Define skills

A skill is an agent that allows you to perform actions on a node for a specific outcome. A skill can either be a canister-based skill or a non-canister-based skill. Skills can be Chef-owned (for example, Chef Infra, Chef Inspec, or Chef Courier) or user-created custom skills that Chef 360 Platform can register and manage.

Chef 360 Platform installs the following skills in the default skill assembly:

Chef Infra Client Interpreter: Executes Infra Client actions through a Courier job
Courier Runner: Interprets Courier job definitions sent by the Courier Dispatcher and executes them on the node
Gohai: Collects node attributes and attributes collected by the Node Management Agent
InSpec Interpreter: Executes Chef InSpec audits
Restart Interpreter: Reboots nodes and continues with subsequent steps through a Courier job
Shell Interpreter: Executes OS commands through a Courier job

Role requirements

To define skills, you must use a profile with the node-manager role.

Define skills

To manage skills on Chef 360 Platform, you must add the skill’s definition to the Node Management skill definitions.

The definition includes:

the skill’s name
Habitat package (canister) information
whether it runs as a Habitat service
skill definition templates needed to configure the skill on a node

Define the Courier Runner skill

To define Courier Runner as a service skill in Chef 360 Platform, follow these steps:

Create a JSON file containing the skill definition for Courier Runner:

{
    "name": "courier-runner",
    "canister": {
        "name": "courier-runner",
        "origin": "chef-platform",
        "service": true
    },
    "configurationTemplates": [
        {
            "content": "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",
            "fileName": "user.toml",
            "filePath": "/hab/user/courier-runner/config",
            "name": "courier-runner-template",
            "windowsFilePath": "c:\\hab\\user\\courier-runner\\config"
        }
    ]
}

To register the skill as a service, set the canister.service attribute to true and ensure the name and canister.name fields are identical.

Create the skill:

chef-node-management-cli management skill create-skill \
  --body-file <PATH_TO_JSON_FILE> \
  --profile <NODE_MANAGER_PROFILE_NAME>

Define the Gohai skill

To define the Gohai skill settings, follow these steps:

Create a JSON file with the Gohai skill’s definition:

{
    "name": "chef-gohai",
    "canister": {
        "origin": "chef-platform",
        "name": "chef-gohai",
        "service": true
    },
    "configurationTemplates": [
        {
            "content": "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",
            "fileName": "user.toml",
            "filePath": "/hab/user/chef-gohai/config",
            "name": "default",
            "windowsFilePath": "c:\\hab\\user\\chef-gohai\\config"
        }
    ]
}

Update the Gohai skill definition:

chef-node-management-cli management skill modify-skill \
  --skillName chef-gohai \
  --body-file <PATH_TO_JSON_FILE> \
  --profile <NODE_MANAGER_PROFILE_NAME>

Define the Infra Client Interpreter skill

To define the Infra Client Interpreter skill settings, follow these steps:

Create a JSON file with the Infra Client Interpreter skill’s definition:

{
  "name": "chef-client-interpreter",
  "canister": {
    "origin": "chef-platform",
    "name": "chef-client-interpreter",
    "service": false
  },
  "configurationTemplates": []
}

Update the Infra Client Interpreter skill definition:

chef-node-management-cli management skill modify-skill \
  --skillName chef-client-interpreter \
  --body-file <PATH_TO_JSON_FILE> \
  --profile <NODE_MANAGER_PROFILE_NAME>

Define the InSpec Interpreter skill

To define the InSpec Interpreter skill settings, follow these steps:

Create a JSON file with the InSpec Interpreter skill’s definition:

{
  "name": "inspec-interpreter",
  "canister": {
    "origin": "chef-platform",
    "name": "inspec-interpreter",
    "service": false
  },
  "configurationTemplates": []
}

Update the InSpec Interpreter skill definition:

chef-node-management-cli management skill modify-skill \
  --skillName inspec-interpreter \
  --body-file <PATH_TO_JSON_FILE> \
  --profile <NODE_MANAGER_PROFILE_NAME>

Define the Restart Interpreter skill

To define the Restart Interpreter skill settings, follow these steps:

Create a JSON file with the Restart Interpreter skill’s definition:

{
  "name": "restart-interpreter",
  "canister": {
    "origin": "chef-platform",
    "name": "restart-interpreter",
    "service": false
  },
  "configurationTemplates": []
}

Update the Restart Interpreter skill definition:

chef-node-management-cli management skill modify-skill \
  --skillName restart-interpreter \
  --body-file <PATH_TO_JSON_FILE> \
  --profile <NODE_MANAGER_PROFILE_NAME>

Define the Shell Interpreter skill

To define the Shell Interpreter skill settings, follow these steps:

Create a JSON file with the Shell Interpreter skill’s definition:

{
    "name": "shell-interpreter",
    "canister": {
        "origin": "chef-platform",
        "name": "shell-interpreter",
        "service": false
    },
    "configurationTemplates": []
}

Update the Shell Interpreter skill definition:

chef-node-management-cli management skill modify-skill \
  --skillName shell-interpreter \
  --body-file <PATH_TO_JSON_FILE> \
  --profile <NODE_MANAGER_PROFILE_NAME>

Next steps

After defining skills: