puppet include and variable scope - puppet

Can someone explain to me why would this work :
node 'puppetagent'{
$my_role="proxmoxnode"
include role_proxmoxnode
}
class role_proxmoxnode {
include sshdconf
}
And this won't :
node 'puppetagent'{
include role_proxmoxnode
}
class role_proxmoxnode {
$my_role="proxmoxnode"
include sshdconf
}
By "Work" I mean that the sshd_config.erb file set by sshdconf module will find the $my_role="proxmoxnode" as expected. By "won't work", I mean the template complaining with "Could not find value for 'my_role'"
I use puppet 3.0.
I followed the doc in http://projects.puppetlabs.com/projects/1/wiki/Infrastructure_Design_Guidelines about roles.
Thanks

In Puppet 3.0. unqualified variables are looked up in 4 places:
Local scope
Inherited from a base class
Node-level
Top scope
Local scope, by the way, would apply to variables defined in the class, not in classes which simply include it.
So, in your first example, we go looking:
Is it local? No.
Is it in a base class? No.
Is it in the node? yes. We stop.
In the second example...
Is it local? No.
Is it in a base class? No.
Is it in the node? No.
Is it in top scope? No. Fail.
Clear?

Related

Puppet: Class Ordering / Containment - always wrong order

I read a lot about ordering puppet classes with containment (iam using Puppet 6). But it still does not work for me in one case. Maybe my english is not good enough and i miss something. Maybe somebody know what iam doing wrong.
I have a profile to installing a puppetserver (profile::puppetserver). This profile has three sub-classes which I contain within the profile::puppetserver
class profile::puppetserver(
) {
contain profile::puppetserver::install
contain profile::puppetserver::config
contain profile::puppetserver::firewall
}
That works fine for me. Now I want to expand this profile and install PuppetDB. For this, i use the puppetdb module from puppet forge:
So what i do is add profile::puppetserver::puppetdb and the contain to the profile::puppetserver
class profile::puppetserver::puppetdb(
) {
# Configure puppetdb and its underlying database
class { 'puppetdb': }
# Configure the Puppet master to use puppetdb
class { 'puppetdb::master::config': }
}
When i provision my puppetserver first and add the profile::puppetserver::puppetdb after it, puppetdb installs and everything works fine.
If I add it directly with contain, and provisioning everything at once, it crashes. It's because the puppetdb module is installed randomly during my master server installs (and also the postgresql server and so on). That ends in my puppetserver is not running and my puppetdb generate no local ssl certificates and the service doesn't comes up.
What i try first:
I installed the puppetdb Package in my profile::puppetserver::puppetdb directly and use the required flag. It works when i provision all at once.
class profile::puppetserver::puppetdb (
) {
Package { 'puppetdb':
ensure => installed,
require => Class['profile::puppetserver::config']
}
}
So i think i could do the same in the code above:
class profile::puppetserver::puppetdb(
) {
# Configure puppetdb and its underlying database
class { 'puppetdb':
require => Class['profile::puppetserver::config']
}
# Configure the Puppet master to use puppetdb
class { 'puppetdb::master::config':
require => Class['profile::puppetserver::config']
}
}
But this does not work...
So i read about puppet class containment and ordering by chains. So i did this in my profile::puppetserver
class profile::puppetserver(
) {
contain profile::puppetserver::install
contain profile::puppetserver::config
contain profile::puppetserver::firewall
contain profile::puppetserver::puppetdb
Class['profile::puppetserver::install'] ->
Class['profile::puppetserver::config'] ->
Class['profile::puppetserver::firewall'] ->
Class['profile::puppetserver::puppetdb']
}
But it still does not have any effect... he still starts to install postgresql and the puppetdb package during my "puppetserver provisioning" in the install, config, firewall steps.
How i must write the ordering, that all things from the puppetdb module, which i call in profile::puppetserver::puppetdb, only starts when the rest of the provisioning steps are finished?
I really don't understand it. I think maybe it haves something to do with the fact, that i declare classes from the puppetdb module inside of profile::puppetserver::puppetdb and not the directly Resource Type. Because when i use the Package Resource Type with the Require Flag, it seems to work. But i really don't know how to handle this. I think there must be a way or?
I think maybe it haves something to do with the fact, that i declare
classes from the puppetdb module inside of
profile::puppetserver::puppetdb and not the directly Resource Type.
Because when i use the Package Resource Type with the Require Flag, it
seems to work.
Exactly so.
Resources are ordered with the class or defined-type instance that directly declares them, as well as according to ordering parameters and instructions applying to them directly.
Because classes can be declared multiple times, in different places, ordering is more complicated for them. Resource-like class declarations such as you demonstrate (and which you really ought to avoid as much as possible) do not imply any particular ordering of the declared class. Neither do declarations via the include function.
Class declarations via the require function place a single-ended ordering constraint on the declared class relative to the declaring class or defined type, and declarations via the contain function place a double-ended ordering constraint similar to that applying to all resource declarations. The chaining arrows and ordering metaparameters can place additional ordering constraints on classes.
But i really dont know how to handle this. I think there must be a way or?
Your last example shows a viable way to enforce ordering at the level of profile::puppetserver, but its effectiveness is contingent on each of its contained classes taking the same approach for any classes they themselves declare, at least where those third-level classes must be constrained by the order of the second-level classes. This appears to be where you are falling down.
Note also that although there is definitely a need to order some things relative to some others, it is not necessary or much useful to try to enforce an explicit total order over all resources. Work with the lightest hand possible, placing only those ordering constraints that serve a good purpose.

In puppet, how to retrieve variables inside a class scope from a different parameterized class

In the scope of one class, I need to be able to access a variable from another class. The variable is passed as a parameter, e.g.
class parameterized_class (
$param1,
) {
...
}
and
class other_class () {
include parameterized_class
Class['parameterized_class'] -> Class['other_class']
$local_var = $parameterized_class::param1
}
With an example usage of:
node default {
class { 'parameterized_class':
param1 => 'somevalue',
}
class { 'other_class': }
}
The above example does not work, as I get an error that looks roughly like:
Must pass param1 to
Class[Parameterized_class] at
/path/to/modules/parameterized_class/manifests/init.pp:1
on node localhost
Obviously, include is trying to declare parameterized_class without passing any parameters. But from the docs, I can see that include allows for a class to have been already previously declared, and since I have the parameterized_class declaration as a dependency of other_class, I don't understand how I could be getting this error.
I'm using Puppet 3.4.3, the version available on Ubuntu 14.04 Trusty
How should I go about retrieving the value of the $param1 in parameterized_class from within other_class's scope? Is it not possible to use include on parameterized classes?
According to the Puppet documentation (https://docs.puppet.com/puppet/3.5/lang_classes.html#include-like-behavior) you cannot use include-like declarations with mandatory parameters. In your case, what you can do is just not bother with the include since you've already handled that by declaring it in your node definition. Also, because both are declared in your node definition you would want to order them there as well.
As a side note not providing default values is a bad practice as is using variables across modules.

Puppet: Declaring a class with inheritance

I currently have two classes that I created within /etc/puppet/modules/params/manifests/init.pp
class modulename ($variable_name = 'Any string') inherits modulename::params{
file { '/tmp/mytoplevelclass.sh' :
mode => '644',
ensure => 'present',
content => $variable_name
}
}
class modulename::params{
}
However, I am having an issue declaring these classes in /etc/puppet/manifests/site.pp. Currently, I have it written as
node default { #client
class { 'modulename':}
class { 'modulename::params':}
}
I know that this is incorrect because when I run puppet agent -t on the client I get an error stating
Could not find declared class modulename at /etc/puppet/manifests/site.pp
I have tried several different configurations and still am unsure on what to do.
Puppet determines the file in which it expects to find a class's definition based on the class's fully-qualified name. The docs go into it in some detail; in particular, you should review the Module Fundamentals. (I am guessing that you are on Puppet 3, but the details I am about to discuss are unchanged in Puppet 4.)
Supposing that /etc/puppet/modules is a directory in your modulepath, it is a fine place to install (or write) your modulename module, as indeed you indicate you are doing. If it is not in your module path, then you'll want either to move your module to a directory in the module path, or to add that directory to the module path. I assume that you will resolve any problem of this sort via the latter alternative, so that /etc/puppet/modules/modulename is a valid module directory.
Now, class 'modulename' is a bit special in that its name is also a module name; as such, it should be defined in /etc/puppet/modules/modulename/manifests/init.pp. Class modulename::params, on the other hand, should follow the normal pattern, being defined in /etc/puppet/modules/modulename/manifests/params.pp. I anticipate that Puppet will find the definitions if you put the definitions in the correct files.
Bonus advice:
Use include-like class declarations in your node blocks, not resource-like declarations
Your node blocks probably should not declare modulename::params at all

Is it a convention to have a minimal init.pp that class-scopes the module?

I've come across the following convention, the init.pp is as minimal as possible and looks like this for the example of a java8 module in modules/java8/init.pp
import "*"
class java8 {
include java8::java8
}
Then a modules/java8/java8.pp defines the actual rules/implementations:
class java8::java8 {
# ...
}
Is this a convention, is it an old convention and deprecated? What would or is the rational behind this?
I'm not familiar with that style as any widely-used convention, and I see only limited value to it. Specifically, it appears to serve as a compromise between code organization interests and usage interests: it allows that every class of consequence will be defined in a manifest file named after it (including the delegate main class, java8::java8, in modules/java8/manifests/java8.pp), while providing a main class for the module with a one-segment qualified name (java8), so that users can simply
include 'java8'
I think it's fairly common nowadays to keep the main class small by making it delegate the details to other, private, classes inside the module, but I don't see much value in delegating to exactly one other class for (apparently) naming purposes alone. I also think it's potentially confusing to have different classes with the same unqualified name (java8) in the same module.

How to pass node specific information to class in puppet?

I want to pass node specific information to a class, which then could evaluate it for specific purposes. Actually this question consists of three parts.
Say, I have the following node:
node 'devbox' {
$serverType = 'something'
include someClass
someOtherClass { 'someOtherClass':
par1 => 'value',
}
targetClass { 'nodeInformationShouldGoHere': }
}
Inside targetClass, I want to evaluate if serverType, someClass or someOtherClass is set (e.g. with if-else). My questions now are:
Is setting and passing the variable suitable in puppet for this?
or should I use tags (as the classes are automatically tagged for this node)?
Are their further approaches and what are limitations to above ones (e.g. do they work for resource types?)?
You can absolutely use puppet this way. Read over the documentation for Parameterized Classes and see if that meets your needs.

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