Puppet: Test if Resource is defined, or create it

puppet

I've been trying to figure out a way to test if a resource is already defined in another file, and if not create it? A quick example:

  if File[$local_container] {
    alert("Testing - It existed $local_container")
  } else {
    file{ "$local_container":
      ensure => directory,
    }
  }

However – File[$local_container] always seems to evaluate to true. Is there a way to do this?

Best Answer

The better way of doing this is by making use of ensure_resource function from puppetlabs stdlib

It takes a resource type, title, and a list of attributes that describe a resource as parameters.

say you have test case to only create the resource if it does not already exist-

ensure_resource('package', 'test-pkg', {'ensure' => 'present'})

Related Solutions

Puppet dependency ordering with ensure absent

You can remove "require => Group['group1']" from the user resource and the resources will still be created properly. You can then use a conditional to change the relationship between User and Group when trying to "ensure => absent".

$ensure = 'absent'

if $ensure == 'absent' {
    User[user1] -> Group[group1]
}

group { 'group1':
    ensure => $ensure
}

user { 'user1':
    ensure  => $ensure,
    gid     => 'group1',
}

Here is an existing bug report:

http://projects.puppetlabs.com/issues/9622

Puppet – How to Do a File/Dir Exists Conditional in Puppet

Workaround for this: use onlyif on an exec "test" and require it in your action you want to execute:

exec {"check_presence":
  command => '/bin/true',
  onlyif => '/usr/bin/test -e /path/must/be/available',
}

whatever {"foo...":
  .....
  require => Exec["check_presence"],
}

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Puppet dependency ordering with ensure absent

Puppet – How to Do a File/Dir Exists Conditional in Puppet

Related Topic