Puppet

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See: http://projects.puppetlabs.com/projects/puppet/wiki/Documentation_Start#TypeandLanguageReference

Basics

Vocabulary

See: http://docs.puppetlabs.com/puppet/latest/reference/lang_visual_index.html

Types

exec

Executes a command/script

exec { "my_command":
    command => "/path/to/script",
    onlyif => "/some/command", # only if this returns true
    unless => "/some/command",  # opposite of onlyif
    require => ...
}

service

Manages a system service

service { "tomcat5":
    # turns it on at system startup
    enable => true,
    # makes sure it's running
    ensure => running,
    # in case the service doesn't have status or doesn't return non-0 when it's not running and 0 when it is
    status => "/sbin/service tomcat5 status | /bin/grep 'is running'",
    # puppet doesn't assume a service has status by default since many don't.  instead it just checks the process list for the name of the service
    hasstatus => true,
    # if these things change, restart the service
    subscribe => [
        File[ "/etc/tomcat5/server.xml" ],
        File[ "/etc/tomcat5/tomcat5.conf" ],
    ],
    require => ...
}

Metaparameters

These can be used with any type See: http://docs.puppetlabs.com/references/latest/metaparameter.html

alias

Allows you to create an alias for a type. particularly useful for long commands/filenames/package names or when you’re defining a type based on a variable, as seen in this example:

file { sshdconfig:
    path => $operatingsystem ? {
        solaris => "/usr/local/etc/ssh/sshd_config",
        default => "/etc/ssh/sshd_config"
    },
    source => "..."
}

service { sshd:
    subscribe => File[ sshdconfig ]
}

before

Opposite of require

exec { "/my/script":
    before => Exec[ "/another/command" ],
}

Misc

Conditionals

if $variable == "value" or $variable == "somethingelse" {
    # define a type here, or do something else
} elsif $variable == "other thing" {
} else {
}

Setting one variable based on the value of another

$var1 = $var2 ? {
    var2_value1 => "set var1 value to this",
    var2_value2 => "set var1 value to that",
    default => "default value of var1"
}

Do a dry run

sudo puppet agent --noop --server=puppet.example.org

Tricks

Remove a folder and all its contents (rm -rf)

file { "/var/lib/tomcat6/webapps/host-manager":
    ensure => absent,
    force => true,
    backup => false,
}

Ensure file permissions without managing content

file { "/var/log/tomcat6-initd.log":
    owner => "tomcat",
    group => "root",
    mode => "0644",
    require => Package[ "tomcat" ],
}

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