This Chef 101 Workshop is a hands on training class for getting familiar with Chef for performing common automation tasks. In this workshop, we will cover:

1. Set up a local workstation with Chef and connect to a Chef Server.
2. Use Chef to automate installation of a Nagios server as a real world example.
3. Automate other common system tasks with Chef, including:

• User management and sudo permissions
• NTP, including a local NTP server
• SMTP relaying with postfix

Each exercise will be instructor-led, and introduce new Chef concepts along the way. We'll cover the Anatomy of a Chef Run, Chef's Authentication Cycle, how to build roles, manipulate configuration through data in attributes, use Chef's search API for dynamic configuration, and more.

Lunch and snack will be provided. Please notify Jennifer Burke (jennifer@opscode.com) of any dietary restrictions.

General Requirements

Students must be familiar with basic to intermediate Unix/Linux system administration topics including the following:

* Command-line familiarity with Unix/Linux shells
* System resource concepts like package, service and user management
* Key-based authentication (e.g., RSA/SSH)
* Version control systems (e.g., Git, Mercurial, Subversion)
* Knowledge of cloud computing or virtualization concepts such as API-driven compute is helpful

Students should have basic working knowledge with at least one third generation programming language such as Perl, Python, PHP or Ruby.

* Basic data structures (string, numbers, array, hash or language equivalents)
* Conditionals (if/unless, case/switch)
* Loops (for/foreach, while, or language equivalents)

Workstation Requirements

Attendees should bring a wifi-enabled laptop to the workshop. Install non-Chef software before the workshop starts.

* SSH/SCP (OpenSSH, puTTY/WinSCP or equivalent)
* Programer's text editor (Vi/Vim, Emacs, TextMate or equivalent)

The following operating systems have been tested as workstation systems with the hands on exercises:

* Ubuntu 10.04, 12.04
* Fedora 16
* Mac OS X 10.7.3
* Windows 7

Other platforms and platform versions may work without modification. Ubuntu 12.04 "workstation" systems will be provided, see below.

If Chef is not already installed, use [Opscode's Full Stack Chef installer](http://www.opscode.com/chef/install). This will also be covered during the introductory portion of the workshop.

Target Systems and Workstations

Target systems to configure with Chef are provided as internet-accessible (via SSH) Ubuntu 12.04 instances. For students who are unable to use their laptop as a workstation, an optional Ubuntu 12.04 workstation instance will be provided as well.

In any case, students must have an SSH/SCP client installed on their laptop. See workstation requirements, above.

As we're providing instances, the exercises will all assume Ubuntu 12.04 as the platform, with a base server installation that includes OpenSSH running.

Virtual machine images or other cloud provider instances may work, but students are on their own to get that set up ahead of time, and there will not be time during the workshop to troubleshoot issues.