Progress Chef Product Updates: Embracing the New Age of Hab-Based Builds

The Progress Chef team continues to innovate, introducing a suite of new releases that set the stage for a modern, efficient and reliable approach to infrastructure automation. This blog post explores the latest advancements in Infra Client 19, Habitat 2.0, Hab-based Workstation and InSpec 7, focusing on the shift towards Hab-based builds, the reasons behind this transition and the tangible benefits for technical users. Whether you're managing infrastructure, developing applications or maintaining compliance, these updates are designed to simplify processes and enhance user experience. Infra Client 19, InSpec 7 and Habitat 2.0 are long-term supported (LTS) products from Progress. LTS provides predictability to your upgrade cycles.

Infra Client 19: Key Changes and Enhancements

Infra Client 19 marks a significant step forward in configuration management. The new release introduces several high-level changes:

• Hab-based build support: Infra Client 19 is now packaged and distributed using Habitat, ensuring consistent builds across environments. Hab-based builds have been around for a while and is not completely new. From Chef Client 19, there will not be omnibus-based builds.
• Updated dependency management: Simplified library updates and clearer versioning. All of this is simplified and possible because of the way Habitat packages. Habitat streamlines packaging and deployment by bundling applications, dependencies and configuration into portable artefacts. This method enables the users to seamlessly roll forward and roll back. Can run multiple versions at the same time on the same machine.
• Multiple ways to install: Users of Chef 19 can install or upgrade using multiple ways supported
  • Use the migration tool to upgrade from an older version of omnibus-based builds to the Hab-based Chef Client 19. Migration tool can be used specifying multiple options as parameters. Details can be found in Chef Docs.
  • Use Native installers like RPM, Deb and MSI to install Chef Client 19 on currently supported Linux and Windows x86 platforms.

These changes make Infra Client 19 easier to install, upgrade and maintain, particularly in complex infrastructure landscapes.

For technical users, these changes mean:

• The install path is changing. Chef Infra Client will now be installed under `/hab` rather than `/opt/chef`.
• System PATH and GEM_PATH are updated accordingly when using `chef env`. Executables  in `/usr/bin` will continue to work but are now created using hab-based “binlinking”.
• A license key is required for certain operations that trigger downloads, such as `knife bootstrap` and `kitchen converge`provided you are triggering the download from Chef APIs.
• The disk space requirements have increased somewhat. See the documentation for specifics.
• The default location for user-installed gems has changed; users should expect to re-install any custom-installed gems.

Habitat 2.0: New Features and Improvements

Habitat 2.0 is the cornerstone of the new Chef build strategy. Key enhancements include:

• Expanded platform support: Greater compatibility across operating systems and cloud environments.
• Improved build automation: More flexible pipelines and streamlined package creation.
• Security enhancements: Stronger isolation and updated cryptographic controls.
• Better integration: Tighter connections with Chef Infra, Workstation and InSpec.

Habitat's evolution underpins the move to Hab-based builds, supporting both infrastructure and application automation.

Hab-Based Workstation: Transition Details and Rationale

The Chef Workstation is now distributed as a Hab-based package. This transition brings:

• Uniform build process: Eliminates inconsistencies caused by platform-specific builds.
• Simplified upgrades: Users can update Workstation components with minimal disruption.
• Better dependency control: Habitat encapsulates dependencies, reducing conflicts and easing maintenance.

This change maintains the same reliability and simplicity that Workstation users benefit from as other Chef products.

InSpec 7: Updates and Benefits

InSpec 7 delivers a range of significant enhancements designed to modernize compliance workflows and improve user experience:

• Ruby 3.4 Support: InSpec 7 ships with Ruby 3.4.x, offering improved compatibility, security and performance across current ecosystems.
• Habitat-Based Builds: InSpec 7 will be available only as Hab-based builds enabling faster releases, simplified upgrades and consistent deployment.
• Modular Resource Packs: Resource packs are now modularized, allowing lightweight, easily manageable packs with faster updates and reduced maintenance effort.

These improvements result in faster updates, easier maintenance for the Chef platform, greater control over resource packs and a more robust compliance solution.

Movement to Hab-Based Builds: Reasons and Advantages

The shift to Hab-based builds is a deliberate move to modernise the Chef ecosystem. The primary reasons include:

• Consistency: Habitat standardises the packaging and distribution process, reducing errors and maintaining predictable behavior.
• Portability: Hab-based packages run reliably across a wide range of environments, from local development to cloud and container platforms.
• Simplified maintenance: Upgrading and patching becomes straightforward, easier roll forward and roll back capabilities owing to the way Habitat packages the dependencies. A highlight here is that a failed upgrade will not leave the machine without an agent for days.
• Security: Habitat provides robust isolation, minimizing risks from conflicting libraries or vulnerabilities.

For technical users, this means less troubleshooting, quicker deployments and greater confidence in system reliability. However, because we are shipping more dependencies and more versions of those dependencies, the disk space requirements and download size have increased. Post-release, this is one of our key areas of optimization.

Licensing: Important Update

We’re introducing updates to our licensing enforcement aimed at streamlining your software experience. Moving forward, licence enforcement will no longer occur during runtime for agent or client software downloaded directly from our Download Portal or via Hab distribution. Instead, a licence key will only be necessary at the point of downloading the software.

For software obtained from non-official sources—such as public Ruby gems or channels outside of our official Hab and Download Portal—a valid licence will now be required to execute the software.

Additionally, our agent software will soon include the capability to add a licence after installation, providing greater flexibility. Please note that workflows which install packages at runtime (for example, knife bootstrap or kitchen converge) will also require a licence key to proceed if you are downloading the binaries from Chef APIs. Should you be using your own source to download binaries during knife bootstrap or kitchen converge, we will not enforce the need of a license.

These changes are designed to make the licensing process easier to use and straightforward while maintaining compliance across all distribution channels.

Installation and Upgrade: Important Considerations

Installation and upgrade processes are simplified with Hab-based packages:

• Unified installation commands: Habitat handles the installation process, reducing the complexity of manual steps.
• Automatic dependency resolution: Habitat helps maintain that all required libraries and components are present.
• Rollback capabilities: Users can revert to previous package versions if an upgrade causes issues.
• Documentation improvements: Chef provides clear, step-by-step guides for installing and upgrading each product.

These improvements reduce downtime and risk, making it easier to keep systems up to date.

Usage Standpoint: User Experience and Benefits

From a user perspective, the new releases offer:

• Greater reliability: Hab-based builds help products behave consistently across environments.
• Simplified troubleshooting: Standardised packaging reduces the number of variables when diagnosing issues.
• Enhanced automation: Improved integration and automation capabilities streamline workflows.
• Faster onboarding: Clear installation and upgrade processes help new users get started quickly.

Technical teams can focus on delivering value rather than managing infrastructure complexity.

Phased Release Approach: Current Status and Roadmap

The Chef team is adopting a phased strategy for releasing updates to its client tools, ensuring each component is thoroughly tested and optimized for its target platforms before broader rollout. At present, Chef Infra Client 19 has reached general availability for Windows and Linux x86 systems. The immediate priority is the release of Workstation 26.x, which will provide seamless compatibility with Client 19. Workstation 26.x will initially be available for Linux and Windows x86 machines.

This staged approach allows users to benefit from the latest features and improvements as soon as available, while enabling Chef to expand support to additional platforms in subsequent phases.

With this roadmap, the Chef team is committed to expanding compatibility and delivering a reliable, modern client tool suite for diverse environments.

Conclusion: Summary and Future Outlook

The new Chef releases represent a significant leap forward for infrastructure automation, compliance and application delivery. The move to Hab-based builds is a strategic response to the challenges of modern IT environments, offering consistency, portability and ease of maintenance. Infra Client 19, Habitat 2.0, Hab-based Workstation and InSpec 7 deliver tangible benefits for technical users, from installation to ongoing usage while promising predictability by providing long-term support. As the Chef platform continues to evolve, users can expect even greater integration, reliability and simplicity in the tools they depend on.