Docs: PE 2.7 » Puppet » Tools


Puppet Tools

Puppet is built on a large number of services and command-line tools. Understanding which to reach for and when is crucial to using Puppet effectively.

You can read more about any of these tools by running puppet man <SUBCOMMAND> at the command line.

Fundamental Services

Puppet agent and puppet master are the heart of Puppet’s architecture.

  • The puppet agent service runs on every managed Puppet Enterprise node. It fetches and applies configurations from a puppet master server every 30 minutes.

    In Puppet Enterprise, puppet agent runs without user interaction as the pe-puppet service. You can manually trigger an immediate run from a node’s command line by running sudo puppet agent --test. You can also trigger agent runs using the Control Puppet tab of the console’s live management page.

    Puppet agent reads its settings from the [main] and [agent] blocks of /etc/puppetlabs/puppet/puppet.conf.

  • The puppet master service compiles and serves configurations to agent nodes.

    In Puppet Enterprise, puppet master is managed by Apache and Passenger, under the umbrella of the pe-httpd service.

    The puppet master creates agent configurations by consulting its Puppet modules and the instructions it receives from the console.

    The puppet master reads its settings from the [main] and [master] blocks of /etc/puppetlabs/puppet/puppet.conf. It can also be configured conditionally by using environments.

Everyday Tools

  • The puppet cert subcommand is used to add nodes to your puppet deployment.

    After a new agent node has been installed, it cannot fetch configurations until its certificate request has been approved. Run puppet cert list on the puppet master to see which certificate requests are still outstanding, and run puppet cert sign <NODE> to approve a request.

    When you decommission a node and remove it from your infrastructure, you should destroy its certificate information by running puppet cert clean <NODE> on the puppet master.

  • The puppet apply subcommand can compile and apply Puppet manifests without the need for a puppet master. It’s ideal for testing new modules (puppet apply -e 'include <CLASS NAME>'), but can also be used to manage an entire Puppet deployment in a masterless arrangement.

  • The puppet resource subcommand provides an interactive shell for manipulating Puppet’s underlying resource framework. It is ideal for one-off administration tasks and ad-hoc management, and offers an abstraction layer between various OSs’ implementations of core functionality. 

      $ sudo puppet resource package nano ensure=latest
  notice: /Package[nano]/ensure: created
  package { 'nano':
    ensure => '1.3.12-1.1',
  }

Advanced Tools

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