Chef Software install script

You can use the Chef Software install script to install any Chef software—including Chef Infra Client, Chef Infra Server, and Chef InSpec—on UNIX, Linux, and Windows platforms.

This script does the following:

• detects the platform, version, and architecture of the machine on which the installer is being executed
• fetches the appropriate package, for the requested product and version
• validates the package content by comparing SHA-256 checksums
• installs the package

Install using the Commercial API

Commercial users can use the install script from the Chef Commercial API to install Chef software.

Prerequisites

You must have a license ID to use the install script from the Chef Commercial API. You can get your license ID from the Chef Downloads portal.

UNIX, Linux, and macOS

Use the Chef install script to install packages on UNIX, Linux, and macOS systems:

• By default the script installs the latest version of Chef Infra Client:

  curl -L https://chefdownload-commercial.chef.io/install.sh?license_id=<LICENSE_ID> | sudo bash
  

  Replace <LICENSE_ID> with your license ID.

• Use the -P option to specify a Chef software application to install:

  curl -L https://chefdownload-commercial.chef.io/install.sh?license_id=<LICENSE_ID> | sudo bash -s -- -P <PROJECT>
  

  Replace:

  • <LICENSE_ID> with your license ID
  • <PROJECT> with the application you want to install

For additional script install options, see the script options.

Windows

On Windows systems, you can install Chef software using the Powershell install script.

• By default the script installs the latest version of Chef Infra Client:

  . { iwr -useb https://chefdownload-commercial.chef.io/install.ps1?license_id=<LICENSE_ID> } | iex; install
  

  Replace <LICENSE_ID> with your license ID.

• Use the -project option to specify a Chef software application to install:

  . { iwr -useb https://chefdownload-commercial.chef.io/install.ps1?license_id=<LICENSE_ID> } | iex; install -project <PROJECT>
  

  Replace:

  • <LICENSE_ID> with your license ID
  • <PROJECT> with the application you want to install

For additional script install options, see the script options.

Install using the Community API

Community users can use the install script from the Chef Community API to install Chef software.

UNIX, Linux, and macOS

Use the Chef install script to install packages on UNIX, Linux, and macOS systems:

• By default the script installs the latest available version of Chef Infra Client:

  curl -L https://chefdownload-community.chef.io/install.sh | sudo bash
  

• Use the -P option to specify a Chef application to install:

  curl -L https://chefdownload-community.chef.io/install.sh | sudo bash -s -- -P <PROJECT>
  

  Replace <PROJECT> with the application you want to install

For additional script install options, see the script options.

Windows

On Windows systems, you can install Chef software using the Powershell install script.

• By default the script installs the latest available version of Chef Infra Client:

  . { iwr -useb https://chefdownload-community.chef.io/install.ps1 } | iex; install
  

• Use the -project option to specify a Chef application to install:

  . { iwr -useb https://chefdownload-community.chef.io/install.ps1 } | iex; install -project <PROJECT>
  

For additional script install options, see the script options.

Script options

In addition to the default install behavior, the Chef Software install script supports the following options:

-c (-channel on Windows)

The release channel from which a package is pulled.

The Commercial Download API supports the current or stable channels. The Community Download API only supports the stable channel.

Default value: stable.

-d (-download_directory on Windows)

The directory into which a package is downloaded. When a package already exists in this directory and the checksum matches, the package is not re-downloaded. When -d and -f are not specified, a package is downloaded to a temporary directory.

-f (-filename on Windows)

The name of the file and the path at which that file is located. When a filename already exists at this path and the checksum matches, the package is not re-downloaded. When -d and -f are not specified, a package is downloaded to a temporary directory.

-P (-project on Windows)

The product name to install. Supported versions of Chef products are chef,chef-backend,chef-server,inspec,chef-workstation,manage and supermarket. Default value: chef.

-s (-install_strategy on Windows)

The method of package installations. The default strategy is to always install when the install.sh script runs. Set to “once” to skip installation if the product is already installed on the node.

-l (-download_url_override on Windows)

Install package downloaded from a direct URL.

-a (-checksum on Windows)

The SHA256 for download_url_override

-v (-version on Windows)

The version of the package to be installed. A version always takes the form x.y.z, where x, y, and z are decimal numbers that are used to represent major (x), minor (y), and patch (z) versions. A two-part version (x.y) is also allowed. For more information about application versioning, see semver.org.

Release channels

Chef releases packages from the following release channels:

Use the stable channel when installing Chef products on production systems.

Examples

The following examples show how to use the Chef Software install script.

• Use the -v option to install Chef Infra Client 15.8.23 on Unix, Linux, or macOS hosts:

  curl -L https://chefdownload-commercial.chef.io/install.sh?license_id=<LICENSE_ID> | sudo bash -s -- -v 15.8.23
  

  Replace <LICENSE_ID> with your license ID.

• To install the latest version of Chef Workstation on Windows from the current channel:

  . { iwr -useb https://chefdownload-commercial.chef.io/install.ps1?license_id=<LICENSE_ID> } | iex; install -channel current -project chef-workstation
  

  Replace <LICENSE_ID> with your license ID.