Few secret ingredients :)
Terminology
- Node: A managed machine that executes the configuration for the node when the client runs
- Client: An authorised user in the Chef API
- Cookbook: A collection of recipes, resources, attributes, and definitions to configure a service or an application.
- Recipe: A list of resources to be added to a node. As it is written in Ruby, it gives us control over anything we would do in Ruby.
- Run-list: A run-list provides recipes and roles required for a node. Unlike the other config management tools, it makes us define a relationship between resources. Hence, an ordered list is easier to understand and use.
- Kitchen: Test Kitchen runs tests against any combination of platforms using any combination of test suites. it will create a VM or cloud instance, install Chef Infra Client to that system, and converge Chef Infra Client with your local cookbook
- Resources: Resouces are Ruby objects with code behind them to config the system. Each resource contains providers that tell the system how to run it.
Components
- Knife: A system admin tool used to interact with the server to take cookbooks and custom config and load them into the server. Bootstrapping certain servers is also possible with this component.
- Chef client: It runs on managed servers, gathers information about itself, syncs the cookbooks, and compiles the collection of resources and converges it with the machine state.
- Web UI: A web-based interface that allows us to browse and edit cookbooks, nodes, and clients.
- Server/API: The heart of the system that exposes a REST API that is used by others and manages the knife, web interfaces, and nodes.
- Chef Workstation: Configurations are developed and installed on the local machine.
- Chef Server: It is the centre of the Chef setup. Contitues of all the Config files. Some are hosted, and some are built on-premises.
- Chef Nodes: It is the end machine managed by the server. It contains the client that sets communication between the server and the node.
- Ohai: is another component of Chef Node, which returns the current state of any node.
