Installation FAQ

This section covers frequently asked questions about downloading and installing the hab CLI.

General questions

Q: Can I just download a GitHub release of Chef Habitat?

A: While we do publish releases on GitHub as part of our release process, those archives contain source code that requires compilation. Since the hab CLI is written in Rust, you would need to compile the source for your platform. We recommend using our pre-compiled packages instead.

Q: Are curl/bash installation scripts safe?

A: We understand curl/bash scripts can be controversial. For transparency, you can review our installation scripts before running them:

• Linux/macOS script
• Windows script

If you prefer not to use these scripts, you can download packages directly from our downloads page.

Enterprise and fleet installation

Q: How do I install hab across my server fleet?

A: For enterprise deployments, consider these approaches:

1. Configuration management: Use your existing tools (Ansible, Chef 360, Chef Infra, Puppet, etc.) with our installation scripts
2. Container images: If your applications are containerized with Chef Habitat, the hab CLI is included in the container
3. Custom packaging: Create custom packages for your organization’s package management system

Q: Do you support air-gapped environments?

A: Yes, you can download packages for offline installation:

1. Download the appropriate package from our downloads page
2. Transfer to your air-gapped environment
3. Install manually following the platform-specific instructions

Platform integrations

Q: Does Chef Habitat work with container orchestrators?

A: Chef Habitat can be used with Kubernetes. See our Kubernetes documentation for more information.