title: EncryptedDataBagItem.load produces 'cannot convert nil into String'
body: <p>I'm following the method described in <a href="http://blog.parse.com/2013/02/28/working-with-hostnames-in-a-dynamically-scaled-environment/" rel="nofollow">this post</a> for creating a DNS record for a new server as Chef provisions it. I've created an encrypted data bag item for my AWS credentials:</p>
  
  <pre><code>$ knife data bag show passwords aws --secret-file .chef/encryted_data_bag_secret 
  aws_access_key: &lt;my_access_key&gt;
  aws_secret_key: &lt;my_secret_key&gt;
  id:             aws
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>However, when I run the chef client, this line...</p>
  
  <pre><code>aws_creds = Chef::EncryptedDataBagItem.load('passwords', 'aws')
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>produces this error:</p>
  
  <pre><code>TypeError: can't convert nil into String
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I've tried searching for the error, but while I can see evidence that other people have encountered this, it's not clear what their problem was or how it was resolved. What's going on here, and how can I fix it?</p>