Puppet users - Aug 2012 - A few questions about setting up Custom Facts

I am putting together some system improvements based on using the
stdlib::facter-dot-d and I have a few questions:

Are facts always single “key => value” pairs or can you get a hash or array
into a fact ?

I suspect arrayed/hashed facts are not possible in the current environment, but
I feel it does not hurt to ask.

“Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the
universe is that none of it has tried to contact us.”
Bill Waterson (Calvin & Hobbes)

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On Monday, August 6, 2012 10:48:25 AM UTC-5, Ygor wrote:
>
> I am putting together some system improvements based on using the 
> stdlib::facter-dot-d and I have a few questions: 
>
> Are facts always single “key => value” pairs or can you get a hash or 
> array into a fact ? 
>
> I suspect arrayed/hashed facts are not possible in the current 
> environment, but I feel it does not hurt to ask. 
>
My understanding is that the protocol for sending facts from agent to 
master supports only string fact values.  I think that''s the main 
restriction.


John

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----- jcbollinger <John.Bollinger@stJude.org>
wrote:
> 
> 
> On Monday, August 6, 2012 10:48:25 AM UTC-5, Ygor wrote:
> >
> > I am putting together some system improvements based on using the 
> > stdlib::facter-dot-d and I have a few questions: 
> >
> > Are facts always single “key => value” pairs or can you get a hash
or
> > array into a fact ? 
> >
> > I suspect arrayed/hashed facts are not possible in the current 
> > environment, but I feel it does not hurt to ask. 
> >
> 
> My understanding is that the protocol for sending facts from agent to 
> master supports only string fact values.  I think that''s the main 
> restriction.
> 
> 
> John
So, then could I do the following ?

test.yaml:
stack_info: one,two,three,four,five


“Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the
universe is that none of it has tried to contact us.”
Bill Waterson (Calvin & Hobbes)

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On Tuesday, August 7, 2012 2:26:47 PM UTC-5, Ygor wrote:
>
> ----- jcbollinger wrote: 
> > 
> > 
> > On Monday, August 6, 2012 10:48:25 AM UTC-5, Ygor wrote: 
> > > 
> > > I am putting together some system improvements based on using the
> > > stdlib::facter-dot-d and I have a few questions: 
> > > 
> > > Are facts always single “key => value” pairs or can you get a
hash or
> > > array into a fact ? 
> > > 
> > > I suspect arrayed/hashed facts are not possible in the current 
> > > environment, but I feel it does not hurt to ask. 
> > > 
> > 
> > My understanding is that the protocol for sending facts from agent to 
> > master supports only string fact values.  I think that''s the
main
> > restriction. 
> > 
> > 
> > John 
>
> So, then could I do the following ? 
>
> test.yaml: 
> stack_info: one,two,three,four,five 
>
>
Um, yes?

I mean, it''s not clear what, if anything, you intend for that to do. 
If
you''re asking whether you can send delimited strings as fact values,
then
of course you can.  And once it reaches the master, Puppet has a built-in 
split() function that can turn such a delimited string into the 
corresponding array.


John

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----- jcbollinger <John.Bollinger@stJude.org>
wrote:
> On Tuesday, August 7, 2012 2:26:47 PM UTC-5, Ygor wrote:
> >
> > ----- jcbollinger wrote: 
> > > On Monday, August 6, 2012 10:48:25 AM UTC-5, Ygor wrote: 
> > > > 
> > > > I am putting together some system improvements based on
using the
> > > > stdlib::facter-dot-d and I have a few questions: 
> > > > 
> > > > Are facts always single “key => value” pairs or can you
get a hash or
> > > > array into a fact ? 
> > > > 
> > > > I suspect arrayed/hashed facts are not possible in the
current
> > > > environment, but I feel it does not hurt to ask. 
> > > > 
> > > 
> > > My understanding is that the protocol for sending facts from
agent to
> > > master supports only string fact values.  I think that''s
the main
> > > restriction. 
> > > 
> > > 
> > > John 
> >
> > So, then could I do the following ? 
> >
> > test.yaml: 
> > stack_info: one,two,three,four,five 
> >
> >
> Um, yes?
> 
> I mean, it''s not clear what, if anything, you intend for that to
do.  If
> you''re asking whether you can send delimited strings as fact
values, then
> of course you can.  And once it reaches the master, Puppet has a built-in 
> split() function that can turn such a delimited string into the 
> corresponding array.
> 
> 
> John
I want to use puppetlabs-stdlib and /etc/facter/facts.d to create a set of local
facts.
Some of these facts come in variable quantities.  I would like to stack these up
into a delimited string.  I can deal with that.

On thing about your responses that puzzles me is the repeated mention of facts
going from the agent to the master.  What is that about, please ?  I am looking
at facts local to the agent.  My understanding is that all the "Magic
Behind the Curtains" about puppet happens on the agent.  What is the story
here about agent facts on the master ?  For what purpose ?

“Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the
universe is that none of it has tried to contact us.”
Bill Waterson (Calvin & Hobbes)

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In regard to: Re: [Puppet Users] Re: A few questions about setting up...:
> I want to use puppetlabs-stdlib and /etc/facter/facts.d to create a set
> of local facts.  Some of these facts come in variable quantities.  I
> would like to stack these up into a delimited string.  I can deal with
> that.
>
> On thing about your responses that puzzles me is the repeated mention of
> facts going from the agent to the master.  What is that about, please ?
> I am looking at facts local to the agent.  My understanding is that all
> the "Magic Behind the Curtains" about puppet happens on the
agent.
That part is at least partially incorrect.

Catalog compilation happens on the master.  This means that the master
has to know all the facts for each client, so that it can correctly build
the catalog.  The client gathers the facts and ships them to the master,
so the master can build a catalog and ship the final result back to the
client for application.

Note also that this means that all functions run on the master too.

See:

 	http://docs.puppetlabs.com/learning/agent_master_basic.html

though I''ve actually seen better diagrams of the communication,
that''s
the one I''m finding right now.

Tim
-- 
Tim Mooney                                             Tim.Mooney@ndsu.edu
Enterprise Computing & Infrastructure                  701-231-1076 (Voice)
Room 242-J6, IACC Building                             701-231-8541 (Fax)
North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58105-5164

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----- Tim Mooney <Tim.Mooney@ndsu.edu> wrote:
> In regard to: Re: [Puppet Users] Re: A few questions about setting up...:
> 
> > I want to use puppetlabs-stdlib and /etc/facter/facts.d to create a
set
> > of local facts.  Some of these facts come in variable quantities.  I
> > would like to stack these up into a delimited string.  I can deal with
> > that.
> >
> > On thing about your responses that puzzles me is the repeated mention
of
> > facts going from the agent to the master.  What is that about, please
?
> > I am looking at facts local to the agent.  My understanding is that
all
> > the "Magic Behind the Curtains" about puppet happens on the
agent.
> 
> That part is at least partially incorrect.
> 
> Catalog compilation happens on the master.  This means that the master
> has to know all the facts for each client, so that it can correctly build
> the catalog.  The client gathers the facts and ships them to the master,
> so the master can build a catalog and ship the final result back to the
> client for application.
> 
> Note also that this means that all functions run on the master too.
> 
> See:
> 
>  	http://docs.puppetlabs.com/learning/agent_master_basic.html
> 
> though I''ve actually seen better diagrams of the communication,
that''s
> the one I''m finding right now.
> 
> Tim
Ah! Enlightenment !

Many thanks, Tim, for the clarification.

It looks like I can still create custom facts using /etc/facter/facts.d that
are, say, a comma delimited string of multiple values.  Anything that wants to
use these custom facts would be aware of this and would be built to handle it.

Thanks to all on the list for en-clue-ing this relatively clueless one.

While I am occasionally clueless, I strive never to seem clue-proof.

“Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the
universe is that none of it has tried to contact us.”
Bill Waterson (Calvin & Hobbes)

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