Puppet

Puppet is an open-source configuration management and deployment tool. The operator uses it on engagements to manage agents on a fleet, sign certs from the master, and push or audit modules across nodes.

Services

Command	Effect
service puppetserver start	Start Puppet server service.
chkconfig puppetserver on	Enable Puppet server service on boot.
service start puppet	Start Puppet agent service.
chkconfig puppet on	Enable Puppet agent service on boot.

Certificates

Run on the master.

Command	Effect
puppet cert list	List available nodes to sign.
puppet cert list --all	List all signed nodes.
puppet cert sign <name>	Manually sign a specific node.
puppet cert sign --all	Sign all nodes.
puppet cert clean <name>	Remove the cert.

Nodes

Command	Effect
puppet node clean <name>	Remove node and cert.

Modules

Run on the master.

Command	Effect
puppet module list	List currently installed modules.
puppet module install <name>	Install module from forge.puppetlabs.com.
puppet module uninstall <name>	Remove the module.
puppet module upgrade <name>	Upgrade to a new version of the module.
puppet module search <name>	Search modules on forge.puppetlabs.com.

Agent

Command	Effect
puppet agent --test	Run Puppet agent on demand.
puppet agent --disable	Disable Puppet agent.
puppet agent --enable	Enable Puppet agent.
puppet agent --configprint config	Print location of Puppet agent configuration file.
puppet agent -t --noop	Preview what Puppet will change without making the changes.
puppet agent -t --noop /path/to/puppetcode.pp	Preview changes for a particular module.
puppet agent --configprint runinterval	Check the runtime interval.

Config

Auto cert sign on master, edit /etc/puppetlabs/puppet/autosign.conf.

*.<DOMAIN>

Change run interval on the agent, edit /etc/puppetlabs/puppet/puppet.conf.

[agent]
runinterval = 1800

Default is every 30 minutes (1800 seconds).

Change agent environment, edit /etc/puppetlabs/puppet/puppet.conf.

[main]
environment = <ENVIRONMENT>

Default is production.

Change agent default master, edit /etc/puppetlabs/puppet/puppet.conf.

[main]
server = <PUPPET_SERVER>

Default is puppet.

Triage

Command	Effect
ping <IP>	Reach the Puppet master by IP first.
ping puppet	Short domain name reach to the Puppet master.
ping puppet.example.com	Make sure FQDN can reach the Puppet master.
vi /etc/hosts	Check both FQDN and short domain are entered in client DNS.
nslookup puppet.example.com	If using DNS server side, check nameservers can resolve the name.
vi /etc/resolv.conf	Check DNS configuration on the client.
service network restart	Restart connection, check for errors.
vi /etc/puppetlabs/puppet/puppet.conf	If using a custom server, check the config is correct for non-default.
telnet puppet.example.com 8140	Test connection to Puppet server on port 8140.
date -R	If time is out of sync, get it in sync with the master.

SSL

Command	Effect
puppet cert clean node.example.com	Clean node on the master.
rm -rf $(puppet agent --configprint ssldir)	Remove SSL certificate on the node.
puppet agent --test	Run Puppet agent on the node.

References

• Puppet cheat sheet (dsavell)