Rename a Chef Node

rename_node.md

How to rename a chef node

1. Edit existing node name. Update name and save. Chef will copy the node and create a new client entry.

knife node edit oldnode

2. ssh to node
3. Change hostname and dns information
4. stop chef-client sudo service chef-client stop
5. Change to /etc/chef cd /etc/chef
6. mv existing client.pem file to client-oldnode.pem
7. make sure validation.pem file exists for chef organization
8. edit client.rb update node_name "newnode"
9. run chef sudo chef-client
10. "Net::HTTPServerException: 403 "Forbidden"" I had to log into manage and check mark the permission to let clients update. Permissions
11. run chef sudo chef-client

Chef Client Finished

12. restart chef-client sudo service chef-client restart
13. Delete original node

chef-repo ‹master*› » knife node delete db02 -y; knife client delete db02 -y;
Deleted node[db02]
Deleted client[db02]

10. "Net::HTTPServerException: 403 "Forbidden"" :

• knife show acls/nodes/<new_node_name> to show node permissions.

Output example (where vandis_w is the chef user I used to rename the Chef node):

[...]
"update": {
    "actors": [
      "pivotal",
      "vandis_w"
    ],
    "groups": [
      "admins",
      "users"
    ]
  },
[...]

You must replace all the vandis_woccurrences with the new node name.
To do so, use the command knife edit acls/nodes/<new_node_name>.

You can check old/other node(s) permissions (knife show acls/nodes/<old_node_name>) to be sure.

I hope this will help some people.

There's an easier way that doesn't require a new key for the client and you keep all the old node attributes etc.

1. Make a copy of the node with the new name: knife node edit OLD_NODE. Rename the node here and save. This makes a copy of the original node.
2. Backup original client's public key knife client key show OLD_NODE default -F json | jq -r ."public_key" > OLD_NODE.pem
3. Generate a new client with that public key: knife client create -p ./OLD_NODE.pem NEW_NODE
4. Update ACL for the new client: knife acl add group clients nodes NEW_NODE update,read
5. Update /etc/chef/client.rb to specify the new node name
6. Now chef-client runs as normal, the node has been renamed.

Feel free to delete the old client and node at your leisure.