knife-diff - The man page for the knife diff subcommand.
The knife diff subcommand is used to compare the
differences between files and directories on the Chef server and in the
chef-repo. For example, to compare files on the Chef server prior to an
uploading or downloading files using the knife download and knife
upload subcommands, or to ensure that certain files in multiple
production environments are the same. This subcommand is similar to the
git diff command that can be used to diff what is in the chef-repo
with what is synced to a git repository.
Syntax
This subcommand has the following syntax:
$ knife diff [PATTERN...] (options)
Options
This subcommand has the following options:
- -c CONFIG_FILE,
--config CONFIG_FILE
- The configuration file to use.
- --chef-repo-path
PATH
- The path to the chef-repo. This setting will override the default path to
the chef-repo. Default: same as specified by chef_repo_path in
config.rb.
- --chef-zero-port
PORT
- The port on which chef-zero will listen.
- --[no-]color
- Use to view colored output.
- --cookbook-version
VERSION
- The version of a cookbook to be downloaded.
- --concurrency
- The number of allowed concurrent connections. Default: 10.
- -d,
--disable-editing
- Use to prevent the $EDITOR from being opened and to accept data
as-is.
- --defaults
- Use to have knife use the default value instead of asking a user to
provide one.
- --diff-filter=[(A|D|M|T)...[*]]
- Use to select only files that have been added (A), deleted
(D), modified (M), and/or have had their type changed
(T). Any combination of filter characters may be used, including no
filter characters. Use * to select all paths if a file matches
other criteria in the comparison. Default value: nil.
- -e EDITOR, --editor
EDITOR
- The $EDITOR that is used for all interactive commands.
- -E ENVIRONMENT,
--environment ENVIRONMENT
- The name of the environment. When this option is added to a command, the
command will run only against the named environment.
- -F FORMAT, --format
FORMAT
- The output format: summary (default), text, json,
yaml, and pp.
- -h,
--help
- Shows help for the command.
- -k KEY, --key
KEY
- The private key that knife will use to sign requests made by the API
client to the Chef server.
- --name-only
- Use to show only the names of modified files.
- --name-status
- Use to show only the names of files with a status of Added,
Deleted, Modified, or Type Changed.
- --no-recurse
- Use --no-recurse to disable listing a directory recursively.
Default: --recurse.
- --print-after
- Use to show data after a destructive operation.
- --repo-mode
MODE
- The layout of the local chef-repo. Possible values: static,
everything, or hosted_everything. Use static for just
roles, environments, cookbooks, and data bags. By default,
everything and hosted_everything are dynamically selected
depending on the server type. Default: everything /
hosted_everything.
- -s URL, --server-url
URL
- The URL for the Chef server.
- -u USER, --user
USER
- The user name used by knife to sign requests made by the API client to the
Chef server. Authentication will fail if the user name does not match the
private key.
- -v,
--version
- The version of the chef-client.
- -V,
--verbose
- Set for more verbose outputs. Use -VV for maximum verbosity.
- -y,
--yes
- Use to respond to all confirmation prompts with "Yes". knife
will not ask for confirmation.
- -z,
--local-mode
- Use to run the chef-client in local mode. This allows all commands that
work against the Chef server to also work against the local
chef-repo.
knife.rb File Settings
In addition to the default settings in a knife.rb file, there are
other subcommand-specific settings that can be added. When a subcommand is
run, knife will use:
- 1.
- A value passed via the command-line
- 2.
- A value contained in the knife.rb file
- 3.
- The default value
A value passed via the command line will override a value in the
knife.rb file; a value in a knife.rb file will override a default value.
The following knife diff settings can be added to the
knife.rb file:
Examples
To compare the base.json role to a webserver.json
role, enter:
$ knife diff roles/base.json roles/webserver.json
To compare the differences between the local chef-repo and the
files that are on the Chef server, enter:
To diff a node named node-lb and then only return files
that have been added, deleted, modified, or changed, enter:
$ knife diff --name-status node-lb
to return something like:
node-lb/recipes/eip.rb
node-lb/recipes/heartbeat-int.rb
node-lb/templates/default/corpsite.conf.erb
node-lb/files/default/wildcard.node.com.crt
node-lb/files/default/wildcard.node.com.crt-2009
node-lb/files/default/wildcard.node.com.key
node-lb/.gitignore
node-lb/Rakefile