Chef

Chef is an open source configuration management tool originally developed by Opscode (now Chef Software, Inc.). It uses a Ruby-based DSL to define infrastructure as code, with recipes and cookbooks that describe desired system states. Chef supports both a pull model, where nodes fetch configurations from a Chef server, and a push model via chef-client local mode. It integrates with cloud providers like AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud, and supports Windows, Linux, and macOS. The community ecosystem includes thousands of shared cookbooks on the Chef Supermarket. While Chef Infra is open source under Apache 2.0, the company offers enterprise versions with additional features and support. Chef is widely used for automating server provisioning, compliance, and application deployments. Notable features include data bags for encrypted data, roles and environments for node grouping, and Chef Automate for workflow and visibility. The project's GitHub repository has over 8,000 stars and active maintenance.