[Puppet Users] Run a File resource only if another file is missing

Short Answer: You need to create a custom fact that would drive the
decision to create the new file resource.

I just went thru this issue and also performing an action based on
whether or not a package (RPM in my case) is installed.

Same answer to both.

For the existence of a file, you can do this:

#!/bin/bash
test -f /var/www/owncloud/config/config.php
rc=$?
echo "is_my_file_there=${rc}"

That goes into /etc/facter/facts.d/ as an executable shell script
and then in your manifest:

if $::is_my_file_there != 0 {
file { 'autoconfig.php':
.....
}
}


“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)

----- Original Message -----
From: "John Naggets" <hostingnuggets@gmail.com>
To: puppet-users@googlegroups.com
Sent: Thursday, May 30, 2013 4:04:29 PM
Subject: [Puppet Users] Run a File resource only if another file is
missing

Hi,

I would like to run the File resource below:

file { 'autoconfig.php':
path => '/var/www/owncloud/config/autoconfig.php',
ensure => file,
owner => 'www-data',
group => 'www-data',
content => template("owncloud/autoconfig.php.erb"),
}

only when a specific file (in my
case: /var/www/owncloud/config/config.php) is missing. Is this
somehow possible? Couldn't find my case in the puppet
documentation...

Thanks!
John

That is an excellent example, but I think you miss the original point:

Your example deals with only one file resource - the dot-gitconfig
file Suppose you only wanted to perform this action if git was
installed on the system, and do nothing if it was not ?

This additional requirement puts it closer to the original question
and this is where a custom fact is called for in the opinion of
several folks on the list including myself.

If you can offer an example that demonstrates otherwise, I would
welcome it. I do not believe it possible without the custom fact and
I have several hours of frustrated tinkering to show for it. I
wanted to set a parameter in a config file but only if (the config
file exists and/or the associated package is installed) and found I
could not do it completely from within the manifest.

“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)

----- Original Message -----
From: "Matthias Saou" <matt...@saou.eu <javascript:>>
To: puppet...@googlegroups.com <javascript:>
Sent: Friday, May 31, 2013 4:00:15 AM
Subject: Re: [Puppet Users] Run a File resource only if another file
is missing

There are other ways. None are nice and clean, but a custom fact just
for this seems overkill.

Here's a quick example of how I've implemented creating a default
~/.gitconfig for users if it doesn't exist, but not modify it if it's
already there or has been modified.

$gitconfig_user_name = $mymodule::uservar::fullname[$title]
$gitconfig_user_email = "${tit...@example.com <javascript:>"
file { "${home}/.gitconfig":
owner => $owner,
group => $group,
mode => '0644',
require => Exec["create-gitconfig-${title}"],
}
exec { "create-gitconfig-${title}":
command => template('mymodule/user/gitconfig.erb'),
require => User[$title],
creates => "${home}/.gitconfig",
}

The gitconfig.erb has the following content :
/bin/cat > <%= home %>/.gitconfig << EOF
[user]
name = <%= @gitconfig_user_name %>
email = <%= @gitconfig_user_email %>
EOF

Basically, just don't have either 'source' nor 'content' for your file
resource, and create the initial content using an exec with the
'creates' condition.

Matthias

Dan White <yg...@comcast.net <javascript:>> wrote:

On Friday, May 31, 2013 2:57:56 PM UTC+2, Matthias Saou wrote:

Hi,

Indeed, I had missed that John was mentioning two different files
("config.php" vs. "autoconfig.php"). In that case, my only bit of
(useless) advice is : You're not using puppet in the way it's most
efficient, as it's not meant to manage nodes based on changes it
doesn't make itself.

Custom fact, it is...

Matthias

Dan White wrote: