[Puppet Users] Classes and resources in Hiera

On Wednesday, February 27, 2013 8:34:47 AM UTC-6, Justin Lambert wrote:
I've had this blog post [1] bookmarked for a while to pull the remaining
node specific config I have out of my site.pp, but wasn't sure if there was
a better method at this point.

On Feb 28, 2013, at 7:24 AM, jcbollinger wrote:



On Wednesday, February 27, 2013 8:34:47 AM UTC-6, Justin Lambert wrote:
I've had this blog post [1] bookmarked for a while to pull the remaining node specific config I have out of my site.pp, but wasn't sure if there was a better method at this point.


The custom 'hiera_resources()' function described in that blog post appears to be equivalent to a combination of the standard hiera() and create_resources() functions. Whether that general approach is best is an entirely separate question, however, and the answer probably depends on the circumstances.


I've been using hiera_include for a while for classes, but it appears functionality is something that may go away based on this feature [2] and the fact that it is still undocumented [3]. The bug report points out include now takes an array [4] (yeah!), but to get the correct array built from hiera (multiple levels) I have to use hiera_array which is also still undocumented [5].


Although hiera_include() may eventually go away, as it is indeed redundant, I don't think there is any reason to fear that hiera_array() or hiera_hash() will be removed. PL has limited resources at its disposal, and one of the things that has historically been a problem for it is the thoroughness (or lack thereof) of its documentation. It does devote effort to documentation, to be sure, but not to such an extent that you can take lack of detailed documentation of hiera_array() to be an indication that it is at risk of removal.

If the lack of documentation bothers you then file a ticket against it (supposing there isn't one already). If you're really motivated, then Puppet is an open-source project: you can write the documentation and contribute it if you are so inclined.



What is the current recommended way of including classes to be included in your hiera data and is there a recommended method for including resources? Obviously I can implement the stuff Robin and Hunter did if I'm not implementing something that's going to go away shortly because it is a terrible idea.


Use either

$classes = hiera('classes_key')
include $classes

or

$classes = hiera_array('classes_key')
include $classes

or a similar approach based on 'include' instead of 'hiera_include'.

If you can, derive resource parameters from class data and/or general hiera data, but if you must model whole resource declarations in hiera then use

$resources_hash = hiera('resource_key')
create_resources('resource_name', $resources_hash)

to handle them.


John


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