Allow knife remote commands to work when chef_repo_path is not specified

2 files changed, 17 insertions, 5 deletions

diff --git a/lib/chef/chef_fs/config.rb b/lib/chef/chef_fs/config.rb
index 71a32f91eb..ab4cea89f2 100644
--- a/lib/chef/chef_fs/config.rb
+++ b/lib/chef/chef_fs/config.rb
@@ -101,7 +101,13 @@ class Chef
 
       # The current directory, relative to server root
       def base_path
-        @base_path ||= server_path(File.expand_path(@cwd))
+        @base_path ||= begin
+          if @chef_config[:chef_repo_path]
+            server_path(File.expand_path(@cwd))
+          else
+            nil
+          end
+        end
       end
 
       # Print the given server path, relative to the current directory
@@ -119,14 +125,18 @@ class Chef
         server_path
       end
 
+      def require_chef_repo_path
+        if !@chef_config[:chef_repo_path]
+          Chef::Log.error("Must specify either chef_repo_path or cookbook_path in Chef config file")
+          exit(1)
+        end
+      end
+
       private
 
       def object_paths
         @object_paths ||= begin
-          if !@chef_config[:chef_repo_path]
-            Chef::Log.error("Must specify either chef_repo_path or cookbook_path in Chef config file")
-            exit(1)
-          end
+          require_chef_repo_path
 
           result = {}
           case @chef_config[:repo_mode]
diff --git a/lib/chef/chef_fs/knife.rb b/lib/chef/chef_fs/knife.rb
index ce621d2231..5900c29f61 100644
--- a/lib/chef/chef_fs/knife.rb
+++ b/lib/chef/chef_fs/knife.rb
@@ -95,6 +95,8 @@ class Chef
         # Could be super useful in a world with multiple repo paths
         args.map do |arg|
           if !@chef_fs_config.base_path && !Chef::ChefFS::PathUtils.is_absolute?(arg)
+            # Check if chef repo path is specified to give a better error message
+            @chef_fs_config.require_chef_repo_path
             ui.error("Attempt to use relative path '#{arg}' when current directory is outside the repository path")
             exit(1)
           end