Include this recipe in your run_list, and it will make sure that your node has a properly configured FQDN. It is opinionated, so that your hostname equals your FQDN like Bob intended. You can override this behavior by setting the attribute 'fqdn_as_hostname' to false.
line cookbook hostsfile cookbook
Include the default recipe in a base role or wrapper recipe, somewhere between selinux and ntp.
default['fqdn_as_hostname']=true
debian.rb rhel.rb
Author:: Sean OMeara (someara@opscode.com)