How to build chef-server from official sources on github to create DEB packages?

Chef Infra (archive)
1

Hello,

I've been tasked with the job of installing chef infra server to replace our older chef.
After a considerable amount of time and multiple attempts I still can't create the binaries for chef-server.

I tried searching for this info, but all the resources I find are either really old or are about chef-client.

make

When using make to build chef-server I can't proceed because bundler is not being detected (it's installed).:

===> No upgrade needed for webmachine
===> No upgrade needed for gen_server2
cd src/opscode-expander && bundle install --no-deployment && bundle update $TARGET
Traceback (most recent call last):
	2: from /usr/local/bin/bundle:23:in `<main>'
	1: from /usr/lib/ruby/2.5.0/rubygems.rb:308:in `activate_bin_path'
/usr/lib/ruby/2.5.0/rubygems.rb:289:in `find_spec_for_exe': can't find gem bundler (>= 0.a) with executable bundle (Gem::GemNotFoundException)
Makefile:10: recipe for target 'bundle_opscode-expander' failed
make: *** [bundle_opscode-expander] Error 1

I went to the expander folder and tried to do a bundle install there, but I had the same result. I tried poking around, but nothing caught my eye.:

vagrant@vagrant:~/chef-server/src/opscode-expander$ bundle install
Traceback (most recent call last):
	2: from /usr/local/bin/bundle:23:in `<main>'
	1: from /usr/lib/ruby/2.5.0/rubygems.rb:308:in `activate_bin_path'
/usr/lib/ruby/2.5.0/rubygems.rb:289:in `find_spec_for_exe': can't find gem bundler (>= 0.a) with executable bundle (Gem::GemNotFoundException)

I'm also getting this message:

===> Plugin rebar3_hex not available. It will not be used.

I've read from here: Building Your First Erlang App Using Rebar3 | by Erlang Central | Erlang Central | Medium

that this plugin is needed to download packages from the HEX repository. OK, so should I modify rebar.config? There are 2 issues with this:

  1. Why should I modify anything that I took from upstream?
  2. There are dozens of files named rebar.config in the repo.

omnibus

I tried to use omnibus since:

This project creates full-stack platform-specific packages for chef-server!

After installing all dependencies, ruby, gcc, ruby-dev, bundler etc. I've hit a wall.

Running:

$ bin/omnibus build chef-server

fails to build

vagrant@vagrant:~/chef-server/omnibus$ sudo bin/omnibus build chef-server
https://github.com/chef/omnibus (at master@f38dcb5) is not yet checked out. Run `bundle install` first.

The thing is: I already have those gems:

Using omnibus 7.0.6 from https://github.com/chef/omnibus (at master@f38dcb5)
Using omnibus-software 4.0.0 from https://github.com/chef/omnibus-software (at master@722d2a8)

others?

Also, is it just me, or is the way of building chef really confusing? Maybe it's me being a n00b when dealing with chef, but there are multiple ways to build chef server. Which one should I use to have deb packages to install on a server?

Omnibus? Kitchen? Makefile? How are they related? Keep in mind, that I have minimal Ruby experience and I'm new to Chef.

Thank you in advance,
noodle

2

Hey,

why not use the official binaries, https://downloads.chef.io/chef-server/

3

Because those are paid-for:

IF YOU REPRESENT A CORPORATION, GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION, OR OTHER LEGAL ENTITY, OR YOU INTEND TO USE THE SOFTWARE FOR COMMERCIAL PURPOSES, YOU MUST CONTACT CHEF DIRECTLY TO OBTAIN A COMMERCIAL LICENSE FOR THIS SOFTWARE. PLEASE VISIT https://www.chef.io/eula-inquiry/ TO INQUIRE.

4

Chef 12.x is free. https://docs.chef.io/versions/

Mail](https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986) for Windows 10

7A845521E8064BABB52BA37A8A74D4D0.png

5

Then I would take a look at cinc.sh they will give you some form of compiled binary,

Note: Depending on your use case you may not need to pay for the license, I think POC/Test is fine, also any chef client less than 14 will be unsupported in a couple months time, and 14+ require a license, so it may benefit you to figure out a solution to your licensing issues,

6

Use of the following distributions is governed by the Apache License, version 2.0.

Is this the same CHEF infra server as here: GitHub - chef/chef-server: Chef Infra Server is a hub for configuration data; storing cookbooks, node policies and metadata of managed nodes. ?

Where are the binaries then? Or, how can I build them? @bobchaos @Tensibai
Thank you jasonf for the info!

7

Hi,

On cinc side we didn't tackle chef server for now as there's goiardi existing which match the use case and mimic properly the chef-server.
Alternatively latest free chef-server binaries is 12.19.31 and there's not much evolutions in 13 actually.

Depending on your needs that could be enough to run Cinc client 15 against goiardi or latest chef-infra server 12 (from which version are you coming ?)

On cinc side we're working on the workstation part actually and next step should be automate (the web interface), chef-server would come after that.

8

Thank you everyone for your answers and links. I'll relay this to my team, since I'm not the only one working with configuration management at my organization.

9

Worth noting, not only is Chef Server 12 still free, but it also doesn't have an EOL date yet, meaning it should still get updates post may.