Evaluating Chef for our company

Chef Infra (archive)
1

Hi

I have an operation consulting company, and I want to start using Chef to
manage all our customer’s production servers. I’m trying to figure out if this
is the right project for my use case. Can someone please tell me which of the
requirements below is included in Chef and which are not:

  • Manage many companies on one server with restricting ACL, No company should
    even know of the existence of the other companies. On the other hand, each
    company should be able to manage it’s resources.

  • Have a web-ui to manage the setup above.

  • Each customer should be able to get his chef repository (all scripts,
    cookbooks, etc) from us and choose another company (like Opscode) as their
    server without much trouble.

From what I understood from the little I’ve read, I can do most of it, but I
want to be sure before I dig too deep.

Thanks in advance

Haim

2

Managing many companies with one server is difficult, the exception is
to use opscode platform which already has support for different
companies, see this recent thread for a more in depth explanation:

http://lists.opscode.com/sympa/arc/chef/2010-10/msg00084.html

The rest of it should not be a problem.

Greetings.

Jacobo García López de Araujo
blog: http://robotplaysguitar.com
http://workingwithrails.com/person/13395-jacobo-garc-a

On Thu, Oct 21, 2010 at 11:21 AM, haim.ashkenazi@gmail.com wrote:

Hi

I have an operation consulting company, and I want to start using Chef to
manage all our customer's production servers. I'm trying to figure out if this
is the right project for my use case. Can someone please tell me which of the
requirements below is included in Chef and which are not:

  • Manage many companies on one server with restricting ACL, No company should
    even know of the existence of the other companies. On the other hand, each
    company should be able to manage it's resources.

  • Have a web-ui to manage the setup above.

  • Each customer should be able to get his chef repository (all scripts,
    cookbooks, etc) from us and choose another company (like Opscode) as their
    server without much trouble.

From what I understood from the little I've read, I can do most of it, but I
want to be sure before I dig too deep.

Thanks in advance

Haim

3

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

Hi

Thanks for the quick response. This is not good news though :frowning:
How much of a hassle it is to use the same resources (couchdb, solr, etc) and only use multiple instances of chef server on the same physical server (on different ports)? Provided of course that I will have to write the web-ui myself? I'm afraid running full (virtual) machine as a server for each customer might be too much overhead.

Thanks

Haim

On Oct 21, 2010, at 12:27 PM, Jacobo García wrote:

Managing many companies with one server is difficult, the exception is
to use opscode platform which already has support for different
companies, see this recent thread for a more in depth explanation:

chef - [chef] Organizing multiple "clients" and cookbooks

The rest of it should not be a problem.

Greetings.

Jacobo García López de Araujo
blog: http://robotplaysguitar.com
http://workingwithrails.com/person/13395-jacobo-garc-a

On Thu, Oct 21, 2010 at 11:21 AM, haim.ashkenazi@gmail.com wrote:

Hi

I have an operation consulting company, and I want to start using Chef to
manage all our customer's production servers. I'm trying to figure out if this
is the right project for my use case. Can someone please tell me which of the
requirements below is included in Chef and which are not:

  • Manage many companies on one server with restricting ACL, No company should
    even know of the existence of the other companies. On the other hand, each
    company should be able to manage it's resources.

  • Have a web-ui to manage the setup above.

  • Each customer should be able to get his chef repository (all scripts,
    cookbooks, etc) from us and choose another company (like Opscode) as their
    server without much trouble.

From what I understood from the little I've read, I can do most of it, but I
want to be sure before I dig too deep.

Thanks in advance

Haim

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.9 (Darwin)

iEYEARECAAYFAkzAG2kACgkQhwMtGgRKzT3aygCeJoYRetMivvuarW5Nkh0iTYtL
DMEAni08agk6VwdFPbIDFk6VKnCEiltv
=Azvw
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

4

I am not sure on the alternative you mentioned, probably you'll have
to develop something similar of opscode platform, at least the
approach other people in this list are taking is multiple servers,
this is mentioned in some recent threads if my memory does not fail.

Jacobo García López de Araujo
blog: http://robotplaysguitar.com
http://workingwithrails.com/person/13395-jacobo-garc-a

On Thu, Oct 21, 2010 at 12:52 PM, Haim Ashkenazi
haim.ashkenazi@gmail.com wrote:

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

Hi

Thanks for the quick response. This is not good news though :frowning:
How much of a hassle it is to use the same resources (couchdb, solr, etc) and only use multiple instances of chef server on the same physical server (on different ports)? Provided of course that I will have to write the web-ui myself? I'm afraid running full (virtual) machine as a server for each customer might be too much overhead.

Thanks

Haim

On Oct 21, 2010, at 12:27 PM, Jacobo García wrote:

Managing many companies with one server is difficult, the exception is
to use opscode platform which already has support for different
companies, see this recent thread for a more in depth explanation:

chef - [chef] Organizing multiple "clients" and cookbooks

The rest of it should not be a problem.

Greetings.

Jacobo García López de Araujo
blog: http://robotplaysguitar.com
http://workingwithrails.com/person/13395-jacobo-garc-a

On Thu, Oct 21, 2010 at 11:21 AM, haim.ashkenazi@gmail.com wrote:

Hi

I have an operation consulting company, and I want to start using Chef to
manage all our customer's production servers. I'm trying to figure out if this
is the right project for my use case. Can someone please tell me which of the
requirements below is included in Chef and which are not:

  • Manage many companies on one server with restricting ACL, No company should
    even know of the existence of the other companies. On the other hand, each
    company should be able to manage it's resources.

  • Have a web-ui to manage the setup above.

  • Each customer should be able to get his chef repository (all scripts,
    cookbooks, etc) from us and choose another company (like Opscode) as their
    server without much trouble.

From what I understood from the little I've read, I can do most of it, but I
want to be sure before I dig too deep.

Thanks in advance

Haim

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.9 (Darwin)

iEYEARECAAYFAkzAG2kACgkQhwMtGgRKzT3aygCeJoYRetMivvuarW5Nkh0iTYtL
DMEAni08agk6VwdFPbIDFk6VKnCEiltv
=Azvw
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

5

Yo,

On 21 October 2010 03:52, Haim Ashkenazi haim.ashkenazi@gmail.com wrote:

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

Hi

Thanks for the quick response. This is not good news though :frowning:
How much of a hassle it is to use the same resources (couchdb, solr, etc)
and only use multiple instances of chef server on the same physical server
(on different ports)? Provided of course that I will have to write the
web-ui myself? I'm afraid running full (virtual) machine as a server for
each customer might be too much overhead.

I've seen multiple chef deployments fronted by reverse proxy through to
multiple instances of the Chef server stack.

It's just a HTTP app :slight_smile:

Thanks

Haim

On Oct 21, 2010, at 12:27 PM, Jacobo García wrote:

Managing many companies with one server is difficult, the exception is
to use opscode platform which already has support for different
companies, see this recent thread for a more in depth explanation:

chef - [chef] Organizing multiple "clients" and cookbooks

The rest of it should not be a problem.

Greetings.

Jacobo García López de Araujo
blog: http://robotplaysguitar.com
http://workingwithrails.com/person/13395-jacobo-garc-a

On Thu, Oct 21, 2010 at 11:21 AM, haim.ashkenazi@gmail.com wrote:

Hi

I have an operation consulting company, and I want to start using Chef
to
manage all our customer's production servers. I'm trying to figure out
if this
is the right project for my use case. Can someone please tell me which
of the
requirements below is included in Chef and which are not:

  • Manage many companies on one server with restricting ACL, No company
    should
    even know of the existence of the other companies. On the other hand,
    each
    company should be able to manage it's resources.

  • Have a web-ui to manage the setup above.

  • Each customer should be able to get his chef repository (all scripts,
    cookbooks, etc) from us and choose another company (like Opscode) as
    their
    server without much trouble.

From what I understood from the little I've read, I can do most of it,
but I
want to be sure before I dig too deep.

Thanks in advance

Haim

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.9 (Darwin)

iEYEARECAAYFAkzAG2kACgkQhwMtGgRKzT3aygCeJoYRetMivvuarW5Nkh0iTYtL
DMEAni08agk6VwdFPbIDFk6VKnCEiltv
=Azvw
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

6

Hi

On Oct 22, 2010, at 5:16 AM, AJ Christensen wrote:

Yo,

On 21 October 2010 03:52, Haim Ashkenazi haim.ashkenazi@gmail.com wrote:
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

Hi

Thanks for the quick response. This is not good news though :frowning:
How much of a hassle it is to use the same resources (couchdb, solr, etc) and only use multiple instances of chef server on the same physical server (on different ports)? Provided of course that I will have to write the web-ui myself? I'm afraid running full (virtual) machine as a server for each customer might be too much overhead.

I've seen multiple chef deployments fronted by reverse proxy through to multiple instances of the Chef server stack.

It's just a HTTP app :slight_smile:
Thanks.

My problem is not the frontend :slight_smile: I don't need one front end for all customers, I'm not trying to compete with Opscode :slight_smile:
I want to persuade some customers to move to chef without the need of taking care of their own server. For large customers it makes sense to use a server of their own, but it's a lot of overhead to use a dedicated server for a company with 6 production servers.

Bye

Thanks

Haim

On Oct 21, 2010, at 12:27 PM, Jacobo García wrote:

Managing many companies with one server is difficult, the exception is
to use opscode platform which already has support for different
companies, see this recent thread for a more in depth explanation:

chef - [chef] Organizing multiple "clients" and cookbooks

The rest of it should not be a problem.

Greetings.

Jacobo García López de Araujo
blog: http://robotplaysguitar.com
http://workingwithrails.com/person/13395-jacobo-garc-a

On Thu, Oct 21, 2010 at 11:21 AM, haim.ashkenazi@gmail.com wrote:

Hi

I have an operation consulting company, and I want to start using Chef to
manage all our customer's production servers. I'm trying to figure out if this
is the right project for my use case. Can someone please tell me which of the
requirements below is included in Chef and which are not:

  • Manage many companies on one server with restricting ACL, No company should
    even know of the existence of the other companies. On the other hand, each
    company should be able to manage it's resources.

  • Have a web-ui to manage the setup above.

  • Each customer should be able to get his chef repository (all scripts,
    cookbooks, etc) from us and choose another company (like Opscode) as their
    server without much trouble.

From what I understood from the little I've read, I can do most of it, but I
want to be sure before I dig too deep.

Thanks in advance

Haim

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.9 (Darwin)

iEYEARECAAYFAkzAG2kACgkQhwMtGgRKzT3aygCeJoYRetMivvuarW5Nkh0iTYtL
DMEAni08agk6VwdFPbIDFk6VKnCEiltv
=Azvw
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

7

5 servers fits into the free bracket for the platform if I'm not mistaken;-)
perhaps you could consolidate?

The proposed opscode solution for this Environments will drop in chef 0.10,
I believe.
On 21/10/2010 8:58 PM, "Haim Ashkenazi" haim.ashkenazi@gmail.com wrote:

Hi

On Oct 22, 2010, at 5:16 AM, AJ Christensen wrote:

Yo,

On 21 October 2010 03:52, Haim Ashkenazi haim.ashkenazi@gmail.com
wrote:
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

Hi

Thanks for the quick response. This is not good news though :frowning:
How much of a hassle it is to use the same resources (couchdb, solr, etc)
and only use multiple instances of chef server on the same physical server
(on different ports)? Provided of course that I will have to write the
web-ui myself? I'm afraid running full (virtual) machine as a server for
each customer might be too much overhead.

I've seen multiple chef deployments fronted by reverse proxy through to
multiple instances of the Chef server stack.

It's just a HTTP app :slight_smile:
Thanks.

My problem is not the frontend :slight_smile: I don't need one front end for all
customers, I'm not trying to compete with Opscode :slight_smile:
I want to persuade some customers to move to chef without the need of
taking care of their own server. For large customers it makes sense to use a
server of their own, but it's a lot of overhead to use a dedicated server
for a company with 6 production servers.

Bye

Thanks

Haim

On Oct 21, 2010, at 12:27 PM, Jacobo García wrote:

Managing many companies with one server is difficult, the exception is
to use opscode platform which already has support for different
companies, see this recent thread for a more in depth explanation:

chef - [chef] Organizing multiple "clients" and cookbooks

The rest of it should not be a problem.

Greetings.

Jacobo García López de Araujo
blog: http://robotplaysguitar.com
http://workingwithrails.com/person/13395-jacobo-garc-a

On Thu, Oct 21, 2010 at 11:21 AM, haim.ashkenazi@gmail.com wrote:

Hi

I have an operation consulting company, and I want to start using Chef
to
manage all our customer's production servers. I'm trying to figure out
if this
is the right project for my use case. Can someone please tell me which
of the
requirements below is included in Chef and which are not:

  • Manage many companies on one server with restricting ACL, No company
    should
    even know of the existence of the other companies. On the other hand,
    each
    company should be able to manage it's resources.

  • Have a web-ui to manage the setup above.

  • Each customer should be able to get his chef repository (all
    scripts,
    cookbooks, etc) from us and choose another company (like Opscode) as
    their
    server without much trouble.

From what I understood from the little I've read, I can do most of it,
but I
want to be sure before I dig too deep.

Thanks in advance

Haim

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.9 (Darwin)

iEYEARECAAYFAkzAG2kACgkQhwMtGgRKzT3aygCeJoYRetMivvuarW5Nkh0iTYtL
DMEAni08agk6VwdFPbIDFk6VKnCEiltv
=Azvw
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----