Puppet users - Apr 2007 - "Parsed Providers must define a default target" error

I''ve just noticed that Puppet is failing to automatically apply changes
when running as a Red Hat service.

Changes get applied with no problems or errors when I run Puppet
manually with "puppetd --test" but fail with a "Could not apply
complete
configuration: Parsed Providers must define a default target" error in
/var/log/messages when the service runs automatically every 30 minutes.

Any thoughts as to where I should start looking for the problem?

Cheers,

James

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On Fri, Apr 13, 2007 at 10:09:55AM +1000, HARRIS Jimmy (AXA-Tech-AU)
wrote:
> Any thoughts as to where I should start looking for the problem?
puppetd(8) will normally log changes (or failures) to syslog, and so
probably /var/log/messages, which is a good start. Although it''s odd
that the failures don''t seem to occur when run from the command line. 

Failing that, there''s always that old favourite sledge hammer, strace,
if you need the view from 2 nanometers.

-- 
Ceri Storey <cez@necrofish.org.uk>
''What I really want is "apt-get smite"'' 
    --Rob Partington
http://unix.culti.st/

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On Friday 13 April 2007 02:09, HARRIS Jimmy (AXA-Tech-AU)
wrote:
> I''ve just noticed that Puppet is failing to automatically apply
changes
> when running as a Red Hat service.
>
> Changes get applied with no problems or errors when I run Puppet
> manually with "puppetd --test" but fail with a "Could not
apply complete
> configuration: Parsed Providers must define a default target" error in
> /var/log/messages when the service runs automatically every 30 minutes.
>
> Any thoughts as to where I should start looking for the problem?
Perhaps you environment is borked. Do you have set RUBYLIB or similar 
variables?


Regards, David

- -- 
- - hallo... wie gehts heute?
- - *hust* gut *rotz* *keuch*
- - gott sei dank kommunizieren wir über ein septisches medium ;)
 -- Matthias Leeb, Uni f. angewandte Kunst, 2005-02-15
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On Fri, 2007-04-13 at 10:09 +1000, HARRIS Jimmy (AXA-Tech-AU)
wrote:
> I''ve just noticed that Puppet is failing to automatically apply
changes
> when running as a Red Hat service.
> 
> Changes get applied with no problems or errors when I run Puppet
> manually with "puppetd --test" but fail with a "Could not
apply complete
> configuration: Parsed Providers must define a default target" error in
> /var/log/messages when the service runs automatically every 30 minutes.
> 
> Any thoughts as to where I should start looking for the problem?
As others have said, it might have to do with environment differences;
what happens if you use the init script to run puppetd manually ? You
can do

  /etc/init.d/puppetd once -v --test .. whatever other options you want ..

and that will do one run of the client, but it will use (almost) the
same env settings as a daemonized puppet.

Also check /etc/sysconfig/puppet for any funky options (like a different
puppet server) and look at /proc/`pidof -x puppetd`/environ and compare
that with the environment set in your shell when you successfully run
the client manually.

David

On Thu, April 12, 2007 7:09 pm, HARRIS Jimmy \(AXA-Tech-AU\)
wrote:
> I''ve just noticed that Puppet is failing to automatically apply
changes
> when running as a Red Hat service.
>
> Changes get applied with no problems or errors when I run Puppet
> manually with "puppetd --test" but fail with a "Could not
apply complete
> configuration: Parsed Providers must define a default target" error in
> /var/log/messages when the service runs automatically every 30 minutes.
>
> Any thoughts as to where I should start looking for the problem?
This is a problem with the cron type.  We''ve just recently discovered
the
source of the problem -- you''re running Puppet in a way that has no
USER
set in the environment, and the cron provider uses that setting.

We have not yet decided on the fix, but I''ll be getting this fixed and
probably released next week.

-- 
Luke Kanies
http://reductivelabs.com

> > I''ve just noticed that Puppet is failing to automatically
apply
> > changes when running as a Red Hat service.
> >
> > Changes get applied with no problems or errors when I run Puppet 
> > manually with "puppetd --test" but fail with a "Could
not apply
> > complete
> > configuration: Parsed Providers must define a default 
> target" error in 
> > /var/log/messages when the service runs automatically every 
> 30 minutes.
<snip>
 
> This is a problem with the cron type.  We''ve just recently 
> discovered the source of the problem -- you''re running Puppet 
> in a way that has no USER set in the environment, and the 
> cron provider uses that setting.
> 
> We have not yet decided on the fix, but I''ll be getting this 
> fixed and probably released next week.
Ah, that would explain it as it started happening after I added the
first cron entry (not that I realised this at the time).

James

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This email (including any attachments) contains information which is 
confidential and may be subject to legal privilege.  If you are not 
the intended recipient you must not use, distribute or copy this 
email.  If you have received this email in error please notify the 
sender immediately and delete this email. Any views expressed in this 
email are not necessarily the views of AXA-Tech Australia.   Thank you.
**********************************************************************************

Hi,

To respond to the earlier discussion (had the thread deleted, sorry to 
start a new one):

Just ran into this error on my FreeBSD 6.X setup where after I installed 
the port, the puppet user was not created, but I made a cron entry in 
the manifest.

I added the user, the problem went away.  So, it definitely seems to 
happen when:

- There''s no puppet user
- There is a cron entry.

Hope this helps!

-Anthony

On Apr 30, 2007, at 3:08 AM, Anthony Volodkin wrote:
> Hi,
>
> To respond to the earlier discussion (had the thread deleted, sorry to
> start a new one):
>
> Just ran into this error on my FreeBSD 6.X setup where after I  
> installed
> the port, the puppet user was not created, but I made a cron entry in
> the manifest.
>
> I added the user, the problem went away.  So, it definitely seems to
> happen when:
>
> - There''s no puppet user
> - There is a cron entry.
>
> Hope this helps!
This should be fixed in SVN already, and (assuming I can get all of  
the tests to pass today) it''ll be released as 0.22.4 today.

  --
  While one person hesitates because he feels inferior, the other is  
busy
  making mistakes and becoming superior.      -- Henry C. Link
  ---------------------------------------------------------------------
  Luke Kanies | http://reductivelabs.com | http://madstop.com