](mailto:kcbraunschweig@gmail.com) wrote:
> 
> > Probably couchdb not running?
> > 
> > KC
> > 
> > On Apr 8, 2012 7:22 AM, "David Montgomery" [davidmontgomery@gmail.com](mailto:davidmontgomery@gmail.com)  
> > wrote:
> > 
> > > Here are the outputs of the logs...
> > > 
> > > server.log  
> > > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > > to localhost:5984/\_all\_dbs  
> > > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/id\_map  
> > > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/nodes  
> > > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/roles  
> > > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/data\_bags  
> > > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/clients  
> > > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/users  
> > > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/cookbooks  
> > > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/sandboxes  
> > > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/checksums  
> > > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/environments  
> > > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/id\_map/\_view/name\_to\_id  
> > > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/id\_map/\_view/name\_to\_id  
> > > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/id\_map/\_view/name\_to\_id  
> > > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] INFO: Loading roles
> > > 
> > > server-webui.log  
> > > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:19:54 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/users/\_view/all\_id  
> > > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:19:54 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/id\_map/\_view/name\_to\_id
> > > 
> > > On Sun, Apr 8, 2012 at 9:58 PM, Will Maier [wcmaier@m.aier.us](mailto:wcmaier@m.aier.us) wrote:
> > > 
> > > > On Sun, Apr 08, 2012 at 09:54:47PM +0800, David Montgomery wrote:
> > > > 
> > > > > Increased to fatal. Still no entry in server log.
> > > > 
> > > > I'd suggest the following:
> > > > 
> > > > ```
> > > > log_level :debug
> > > > log_location "/var/log/chef/server.log"
> > > > verbose_logging true
> > > > 
> > > > ```
> > > > 
> > > > log\_level defines the minimum level a log must have to end up in your  
> > > > log file  
> > > > (or STDOUT); setting it to fatal would show nothing except fatal  
> > > > messages.
> > > > 
> > > > --
> > > > 
> > > > Will Maier  
> > > > [http://wcm.aier.us/](http://wcm.aier.us/)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![David\_Montgomery](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/51bf81/32.png) [@David\_Montgomery](https://discourse.chef.io/u/David_Montgomery)\
**Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 5:51am UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/chef-server-will-not-start/2643/9 "2012-04-09T05:51:08Z")

</div>

Yay!..at least I now get an error trace. So...how to fix? Only  
change I made is that I installed knife ec2.

root@li409-115:~# chef-server -N -ldebug  
Loading init file from /usr/share/chef-server-api/config/init.rb  
Loading /usr/share/chef-server-api/config/environments/development.rb  
NOTE: Gem.activate is deprecated, use Specification#activate. It will  
be removed on or after 2011-10-01.  
Gem.activate called from /usr/lib/ruby/1.8/merb-core/core\_ext/kernel.rb:142.  
/usr/local/lib/site\_ruby/1.8/rubygems.rb:234:in  
`_deprecated_activate': Deprecated use of Gem.activate(dep) (ArgumentError) from /usr/local/lib/site_ruby/1.8/rubygems/deprecate.rb:63:in `send'  
from /usr/local/lib/site\_ruby/1.8/rubygems/deprecate.rb:63:in `activate' from /usr/lib/ruby/1.8/merb-core/core_ext/kernel.rb:142:in `load\_dependency'  
from /usr/lib/ruby/1.8/merb-core/bootloader.rb:405:in `load_dependencies' from /usr/lib/ruby/1.8/merb-core/bootloader.rb:405:in `each'  
from /usr/lib/ruby/1.8/merb-core/bootloader.rb:405:in `load_dependencies' from /usr/lib/ruby/1.8/merb-core/bootloader.rb:393:in `run'  
from /usr/lib/ruby/1.8/merb-core/bootloader.rb:99:in `run' from /usr/lib/ruby/1.8/merb-core/server.rb:172:in `bootup'  
from /usr/lib/ruby/1.8/merb-core/server.rb:42:in `start' from /usr/lib/ruby/1.8/merb-core.rb:170:in `start'  
from /usr/sbin/chef-server:86

On Mon, Apr 9, 2012 at 1:32 PM, Jesse Nelson [spheromak@gmail.com](mailto:spheromak@gmail.com) wrote:

> can try starting up the server with debug in the foreground  
> "chef-server -N -ldebug" and see what it complains about.
> 
> On Mon, Apr 9, 2012 at 1:42 PM, David Montgomery  
> [davidmontgomery@gmail.com](mailto:davidmontgomery@gmail.com) wrote:
> 
> > Yes..couchdb is running. I am rather new to chef. Is this a common  
> > issue with the server?
> > 
> > On Mon, Apr 9, 2012 at 5:28 AM, KC Braunschweig  
> > [kcbraunschweig@gmail.com](mailto:kcbraunschweig@gmail.com) wrote:
> > 
> > > Probably couchdb not running?
> > > 
> > > KC
> > > 
> > > On Apr 8, 2012 7:22 AM, "David Montgomery" [davidmontgomery@gmail.com](mailto:davidmontgomery@gmail.com)  
> > > wrote:
> > > 
> > > > Here are the outputs of the logs...
> > > > 
> > > > server.log  
> > > > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > > > to localhost:5984/\_all\_dbs  
> > > > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > > > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/id\_map  
> > > > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > > > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/nodes  
> > > > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > > > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/roles  
> > > > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > > > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/data\_bags  
> > > > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > > > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/clients  
> > > > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > > > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/users  
> > > > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > > > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/cookbooks  
> > > > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > > > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/sandboxes  
> > > > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > > > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/checksums  
> > > > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > > > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/environments  
> > > > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > > > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/id\_map/\_view/name\_to\_id  
> > > > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > > > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/id\_map/\_view/name\_to\_id  
> > > > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > > > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/id\_map/\_view/name\_to\_id  
> > > > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] INFO: Loading roles
> > > > 
> > > > server-webui.log  
> > > > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:19:54 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > > > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/users/\_view/all\_id  
> > > > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:19:54 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > > > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/id\_map/\_view/name\_to\_id
> > > > 
> > > > On Sun, Apr 8, 2012 at 9:58 PM, Will Maier [wcmaier@m.aier.us](mailto:wcmaier@m.aier.us) wrote:
> > > > 
> > > > > On Sun, Apr 08, 2012 at 09:54:47PM +0800, David Montgomery wrote:
> > > > > 
> > > > > > Increased to fatal. Still no entry in server log.
> > > > > 
> > > > > I'd suggest the following:
> > > > > 
> > > > > ```
> > > > > log_level :debug
> > > > > log_location "/var/log/chef/server.log"
> > > > > verbose_logging true
> > > > > 
> > > > > ```
> > > > > 
> > > > > log\_level defines the minimum level a log must have to end up in your  
> > > > > log file  
> > > > > (or STDOUT); setting it to fatal would show nothing except fatal  
> > > > > messages.
> > > > > 
> > > > > --
> > > > > 
> > > > > Will Maier  
> > > > > [http://wcm.aier.us/](http://wcm.aier.us/)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Jesse\_Campbell](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.chef.io/jesse_campbell/32/251_2.png) [@Jesse\_Campbell](https://discourse.chef.io/u/Jesse_Campbell)\
**Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 12:30pm UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/chef-server-will-not-start/2643/10 "2012-04-09T12:30:58Z")

</div>

Looks like installing knife ec2 may have updated or changed your gems  
installation. Try updating chef-server, or reinstalling gems?

Also, generally knife ec2 is installed on a workstation machine (like your  
desk computer) rather than the chef server.. are you running everything  
from one instance?  
On Apr 9, 2012 1:51 AM, "David Montgomery" [davidmontgomery@gmail.com](mailto:davidmontgomery@gmail.com)  
wrote:

> Yay!..at least I now get an error trace. So...how to fix? Only  
> change I made is that I installed knife ec2.
> 
> root@li409-115:~# chef-server -N -ldebug  
> Loading init file from /usr/share/chef-server-api/config/init.rb  
> Loading /usr/share/chef-server-api/config/environments/development.rb  
> NOTE: Gem.activate is deprecated, use Specification#activate. It will  
> be removed on or after 2011-10-01.  
> Gem.activate called from  
> /usr/lib/ruby/1.8/merb-core/core\_ext/kernel.rb:142.  
> /usr/local/lib/site\_ruby/1.8/rubygems.rb:234:in  
> `_deprecated_activate': Deprecated use of Gem.activate(dep) (ArgumentError) from /usr/local/lib/site_ruby/1.8/rubygems/deprecate.rb:63:in `send'  
> from /usr/local/lib/site\_ruby/1.8/rubygems/deprecate.rb:63:in  
> `activate' from /usr/lib/ruby/1.8/merb-core/core_ext/kernel.rb:142:in `load\_dependency'  
> from /usr/lib/ruby/1.8/merb-core/bootloader.rb:405:in  
> `load_dependencies' from /usr/lib/ruby/1.8/merb-core/bootloader.rb:405:in `each'  
> from /usr/lib/ruby/1.8/merb-core/bootloader.rb:405:in  
> `load_dependencies' from /usr/lib/ruby/1.8/merb-core/bootloader.rb:393:in `run'  
> from /usr/lib/ruby/1.8/merb-core/bootloader.rb:99:in `run' from /usr/lib/ruby/1.8/merb-core/server.rb:172:in `bootup'  
> from /usr/lib/ruby/1.8/merb-core/server.rb:42:in `start' from /usr/lib/ruby/1.8/merb-core.rb:170:in `start'  
> from /usr/sbin/chef-server:86
> 
> On Mon, Apr 9, 2012 at 1:32 PM, Jesse Nelson [spheromak@gmail.com](mailto:spheromak@gmail.com) wrote:
> 
> > can try starting up the server with debug in the foreground  
> > "chef-server -N -ldebug" and see what it complains about.
> > 
> > On Mon, Apr 9, 2012 at 1:42 PM, David Montgomery  
> > [davidmontgomery@gmail.com](mailto:davidmontgomery@gmail.com) wrote:
> > 
> > > Yes..couchdb is running. I am rather new to chef. Is this a common  
> > > issue with the server?
> > > 
> > > On Mon, Apr 9, 2012 at 5:28 AM, KC Braunschweig  
> > > [kcbraunschweig@gmail.com](mailto:kcbraunschweig@gmail.com) wrote:
> > > 
> > > > Probably couchdb not running?
> > > > 
> > > > KC
> > > > 
> > > > On Apr 8, 2012 7:22 AM, "David Montgomery" [davidmontgomery@gmail.com](mailto:davidmontgomery@gmail.com)  
> > > > wrote:
> > > > 
> > > > > Here are the outputs of the logs...
> > > > > 
> > > > > server.log  
> > > > > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > > > > to localhost:5984/\_all\_dbs  
> > > > > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > > > > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/id\_map  
> > > > > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > > > > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/nodes  
> > > > > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > > > > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/roles  
> > > > > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > > > > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/data\_bags  
> > > > > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > > > > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/clients  
> > > > > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > > > > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/users  
> > > > > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > > > > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/cookbooks  
> > > > > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > > > > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/sandboxes  
> > > > > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > > > > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/checksums  
> > > > > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > > > > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/environments  
> > > > > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > > > > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/id\_map/\_view/name\_to\_id  
> > > > > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > > > > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/id\_map/\_view/name\_to\_id  
> > > > > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > > > > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/id\_map/\_view/name\_to\_id  
> > > > > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:17:04 +0000] INFO: Loading roles
> > > > > 
> > > > > server-webui.log  
> > > > > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:19:54 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > > > > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/users/\_view/all\_id  
> > > > > [Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:19:54 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via GET  
> > > > > to localhost:5984/chef/\_design/id\_map/\_view/name\_to\_id
> > > > > 
> > > > > On Sun, Apr 8, 2012 at 9:58 PM, Will Maier [wcmaier@m.aier.us](mailto:wcmaier@m.aier.us) wrote:
> > > > > 
> > > > > > On Sun, Apr 08, 2012 at 09:54:47PM +0800, David Montgomery wrote:
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > > Increased to fatal. Still no entry in server log.
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > I'd suggest the following:
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > ```
> > > > > > log_level :debug
> > > > > > log_location "/var/log/chef/server.log"
> > > > > > verbose_logging true
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > ```
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > log\_level defines the minimum level a log must have to end up in  
> > > > > > your  
> > > > > > log file  
> > > > > > (or STDOUT); setting it to fatal would show nothing except fatal  
> > > > > > messages.
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > --
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > Will Maier  
> > > > > > [http://wcm.aier.us/](http://wcm.aier.us/)