SYNOPSIS()

NAME
Synopsis -

Retrieve the client configuration from the central puppet server and apply it to the local host.

Currently must be run out periodically, using cron or something similar.

USAGE

puppetd [-D|--daemonize|--no-daemonize] [-d|--debug] [--disable] [--enable]
    [-h|--help] [--fqdn <host name>] [-l|--logdest syslog|<file>|console] [-o|--onetime] [--serve <handler>] [-t|--test] [--noop] [-V|--version] [-v|--verbose] [-w|--waitforcert <seconds>]

DESCRIPTION

This is the main puppet client. Its job is to retrieve the local machine's configuration from a remote server and apply it. In order to successfully communicate with the remote server, the client must have a certificate signed by a certificate authority that the server trusts; the recommended method for this, at the moment, is to run a certificate authority as part of the puppet server (which is the default). The client will connect and request a signed certificate, and will continue connecting until it receives one.

Once the client has a signed certificate, it will retrieve its configuration and apply it.

USAGE NOTES

+puppetd+ does its best to find a compromise between interactive use and daemon use. Run with no arguments and no configuration, it will go into the backgroun, attempt to get a signed certificate, and retrieve and apply its configuration every 30 minutes.

Some flags are meant specifically for interactive use -- in particular, +test+ and +tags+ are useful. +test+ enables verbose logging, causes the daemon to stay in the foreground, exits if the server's configuration is invalid (this happens if, for instance, you've left a syntax error on the server), and exits after running the configuration once (rather than hanging around as a long-running process).

+tags+ allows you to specify what portions of a configuration you want to apply. Puppet elements are tagged with all of the class or definition names that contain them, and you can use the +tags+ flag to specify one of these names, causing only configuration elements contained within that class or definition to be applied. This is very useful when you are testing new configurations -- for instance, if you are just starting to manage +ntpd+, you would put all of the new elements into an +ntpd+ class, and call puppet with +--tags ntpd+, which would only apply that small portion of the configuration during your testing, rather than applying the whole thing.

OPTIONS

Note that any configuration parameter that's valid in the configuration file is also a valid long argument. For example, 'server' is a valid configuration parameter, so you can specify '--server <servername>' as an argument.

See the configuration file documentation at http://puppetlabs.com/trac/puppet/wiki/ConfigurationReference for the full list of acceptable parameters. A commented list of all configuration options can also be generated by running puppetd with '--genconfig'.

daemonize: Send the process into the background. This is the default.

no-daemonize: Do not send the process into the background.

debug: Enable full debugging.

disable: Disable working on the local system. This puts a lock file
    in place, causing +puppetd+ not to work on the system until the lock file is removed. This is useful if you are testing a configuration and do not want the central configuration to override the local state until everything is tested and committed.

    +puppetd+ uses the same lock file while it is running, so no more than one +puppetd+ process is working at a time.

    +puppetd+ exits after executing this.

enable: Enable working on the local system. This removes any lock
    file, causing +puppetd+ to start managing the local system again (although it will continue to use its normal scheduling, so it might not start for another half hour).

    +puppetd+ exits after executing this.

fqdn: Set the fully-qualified domain name of the client. This is
    only used for certificate purposes, but can be used to override the discovered hostname. If you need to use this flag, it is generally an indication of a setup problem.

    help: Print this help message

logdest: Where to send messages. Choose between syslog, the
    console, and a log file. Defaults to sending messages to syslog, or the console if debugging or verbosity is enabled.

no-client: Do not create a config client. This will cause the daemon
    to run without ever checking for its configuration automatically, and only makes sense when used in conjunction with --listen.

onetime: Run the configuration once. Runs a single daemonized
    Puppet run. Useful for interactively running puppetd and hence used in conjunction with the --no-daemonize option.

serve: Start another type of server. By default, +puppetd+ will
    start a service handler that allows authenticated and authorized remote nodes to trigger the configuration to be pulled down and applied. You can specify any handler here that does not require configuration, e.g., filebucket, ca, or resource. The handlers are in +lib/puppet/network/handler+, and the names must match exactly, both in the call to +serve+ and in +namespaceauth.conf+.

test: Enable the most common options used for testing. These are
    +onetime+, +verbose+, +ignorecache, +no-daemonize+, and +no-usecacheonfailure+.

noop: Use +noop+ mode where the daemon runs in a no-op or
    dry-run mode. This is useful for seeing what changes Puppet will make without actually executing the changes.

    verbose: Turn on verbose reporting.

    version: Print the puppet version number and exit.

waitforcert: This option only matters for daemons that do not yet have
    certificates and it is enabled by default, with a value of 120 (seconds). This causes +puppetd+ to connect to the server every 2 minutes and ask it to sign a certificate request. This is useful for the initial setup of a puppet client. You can turn off waiting for certificates by specifying a time of 0.

EXAMPLE

puppetd --server puppet.domain.com

AUTHOR

Luke Kanies

COPYRIGHT

Copyright (c) 2005, 2006 Puppet Labs, LLC Licensed under the GNU Public License