## New Features

### VMware vRealize Automation Test Kitchen Support

Chef Workstation now includes the updated `kitchen-vra` plugin to support VMware's vRealize Automation 8.0. See the [Test Kitchen kitchen-vra documentation](https://kitchen.ci/docs/drivers/vra/) for more information on using this new plugin in vRealize Automation environments.

### chef-run AIX Support

We updated the `chef-run` command for ad-hoc execution of Chef Infra Client on remote systems to support running on AIX systems. chef-run can now remotely manage Linux, macOS, Windows, Solaris, and AIX systems.

## Improvements

### Chef Infra Client 17.9.26

We updated Chef Infra Client from 17.9.18 to 17.9.26. This update includes a fix for failures when running the homebrew_tap resource that was introduced in 17.9.18. See the [Chef Infra Client release notes](https://docs.chef.io/release_notes_client/) for a complete list of new features and updates.

### Cookstyle 7.31.1

We updated Cookstyle from 7.26.1 to 7.31.1. This new release includes the latest RuboCop engine for improved cookbook issue detection and also includes several new and updated Chef Infra cops:

- The new `Chef/Security/SshPrivateKey` cop detects plain text private key content used within cookbooks that should be stored securely.
- The new `Chef/Correctness/InvalidNotificationResource` cop detects incorrect syntax in resource notifications.
- The new `Chef/Correctness/InvalidCookbookName` cop detects cookbook names which contain a period.
- The new `Chef/Deprecations/Delivery` cop detects the use of Chef Delivery / Workflow.
- `Chef/Deprecated/CookbookDependsOnPoise` now detects the usage of the `poise-hoist` cookbook.
- `Chef/RedundantCode/UseCreateIfMissing` now examines the `path` property in resources to detect more problematic resources.
- `Chef/RedundantCode/UseCreateIfMissing` now examines non-string values to detect more problematic resources.
- `Chef/Deprecations/DeprecatedChefSpecPlatform` now detects additional legacy platform versions in ChefSpec tests.

### Updated Platforms for ChefSpec Tests

We've updated the Fauxhai project, which provides mock platform data for use in ChefSpecs. This new release has the following platform updates:

Added support for:

- macOS `12`
- Almalinux `8`
- Rocky Linux `8`

Deprecated support for:

- FreeBSD `11.2`
- macOS `11.0` and replaced it with `11`

### curl 7.81

We updated the version of the curl command-line tool bundled with Chef Workstation from 7.80 to 7.81. This new release includes a large number of bug fixes. See the [curl 7.81 changelog](https://curl.se/changes.html#7_81_0) for more information.

## Backward Incompatibilities

### Delivery CLI Removal

We removed the Delivery CLI tool from Chef Workstation as part of the December 31, 2020 end-of-life for Chef Workflow and Chef Delivery. Running this command will now show a warning and exit. We updated the `chef cookbook generate` commands so they no longer generate Workflow or Delivery content. We also added a new Cookstyle cop `Chef/Deprecations/Delivery` to detect cookbooks shipping with a `.delivery/project.toml` config.

## Packaging

### Native Apple M1 Packages

We now produce macOS packages for Chef Workstation macOS for Intel and M1 (ARM) architectures. The new M1 packages eliminate the need for Apple's Rosetta framework when using Chef Workstation. We have also seen significant performance improvements with 28% faster knife command runtime on MacBook Air systems.