---
layout: "docs"
page_title: "Chef-Solo Provisioner"
description: |-
  The Chef solo Packer provisioner installs and configures software on machines built by Packer using chef-solo. Cookbooks can be uploaded from your local machine to the remote machine or remote paths can be used.
---

# Chef Solo Provisioner

Type: `chef-solo`

The Chef solo Packer provisioner installs and configures software on machines built
by Packer using [chef-solo](http://docs.opscode.com/chef_solo.html). Cookbooks
can be uploaded from your local machine to the remote machine or remote paths
can be used.

The provisioner will even install Chef onto your machine if it isn't already
installed, using the official Chef installers provided by Opscode.

## Basic Example

The example below is fully functional and expects cookbooks in the
"cookbooks" directory relative to your working directory.

```javascript
{
  "type": "chef-solo",
  "cookbook_paths": ["cookbooks"]
}
```

## Configuration Reference

The reference of available configuration options is listed below. No
configuration is actually required, but at least `run_list` is recommended.

* `config_template` (string) - Path to a template that will be used for
  the Chef configuration file. By default Packer only sets configuration
  it needs to match the settings set in the provisioner configuration. If
  you need to set configurations that the Packer provisioner doesn't support,
  then you should use a custom configuration template. See the dedicated
  "Chef Configuration" section below for more details.

* `cookbook_paths` (array of strings) - This is an array of paths to
  "cookbooks" directories on your local filesystem. These will be uploaded
  to the remote machine in the directory specified by the `staging_directory`.
  By default, this is empty.

* `data_bags_path` (string) - The path to the "data\_bags" directory on your local filesystem.
  These will be uploaded to the remote machine in the directory specified by the
  `staging_directory`.  By default, this is empty.

* `encrypted_data_bag_secret_path` (string) - The path to the file containing
  the secret for encrypted data bags. By default, this is empty, so no
  secret will be available.

* `environments_path` (string) - The path to the "environments" directory on your local filesystem.
  These will be uploaded to the remote machine in the directory specified by the
  `staging_directory`.  By default, this is empty.

* `execute_command` (string) - The command used to execute Chef. This has
  various [configuration template variables](/docs/templates/configuration-templates.html)
  available. See below for more information.

* `install_command` (string) - The command used to install Chef. This has
  various [configuration template variables](/docs/templates/configuration-templates.html)
  available. See below for more information.

* `json` (object) - An arbitrary mapping of JSON that will be available as
  node attributes while running Chef.

* `prevent_sudo` (boolean) - By default, the configured commands that are
  executed to install and run Chef are executed with `sudo`. If this is true,
  then the sudo will be omitted.

* `remote_cookbook_paths` (array of strings) - A list of paths on the remote
  machine where cookbooks will already exist. These may exist from a previous
  provisioner or step. If specified, Chef will be configured to look for
  cookbooks here. By default, this is empty.

* `roles_path` (string) - The path to the "roles" directory on your local filesystem.
  These will be uploaded to the remote machine in the directory specified by the
  `staging_directory`.  By default, this is empty.

* `run_list` (array of strings) - The [run list](http://docs.opscode.com/essentials_node_object_run_lists.html)
  for Chef. By default this is empty.

* `skip_install` (boolean) - If true, Chef will not automatically be installed
  on the machine using the Opscode omnibus installers.

* `staging_directory` (string) - This is the directory where all the configuration
  of Chef by Packer will be placed. By default this is "/tmp/packer-chef-solo".
  This directory doesn't need to exist but must have proper permissions so that
  the SSH user that Packer uses is able to create directories and write into
  this folder. If the permissions are not correct, use a shell provisioner
  prior to this to configure it properly.

## Chef Configuration

By default, Packer uses a simple Chef configuration file in order to set
the options specified for the provisioner. But Chef is a complex tool that
supports many configuration options. Packer allows you to specify a custom
configuration template if you'd like to set custom configurations.

The default value for the configuration template is:

```liquid
cookbook_path [{{.CookbookPaths}}]
```

This template is a [configuration template](/docs/templates/configuration-templates.html)
and has a set of variables available to use:

* `ChefEnvironment` - The current enabled environment. Only non-empty
  if the environment path is set.
* `CookbookPaths` is the set of cookbook paths ready to embedded directly
  into a Ruby array to configure Chef.
* `DataBagsPath` is the path to the data bags folder.
* `EncryptedDataBagSecretPath` - The path to the encrypted data bag secret
* `EnvironmentsPath` - The path to the environments folder.
* `RolesPath` - The path to the roles folder.

## Execute Command

By default, Packer uses the following command (broken across multiple lines
for readability) to execute Chef:

```liquid
{{if .Sudo}}sudo {{end}}chef-solo \
  --no-color \
  -c {{.ConfigPath}} \
  -j {{.JsonPath}}
```

This command can be customized using the `execute_command` configuration.
As you can see from the default value above, the value of this configuration
can contain various template variables, defined below:

* `ConfigPath` - The path to the Chef configuration file.
  file.
* `JsonPath` - The path to the JSON attributes file for the node.
* `Sudo` - A boolean of whether to `sudo` the command or not, depending on
  the value of the `prevent_sudo` configuration.

## Install Command

By default, Packer uses the following command (broken across multiple lines
for readability) to install Chef. This command can be customized if you want
to install Chef in another way.

```text
curl -L https://www.opscode.com/chef/install.sh | \
  {{if .Sudo}}sudo{{end}} bash
```

This command can be customized using the `install_command` configuration.