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A Policyfile is an optional way to manage role, environment, and community cookbook data with a single document that is uploaded to the Chef Infra Server. The file is associated with a group of nodes, cookbooks, and settings. When these nodes perform a Chef Infra Client run, they utilize recipes specified in the Policyfile run-list.

A Policyfile file allows you to specify in a single document the cookbook revisions and recipes that Chef Infra Client will apply. A Policyfile file is uploaded to the Chef Infra Server, where it is associated with a group of nodes. When these nodes are configured during a Chef Infra Client run, Chef Infra Client will make decisions based on your Policyfile settings and will build a run-list based on that information. A Policyfile file may be versioned, and then promoted through deployment stages to safely and reliably deploy new configuration.

Syntax

A Policyfile.rb is a Ruby file in which run-list and cookbook locations are specified. The syntax is as follows:

name "name"
run_list "ITEM", "ITEM", ...
default_source :SOURCE_TYPE, *args
cookbook "NAME" [, "VERSION_CONSTRAINT"] [, SOURCE_OPTIONS]

Settings

A Policyfile.rb file may contain the following settings:

name "name"

Required. The name of the policy. Use a name that reflects the purpose of the machines against which the policy will run.

run_list "ITEM", "ITEM", ...

Required. The run-list Chef Infra Client will use to apply the policy to one (or more) nodes.

default_source :SOURCE_TYPE, *args

The location in which any cookbooks not specified by cookbook are located. Possible values: chef_repo, chef_server, :community, :supermarket, and :artifactory. Use more than one default_source to specify more than one location for cookbooks.

default_source :supermarket pulls cookbooks from the public Chef Supermarket.

default_source :supermarket, "https://mysupermarket.example" pulls cookbooks from a named private Chef Supermarket.

default_source :chef_server, "https://chef-server.example/organizations/example" pulls cookbooks from the Chef Infra Server.

default_source :community is an alias for :supermarket.

default_source :chef_repo, "path/to/repo" pulls cookbooks from a monolithic cookbook repository. This may be a path to the top-level of a cookbook repository or to the /cookbooks directory within that repository.

default_source :artifactory, "https://artifactory.example/api/chef/my-supermarket" pulls cookbooks from an Artifactory server. Requires either artifactory_api_key to be set in config.rb or ARTIFACTORY_API_KEY to be set in your environment.

Multiple cookbook sources may be specified. For example from the public Chef Supermarket and a monolithic repository:

default_source :supermarket
default_source :chef_repo, 'path/to/repo'

or from both a public and private Chef Supermarket:

default_source :supermarket
default_source :supermarket, 'https://supermarket.example'

Note

If a run-list or any dependencies require a cookbook that is present in more than one source, be explicit about which source is preferred. This will ensure that a cookbook is always pulled from an expected source. For example, an internally-developed cookbook named chef-client will conflict with the public chef-client cookbook that is maintained by Chef. To specify a named source for a cookbook:

default_source :supermarket
default_source :supermarket, 'https://supermarket.example' do |s|
  s.preferred_for 'chef-client'
end

List multiple cookbooks on the same line:

default_source :supermarket
default_source :supermarket, 'https://supermarket.example' do |s|
  s.preferred_for 'chef-client', 'nginx', 'mysql'
end

cookbook "NAME" [, "VERSION_CONSTRAINT"] [, SOURCE_OPTIONS]

Add cookbooks to the policy, specify a version constraint, or specify an alternate source location, such as Chef Supermarket. For example, add a cookbook:

cookbook 'apache2'

Specify a version constraint:

run_list 'jenkins::master'

# Restrict the jenkins cookbook to version 2.x, greater than 2.1
cookbook 'jenkins', '~> 2.1'

Specify an alternate source:

cookbook 'my_app', path: 'cookbooks/my_app'

or:

cookbook 'mysql', github: 'opscode-cookbooks/mysql', branch: 'master'

or:

cookbook 'chef-ingredient', git: 'https://github.com/chef-cookbooks/chef-ingredient.git', tag: 'v0.12.0'

named_run_list "NAME", "ITEM1", "ITEM2", ...

Specify a named run-list to be used as an alternative to the override run-list. This setting should be used carefully and for specific use cases, like running a small set of recipes to quickly converge configuration for a single application on a host or for one-time setup tasks. For example:

named_run_list :update_app, 'my_app_cookbook::default'

include_policy "NAME", *args

Specify a policyfile lock to be merged with this policy. Chef Workstation supports pulling this lock from a local or remote file, from a Chef Infra Server, or from a git repository. When the policyfile lock is included, its run-list will appear before the current policyfile’s run-list. This setting requires that the solved cookbooks appear as-is from the included policyfile lock. If conflicting attributes or cookbooks are provided, an error will be presented. See RFC097 for the full specifications of this feature.

Pull the policyfile lock from ./NAME.lock.json:

include_policy 'NAME', path: '.'

Pull the policyfile lock from ./foo.lock.json.

include_policy 'NAME', path: './foo.lock.json'

Pull the policyfile lock foo.lock.json from the example/foo Git repository on the git.example.com Git server.

include_policy 'NAME', git: 'https://git.example.com/example/foo', path: 'foo.lock.json'

Pull the policyfile lock from ./bar.lock.json with revision ID ‘revision1’.

include_policy 'NAME', policy_revision_id: 'revision1', path: './bar.lock.json'

Pull the policyfile lock from a remote server https://internal.example.com/foo.lock.json.

include_policy 'NAME', remote: 'https://internal.example.com/foo.lock.json'

Pull the policyfile lock from a remote server https://internal.example.com/bar.lock.json and with revision ID ‘revision1’.

include_policy 'NAME', policy_revision_id: 'revision1', remote: 'https://internal.example.com/foo.lock.json'

Pull the policy NAME with revision ID revision1 from the http://chef-server.example Chef Infra Server:

include_policy 'NAME', policy_revision_id: 'revision1', server: 'http://chef-server.example'

Pull the policy foo with revision ID revision1:

include_policy 'NAME', policy_name: 'foo', policy_revision_id: 'revision1', server: 'http://chef-server.example'

Pull and lock the current revision for policy foo in policy group prod:

include_policy 'NAME', policy_name: 'foo', policy_group: 'prod', server: 'http://chef-server.example'

Example

For example:

name 'jenkins-master'
run_list 'java', 'jenkins::master', 'recipe[policyfile_demo]'
default_source :supermarket, 'https://mysupermarket.example'
cookbook 'policyfile_demo', path: 'cookbooks/policyfile_demo'
cookbook 'jenkins', '~> 2.1'
cookbook 'mysql', github: 'chef-cookbooks/mysql', branch: 'master'