An environment is a way to map an organization’s real-life workflow to what can be configured and managed when using server. Every organization begins with a single environment called the _default environment, which cannot be modified (or deleted). Additional environments can be created to reflect each organization’s patterns and workflow. For example, creating production, staging, testing, and development environments. Generally, an environment is also associated with one (or more) cookbook versions.
The knife environment subcommand is used to manage environments within a single organization on the server.
Note
Review the list of common options available to this (and all) Knife subcommands and plugins.
The compare argument is used to compare the cookbook version constraints that are set on one (or more) environments.
Syntax
This argument has the following syntax:
$ knife environment compare [ENVIRONMENT_NAME...] (options)
Options
This argument has the following options:
Example
To compare cookbook versions for a single environment:
$ knife environment compare development
to return something similar to:
development
apache 2.3.1
windows 4.1.2
To compare cookbook versions for multiple environments:
$ knife environment compare development staging
to return something similar to:
development staging
apache 2.3.1 1.2.2
windows 4.1.2 1.0.0
postgresql 1.0.0 1.0.0
To compare all cookbook versions for all environments:
$ knife environment compare --all
to return something similar to:
staging development
ulimit latest latest
redisio latest latest
journly latest latest
aws latest latest
test latest latest
unicorn latest latest
sensu latest latest
runit latest latest
templater latest latest
powershell latest latest
openssl latest latest
rbenv latest latest
rabbitmq latest latest
postgresql latest latest
mysql latest latest
ohai latest latest
git latest latest
erlang latest latest
ssh_known_hosts latest latest
nginx latest latest
database latest latest
yum latest latest
xfs latest latest
apt latest latest
dmg latest latest
chef_handler latest latest
windows 1.0.0 4.1.2
The create argument is used to add an environment object to the server. When this argument is run, Knife will open $EDITOR to enable editing of the ENVIRONMENT description field (unless a description is specified as part of the command). When finished, Knife will add the environment to the server.
This argument has the following syntax:
$ knife environment create ENVIRONMENT_NAME -d DESCRIPTION
This argument has the following options:
The following examples show how to use this Knife subcommand:
Create an environment
To create an environment named “dev” with a description of “The development environment.”:
$ knife environment create dev -d "The development environment."
The delete argument is used to delete an environment from a server.
This command does not have any specific options.
The following examples show how to use this Knife subcommand:
Delete an environment
To delete an environment named “dev”, enter:
$ knife environment delete dev
Type Y to confirm a deletion.
The edit argument is used to edit the attributes of an environment. When this argument is run, Knife will open $EDITOR to enable editing of ENVIRONMENT attributes. When finished, Knife will update the server with those changes.
This command does not have any specific options.
The following examples show how to use this Knife subcommand:
Edit an environment
To edit an environment named “devops”, enter:
$ knife environment edit devops
The from file argument is used to add or update an environment using a JSON or Ruby DSL description. It must be run with the create or edit arguments.
This argument has the following syntax:
$ knife environment [create | edit] from file FILE (options)
This argument has the following options:
The following examples show how to use this Knife subcommand:
Create an environment from a JSON file
To add an environment using data contained in a JSON file:
$ knife environment create devops from file "path to JSON file"
or:
$ knife environment edit devops from file "path to JSON file"
The list argument is used to list all of the environments that are currently available on the server.
This argument has the following options:
The following examples show how to use this Knife subcommand:
View a list of environments
To view a list of environments:
$ knife environment list -w
The show argument is used to display information about the specified environment.
This argument has the following options:
The following examples show how to use this Knife subcommand:
Show environments
To view information about the “dev” environment enter:
$ knife environment show dev
to return:
% knife environment show dev
chef_type: environment
cookbook_versions:
default_attributes:
description:
json_class: Chef::Environment
name: dev
override_attributes:
\\
\\
\\
\\
Show environments as JSON
To view information in JSON format, use the -F common option as part of the command like this:
$ knife role show devops -F json
Other formats available include text, yaml, and pp.