As you might know, we have made changes to the Progress Chef download journey and updated the download APIs and scripts. With these changes, we hope to streamline the download journey and simplify the installation of Chef.
In this context, please be advised that starting with the October release, the knife bootstrap command will require a license key
The knife bootstrap command installs the Chef Infra Client so that it can run as a client and configure the node to communicate with a Chef Infra Server.
While the knife bootstrap command still uses the Omnitruck API – omnitruck.chef.io without the usage of a license ID, you may notice the following warning:
Moving forward, the URL to the install script will differ depending on how the product is licensed. For example, when a commercial license is used, the URL would be: chefdownload-commercial.chef.io. those using open source, the URL would be: chefdownload-community.chef.io
While the community version of Chef doesn’t require a license, the commercial and trial versions would mandate the usage of the license ID while executing knife bootstrap.
Setting Up Your License
The license can be easily provided in the licenses.yaml file under the .chef directory on your workstation.
You can add your existing license or generate a new one by running the command:
bundle exec knife license 
Following the prompts, you can provide your license key and validate the same:
Alternatively, you can also pass the license key directly in the knife license command as follows:
bundle exec knife license --chef-license-keyAfter successfully adding your license, you can validate the same by re-running the command:
bundle exec knife license
Or list down all existing licenses in the disk by running:
bundle exec knife license list
Upon running the knife bootstrap command now, you’ll notice no warning messages.
These changes to the knife bootstrap command, including the requirement for a license key in commercial and trial versions, are set to be enforced with the release of Chef Workstation 24.10.
As you prepare for this update, verify if your licenses are correctly set up to avoid any workflow disruptions. Whether you're using the commercial or community version, staying informed about these changes will help provide a smooth transition and continued success with Chef.
If you are a new user and want to try out any new solutions from Progress, request a free trial and our team will contact you with further assistance. For further questions, reach out to the Chef sales team.