What does `Chef::Config[:file_cache_path]` do exactly?

chef-infra
switchflip picture switchflip · Sep 29, 2014 · Viewed 23.9k times · Source

First off, I apologize for asking such a dumb question. But the reason I ask is because I'm having a hard time finding an answer. I've tried searching Chef's docs, but I have not found a clear explanation.

So what exactly doesChef::Config[:file_cache_path] provide? I've read that its better to use this instead of harding coding a filepath. But what does it evaluate to?

In this particular snippet

newrelic_agent = Chef::Config[:file_cache_path] + '/rewrelic_nginx_agent.tar.gz'


remote_file newrelic_agent do
  source 'http://nginx.com/download/newrelic/newrelic_nginx_agent.tar.gz'
  mode "0744"
end

Thanks in advance.

Answer

coderanger picture coderanger · Sep 29, 2014

The specific value varies by platform and method of install, but that config value defaults to somewhere you can write out temp files. Generally it will be something like /var/chef/cache. This is used for caching cookbooks and files in them, but as you noted you can also use it from your own code for the same kind of thing.

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