Puppet users - Feb 2007 - Interesting interaction between source and ensure in file definition in function...

Given the following:


  file { "/my/file":
    source => "puppet://server/path/to/some/file",
    ensure => absent
  }

Puppet will copy /my/file to the host.

What I was hoping was that ensure => absent would trump a source file.

However, if we change the above slightly like this:


  file { "/my/file":
    source => "puppet://server/no/such/file",
    ensure => absent
  }

Puppet complains that it can''t find /no/such/file and then enforces the
ensure
by deleting the file.

Is this by design, a side effect of the function or just a property of the
file type?

Thanks,
  --Robert

On Jan 31, 2007, at 6:02 PM, Robert Nickel wrote:
>
> Is this by design, a side effect of the function or just a property  
> of the
> file type?
This is a bug, is now fixed, and will work in the next release, which  
is imminent.

Thanks.

  --
  A Chemical Limerick:
          A mosquito cried out in pain:
          "A chemist has poisoned my brain!"
          The cause of his sorrow
          was para-dichloro
          diphenyltrichloroethane
                  -- Dr. D. D. Perrin
  ---------------------------------------------------------------------
  Luke Kanies | http://reductivelabs.com | http://madstop.com

On 2007.01.31 18:34:46 +0000, Luke Kanies wrote:
> On Jan 31, 2007, at 6:02 PM, Robert Nickel wrote:
> >
> > Is this by design, a side effect of the function or just a property  
> > of the
> > file type?
> 
> This is a bug, is now fixed, and will work in the next release, which  
> is imminent.
Excellent news.

What is the defined behavior when both ensure and source are specified?

--Robert

On Jan 31, 2007, at 6:43 PM, Robert Nickel wrote:
>
> Excellent news.
>
> What is the defined behavior when both ensure and source are  
> specified?
Ensure beats source.  The problem was that the source parameter sets  
''ensure'', so it was replacing the ''ensure''
setting.

BTW, the email address you''re using is not subscribed to the list;  
I''ve been having to explicitly allow your posts.

  --
  Yesterday upon the stair
  I met a man who wasn''t there.
  He wasn''t there again today --
  I think he''s from the CIA.
  ---------------------------------------------------------------------
  Luke Kanies | http://reductivelabs.com | http://madstop.com

--On Wednesday, January 31, 2007 4:02 PM -0800 Robert Nickel 
<rnickel@scea.com> wrote:
> Given the following:
>
>
>   file { "/my/file":
>     source => "puppet://server/path/to/some/file",
>     ensure => absent
>   }
>
> Puppet will copy /my/file to the host.
Out of curiosity, why would you want to do that?


-- 
Digant C Kasundra <digant@stanford.edu>
Technical Lead, ITS Unix Systems and Applications, Stanford University

On 2007.01.31 17:03:21 +0000, Digant C Kasundra wrote:
> --On Wednesday, January 31, 2007 4:02 PM -0800 Robert Nickel 
> <rnickel@scea.com> wrote:
> 
> > Given the following:
> >
> >
> >   file { "/my/file":
> >     source => "puppet://server/path/to/some/file",
> >     ensure => absent
> >   }
> >
> > Puppet will copy /my/file to the host.
> 
> Out of curiosity, why would you want to do that?
It''s a side effect of a function defined that''s similar to
remotefile.  The
function is used in a base class to define all files that can possibly exist
for that base class.  When a sub-class is created that doesn''t need the
file
in question, the file''s ensure method is overridden to erase the
unwanted
file.

I''ll type up a config example if it''s desired but
won''t spam the list
otherwise.

--Robert

p.s.  I think mutt will now make my list issues go away.