Error executing action `run` on resource 'ruby_block[bootstrap-chef-server-data]'

Note from the Maintainers

If you experience this issue, can you:

• Ensure that this was the first error that you experienced during the installation process.
• Provide the full output of the chef-server-ctl reconfigure command.
• Before trying an older version, attempt to run chef-server-ctl cleanse followed by chef-server-ctl reconfigure.

Apologies for any trouble this issue causes you and thank you in advance for any time you can spend providing more information.

Original Report

On a customer's fresh (but customized) RHEL 6.8 image, with no previous Chef Server installed, installing Chef Server 12.9.1 results in this on the initial reconfigure.

================================================================================
   Error executing action `run` on resource 'ruby_block[bootstrap-chef-server-data]'
   ================================================================================
   NoMethodError
   -------------
   undefined method `[]' for nil:NilClass
   Cookbook Trace:
   ---------------
   /var/opt/opscode/local-mode-cache/cookbooks/private-chef/libraries/chef_server_data_bootstrap.rb:97:in `create_superuser_in_erchef'
   /var/opt/opscode/local-mode-cache/cookbooks/private-chef/libraries/chef_server_data_bootstrap.rb:50:in `block in bootstrap'
   /var/opt/opscode/local-mode-cache/cookbooks/private-chef/libraries/ec_postgres.rb:55:in `block in with_service_connection'
   /var/opt/opscode/local-mode-cache/cookbooks/private-chef/libraries/ec_postgres.rb:44:in `with_connection'
   /var/opt/opscode/local-mode-cache/cookbooks/private-chef/libraries/ec_postgres.rb:52:in `with_service_connection'
   /var/opt/opscode/local-mode-cache/cookbooks/private-chef/libraries/chef_server_data_bootstrap.rb:49:in `bootstrap'
   /var/opt/opscode/local-mode-cache/cookbooks/private-chef/recipes/bootstrap.rb:35:in `block (2 levels) in from_file'
   Resource Declaration:
   ---------------------
   # In /var/opt/opscode/local-mode-cache/cookbooks/private-chef/recipes/bootstrap.rb
    33: ruby_block "bootstrap-chef-server-data" do
    34:   block do
    35:     ChefServerDataBootstrap.new(node).bootstrap
    36:   end
    37:   not_if { OmnibusHelper.has_been_bootstrapped? }
    38:   notifies :restart, 'service[opscode-erchef]'
    39: end
    40:
   Compiled Resource:
   ------------------
   # Declared in /var/opt/opscode/local-mode-cache/cookbooks/private-chef/recipes/bootstrap.rb:33:in `from_file'
   ruby_block("bootstrap-chef-server-data") do
     action [:run]
     retries 0
     retry_delay 2
     default_guard_interpreter :default
     block_name "bootstrap-chef-server-data"
     declared_type :ruby_block
     cookbook_name "private-chef"
     recipe_name "bootstrap"
     block #<Proc:0x0000000429f8e8@/var/opt/opscode/local-mode-cache/cookbooks/private-chef/recipes/bootstrap.rb:34>
     not_if { #code block }
   end

We worked around the problem by running chef-server-ctl cleanse, rpm -e <chef-server rpm> and then installing Chef Server 12.8.0 and running reconfigure. The reconfigure of 12.8.0 ran successfully without issue.

Start with the full chef-server-ctl reconfigure output and the traceback at chef_server_data_bootstrap.rb:97, following the call from recipes/bootstrap.rb and ec_postgres.rb. Compare the bootstrap behavior between Chef Server 12.9.1 and 12.8.0 after the documented cleanse and reconfigure steps; done means the cause is identified and the initial reconfigure no longer raises this error.