Chef data bags (JSON): how to use one file with multiple items

Question

I'm trying to use only one file in my Data Bag to contain multiple items (specifically for the users cookbook). All samples show isolated JSON objects. How do I store multiple ones in one file?

I've tried

{
  "id": "1"
},
{
  "id": "2"
}

and

[
    {
      "id": "1"
    },
    {
      "id": "2"
    }
]

and

{
  "id": "1"
}
{
  "id": "2"
}

I'm getting:

Net::HTTPFatalError: users_manage[xxxxx] (common::default line 76) had an error: Net::HTTPFatalError: 500 "Internal Server Error"
/opt/chef/embedded/lib/ruby/2.1.0/net/http/response.rb:119:in `error!'
/opt/chef/embedded/lib/ruby/gems/2.1.0/gems/chef-12.8.1/lib/chef/http.rb:145:in `request'
/opt/chef/embedded/lib/ruby/gems/2.1.0/gems/chef-12.8.1/lib/chef/http.rb:110:in `get'
/opt/chef/embedded/lib/ruby/gems/2.1.0/gems/chef-12.8.1/lib/chef/search/query.rb:158:in `call_rest_service'
/opt/chef/embedded/lib/ruby/gems/2.1.0/gems/chef-12.8.1/lib/chef/search/query.rb:87:in `search'
/opt/chef/embedded/lib/ruby/gems/2.1.0/gems/chef-12.8.1/lib/chef/dsl/data_query.rb:39:in `search'

I'm using chef-solo -z with the chef-solo-search cookbook.

Can't I pass an array of items from one file?

Worth noting, there is no such thing as `chef-solo -z`. Either use `chef-client -z` or `chef-solo` + `chef-solo-search`. One or the other, not both. — coderanger, May 09 '16 at 17:57

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered May 09 '16 at 14:55

0

You do not store multiple items in one data bag file in Chef. Just specify it in separate files. This is, how Chef works.

answered May 09 '16 at 14:55

StephenKing

36,187
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Thank you Stephan. So if I have 500 users, I'll need to have 500 files in my "users" data bag ? No way around it ? – aaro May 09 '16 at 14:58
Not as far as I know. – StephenKing May 09 '16 at 14:59
Chef itself is an API and doesn't care about the files per se, but chef-zero uses them to form its database so for `chef-client -z` you do need them. – coderanger May 09 '16 at 17:57

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered May 09 '16 at 15:02

0

Can you try something like: { "id": "users", "users": [ { ... user 1 info ... }, { ... user 2 info ... }, { ... user 3 info ... }, ... ] }

answered May 09 '16 at 15:02

Martin

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That would at least not be compatible with the _users_ cookbook. Sure you can squeeze all data into one item of a data bag, but that's just not how it's meant to be. – StephenKing May 09 '16 at 15:29
tried it anyway - seems it's can't parse the object: ` NoMethodError ------------- undefined method \`each' for nil:NilClass Cookbook Trace: --------------- /srv/chef/local-mode-cache/cache/cookbooks/users/providers/manage.rb:60:in \`block (2 levels) in class_from_file' /srv/chef/local-mode-cache/cache/cookbooks/users/providers/manage.rb:58:in \`block in class_from_file' ` – aaro May 09 '16 at 15:38

Chef data bags (JSON): how to use one file with multiple items

2 Answers2