How to install Nginx by Chef

This is an example how to install Nginx by Chef. Previously I have written article how to install Chef on Ubuntu and now we will try to install the first cookbook on this environment.

1. Download cookbook

Create cookbook directory:

sudo mkdir -p /var/chef/cookbooks
sudo chown ubuntu:ubuntu /var/chef/cookbooks
cd /var/chef/cookbooks
git init
echo "This is a cookbooks directory" > readme.txt
git add *
git commit -m "init master"

Download “nginx” cookbook and place it in /var/chef/cookbooks directory with dependencies:

knife cookbook site install nginx

Fix types_hash_max_size:

nano /var/chef/cookbooks/nginx/templates/default/nginx.conf.erb

Put in bottom of the http section the text:

types_hash_max_size 8192;

Upload cookbooks to the Chef Server

knife cookbook upload ohai
knife cookbook upload build-essential
knife cookbook upload yum
knife cookbook upload bluepill
knife cookbook upload runit
knife cookbook upload nginx

List active nodes

knife node list

Select front node and apply recipe for it

knife node run_list add front_node 'nginx::default'

Show the node to ensure that the run_list contains the recipe

knife node show front_node

Chef WebUI customization

/usr/share/chef-server-webui/config/rack.rb

use Rack::ContentLength
if prefix = ::Merb::Config[:path_prefix]
    use Merb::Rack::PathPrefix, prefix
end
use Merb::Rack::Static, Merb.dir_for(:public)
run Merb::Rack::Application.new

add to /usr/share/chef-server-webui/config/environments/production.rb:

c[:path_prefix] = ‘/webui’