I’m planning on setting things up with the below setup. This is for a 2-4
server setup, looking for guidance/best practises for a chef-solo repo.
When using chef-solo with a setup like:
/var/chef-solo/
/var/chef-solo/cookbooks
If I have web servers, a db server, etc. to configure, I guess it is just a
matter of having the necessary recipies in the cookbook and then creating a
seperate .json file like web1.json and db1.json correct?
I’ll save this in a git repo, so that if I need to update anything I can
then run a command than will update the repo’s of all my servers, and then
run the chef-solo command.
I'd be interested to see other people's approaches to this as well. Right now I have chef-solo 2-4 server setup as well.
First, I install Chef via APT at OS install time with preseeding. On Ubuntu/Debian Chef looks for cookbooks and roles in /var/cache/chef by default.
I have a Git repository housing everything that eventually gets sync'd to /var/cache/chef. In config/ of that repository, I have one JSON file for each node. In roles/ I have all of the shared role JSON files. Cookbooks live in cookbooks/ and site-cookbooks/.
--
Hector
On Nov 18, 2011, at 4:14 PM, S Ahmed wrote:
I'm planning on setting things up with the below setup. This is for a 2-4 server setup, looking for guidance/best practises for a chef-solo repo.
When using chef-solo with a setup like:
/var/chef-solo/
/var/chef-solo/cookbooks
If I have web servers, a db server, etc. to configure, I guess it is just a matter of having the necessary recipies in the cookbook and then creating a seperate .json file like web1.json and db1.json correct?
I'll save this in a git repo, so that if I need to update anything I can then run a command than will update the repo's of all my servers, and then run the chef-solo command.
But with this setup, you have to run a different chef-solo command for each
node type correct?
I guess to automate this a little further, you could have some sort of
lookup system (maybe the hostname?) and look for a pattern, like if you
hosts are prefixed with 'db' then it is a database node type or 'www' for a
front end server.
I'd be interested to see other people's approaches to this as well. Right
now I have chef-solo 2-4 server setup as well.
First, I install Chef via APT at OS install time with preseeding. On
Ubuntu/Debian Chef looks for cookbooks and roles in /var/cache/chef by
default.
I have a Git repository housing everything that eventually gets sync'd to
/var/cache/chef. In config/ of that repository, I have one JSON file for
each node. In roles/ I have all of the shared role JSON files. Cookbooks
live in cookbooks/ and site-cookbooks/.
--
Hector
On Nov 18, 2011, at 4:14 PM, S Ahmed wrote:
I'm planning on setting things up with the below setup. This is for a
2-4 server setup, looking for guidance/best practises for a chef-solo repo.
When using chef-solo with a setup like:
/var/chef-solo/
/var/chef-solo/cookbooks
If I have web servers, a db server, etc. to configure, I guess it is
just a matter of having the necessary recipies in the cookbook and then
creating a seperate .json file like web1.json and db1.json correct?
I'll save this in a git repo, so that if I need to update anything I can
then run a command than will update the repo's of all my servers, and then
run the chef-solo command.
Not using CloudInit yet. Currently deploying to an internal VMware setup with standard 11.10 server images. My preseed file:
https://gist.github.com/1377459
In my setup all of the nodes actually serve the same purpose. I wrote a little Capistrano task to make the remote chef-solo runs a little more automated. It handles synchronizing the repository and executing Chef.
--
Hector
On Nov 19, 2011, at 11:45 AM, S Ahmed wrote:
With ubuntu, are you using cloudinit to preseed?
But with this setup, you have to run a different chef-solo command for each node type correct?
I guess to automate this a little further, you could have some sort of lookup system (maybe the hostname?) and look for a pattern, like if you hosts are prefixed with 'db' then it is a database node type or 'www' for a front end server.
On Sat, Nov 19, 2011 at 11:40 AM, Hector Castro hectcastro@gmail.com wrote:
I'd be interested to see other people's approaches to this as well. Right now I have chef-solo 2-4 server setup as well.
First, I install Chef via APT at OS install time with preseeding. On Ubuntu/Debian Chef looks for cookbooks and roles in /var/cache/chef by default.
I have a Git repository housing everything that eventually gets sync'd to /var/cache/chef. In config/ of that repository, I have one JSON file for each node. In roles/ I have all of the shared role JSON files. Cookbooks live in cookbooks/ and site-cookbooks/.
--
Hector
On Nov 18, 2011, at 4:14 PM, S Ahmed wrote:
I'm planning on setting things up with the below setup. This is for a 2-4 server setup, looking for guidance/best practises for a chef-solo repo.
When using chef-solo with a setup like:
/var/chef-solo/
/var/chef-solo/cookbooks
If I have web servers, a db server, etc. to configure, I guess it is just a matter of having the necessary recipies in the cookbook and then creating a seperate .json file like web1.json and db1.json correct?
I'll save this in a git repo, so that if I need to update anything I can then run a command than will update the repo's of all my servers, and then run the chef-solo command.
Out of curiosity, why use solo for this rather than hosted chef or chef-server? I want to better understand your use cases. (It seems like you may be doing a lot of work to do things that Chef exists to do and does well.)
-Jesse
On Nov 19, 2011, at 8:58 AM, Hector Castro wrote:
Not using CloudInit yet. Currently deploying to an internal VMware setup with standard 11.10 server images. My preseed file:
In my setup all of the nodes actually serve the same purpose. I wrote a little Capistrano task to make the remote chef-solo runs a little more automated. It handles synchronizing the repository and executing Chef.
--
Hector
On Nov 19, 2011, at 11:45 AM, S Ahmed wrote:
With ubuntu, are you using cloudinit to preseed?
But with this setup, you have to run a different chef-solo command for each node type correct?
I guess to automate this a little further, you could have some sort of lookup system (maybe the hostname?) and look for a pattern, like if you hosts are prefixed with 'db' then it is a database node type or 'www' for a front end server.
On Sat, Nov 19, 2011 at 11:40 AM, Hector Castro hectcastro@gmail.com wrote:
I'd be interested to see other people's approaches to this as well. Right now I have chef-solo 2-4 server setup as well.
First, I install Chef via APT at OS install time with preseeding. On Ubuntu/Debian Chef looks for cookbooks and roles in /var/cache/chef by default.
I have a Git repository housing everything that eventually gets sync'd to /var/cache/chef. In config/ of that repository, I have one JSON file for each node. In roles/ I have all of the shared role JSON files. Cookbooks live in cookbooks/ and site-cookbooks/.
--
Hector
On Nov 18, 2011, at 4:14 PM, S Ahmed wrote:
I'm planning on setting things up with the below setup. This is for a 2-4 server setup, looking for guidance/best practises for a chef-solo repo.
When using chef-solo with a setup like:
/var/chef-solo/
/var/chef-solo/cookbooks
If I have web servers, a db server, etc. to configure, I guess it is just a matter of having the necessary recipies in the cookbook and then creating a seperate .json file like web1.json and db1.json correct?
I'll save this in a git repo, so that if I need to update anything I can then run a command than will update the repo's of all my servers, and then run the chef-solo command.
In my specific case the dependencies of chef-server make it a tough sell – especially since I'm just starting to get Chef in the door and there isn't a ton of adoption. Absolutely no disrespect to Chef's capabilities intended.
--
Hector
On Nov 19, 2011, at 2:10 PM, Jesse Robbins wrote:
Out of curiosity, why use solo for this rather than hosted chef or chef-server? I want to better understand your use cases. (It seems like you may be doing a lot of work to do things that Chef exists to do and does well.)
-Jesse
On Nov 19, 2011, at 8:58 AM, Hector Castro wrote:
Not using CloudInit yet. Currently deploying to an internal VMware setup with standard 11.10 server images. My preseed file:
In my setup all of the nodes actually serve the same purpose. I wrote a little Capistrano task to make the remote chef-solo runs a little more automated. It handles synchronizing the repository and executing Chef.
--
Hector
On Nov 19, 2011, at 11:45 AM, S Ahmed wrote:
With ubuntu, are you using cloudinit to preseed?
But with this setup, you have to run a different chef-solo command for each node type correct?
I guess to automate this a little further, you could have some sort of lookup system (maybe the hostname?) and look for a pattern, like if you hosts are prefixed with 'db' then it is a database node type or 'www' for a front end server.
On Sat, Nov 19, 2011 at 11:40 AM, Hector Castro hectcastro@gmail.com wrote:
I'd be interested to see other people's approaches to this as well. Right now I have chef-solo 2-4 server setup as well.
First, I install Chef via APT at OS install time with preseeding. On Ubuntu/Debian Chef looks for cookbooks and roles in /var/cache/chef by default.
I have a Git repository housing everything that eventually gets sync'd to /var/cache/chef. In config/ of that repository, I have one JSON file for each node. In roles/ I have all of the shared role JSON files. Cookbooks live in cookbooks/ and site-cookbooks/.
--
Hector
On Nov 18, 2011, at 4:14 PM, S Ahmed wrote:
I'm planning on setting things up with the below setup. This is for a 2-4 server setup, looking for guidance/best practises for a chef-solo repo.
When using chef-solo with a setup like:
/var/chef-solo/
/var/chef-solo/cookbooks
If I have web servers, a db server, etc. to configure, I guess it is just a matter of having the necessary recipies in the cookbook and then creating a seperate .json file like web1.json and db1.json correct?
I'll save this in a git repo, so that if I need to update anything I can then run a command than will update the repo's of all my servers, and then run the chef-solo command.
Instead of updating the git repo on each server, with LittleChef every
user has a local checkout, and when reconfiguring a server the repo
gets synchronized.
Also, because it allows you to use node search and the
chef_environment value from the beginning, it makes it easier to later
move to a Chef Server configuration, as the recipes will be nearly
100% compatible.
In my specific case the dependencies of chef-server make it a tough sell – especially since I'm just starting to get Chef in the door and there isn't a ton of adoption. Absolutely no disrespect to Chef's capabilities intended.
--
Hector
On Nov 19, 2011, at 2:10 PM, Jesse Robbins wrote:
Out of curiosity, why use solo for this rather than hosted chef or chef-server? I want to better understand your use cases. (It seems like you may be doing a lot of work to do things that Chef exists to do and does well.)
-Jesse
On Nov 19, 2011, at 8:58 AM, Hector Castro wrote:
Not using CloudInit yet. Currently deploying to an internal VMware setup with standard 11.10 server images. My preseed file:
https://gist.github.com/1377459
In my setup all of the nodes actually serve the same purpose. I wrote a little Capistrano task to make the remote chef-solo runs a little more automated. It handles synchronizing the repository and executing Chef.
--
Hector
On Nov 19, 2011, at 11:45 AM, S Ahmed wrote:
With ubuntu, are you using cloudinit to preseed?
But with this setup, you have to run a different chef-solo command for each node type correct?
I guess to automate this a little further, you could have some sort of lookup system (maybe the hostname?) and look for a pattern, like if you hosts are prefixed with 'db' then it is a database node type or 'www' for a front end server.
On Sat, Nov 19, 2011 at 11:40 AM, Hector Castro hectcastro@gmail.com wrote:
I'd be interested to see other people's approaches to this as well. Right now I have chef-solo 2-4 server setup as well.
First, I install Chef via APT at OS install time with preseeding. On Ubuntu/Debian Chef looks for cookbooks and roles in /var/cache/chef by default.
I have a Git repository housing everything that eventually gets sync'd to /var/cache/chef. In config/ of that repository, I have one JSON file for each node. In roles/ I have all of the shared role JSON files. Cookbooks live in cookbooks/ and site-cookbooks/.
--
Hector
On Nov 18, 2011, at 4:14 PM, S Ahmed wrote:
I'm planning on setting things up with the below setup. This is for a 2-4 server setup, looking for guidance/best practises for a chef-solo repo.
When using chef-solo with a setup like:
/var/chef-solo/
/var/chef-solo/cookbooks
If I have web servers, a db server, etc. to configure, I guess it is just a matter of having the necessary recipies in the cookbook and then creating a seperate .json file like web1.json and db1.json correct?
I'll save this in a git repo, so that if I need to update anything I can then run a command than will update the repo's of all my servers, and then run the chef-solo command.