2018-07-01T08:03:00Z

What is your primary use case for Chef?

Miriam Tover - PeerSpot reviewer
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PeerSpot user
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18 Answers

Arun S . - PeerSpot reviewer
Real User
Top 5
2023-02-14T12:30:57Z
Feb 14, 2023

Chef is primarily used for configuration management. For example, if you are managing a large number of servers (thousands or more), it is essential to ensure that the configurations across all servers are consistent. Otherwise, making any changes to the configurations would require writing a script to apply those changes across all the servers. Additionally, end-users may change configurations on multiple servers, leading to inconsistencies across different servers. To avoid this, configuration management is required. We use Chef for this purpose by using a server-client mechanism. We apply changes to the Chef server, and every 30 to 40 minutes (depending on the configuration), Chef will verify whether the server has the required configuration. If not, it will revert to the required configuration automatically.

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MR
Real User
Top 5
2023-11-17T15:00:36Z
Nov 17, 2023

Chef is a configuration management tool, and I work for the product team of Chef. All the DevOps teams mainly use Chef for configuration management of their servers or infrastructure.

Ivan Bizhev - PeerSpot reviewer
Real User
Top 5
2023-11-16T10:35:48Z
Nov 16, 2023

We were using the tool for managing Kubernetes.

Aaron  P - PeerSpot reviewer
Real User
Top 5
2023-09-18T15:42:00Z
Sep 18, 2023

Chef is like a master chef in a kitchen for computer systems. It's used to create recipes (cookbooks) that specify how servers and apps should be set up. Chef then makes sure these instructions are followed the same way on all computers in a network. The ChefServer is like the recipe book, where all these instructions are kept and shared, making it easier to manage and control how software and systems work in a company.

Murat Gultekin - PeerSpot reviewer
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
2022-04-05T19:28:23Z
Apr 5, 2022

Chef is mostly for the operating systems to deploy or style, e.g. not containers. Before the containers, you need hardware, then an operating system, then you start to work on Kubernetes. To automate those steps, we use Chef. The tool is useful for provisioning the operating system, because as you talk about the ops, sometimes customers ask to further deploy everything through automation, e.g. starting from scratch. You need to use different tools for you to provision via automation, so you need Chef. We use an automation tool such as Chef, then we were able to run Docker or containers on top of the hardware and operating system.

TW
MSP
2018-12-11T08:31:00Z
Dec 11, 2018

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BP
Real User
2018-12-11T08:31:00Z
Dec 11, 2018

We use it for training.

SN
MSP
2018-12-11T08:31:00Z
Dec 11, 2018

We use it for deployment of applications. It is a tool that you can use on the back-end for deploying architectures. I have used the product for a couple years. I used to work for an online data center, and we used Chef for a lot of the tools and appointments.

MS
Real User
2018-12-11T08:31:00Z
Dec 11, 2018

It's for deployment and configuration automation.

AS
Real User
2018-12-11T08:31:00Z
Dec 11, 2018

We use it for integration management.

TR
Real User
2018-12-11T08:31:00Z
Dec 11, 2018

We use it for provisioning Adobe Experience Manager web application environments.

IH
Real User
2018-12-10T06:53:00Z
Dec 10, 2018

Our primary use case of this solution is for the orchestration of the service deployment, and integrations. Earlier, we had it on-prem but now it's totally on AWS cloud. AWS cloud is easier to use, and changing and refitting the architecture solutions is very easy.

JB
Real User
2018-12-09T08:49:00Z
Dec 9, 2018

I have used in my current company for three years, and with other clients for more than ten years.

AC
Real User
2018-12-09T08:34:00Z
Dec 9, 2018

It is for orchestrating our servers and deployments to do integrations.

WW
Real User
2018-12-05T07:52:00Z
Dec 5, 2018

We use it for provisioning and ongoing configuration management. We provision boxes with Chef by taking a base AMI that already has Chef installed, and already has the appropriate credentials to connect to the main server. Then, this will be able to roll out and deploy the configuration. In addition, it runs every five minutes, so any unexpected changes to the configuration get automatically reverted. This means, you get developers, who go into the box and change something, thinking it will be okay. Then, they come to you, asking "Why isn't this change that I'm making working?" We have to explain, "Because it shouldn't be going into the box in the first place."

SA
Real User
2018-12-05T07:52:00Z
Dec 5, 2018

Our primary use case is having the properties set up across the servers. We have Chef recipes deployed and configured across our servers, so we get the same type of replication across our servers and environments. We are using the on-premise version. We have our applications already set up for on-premise. We are using Chef and preparing it for CI/CD and other properties. Now, we are planning ahead and will use the AWS service too.

MohammedHashim - PeerSpot reviewer
Real User
Top 5
2018-08-02T11:48:00Z
Aug 2, 2018

My primary use case for Chef has been always for infrastructure provisioning. For example, infrastructure as a cloud, provisioning it in a multi-cloud environment. That's predominantly what we're using Chef for.

it_user82485 - PeerSpot reviewer
MSP
2018-07-01T08:03:00Z
Jul 1, 2018

I used Chef for server provisioning in AWS using the knife-aws plugin. I also used Chef as a configuration management tool. It did all the setup and configuration for all the software packages for multiple servers. To make any updates to the server setups, all we did was update the recipes on the Chef Server.

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