# Initial chef-client run won't exit

**URL:** <https://discourse.chef.io/t/initial-chef-client-run-wont-exit/2244>\
**Category:** Chef Infra (archive)\
**Created:** [December 2, 2011, 7:08pm UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/initial-chef-client-run-wont-exit/2244 "2011-12-02T19:08:04Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Kallen](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.chef.io/kallen/32/1049_2.png) [@Kallen](https://discourse.chef.io/u/Kallen)\
**Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 7:08pm UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/initial-chef-client-run-wont-exit/2244/1 "2011-12-02T19:08:04Z")

</div>

hi y’all,

my client is Centos 5.7, chef 0.10.4-1. the way i intialize chef on the  
client is by running:

chef-client -j /etc/chef/first-boot.json -L /var/log/chef/client.log -l debug --once

but that first chef-client run never exits, it hangs onto the tty (if  
there is one). or when it’s run at first boot via an init script, i see  
the same hang.

some of the recipes in the run\_list are from the chef-client cookbook.  
the upshot being, the chef-client launches from there as a daemon.

what’s going on? how to fix?

lots of details below. thanks!  
kallen

[root@sous-chef3 ~]# cat /etc/chef/first-boot.json  
{  
“run\_list”: [“role[base]”, “role[mail-client]”, “role[syslog-ng-client]”, “recipe[ec2-ephraid]”, “recipe[ec2-ebs]”, “recipe[cleanup]” ]  
}

the base role includes the chef-client recipe. so that’s where the first chef-client run fires off the chef-client daemon.

```
  "recipe[chef-client::delete_validation]",
  "recipe[chef-client::config]",
  "recipe[chef-client::service]",
  "role[dns-client]",
  "recipe[users::ops]",
  "recipe[users::eng]",
  "recipe[snmp]",
  "recipe[toolbin]",
  "recipe[yum]"

```

[root@sous-chef3 ~]# cat /etc/chef/client.rb  
log\_level :info  
log\_location STDOUT  
interval 21600  
chef\_server\_url "[https://10.xx.yy.hi](https://10.xx.yy.hi)"  
validation\_client\_name “chef-validator”

# Using default node name

file\_backup\_path "/var/lib/chef"  
file\_cache\_path "/var/cache/chef"  
pid\_file “/var/run/chef/client.pid”

the moment in processlist where the first chef-client run “spawns” chef-client in daemon mode:

root 1859 6.6 2.5 48724 45040 pts/1 S+ 18:31 0:11 | \_ /usr/bin/ruby /usr/bin/chef-client -j /etc/chef/first-boot.json -L /var/log/chef/client.log -l debug --once  
root 4310 0.0 0.0 2516 1148 pts/1 S+ 18:34 0:00 | \_ /bin/sh /sbin/service chef-client restart  
root 4315 0.0 0.0 5740 1228 pts/1 R+ 18:34 0:00 | \_ /bin/bash /etc/init.d/chef-client restart  
root 4316 0.0 0.0 0 0 pts/1 Z+ 18:34 0:00 | \_ [chef-client]

and after the first chef-client run finishes, it doesn’t exit. it sits around:

root 1859 4.0 2.5 48716 45040 pts/1 S+ 18:31 0:11 | \_ /usr/bin/ruby /usr/bin/chef-client -j /etc/chef/first-boot.json -L /var/log/chef/client.log -l debug --once

some debug output from that first chef-client run:

[Fri, 02 Dec 2011 18:34:28 +0000] DEBUG: Sending HTTP Request via PUT to 10.64.94.113:443/nodes/sous-chef3.dev.solsticeiscoming.com  
[Fri, 02 Dec 2011 18:34:28 +0000] INFO: Chef Run complete in 172.367392 seconds  
[Fri, 02 Dec 2011 18:34:28 +0000] DEBUG: Cleaning the checksum cache  
[Fri, 02 Dec 2011 18:34:28 +0000] INFO: Running report handlers  
[Fri, 02 Dec 2011 18:34:28 +0000] INFO: Report handlers complete  
[Fri, 02 Dec 2011 18:34:28 +0000] DEBUG: Sleeping for 21600 seconds  
… and it hangs onto my tty

and yet the chef-client daemon is also running:

root 4326 1.9 2.2 44392 39912 ? S 18:34 0:02 /usr/bin/ruby /usr/bin/chef-client -d -c /etc/chef/client.rb -L /var/log/chef/client.log -P /var/run/chef/client.pid -i 21600 -s 20

[root@sous-chef3 ~]# strace -p 1859  
Process 1859 attached - interrupt to quit  
select(5, [4], NULL, NULL, {21267, 776000} \<unfinished …\>  
Process 1859 detached  
[root@sous-chef3 ~]# lsof -p 1859 | tail  
chef-clie 1859 root mem REG 8,1 1081647 /lib/i686/nosegneg/libm-2.5.so (path inode=1081642)  
chef-clie 1859 root mem REG 8,1 41984 577025 /usr/lib/ruby/1.8/i386-linux/socket.so  
chef-clie 1859 root mem REG 8,1 1081648 /lib/i686/nosegneg/libpthread-2.5.so (path inode=1084237)  
chef-clie 1859 root mem REG 8,1 245256 577041 /usr/lib/ruby/1.8/i386-linux/nkf.so  
chef-clie 1859 root 0u CHR 136,1 3 /dev/pts/1  
chef-clie 1859 root 1u CHR 136,1 3 /dev/pts/1  
chef-clie 1859 root 2u CHR 136,1 3 /dev/pts/1  
chef-clie 1859 root 3w REG 8,1 815020 886152 /var/log/chef/client.log  
chef-clie 1859 root 4r FIFO 0,6 37225 pipe  
chef-clie 1859 root 5w FIFO 0,6 37225 pipe

and so i have to ctrl-c that first hanging chef run:  
^C  
[Fri, 02 Dec 2011 18:46:04 +0000] FATAL: SIGINT received, stopping  
[root@sous-chef3 ~]# echo $?  
2

and finally, fwiw, the bit in debug log where the first chef-client run runs the chef-client cookbook:

[Fri, 02 Dec 2011 18:34:22 +0000] INFO: template[/etc/chef/client.rb] sending create action to ruby\_block[reload\_client\_config] (delayed)  
[Fri, 02 Dec 2011 18:34:22 +0000] INFO: Processing ruby\_block[reload\_client\_config] action create (chef-client::config line 48)  
[Fri, 02 Dec 2011 18:34:22 +0000] INFO: ruby\_block[reload\_client\_config] called  
[Fri, 02 Dec 2011 18:34:22 +0000] INFO: template[/etc/init.d/chef-client] sending restart action to service[chef-client] (delayed)  
[Fri, 02 Dec 2011 18:34:22 +0000] INFO: Processing service[chef-client] action restart (chef-client::service line 73)  
[Fri, 02 Dec 2011 18:34:22 +0000] DEBUG: service[chef-client] supports status, running  
[Fri, 02 Dec 2011 18:34:22 +0000] DEBUG: Executing /sbin/service chef-client status  
[Fri, 02 Dec 2011 18:34:22 +0000] DEBUG: ---- Begin output of /sbin/service chef-client status ----  
[Fri, 02 Dec 2011 18:34:22 +0000] DEBUG: STDOUT: chef-client is stopped  
[Fri, 02 Dec 2011 18:34:22 +0000] DEBUG: STDERR:  
[Fri, 02 Dec 2011 18:34:22 +0000] DEBUG: ---- End output of /sbin/service chef-client status ----  
[Fri, 02 Dec 2011 18:34:22 +0000] DEBUG: Ran /sbin/service chef-client status returned 3  
[Fri, 02 Dec 2011 18:34:22 +0000] DEBUG: sh(/sbin/chkconfig --list chef-client)  
[Fri, 02 Dec 2011 18:34:22 +0000] DEBUG: Executing /sbin/service chef-client restart  
[Fri, 02 Dec 2011 18:34:26 +0000] INFO: Daemonizing…  
[Fri, 02 Dec 2011 18:34:26 +0000] INFO: Forked, in 4326. Priveleges: 0 0  
[Fri, 02 Dec 2011 18:34:26 +0000] DEBUG: ---- Begin output of /sbin/service chef-client restart ----  
[Fri, 02 Dec 2011 18:34:26 +0000] DEBUG: STDOUT: Stopping chef-client: [FAILED]  
Starting chef-client: [OK]  
[Fri, 02 Dec 2011 18:34:26 +0000] DEBUG: STDERR:  
[Fri, 02 Dec 2011 18:34:26 +0000] DEBUG: ---- End output of /sbin/service chef-client restart ----  
[Fri, 02 Dec 2011 18:34:26 +0000] DEBUG: Ran /sbin/service chef-client restart returned 0  
[Fri, 02 Dec 2011 18:34:26 +0000] INFO: service[chef-client] restarted

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Brad\_Knowles](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.chef.io/brad_knowles/32/716_2.png) [@Brad\_Knowles](https://discourse.chef.io/u/Brad_Knowles)\
**Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 7:51pm UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/initial-chef-client-run-wont-exit/2244/2 "2011-12-02T19:51:11Z")

</div>

On Dec 2, 2011, at 1:08 PM, [kallen@groknaut.net](mailto:kallen@groknaut.net) wrote:

> my client is Centos 5.7, chef 0.10.4-1. the way i intialize chef on the  
> client is by running:
> 
> chef-client -j /etc/chef/first-boot.json -L /var/log/chef/client.log -l debug --once
> 
> but that first chef-client run never exits, it hangs onto the tty (if  
> there is one). or when it's run at first boot via an init script, i see  
> the same hang.

The last time I saw anything like that, it was because someone had changed their knife.rb to default chef to staying resident and not exiting, which apparently does not get over-ridden by command-line options like "--once".

> [root@sous-chef3 ~]# cat /etc/chef/client.rb  
> log\_level :info  
> log\_location STDOUT  
> interval 21600

Oh, sorry -- it must have been this option in the client.rb, not in knife.rb. But notice that the chef process below is running with a "-i 21600" argument, which is why all the chef-client runs will sleep at the end of the run instead of terminating.

Try removing this option.

--  
Brad Knowles [bknowles@ihiji.com](mailto:bknowles@ihiji.com)  
SAGE Level IV, Chef Level 0.0.1

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Kallen](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.chef.io/kallen/32/1049_2.png) [@Kallen](https://discourse.chef.io/u/Kallen)\
**Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 8:34pm UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/initial-chef-client-run-wont-exit/2244/3 "2011-12-02T20:34:23Z")

</div>

On Fri, 02 Dec 2011, Brad Knowles wrote:

> On Dec 2, 2011, at 1:08 PM, [kallen@groknaut.net](mailto:kallen@groknaut.net) wrote:
> 
> > my client is Centos 5.7, chef 0.10.4-1. the way i intialize chef on the  
> > client is by running:
> > 
> > chef-client -j /etc/chef/first-boot.json -L /var/log/chef/client.log -l debug --once
> > 
> > but that first chef-client run never exits, it hangs onto the tty (if  
> > there is one). or when it's run at first boot via an init script, i see  
> > the same hang.
> 
> The last time I saw anything like that, it was because someone had changed their knife.rb to default chef to staying resident and not exiting, which apparently does not get over-ridden by command-line options like "--once".

(yeah that was me back on Nov 2nd)

> > [root@sous-chef3 ~]# cat /etc/chef/client.rb  
> > log\_level :info  
> > log\_location STDOUT  
> > interval 21600
> 
> Oh, sorry -- it must have been this option in the client.rb, not in knife.rb. But notice that the chef process below is running with a "-i 21600" argument, which is why all the chef-client runs will sleep at the end of the run instead of terminating.
> 
> Try removing this option.

but that option is actually not present for the very first chef-client  
run. (sorry that wasn't clear from my initial post). the first run to  
bootstrap the system runs with a client.rb in place like this:

[root@sous-chef3 ~]# cat /etc/chef/client.rb-first-boot-here-y0h  
log\_level :info  
log\_location STDOUT  
ssl\_verify\_mode :verify\_none  
chef\_server\_url "[https://10.doop.burf.113](https://10.doop.burf.113)"  
file\_cache\_path "/var/cache/chef"  
file\_backup\_path "/var/lib/chef/backup"  
pid\_file "/var/run/chef/client.pid"  
cache\_options({ :path =\> "/var/cache/chef/checksums", :skip\_expires =\> true})  
signing\_ca\_user "chef"  
Mixlib::Log::Formatter.show\_time = true  
environment "dev"

there is no interval stated there. the client.rb that shows the interval  
is a result of the chef-client recipe running during that first  
chef-client run.

and even if the first chef-client run used a client.rb with an interval set, shouldn't using --once override the looping? that's what i understood from Dan DeLeo's response here: [chef - [chef] Re: Re: Re: running chef-client on cmdline won't exit](http://lists.opscode.com/sympa/arc/chef/2011-11/msg00025.html)

i'm running this again on a fresh system from the top:

[root@sous-chef3 ~]# chef-client -c /etc/chef/client.rb-first-boot-here-y0h -j /etc/chef/first-boot.json -L /var/log/chef/client.log -l debug --once

and the result is the same behavior as before.

kallen

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Kallen](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.chef.io/kallen/32/1049_2.png) [@Kallen](https://discourse.chef.io/u/Kallen)\
**Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 6:25pm UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/initial-chef-client-run-wont-exit/2244/4 "2011-12-05T18:25:41Z")

</div>

hi.. any response to below? (bottom-reply..)

to summarize

- the initial run didn't use a client config that set the interval
- doesn't --once override any interval stated in the client config?  
(my examples shows it didn't)

kallen

On Fri, 02 Dec 2011, [kallen@groknaut.net](mailto:kallen@groknaut.net) wrote:

> On Fri, 02 Dec 2011, Brad Knowles wrote:
> 
> > On Dec 2, 2011, at 1:08 PM, [kallen@groknaut.net](mailto:kallen@groknaut.net) wrote:
> > 
> > > my client is Centos 5.7, chef 0.10.4-1. the way i intialize chef on the  
> > > client is by running:
> > > 
> > > chef-client -j /etc/chef/first-boot.json -L /var/log/chef/client.log -l debug --once
> > > 
> > > but that first chef-client run never exits, it hangs onto the tty (if  
> > > there is one). or when it's run at first boot via an init script, i see  
> > > the same hang.
> > 
> > The last time I saw anything like that, it was because someone had changed their knife.rb to default chef to staying resident and not exiting, which apparently does not get over-ridden by command-line options like "--once".
> 
> (yeah that was me back on Nov 2nd)
> 
> > > [root@sous-chef3 ~]# cat /etc/chef/client.rb  
> > > log\_level :info  
> > > log\_location STDOUT  
> > > interval 21600
> > 
> > Oh, sorry -- it must have been this option in the client.rb, not in knife.rb. But notice that the chef process below is running with a "-i 21600" argument, which is why all the chef-client runs will sleep at the end of the run instead of terminating.
> > 
> > Try removing this option.
> 
> but that option is actually not present for the very first chef-client  
> run. (sorry that wasn't clear from my initial post). the first run to  
> bootstrap the system runs with a client.rb in place like this:
> 
> [root@sous-chef3 ~]# cat /etc/chef/client.rb-first-boot-here-y0h  
> log\_level :info  
> log\_location STDOUT  
> ssl\_verify\_mode :verify\_none  
> chef\_server\_url "[https://10.doop.burf.113](https://10.doop.burf.113)"  
> file\_cache\_path "/var/cache/chef"  
> file\_backup\_path "/var/lib/chef/backup"  
> pid\_file "/var/run/chef/client.pid"  
> cache\_options({ :path =\> "/var/cache/chef/checksums", :skip\_expires =\> true})  
> signing\_ca\_user "chef"  
> Mixlib::Log::Formatter.show\_time = true  
> environment "dev"
> 
> there is no interval stated there. the client.rb that shows the interval  
> is a result of the chef-client recipe running during that first  
> chef-client run.
> 
> and even if the first chef-client run used a client.rb with an interval set, shouldn't using --once override the looping? that's what i understood from Dan DeLeo's response here: [chef - [chef] Re: Re: Re: running chef-client on cmdline won't exit](http://lists.opscode.com/sympa/arc/chef/2011-11/msg00025.html)
> 
> i'm running this again on a fresh system from the top:
> 
> [root@sous-chef3 ~]# chef-client -c /etc/chef/client.rb-first-boot-here-y0h -j /etc/chef/first-boot.json -L /var/log/chef/client.log -l debug --once
> 
> and the result is the same behavior as before.
> 
> kallen