As an attendee I am given technical challenges to configure my workstation that require me to use Resources to resolve my configuration requirements.
The motivation is to provide a simple tangible use case by focusing solely on Resources. This smaller scope at the outset gives attendees the ability to see the value and effectiveness of Chef from the outset. Mastery of Resources, in this smaller domain, allows us to focus on a fundamental piece of Chef without the other overhead of the concepts.
Attendees are given access to a virtual machine with all the necessary tools pre-installed. The attendees are given the challenge to install and configure their systems.
We demonstrate using the package resource to install a software package. Attendees demonstrate the use of the package resource.
We demonstrate using the file resource to manage a file. Attendees demonstrate the use of the file resource.
We lead a discussion on resource management. We demonstrate Chef's ability to perform test and repair in a number of scenarios. Attendees demonstrate Chef's test and repair.
We lead a discussion on Chef's core resources. We show the attendees the resources documentation. We demonstrate defining a new attribute on the file resource. Attendees demonstrate the ability to augment a file resource attribute.
We ask the attendees to demonstrate the usage of the file and package resource in a recipe that will setup their entire system.
We lead a discussion about the declarative nature of resources and the relationship between resources and providers.