Note: This page is quite old and is likely out of date. My opinions may have also changed dramatically since this was written. It is here as a reference until I get around to updating it.

Puppet Master / Server

Installation

yum install puppet puppet-server -y

And configure the puppet master like so:

The following file is /etc/puppet/puppet.conf:

[master]
  confdir = /etc/puppet
  vardir = /var/lib/puppet
  logdir = /var/log/puppet

  # Whether to print stack traces on some errors
  trace = false

  # Whether log files should always flush to disk.
  autoflush = true

  # What syslog facility to use when logging to syslog.
  syslogfacility = daemon

  # The directory where Puppet state is stored.  Generally, this directory can
  # be removed without causing harm (although it might result in spurious
  # service restarts).
  statedir = /var/lib/puppet/state

  # Where Puppet PID files are kept.
  rundir = /var/run/puppet

  # Whether to just print a manifest to stdout and exit. Only makes sense when
  # used interactively. Takes into account arguments specified on the CLI.
  #genmanifest = false

  # Whether to use colors when logging to the console.  Valid values are
  # `ansi` (equivalent to `true`), `html`, and `false`, which produces no color.
  color = ansi

  # Whether to create the necessary user and group that puppet agent will run
  # as.
  #mkusers = false

  # Whether Puppet should manage the owner, group, and mode of files it uses
  # internally
  manage_internal_file_permissions = true

  # Run the configuration once, rather than as a long-running daemon. This is
  # useful for interactively running puppetd.
  #onetime = false

  # The shell search path.  Defaults to whatever is inherited from the parent
  # process.
  #path = none

  # An extra search path for Puppet. This is only useful for those files that
  # Puppet will load on demand, and is only guaranteed to work for those
  # cases. In fact, the autoload mechanism is responsible for making sure this
  # directory is in Ruby's search path
  libdir = /var/lib/puppet/lib

  # If true, allows the parser to continue without requiring all files
  # referenced with `import` statements to exist. This setting was primarily
  # designed for use with commit hooks for parse-checking.
  #ignoreimport = false

  # The configuration file that defines the rights to the different namespaces
  # and methods. This can be used as a coarse-grained authorization system for
  # both `puppet agent` and `puppet master`.
  authconfig = /etc/puppet/namespaceauth.conf

  # The environment Puppet is running in. For clients (e.g., `puppet agent`)
  # this determines the environment itself, which is used to find modules and
  # much more. For servers (i.e., `puppet master`) this provides the default
  # environment for nodes we know nothing about.
  environment = production

  # Which arguments to pass to the diff command when printing differences between
  # files. The command to use can be chosen with the `diff` setting.
  #diff_args = -u

  # Which diff command to use when printing differences between files. This
  # setting has no default value on Windows, as standard `diff` is not
  # available, but Puppet can use many third-party diff tools.
  diff = diff

  # Whether to log and report a contextual diff when files are being replaced.
  # This causes partial file contents to pass through Puppet's normal logging
  # and reporting system, so this setting should be used with caution if you
  # are sending Puppet's reports to an insecure destination. This feature
  # currently requires the `diff/lcs` Ruby library.
  show_diff = false

  # Whether to send the process into the background. This defaults to true on
  # POSIX systems, and to false on Windows (where Puppet currently cannot
  # daemonize).
  #daemonize = true

  # The maximum allowed UID. Some platforms use negative UIDs but then ship
  # with tools that do not know how to handle signed ints, so the UIDs show up
  # as huge numbers that can then not be fed back into the system. This is a
  # hackish way to fail in a slightly more useful way when that happens.
  #maximum_uid = 4294967290

  # The YAML file containing indirector route configuration.
  route_file = /etc/puppet/routes.yaml

  # Where to find information about nodes.
  #node_terminus = plain

  # Where to get node catalogs. This is useful to change if, for instance,
  # you'd like to pre-compile catalogs and store them in memcached or some
  # other easily-accessed store.
  catalog_terminus = compiler

  # The node facts terminus.
  facts_terminus = yaml

  # Should usually be the same as the facts terminus
  inventory_terminus = yaml

  # Where the puppet agent web server logs.
  httplog = /var/log/puppet/http.log

  # The HTTP proxy host to use for outgoing connections. Note: You may need to
  # use a FQDN for the server hostname when using a proxy.
  http_proxy_host = none

  # The HTTP proxy port to use for outgoing connections
  #http_proxy_port = 3128

  # The minimum time to wait (in seconds) between checking for updates in
  # configuration files. This timeout determines how quickly Puppet checks
  # whether a file (such as manifests or templates) has changed on disk.
  filetimeout = 15

  # Which type of queue to use for asynchronous processing.
  #queue_type = stomp

  # Which type of queue to use for asynchronous processing. If your stomp
  # server requires authentication, you can include it in the URI as long as
  # your stomp client library is at least 1.1.1
  #queue_source = stomp://localhost:61613/

  # Whether to use a queueing system to provide asynchronous database
  # integration. Requires that `puppetqd` be running and that 'PSON' support
  # for ruby be installed.
  #async_storeconfigs = false

  # Whether storeconfigs store in the database only the facts and exported
  # resources. If true, then storeconfigs performance will be higher and still
  # allow exported/collected resources, but other usage external to Puppet
  # might not work.
  #thin_storeconfigs = false

  # How to determine the configuration version. By default, it will be the
  # time that the configuration is parsed, but you can provide a shell script
  # to override how the version is determined. The output of this script will
  # be added to every log message in the reports, allowing you to correlate
  # changes on your hosts to the source version on the server.
  #config_version = 

  # Whether to use the zlib library
  zlib = true

  # A command to run before every agent run. If this command returns a
  # non-zero return code, the entire Puppet run will fail.
  #prerun_command = 

  # A command to run after every agent run. If this command returns a non-zero
  # return code, the entire Puppet run will be considered to have failed, even
  # though it might have performed work during the normal run.
  #postrun_command = 

  # Freezes the 'main' class, disallowing any code to be added to it. This
  # essentially means that you can't have any code outside of a node, class,
  # or definition other than in the site manifest.
  #freeze_main = false

  # The name to use when handling certificates.
  certname = balum.internal.bedroomprogrammers.net

  # The certificate directory.
  certdir = /var/lib/puppet/ssl/certs

  # Where SSL certificates are kept.
  ssldir = /var/lib/puppet/ssl

  # The public key directory.
  publickeydir = /var/lib/puppet/ssl/public_keys

  # Where host certificate requests are stored.
  requestdir = /var/lib/puppet/ssl/certificate_requests

  # The private key directory.
  privatekeydir = /var/lib/puppet/ssl/private_keys

  # Where the client stores private certificate information.
  privatedir = /var/lib/puppet/ssl/private

  # Where puppet agent stores the password for its private key.
  passfile = /var/lib/puppet/ssl/private/password

  # Where individual hosts store and look for their certificate information.
  hostcsr = /var/lib/puppet/ssl/csr_balum.internal.bedroomprogrammers.net.pem
  hostcert = /var/lib/puppet/ssl/certs/balum.internal.bedroomprogrammers.net.pem
  hostprivkey = /var/lib/puppet/ssl/private_keys/balum.internal.bedroomprogrammers.net.pem
  hostpubkey = /var/lib/puppet/ssl/public_keys/balum.internal.bedroomprogrammers.net.pem

  localcacert = /var/lib/puppet/ssl/certs/ca.pem

  # Where the host's certificate revocation list can be found. This is
  # distinct from the certificate authority's CRL.
  hostcrl = /var/lib/puppet/ssl/crl.pem

  # Whether certificate revocation should be supported by downloading a
  # Certificate Revocation List (CRL) to all clients. If enabled, CA chaining
  # will almost definitely not work.
  certificate_revocation = true

  # Where Puppet should store plugins that it pulls down from the central
  # server.
  plugindest = /var/lib/puppet/lib

  # From where to retrieve plugins. The standard Puppet `file` type is used
  # for retrieval, so anything that is a valid file source can be used here.
  pluginsource = puppet://puppet/plugins

  # Whether plugins should be synced with the central server.
  pluginsync = true

  # What files to ignore when pulling down plugins.
  pluginsignore = .git

  # Where Puppet should look for facts. Multiple directories should be
  # separated by the system path separator character. (The POSIX path
  # separator is ':', and the Windows path separator is ';'.)
  factpath = /var/lib/puppet/lib/facter:/var/lib/puppet/facts

  # Where Puppet should store facts that it pulls down from the central
  # server.
  factdest = /var/lib/puppet/facts/

  # From where to retrieve facts. The standard Puppet `file` type is used for
  # retrieval, so anything that is a valid file source can be used here.
  factsource = puppet://puppet/facts/

  # Whether facts should be synced with the central server.
  factsync = true

  # What files to ignore when pulling down facts.
  factsignore = .git

  # An external command that can produce node information. The command's
  # output must be a YAML dump of a hash, and that hash must have a `classes`
  # key and/or a `parameters` key, where `classes` is an array or hash and
  # `parameters` is a hash. For unknown nodes, the command should exit with a
  # non-zero exit code. This command makes it straightforward to store your
  # node mapping information in other data sources like databases.
  #external_nodes = none

  # The module repository
  #module_repository = http://forge.puppetlabs.com

  # The directory into which module tool data is stored
  module_working_dir = /var/lib/puppet/puppet-module

  # Certificate authority configuration
  ca_name = Puppet CA: balum.internal.bedroomprogrammers.net
  cadir = /var/lib/puppet/ssl/ca
  cacert = /var/lib/puppet/ssl/ca/ca_crt.pem
  cakey = /var/lib/puppet/ssl/ca/ca_key.pem
  capub = /var/lib/puppet/ssl/ca/ca_pub.pem
  cacrl = /var/lib/puppet/ssl/ca/ca_crl.pem
  caprivatedir = /var/lib/puppet/ssl/ca/private
  csrdir = /var/lib/puppet/ssl/ca/requests

  # Where the CA stores signed certificates.
  signeddir = /var/lib/puppet/ssl/ca/signed

  # Where the CA stores the password for the private key
  capass = /var/lib/puppet/ssl/ca/private/ca.pass

  # Where the serial number for certificates is stored.
  serial = /var/lib/puppet/ssl/ca/serial

  # Whether to enable autosign. Valid values are true (which autosigns any key
  # request, and is a very bad idea), false (which never autosigns any key
  # request), and the path to a file, which uses that configuration file to
  # determine which keys to sign.
  autosign = /etc/puppet/autosign.conf

  # Whether to allow a new certificate request to overwrite an existing
  # certificate.
  allow_duplicate_certs = false

  # The default TTL for new certificates; valid values must be an integer,
  # optionally followed by one of the units 'y' (years of 365 days), 'd'
  # (days), 'h' (hours), or 's' (seconds). The unit defaults to seconds. If
  # this setting is set, ca_days is ignored. Examples are '3600' (one hour)
  # and '1825d', which is the same as '5y' (5 years) 
  ca_ttl = 3y

  # The type of hash used in certificates.
  ca_md = sha256

  # The bit length of the certificates.
  req_bits = 4096

  # The bit length of keys.
  keylength = 4096

  # A Complete listing of all certificates
  cert_inventory = /var/lib/puppet/ssl/ca/inventory.txt

  # The configuration file for master.
  config = /etc/puppet/puppet.conf

  # The pid file
  pidfile = /var/run/puppet/master.pid

  # The address a listening server should bind to. Mongrel servers default to
  # 127.0.0.1 and WEBrick defaults to 0.0.0.0.
  bindaddress = 0.0.0.0

  # The type of server to use. Currently supported options are webrick and
  # mongrel. If you use mongrel, you will need a proxy in front of the process
  # or processes, since Mongrel cannot speak SSL.
  servertype = webrick

  # The user puppet master should run as.
  user = puppet

  # The group puppet master should run as.
  group = puppet

  # Where puppet master looks for its manifests.
  manifestdir = /etc/puppet/manifests

  # The entry-point manifest for puppet master.
  manifest = /etc/puppet/manifests/site.pp

  # Code to parse directly. This is essentially only used by `puppet`, and
  # should only be set if you're writing your own Puppet executable.
  #code = 

  # Where puppet master logs. This is generally not used, since syslog is the
  # default log destination.
  masterlog = /var/log/puppet/puppetmaster.log

  # Where the puppet master web server logs.
  masterhttplog = /var/log/puppet/masterhttp.log

  # Which port puppet master listens on.

  # How the puppet master determines the client's identity and sets the
  # 'hostname', 'fqdn' and 'domain' facts for use in the manifest, in
  # particular for determining which 'node' statement applies to the client.
  # 
  # Possible values are 'cert' (use the subject's CN in the client's
  # certificate) and 'facter' (use the hostname that the client reported in
  # its facts)
  node_name = cert

  # Where FileBucket files are stored.
  bucketdir = /var/lib/puppet/bucket

  # The configuration file that defines the rights to the different rest
  # indirections. This can be used as a fine-grained authorization system for
  # `puppet master`.
  rest_authconfig = /etc/puppet/auth.conf

  # Wether the master should function as a certificate authority.
  ca = true

  # The search path for modules, as a list of directories separated by the
  # system path separator character. (The POSIX path separator is ':', and the
  # Windows path separator is ';'.)
  modulepath = /etc/puppet/modules:/usr/share/puppet/modules

  # The directory in which YAML data is stored, usually in a subdirectory.
  yamldir = /var/lib/puppet/yaml

  # The directory in which serialized data is stored, usually in a
  # subdirectory.
  server_datadir = /var/lib/puppet/server_data

  # The list of reports to generate. All reports are looked for in
  # `puppet/reports/name.rb`, and multiple report names should be
  # comma-separated (whitespace is okay).
  #reports = store

  # The directory in which to store reports received from the client. Each
  # client gets a separate subdirectory.
  reportdir = /var/lib/puppet/reports

  # The URL used by the http reports processor to send reports
  #reporturl = http://localhost:3000/reports/upload

  # Where the fileserver configuration is stored.
  fileserverconfig = /etc/puppet/fileserver.conf

  # Whether to only search for the complete hostname as it is in the
  # certificate when searching for node information in the catalogs.
  #
  # TODO: Probably for the best to set this to true
  #strict_hostname_checking = false

  # Whether to store each client's configuration, including catalogs, facts,
  # and related data. This also enables the import and export of resources in
  # the Puppet language - a mechanism for exchange resources between nodes.
  # 
  # By default this uses ActiveRecord and an SQL database to store and query
  # the data; this, in turn, will depend on Rails being available. You can
  # adjust the backend using the storeconfigs_backend setting.
  #
  # TODO: This would probably be useful
  #storeconfigs = false

  # Configure the backend terminus used for StoreConfigs. By default, this
  # uses the ActiveRecord store, which directly talks to the database from
  # within the Puppet Master process.
  #storeconfigs_backend = active_record

  # The directory where RRD database files are stored. Directories for each
  # reporting host will be created under this directory.
  rrddir = /var/lib/puppet/rrd

  # How often RRD should expect data. This should match how often the hosts
  # report back to the server.
  rrdinterval = 1800

  # The root directory of devices' $vardir
  devicedir = /var/lib/puppet/devices

  # Path to the device config file for puppet device
  deviceconfig = /etc/puppet/device.conf

  # The explicit value used for the node name for all requests the agent makes
  # to the master. WARNING: This setting is mutually exclusive with
  # node_name_fact. Changing this setting also requires changes to the default
  # auth.conf configuration on the Puppet Master. Please see
  # http://links.puppetlabs.com/node_name_value for more information.
  node_name_value = balum.internal.bedroomprogrammers.net

  # Where puppet agent caches the local configuration. An extension indicating
  # the cache format is added automatically.
  localconfig = /var/lib/puppet/state/localconfig

  # Where puppet agent and puppet master store state associated with the
  # running configuration. In the case of puppet master, this file reflects
  # the state discovered through interacting with clients.
  statefile = /var/lib/puppet/state/state.yaml

  # The directory in which client-side YAML data is stored.
  clientyamldir = /var/lib/puppet/client_yaml

  # The directory in which serialized data is stored on the client.
  client_datadir = /var/lib/puppet/client_data

  # The file in which puppet agent stores a list of the classes associated
  # with the retrieved configuration. Can be loaded in the separate `puppet`
  # executable using the `--loadclasses` option.
  classfile = /var/lib/puppet/state/classes.txt

  # The file in which puppet agent stores a list of the resources associated
  # with the retrieved configuration.
  resourcefile = /var/lib/puppet/state/resources.txt

  # The log file for puppet agent.  This is generally not used.
  # The default value is '$logdir/puppetd.log'.
  puppetdlog = /var/log/puppet/puppetd.log

  # The server to which server puppet agent should connect
  server = balum.internal.bedroomprogrammers.net

  # Whether puppet agent should ignore schedules. This is useful for initial
  # puppet agent runs.
  ignoreschedules = false

  # Which port puppet agent listens on.
  puppetport = 8139

  # Whether puppet agent should be run in noop mode.
  noop = false

  # How often puppet agent applies the client configuration; in seconds. Note
  # that a runinterval of 0 means "run continuously" rather than "never run".
  # If you want puppet agent to never run, you should start it with the
  # `--no-client` option.
  runinterval = 1800

  # Whether puppet agent should listen for connections. If this is true, then
  # puppet agent will accept incoming REST API requests, subject to the
  # default ACLs and the ACLs set in the `rest_authconfig` file. Puppet agent
  # can respond usefully to requests on the `run`, `facts`, `certificate`,
  # and `resource` endpoints.
  #
  # TODO: This may be valuable
  #listen = false

  # The server to use for certificate authority requests. It's a separate
  # server because it cannot and does not need to horizontally scale.
  ca_server = balum.internal.bedroomprogrammers.net

  # The port to use for the certificate authority.
  ca_port = 8140

  # The preferred means of serializing ruby instances for passing over the
  # wire. This won't guarantee that all instances will be serialized using
  # this method, since not all classes can be guaranteed to support this
  # format, but it will be used for all classes that support it.
  preferred_serialization_format = pson

  # A lock file to temporarily stop puppet agent from doing anything.
  puppetdlockfile = /var/lib/puppet/state/puppetdlock

  # Whether to use the cached configuration when the remote configuration will
  # not compile. This option is useful for testing new configurations, where
  # you want to fix the broken configuration rather than reverting to a
  # known-good one.
  usecacheonfailure = true

  # Whether to only use the cached catalog rather than compiling a new catalog
  # on every run. Puppet can be run with this enabled by default and then
  # selectively disabled when a recompile is desired.
  use_cached_catalog = false

  # Ignore cache and always recompile the configuration. This is useful for
  # testing new configurations, where the local cache may in fact be stale
  # even if the timestamps are up to date - if the facts change or if the
  # server changes.
  #ignorecache = false

  # Whether facts should be made all lowercase when sent to the server.
  #downcasefacts = false

  # Facts that are dynamic; these facts will be ignored when deciding whether
  # changed facts should result in a recompile. Multiple facts should be
  # comma-separated.
  #dynamicfacts = memorysize,memoryfree,swapsize,swapfree

  # The maximum time to delay before runs. Defaults to being the same as the
  # run interval.
  splaylimit = 1800

  # Whether to sleep for a pseudo-random (but consistent) amount of time
  # before a run.
  splay = true

  # Where FileBucket files are stored locally.
  clientbucketdir = /var/lib/puppet/clientbucket

  # How long the client should wait for the configuration to be retrieved
  # before considering it a failure. This can help reduce flapping if too many
  # clients contact the server at one time.
  configtimeout = 60

  # The server to send transaction reports to.
  report_server = balum.internal.bedroomprogrammers.net

  # The port to communicate with the report_server.
  report_port = 8140

  # The server to send facts to.
  inventory_server = balum.internal.bedroomprogrammers.net

  # The port to communicate with the inventory_server.
  inventory_port = 8140

  # Whether to send reports after every transaction.
  report = true

  # Where puppet agent stores the last run report summary in yaml format.
  lastrunfile = /var/lib/puppet/state/last_run_summary.yaml

  # Where puppet agent stores the last run report in yaml format.
  lastrunreport = /var/lib/puppet/state/last_run_report.yaml

  # Whether to create dot graph files for the different configuration graphs.
  # These dot files can be interpreted by tools like OmniGraffle or dot (which
  # is part of ImageMagick).
  graph = true

  # Where to store dot-outputted graphs.
  graphdir = /var/lib/puppet/state/graphs

  # Allow http compression in REST communication with the master. This setting
  # might improve performance for agent -> master communications over slow
  # WANs.
  #
  # Your puppet master needs to support compression (usually by activating
  # some settings in a reverse-proxy in front of the puppet master, which
  # rules out webrick).
  #
  # It is harmless to activate this settings if your master doesn't support
  # compression, but if it supports it, this setting might reduce performance
  # on high-speed LANs.
  http_compression = false

  # During an inspect run, whether to archive files whose contents are audited
  # to a file bucket.
  archive_files = true

  # During an inspect run, the file bucket server to archive files to if
  # archive_files is set.
  archive_file_server = balum.internal.bedroomprogrammers.net

  # The mapping between reporting tags and email addresses.
  tagmap = /etc/puppet/tagmail.conf

  # Where to find the sendmail binary with which to send email.
  sendmail = /usr/sbin/sendmail

  # The 'from' email address for the reports.
  reportfrom = puppet-master@balum.internal.bedroomprogrammers.net

  # The server through which to send email reports.
  smtpserver = none

  # The database cache for client configurations. Used for querying within the
  # language.
  dblocation = /var/lib/puppet/state/clientconfigs.sqlite3

  # The type of database to use.
  dbadapter = sqlite3

  # Whether to automatically migrate the database.
  dbmigrate = true


  # The database server for caching.
  #dbserver = localhost
  #dbport = 
  #dbname = puppet
  #dbuser = puppet
  #dbpassword = puppet

  # The number of database connections for networked databases.
  #dbconnections = 

  # The database socket location. Only used when networked databases are used.
  # Will be ignored if the value is an empty string.
  #dbsocket = 

  # Where Rails-specific logs are sent
  railslog = /var/log/puppet/rails.log

  # The log level for Rails connections. The value must be a valid log level
  # within Rails. Production environments normally use `info` and other
  # environments normally use `debug`.
  rails_loglevel = info

  # The url where the puppet couchdb database will be created
  #couchdb_url = http://127.0.0.1:5984/puppet

  # Tags to use to find resources. If this is set, then only resources tagged
  # with the specified tags will be applied. Values must be comma-separated.
  #tags = 

  # Whether each resource should log when it is being evaluated. This allows
  # you to interactively see exactly what is being done.
  #evaltrace = false

  # Whether to print a transaction summary.
  #summarize = false

  # Whether to search for node configurations in LDAP. See
  # http://projects.puppetlabs.com/projects/puppet/wiki/LDAP_Nodes for more
  # information.
  #ldapnodes = false

  # Whether SSL should be used when searching for nodes. Defaults to false
  # because SSL usually requires certificates to be set up on the client
  # side.
  #ldapssl = false

  # Whether TLS should be used when searching for nodes. Defaults to false
  # because TLS usually requires certificates to be set up on the client
  # side.
  #ldaptls = false

  # The LDAP server. Only used if `ldapnodes` is enabled.
  #ldapserver = ldap.example.org

  # The LDAP port.  Only used if `ldapnodes` is enabled.
  #ldapport = 389

  # The search string used to find an LDAP node.
  #ldapstring = (&(objectclass=puppetClient)(cn=%s))

  # The LDAP attributes to use to define Puppet classes. Values should be
  # comma-separated.
  #ldapclassattrs = puppetclass

  # The LDAP attributes that should be stacked to arrays by adding the values
  # in all hierarchy elements of the tree. Values should be comma-separated.
  #ldapstackedattrs = puppetvar

  # The LDAP attributes to include when querying LDAP for nodes. All returned
  # attributes are set as variables in the top-level scope. Multiple values
  # should be comma-separated. The value 'all' returns all attributes.
  #ldapattrs = all

  # The attribute to use to define the parent node.
  #ldapparentattr = parentnode

  # The user to use to connect to LDAP. Must be specified as a full DN.
  #ldapuser = 

  # The password to use to connect to LDAP.
  #ldappassword = 

  # The search base for LDAP searches. It's impossible to provide a meaningful
  # default here, although the LDAP libraries might have one already set.
  # Generally, it should be the 'ou=Hosts' branch under your main directory.
  #ldapbase = 

  # Whether to use lexical scoping (vs. dynamic).
  #lexical = false

  # Where Puppet looks for template files. Can be a list of colon-separated
  # directories.
  templatedir = /var/lib/puppet/templates

  # Document all resources
  #document_all = false

Puppet Client

Installation

yum install puppet -y