backup_databags.rb

#!/usr/bin/ruby

require 'rubygems'
require 'fileutils'
require 'chef'

pwd = File.dirname(__FILE__)

Chef::Config.from_file("/etc/chef/client.rb")
Chef::Config[:node_name] = ENV['OPSCODE_USER']
Chef::Config[:client_key] = ENV['OPSCODE_KEY']
Chef::Log::Formatter.show_time = false
Chef::Log.level(:error)
Mixlib::Authentication::Log.level(:error)

bags = Chef::DataBag.list

bags.each do |bag, bag_uri|
  puts bag
  FileUtils.mkdir_p(File.join(pwd, bag))
  items = Chef::DataBag.load(bag)
  items.each do |item, item_uri|
    puts "  #{item}"
    fname = File.join(pwd, bag, item) + ".json"
    if File.exists?(fname)
      FileUtils.move(fname, fname + ".#{Time.now.strftime('%Y%m%d%H%M%S')}")
    end
    f = File.new(fname, "w")
    f.write(JSON.pretty_generate(Chef::DataBagItem.load(bag, item)))
  end
end