In case the cookbook is directly deployed and run on the production server, there are high chances that the cookbook can break up in production. The best way to prevent this from happening is, testing the cookbook in the setup environment.

Following are the steps for testing.

Step 1 − Install the cookbook using the following command.

vipin@laptop:~/chef-repo $ knife cookbook site install <cookbook name>

Step 2 − Run the knife cookbook test commands on the working cookbook.

vipin@laptop:~/chef-repo $ knife cookbook test VTest 
checking ntp
Running syntax check on ntp
Validating ruby files
Validating templates

Step 3 − Break something in the cookbook and test again.

vipin@laptop:~/chef-repo $ subl cookbooks/VTest/recipes/default.rb
...
[ node['ntp']['varlibdir']
node['ntp']['statsdir'] ].each do |ntpdir|
   directory ntpdir do
      owner node['ntp']['var_owner']
      group node['ntp']['var_group']
      mode 0755
   end
end

Step 4 − Run the knife test command again.

vipin@laptop:~/chef-repo $ knife cookbook test ntp
checking ntp
Running syntax check on ntp
Validating ruby files
FATAL: Cookbook file recipes/default.rb has a ruby syntax error:
FATAL: cookbooks/ntp/recipes/default.rb:25: syntax error,
unexpected tIDENTIFIER, expecting ']'
FATAL: node['ntp']['statsdir'] ].each do |ntpdir|
FATAL: ^
FATAL: cookbooks/ntp/recipes/default.rb:25: syntax error,
unexpected ']', expecting $end
FATAL: node['ntp']['statsdir'] ].each do |ntpdir|
FATAL:

Working Method

Knife cookbook test executes a Ruby syntax check on all the Ruby files within the cookbook as well as all ERB templates. It loops through Ruby files and runs Ruby –c against each of them. Ruby –c checks the syntax of the script and quits without running it.

After going through all the Ruby files, knife cookbook test goes through all ERB templates and pipes, the redundant version created by –x through Ruby –c.

Limitations

Knife cookbook test does only a simple syntax check on the Ruby files and ERB templates. We can go ahead fully test driven by using ChefSpec and test kitchen.

Chef – Foodcritic

Writing good cookbooks without any issue is quite a difficult task. But there are ways which can help in identifying the pitfalls. Flagging in Chef Cookbook is possible. Foodcritic is one of the best way of archiving it, which tries to identify possible issues with the logic and style of cookbooks.

Foodcritic Setup

Step 1− Add Foodcritic gem.

vipin@laptop:~/chef-repo $ subl Gemfile
source 'https://rubygems.org'
gem 'foodcritic', '~>2.2.0'
Step 2 − Install the gem.
vipin@laptop:~/chef-repo $ bundle install
Fetching gem metadata from https://rubygems.org/
...TRUNCATED OUTPUT...
Installing foodcritic (2.2.0)

Foodcritic Gem

Step 1 − Run Foodcritic on the cookbook.

vipin@laptop:~/chef-repo $ foodcritic ./cookbooks/<Cookbook Name>
FC002: Avoid string interpolation where not required: ./cookbooks/
mysql/attributes/server.rb:220
...TRUNCATED OUTPUT...
FC024: Consider adding platform equivalents: ./cookbooks/<Cookbook Name>/
recipes/server.rb:132

Step 2 − Generate a detailed report.

vipin@laptop:~/chef-repo $ foodcritic -C ./cookbooks/mysql
cookbooks/<cookbook Name>/attributes/server.rb
FC002: Avoid string interpolation where not required
[...]
85| default['<Cookbook Name>']['conf_dir'] = "#{mysql['basedir']}"
[...]
cookbooks/<Cookbook Name>/recipes/client.rb
FC007: Ensure recipe dependencies are reflected in cookbook
metadata
40| end
41|when "mac_os_x"
42| include_recipe 'homebrew'
43|end
44|

Working Method

Food critic defines a set of rules and checks recipe agents, each one of them. It comes with multiple rules concerning various areas: styles, connectedness, attributes, string, probability, search, services, files, metadata, and so on.

So, this brings us to the end of blog. This Tecklearn ‘Testing the Cookbooks in Chef’ blog helps you with commonly asked questions if you are looking out for a job in DevOps. If you wish to learn Chef and build a career in DevOps domain, then check out our interactive, Continuous Delivery using Chef Training, that comes with 24*7 support to guide you throughout your learning period. Please find the link for course details:

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