kitchen converge

Now that we have a recipe, let’s use kitchen converge to see if it works:

-----> Starting Test Kitchen (v3.7.1)
-----> Converging <default-ubuntu-2404>...
       Preparing files for transfer
       Policy lock file doesn't exist, running `chef install` for Policyfile /Users/tsmith/git_cookbook/Policyfile.rb...
       Building policy git_cookbook
       Expanded run list: recipe[git_cookbook::default]
       Caching Cookbooks...
       Installing git_cookbook >= 0.0.0 from path

       Lockfile written to /Users/tsmith/git_cookbook/Policyfile.lock.json
       Policy revision id: f9aaaeaa7a929e3370d5224a3c7f07c605721933b9a893d383d0dc478aa48ce8
       Preparing dna.json
       Exporting cookbook dependencies from Policyfile /var/folders/99/1b6ms59j59sbl9t85sm75y8h0000gp/T/default-ubuntu-2404-sandbox-20200610-73309-h1lqd...
       Exported policy 'git_cookbook' to /var/folders/99/1b6ms59j59sbl9t85sm75y8h0000gp/T/default-ubuntu-2404-sandbox-20200610-73309-h1lqd

       To converge this system with the exported policy, run:
         cd /var/folders/99/1b6ms59j59sbl9t85sm75y8h0000gp/T/default-ubuntu-2404-sandbox-20200610-73309-h1lqd
         chef-client -z
       Removing non-cookbook files before transfer
       Preparing validation.pem
       Preparing client.rb
-----> Installing Chef install only if missing package
       Downloading https://omnitruck.chef.io/install.sh to file /tmp/install.sh
       Trying wget...
       Download complete.
       ubuntu 24.04 x86_64
       Getting information for chef stable  for ubuntu...
       downloading https://omnitruck.chef.io/stable/chef/metadata?v=&p=ubuntu&pv=24.04&m=x86_64
         to file /tmp/install.sh.1526/metadata.txt
       trying wget...
       sha1 1466b9dbfcce80987e145d58e12c076216f9a5b5
       sha256 f1f1cc5787bb56d5d3cb37339bb458f8d715e0be9a58abaad7e52ade90a2bfec
       url https://packages.chef.io/files/stable/chef/17.9.42/ubuntu/24.04/chef_17.9.42-1_amd64.deb
       version 17.9.42
       downloaded metadata file looks valid...
       /tmp/omnibus/cache/chef_17.9.42-1_amd64.deb exists
       Comparing checksum with sha256sum...

       WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING

       You are installing a package without a version pin.  If you are installing
       on production servers via an automated process this is DANGEROUS and you will
       be upgraded without warning on new releases, even to new major releases.
       Letting the version float is only appropriate in desktop, test, development or
       CI/CD environments.

       WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING

       Installing chef
       installing with dpkg...
       Selecting previously unselected package chef.
(Reading database ... 44414 files and directories currently installed.)
       Preparing to unpack .../cache/chef_17.9.42-1_amd64.deb ...
       Unpacking chef (17.9.42-1) ...
       Setting up chef (17.9.42-1) ...
       Thank you for installing Chef Infra Client! For help getting started visit https://learn.chef.io
       Transferring files to <default-ubuntu-2404>
       +---------------------------------------------+
       ✔ 2 product licenses accepted.
       +---------------------------------------------+
       Starting Chef Infra Client, version 17.9.42
       Creating a new client identity for default-ubuntu-2404 using the validator key.
       Using policy 'git_cookbook' at revision 'f9aaaeaa7a929e3370d5224a3c7f07c605721933b9a893d383d0dc478aa48ce8'
       resolving cookbooks for run list: ["git_cookbook::[email protected] (4def6b4)"]
       Synchronizing Cookbooks:
         - git_cookbook (0.1.0)
       Installing Cookbook Gems:
       Compiling Cookbooks...
       Converging 1 resources
       Recipe: git_cookbook::default
         * apt_package[git] action install (up to date)

       Running handlers:
       Running handlers complete
       Chef Infra Client finished, 0/1 resources updated in 01 seconds
       Downloading files from <default-ubuntu-2404>
       Finished converging <default-ubuntu-2404> (0m13.07s).
-----> Test Kitchen is finished. (0m14.99s)

If you have used Chef Infra before, much of the output above will look familiar. Here’s a summary of what happened:

Chef Infra Client was installed on the instance.
The git_cookbook and a minimal Chef Infra Client configuration were prepared and uploaded.
Chef Infra Client executed a run using the run-list and node attributes defined in your kitchen.yml.

Notice that during the run, Chef Infra Client reported that git was (up to date). This means git was already present on the base image, so no changes were needed. Chef Infra’s idempotence ensures resources are only updated when necessary.

Pro Tip

This highlights a property of configuration management systems, like Chef Infra, called idempotence - in this context, Chef Infra Client saw that we requested to install git but as it was already installed there was nothing to do. This concept is very useful when thinking about configuration management generally as unlike a bash script, Chef Infra cookbooks aren't a series of commands but a set of declarations about the desired state.

A converge leaves the machine running, allowing you to quickly iterate on your configuration code—Test Kitchen automatically uploads any changes each time you run kitchen converge. This rapid feedback loop is essential for efficient development.

Test Kitchen is designed to provide clear and reliable exit codes, which is critical for integration with Continuous Integration (CI) systems. The Test Kitchen Command Guarantee ensures:

Exit code 0 is returned when all operations complete successfully.
A non-zero exit code is returned if any part of the operation fails.
Any deviation from this behavior is considered a bug.

Consistent exit codes enable CI tools to accurately detect failures and successes, making automated testing and deployment more robust.