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Created July 22, 2015 14:07
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Windows ChefClient Task v. Service
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task.md

Chef Client as a scheduled task is generally preferable to a service, as it provides better visibility, more configurability, and fewer issues around log rotation and permissions. The windows cookbook has support for scheduled tasks.

In more detail:

  • chef-client as a Windows Service has issues with log rotation, which can lead to filling a disk partition. The scheduled task does not have that problem
  • status of chef-client as a Windows Service can be indeterminate. The "running" status might indicate only the watcher is working, not the entire chef-client service
  • chef-client as a Windows Service can have issues with insufficient permissions depending on the service context. Scheduled task is less likely to have such issues

When using chef-client as a scheduled task it's important to stagger the task execution times across your clients to avoid regularlly overloading your Chef Server. Support for adding a random delay will available in a future release of the Windows Cookbook

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