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I am using HP 2920-24G switch. In that,I am trying to build the setup for CHEF Client. But it shows error while bootstrapping. Is that HP switch supports CHEF or not?

user237413
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  • Do you try to install a chef client on the switch? In thase case, this won't work. Otherwise, why should your network switch of all things be responsible for a problem with a chef setup? – Sven Aug 13 '14 at 08:55
  • Yes I tried. But it fails every time. – user237413 Aug 13 '14 at 08:57
  • What makes you think that this could work in the first place? A switch is no normal computer with where you can setup software at will. – Sven Aug 13 '14 at 09:01
  • so tell me what to do. I tried to bootstrap the switch,but it shows error. – user237413 Aug 13 '14 at 09:03
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    What part of "That doesn't work" is unclear? You can't install a chef client on the switch and you have to manage it another way. – Sven Aug 13 '14 at 09:07
  • I want to use a HP 2920-24G SWITCH as a node for using chef and install chef client on it, but I am unable to bootstrap the node for the chef using knife tool. It shows the following error while bootstrapping: net::ssh:connection closed by remote host I also want to know that is there any image/ova available for installing chef-client. – user237413 Aug 13 '14 at 09:11
  • Please don't crosspost to [multiple](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/25278677/is-hp-2920-24g-compatible-with-chef-setup) StackExchange sites simultaneously. – StephenKing Aug 13 '14 at 09:22
  • I apologies for that. – user237413 Aug 13 '14 at 09:25
  • This is terrible! Lack of research/understanding! – ewwhite Aug 13 '14 at 12:00

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This doesn't work. A switch runs a highly specialized operating system that usually lacks all the infrastructure that is required to run a chef client and it doesn't allow to install software on it anyway. (Edit: There might be specific switch series that have the required infrastructure and e.g. Run Linux as an OS, but this model doesn't).

So, you can't configure your switch as a chef node and there is no way around it. You have to come up with another way to manage your switch.

Sven
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  • This is not true (EDIT: in general). There are several switches available that are running Linux as operating system. As long as a ruby environment is possible for the actual system, chances are high that it can run a chef-client. – StephenKing Aug 13 '14 at 09:19
  • So its not possible to use switch as a node??? – user237413 Aug 13 '14 at 09:21
  • @StephenKing: We are talking about a specific switch series and to my knowledge, it doesn't run Linux and it doesn't have a ruby environment, therefore you can't install Chef on it. – Sven Aug 13 '14 at 09:21
  • @user237413: I have said this four times now: No, it's not possible. – Sven Aug 13 '14 at 09:22
  • We are talking about HP 2920-24G switch. – user237413 Aug 13 '14 at 09:23
  • Yes, I agree that for this particular switch it is not possible. Situation is different for other switch vendors (e.g. Arista or Pronto) – StephenKing Aug 13 '14 at 09:24
  • And the reason behind this is that it doesn't run LINUX? – user237413 Aug 13 '14 at 09:30
  • So please suggest me what to do now? – user237413 Aug 13 '14 at 09:34
  • Yes and no. Many switch vendors, e.g. HP and Cisco, use highly specialized operating systems that lack a lot of common things needed to run anything beyond the switching software because they are not needed. Others might use Linux as an OS where it is theoretically possible run much more software beside the switching software because the infrastructure is there. But even then, the vendor might decide that they don't want this to protect the functionality of the device and disallow software installations. – Sven Aug 13 '14 at 09:36
  • Now you come up with a different plan on how to manage the device. Depending on what you want to do, you could cook up a chef recipe that targets one of your usual clients and configure it to deploy the desired configuration on the switch. – Sven Aug 13 '14 at 09:40
  • I wanted to control several functionalities of the switch like adding and removing a flow, system switch over(sso) , etc. – user237413 Aug 13 '14 at 09:47
  • @SvW one more question- can I connect more than one workstation to the server at a time. Because whenever I try to connect a new workstation to server,it generates a new pair of keys . hence the previous workstation losses its connection with server. – user237413 Aug 13 '14 at 10:56
  • @user237413: This is a completely new question. Please post it as such, but read http://meta.serverfault.com/q/3608/126632 before. – Sven Aug 13 '14 at 10:59