apt-get – Install Without Debconf Prompt

aptdebconfscripting

I would like to install chef via apt non-interactively, but by default, apt installation brings up this prompt:

apt install chef prompt

Is there a way to skip this step during installation or pass a value to apt install? I'm only using chef-solo, so don't actually need the server component, so simply press return on this prompt.

Best Answer

You can configure debconf into non-interactive prompt:

sudo DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive aptitude install -y -q chef

If you find the complete key, you can also pre-configure the default value:

echo package package/key {boolean,string} {true, some string} | sudo debconf-set-selections
sudo apt-get install package

To be precise:

echo chef chef/chef_server_url string | sudo debconf-set-selections

To find the key, after installing you can look for:

sudo debconf-get-selections | grep chef
# URL of Chef Server (e.g., http://chef.example.com:4000):
chef    chef/chef_server_url    string
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