# Struggling getting started
**URL:** https://discourse.chef.io/t/struggling-getting-started/1848
**Category:** Chef Infra (archive)
**Created:** [May 19, 2011, 8:30pm UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/struggling-getting-started/1848 "2011-05-19T20:30:44Z")
**Posts on this page:** 5
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Craig\_White](https://discourse.chef.io/u/Craig_White)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2011, 8:30pm UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/struggling-getting-started/1848/1 "2011-05-19T20:30:44Z")
Following the Quick Start guide (Ubuntu 10.04)
$ knife client list
ERROR: OpenSSL::PKey::RSAError: private key needed.: no start line
$ ls -l /home/cwhite/chef-repo/.chef/
total 20
-rw-r–r-- 1 cwhite cwhite 526 2011-05-19 10:52 knife.rb
-rw-r–r-- 1 cwhite cwhite 426 2011-05-19 10:30 tti.pem
-rw-r–r-- 1 cwhite cwhite 1679 2011-05-19 10:30 tti-validator.pem
drwxr-xr-x 2 cwhite cwhite 4096 2011-05-19 13:26 unused
-rw-r–r-- 1 cwhite cwhite 426 2011-05-19 12:37 white\_n\_az.pem
seems like it should work but I don’t have a clue how to resolve this and Google wasn’t of much use here.
Anyone have a cluestick for this noob?
–
Craig White ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [craig.white@ttiltd.com](mailto:craig.white@ttiltd.com)
1.800.869.6908 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [www.ttiassessments.com](http://www.ttiassessments.com)
Need help communicating between generations at work to achieve your desired success? Let us help!
---
### Author:  [@Edward\_Sargisson](https://discourse.chef.io/u/Edward_Sargisson)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2011, 9:10pm UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/struggling-getting-started/1848/2 "2011-05-19T21:10:42Z")
RSA keys have a start line and and end line which looks something like
---------------------RSA PRIVATE KEY---------------
Did you, by any chance, remove these? If you look at the pem files do
they look okay? Are they correctly referenced in knife.rb?
Cheers,
Edward
On Thu, May 19, 2011 at 1:30 PM, Craig White [craig.white@ttiltd.com](mailto:craig.white@ttiltd.com) wrote:
> Following the Quick Start guide (Ubuntu 10.04)
>
> $ knife client list
> ERROR: OpenSSL::PKey::RSAError: private key needed.: no start line
>
> $ ls -l /home/cwhite/chef-repo/.chef/
> total 20
> -rw-r--r-- 1 cwhite cwhite 526 2011-05-19 10:52 knife.rb
> -rw-r--r-- 1 cwhite cwhite 426 2011-05-19 10:30 tti.pem
> -rw-r--r-- 1 cwhite cwhite 1679 2011-05-19 10:30 tti-validator.pem
> drwxr-xr-x 2 cwhite cwhite 4096 2011-05-19 13:26 unused
> -rw-r--r-- 1 cwhite cwhite 426 2011-05-19 12:37 white\_n\_az.pem
>
> seems like it should work but I don't have a clue how to resolve this and Google wasn't of much use here.
>
> Anyone have a cluestick for this noob?
>
> --
> Craig White ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [craig.white@ttiltd.com](mailto:craig.white@ttiltd.com)
> 1.800.869.6908 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [www.ttiassessments.com](http://www.ttiassessments.com)
>
> Need help communicating between generations at work to achieve your desired success? Let us help!
---
### Author:  [@Craig\_White](https://discourse.chef.io/u/Craig_White)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2011, 9:21pm UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/struggling-getting-started/1848/3 "2011-05-19T21:21:29Z")
I think so...
$ cat ~/chef-repo/.chef/knife.rb
current\_dir = File.dirname( **FILE** )
log\_level :info
log\_location STDOUT
node\_name "white\_n\_az"
client\_key "#{current\_dir}/white\_n\_az.pem"
validation\_client\_name "tti-validator"
validation\_key "#{current\_dir}/tti-validator.pem"
chef\_server\_url "[https://api.opscode.com/organizations/tti](https://api.opscode.com/organizations/tti)"
cache\_type 'BasicFile'
cache\_options( :path =\> "#{ENV['HOME']}/.chef/checksums" )
cookbook\_path ["#{current\_dir}/../cookbooks"]
The 2 'pem' files referenced in knife.rb are indeed in the same .chef
directory and they both seem correct...
cwhite@ubuntu:~/chef-repo/.chef$ head -n 1 tti-validator.pem
-----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----
cwhite@ubuntu:~/chef-repo/.chef$ head -n 1 white\_n\_az.pem
-----BEGIN RSA PUBLIC KEY-----
cwhite@ubuntu:~/chef-repo/.chef$ tail -n 1 tti-validator.pem
-----END RSA PRIVATE KEY-----
cwhite@ubuntu:~/chef-repo/.chef$ tail -n 1 white\_n\_az.pem
-----END RSA PUBLIC KEY-----
On Thu, May 19, 2011 at 2:10 PM, Edward Sargisson [esarge@pobox.com](mailto:esarge@pobox.com) wrote:
> RSA keys have a start line and and end line which looks something like
> ---------------------RSA PRIVATE KEY---------------
>
> Did you, by any chance, remove these? If you look at the pem files do
> they look okay? Are they correctly referenced in knife.rb?
>
> Cheers,
> Edward
>
> On Thu, May 19, 2011 at 1:30 PM, Craig White [craig.white@ttiltd.com](mailto:craig.white@ttiltd.com)
> wrote:
>
> > Following the Quick Start guide (Ubuntu 10.04)
> >
> > $ knife client list
> > ERROR: OpenSSL::PKey::RSAError: private key needed.: no start line
> >
> > $ ls -l /home/cwhite/chef-repo/.chef/
> > total 20
> > -rw-r--r-- 1 cwhite cwhite 526 2011-05-19 10:52 knife.rb
> > -rw-r--r-- 1 cwhite cwhite 426 2011-05-19 10:30 tti.pem
> > -rw-r--r-- 1 cwhite cwhite 1679 2011-05-19 10:30 tti-validator.pem
> > drwxr-xr-x 2 cwhite cwhite 4096 2011-05-19 13:26 unused
> > -rw-r--r-- 1 cwhite cwhite 426 2011-05-19 12:37 white\_n\_az.pem
> >
> > seems like it should work but I don't have a clue how to resolve this and
> > Google wasn't of much use here.
> >
> > Anyone have a cluestick for this noob?
> >
> > --
> > Craig White ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [craig.white@ttiltd.com](mailto:craig.white@ttiltd.com)
> > 1.800.869.6908 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [www.ttiassessments.com](http://www.ttiassessments.com)
> >
> > Need help communicating between generations at work to achieve your
> > desired success? Let us help!
---
### Author:  [@Adam\_Jacob](https://discourse.chef.io/u/Adam_Jacob)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2011, 9:26pm UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/struggling-getting-started/1848/4 "2011-05-19T21:26:10Z")
On Thu, May 19, 2011 at 2:21 PM, Craig White [craig.white@ttiltd.com](mailto:craig.white@ttiltd.com) wrote:
> I think so...
> $ cat ~/chef-repo/.chef/knife.rb
> current\_dir = File.dirname( **FILE** )
> log\_level :info
> log\_location STDOUT
> node\_name "white\_n\_az"
> client\_key "#{current\_dir}/white\_n\_az.pem"
> validation\_client\_name "tti-validator"
> validation\_key "#{current\_dir}/tti-validator.pem"
> chef\_server\_url "[https://api.opscode.com/organizations/tti](https://api.opscode.com/organizations/tti)"
> cache\_type 'BasicFile'
> cache\_options( :path =\> "#{ENV['HOME']}/.chef/checksums" )
> cookbook\_path ["#{current\_dir}/../cookbooks"]
> The 2 'pem' files referenced in knife.rb are indeed in the same .chef
> directory and they both seem correct...
> cwhite@ubuntu:~/chef-repo/.chef$ head -n 1 tti-validator.pem
> -----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----
> cwhite@ubuntu:~/chef-repo/.chef$ head -n 1 white\_n\_az.pem
> -----BEGIN RSA PUBLIC KEY-----
> cwhite@ubuntu:~/chef-repo/.chef$ tail -n 1 tti-validator.pem
> -----END RSA PRIVATE KEY-----
> cwhite@ubuntu:~/chef-repo/.chef$ tail -n 1 white\_n\_az.pem
> -----END RSA PUBLIC KEY-----
Your personal key should be a private key - where did the public key
white\_n\_az.pem come from?
If you're using the opscode platform, you likely need to re-generate
your personal key:
> **[Chef Support for Automation & DevOps | Chef](https://www.chef.io/support)**
>
> Need help? Get in touch with the Chef Support team via email, social media, or support ticket. Learn more about how to find the right Chef support for your needs.
Adam
--
Opscode, Inc.
Adam Jacob, Chief Product Officer
T: (206) 619-7151 E: [adam@opscode.com](mailto:adam@opscode.com)
---
### Author:  [@Craig\_White](https://discourse.chef.io/u/Craig_White)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2011, 10:05pm UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/struggling-getting-started/1848/5 "2011-05-19T22:05:40Z")
bingo - thanks
Craig
On Thu, May 19, 2011 at 2:26 PM, Adam Jacob [adam@opscode.com](mailto:adam@opscode.com) wrote:
> On Thu, May 19, 2011 at 2:21 PM, Craig White [craig.white@ttiltd.com](mailto:craig.white@ttiltd.com)
> wrote:
>
> > I think so...
> > $ cat ~/chef-repo/.chef/knife.rb
> > current\_dir = File.dirname( **FILE** )
> > log\_level :info
> > log\_location STDOUT
> > node\_name "white\_n\_az"
> > client\_key "#{current\_dir}/white\_n\_az.pem"
> > validation\_client\_name "tti-validator"
> > validation\_key "#{current\_dir}/tti-validator.pem"
> > chef\_server\_url "[https://api.opscode.com/organizations/tti](https://api.opscode.com/organizations/tti)"
> > cache\_type 'BasicFile'
> > cache\_options( :path =\> "#{ENV['HOME']}/.chef/checksums" )
> > cookbook\_path ["#{current\_dir}/../cookbooks"]
> > The 2 'pem' files referenced in knife.rb are indeed in the same .chef
> > directory and they both seem correct...
> > cwhite@ubuntu:~/chef-repo/.chef$ head -n 1 tti-validator.pem
> > -----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----
> > cwhite@ubuntu:~/chef-repo/.chef$ head -n 1 white\_n\_az.pem
> > -----BEGIN RSA PUBLIC KEY-----
> > cwhite@ubuntu:~/chef-repo/.chef$ tail -n 1 tti-validator.pem
> > -----END RSA PRIVATE KEY-----
> > cwhite@ubuntu:~/chef-repo/.chef$ tail -n 1 white\_n\_az.pem
> > -----END RSA PUBLIC KEY-----
>
> Your personal key should be a private key - where did the public key
> white\_n\_az.pem come from?
>
> If you're using the opscode platform, you likely need to re-generate
> your personal key:
>
> [Chef Support for Automation & DevOps | Chef](http://help.opscode.com/kb/account/getting-a-new-private-key-for-your-opscode-user)
>
> Adam
>
> --
> Opscode, Inc.
> Adam Jacob, Chief Product Officer
> T: (206) 619-7151 E: [adam@opscode.com](mailto:adam@opscode.com)