Today inside an Organization the system admins or DevOps Engineer requires additional time in deploying new solutions and application, Setting up and updating network packages, building machine server which needs to be available for deployment. This causes tiresome human attempts and requires huge recruiting. To resolve this issue, configuration management was introduced. Through the use of configuration management tools like Chef, Puppet you can deploy, fix and update the whole application infrastructure with automation.

 

The chef is a robust automation tool that can be used to deploy, repair and update and also for managing the servers and application to any environment.

 

Introduction to Chef

 

The chef is a Configuration management tool which usually handles the infrastructure by writing code preferably than utilizing a manual process to guarantee that it could be automated, tested and deployed quickly. Chef provides Client-server architecture and it works with multiple platforms like Windows, Ubuntu, Centos, and Solaris, etc. It may also be integrated with a cloud platform like AWS, Google Cloud Platform, and Open Stack, etc. Before engaging in Chef deeply why don’t we understand Configuration Management.

 

Configuration Management

 

Let us take a good example, suppose you certainly are a system engineer within an organization and you intend to deploy or revise the software or an operating system on more than a huge selection of systems in your company in one day. This could be done manually but nonetheless manually, it causes multiple mistakes, some software’s may crash while updating and we won’t have the ability to revert back again to the prior version. To resolve such sort of issues we make use of Configuration management.

 

Configuration Management monitors all of the software and equipment related information of business looked after repairs, deploys and updates the whole application with its automated procedures. Configuration management does the task of multiple Program Administrators and programmers who manage a huge selection of server and application. Configuration management does the ongoing function of multiple System Administrators and developers who all manage a huge selection of server and application. Some tools used for Configuration administration are Chef, Puppet, Ansible, CF Engine, and SaltStack, etc.

 

Why Chef?

 

Let us have a situation, suppose you possess shifted your office right into a different environment and you wished your system administrator to install, update and deploy software on a huge selection of system overnight. When the system engineer does this manually it could cause Human errors plus some software’s might not function correctly. At this time, we make use of Chef which really is a powerful automated tool which transfers infrastructure into code.

 

Chef automated the application form configuration, deployment, and administration through the entire network even if we are operating it on cloud or hybrid. We are able to use chef to increase the application form deployment. A chef is an excellent tool for accelerating software delivery, the momentum of software development refers to how quickly the program is able to transform in response to brand-new requirements or conditions.

 

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Benefits of Chef

 

Accelerating software delivery: Whenever your infrastructure is automated all of the software requirements like assessment, creating brand-new environments for software program deployments, etc. becomes quicker.

 

Improved service Resiliency: By making the infrastructure automatic it monitors for bugs and errors before they occur additionally, it may recover from errors quicker.

 

Risk Management: Chef lowers risk and increases compliance at all stages of deployment. It decreases conflicts through the development and creation environment.

 

Cloud Adoption: Chef could be easily adapted to a cloud environment and the servers and infrastructure could be easily configured, installed and managed automatically by Chef

 

Managing Data Centers and Cloud Environments as discussed previously Chef can operate on different platforms, below chef you can take care of all of your cloud and on-premise systems including servers.

 

Streamlined IT operation and Workflow, Chef offers a pipeline for constant deployment beginning with the building to examining and all the actual way through delivery, monitoring, and troubleshooting.

 

Features of Chef

 

A huge selection of server with a small number of employees. It can be conveniently managed using operating systems such as Linux, It could be managed using operating systems such as for example Linux easily Windows, FreeBSD and
It maintains a blueprint of the whole infrastructure.
It integrates with all main cloud service providers.
Centralized management, we, an individual Chef server can be utilized as the guts for deploying the plans.

 

Pros of Chef

 

Probably the most flexible solutions for OS and middleware management.
Designed for programmers.
Chef presents hybrid and SaaS solutions for Chef Servers
Sequential execution order
Very stable, reliable and mature, specifically for large deployments in both public and private environments

 

Cons of Chef

 

Requires steep learning curve
Initial setup is difficult.
Lacks push, so zero immediate actions on transformation. The pull process follows a specified schedule.

 

How Chef Works?

 

Chef basically contains three components basically Chef Server, workstations and Nodes. The chef server is normally center hubs of all operations were adjustments are stored. The workstation may be the place all of the codes are manufactured or changed. Nodes certainly are a machine that’s managed by the chef.

 

The user can connect to the chef and chef server through Chef Workstation. Knife and Chef command series tools are used for getting together with Chef Server. Chef node is usually a digital or a cloud machine maintained by chef and each node is normally configured by Chef-Client set up onto it. Chef server stores all section of the configuration. It ensures all of the elements are in the correct place and so are working as expected.

 

Chef Components

 

Chef has major components such as for example Workstation, Cookbook, Node, Chef-Client, and Chef-Server. Why don’t we see the whole major component at length?

 

Chef Server

 

Chef server consists of all configuration data and it stores cookbooks, quality recipes, and metadata that describe every node in the Chef-Client. Configuration details receive to node through Chef-Client. Any adjustments made must go through the Chef server to end up being deployed. Ahead of pushing the changes, it verifies that the nodes and workstation are paired with the server through the use of authorization keys and then enable communication between workstations and nodes.

 

Workstation

 

The workstation can be used to interact with Chef-server and also to interact with Chef-nodes. It is also used to create Cookbooks. Workstation is an area where all of the interaction occurs where Cookbooks are manufactured tested and deployed and in workstation, codes are tested. The workstation can be used for defining functions and environments predicated on the development and production environment. Some parts of the workstation are

 

Development Kit includes all the packages requires for using Chef

The knife can be used for getting together with Chef Nodes.

Check Kitchen is for validating Chef Code

Chef-Repo is normally a repository where cookbooks are created, tested and preserved though Chef Command series tool maintained and examined through Chef Command tool.

Cookbooks

 

Cookbooks are manufactured using Ruby language and Domain Specific languages are used for particular resources. A cookbook contains recipes which specify assets to be utilized and where order it really is to be utilized. The cookbook contains all the details about the work and it changes the configuration of the Chef-Node

 

Features are used for overriding default environment in a node.

 

Data files are for transferring documents from subdirectory to a particular path in chef-client.

 

Libraries are written in Ruby and it’s used for configuring custom assets and recipes.

 

Metadata contains details for deploying the cookbooks to each node.

 

Recipes certainly are a configuration component that is kept in a cookbook. Dishes can also be contained in other dishes and executed predicated on the operating list. Recipes are manufactured using Ruby language./p>

Nodes

 

Nodes are managed by Chef and each node is configured by setting up Chef-Client onto it. Chef-Nodes certainly is a machine such as for example physical, digital cloud, etc.

 

Ohai can be used for identifying the system state at the beginning of Chef run in Chef-Client. It Collects All of the system configuration data

 

Functions of Chef in DevOps

 

The chef is for automating and managing the infrastructure. Chef IT automation can be achieved using several Chef DevOps items like Chef-server, Chef-client. Chef DevOps is an instrument for accelerating program delivery and DevOps Collaboration. Chef helps resolve the problem by treating infrastructure as code. Instead of manually changing anything the machine set up is defined in a Chef recipe.

 

Conclusion

 

The chef is a robust configuration management tool in DevOps and it offers good features to end up being the very best in the marketplace. Day by day Chef has been enhancing its features and providing good results to the client. The chef can be used by worlds leading IT industries like Facebook, AWS, HP, etc. Job possibilities are increasing daily for Chef Automation masters. Enroll with our Chef Training Course and become an expert in it.

 

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