hiera_resources

Table of Contents

1. Overview
2. Beginning with hiera_resources
3. Usage - Configuration options and additional functionality
4. Credit

Overview

Allow arbitrary definition of resources (classes and defined types) via hiera content while avoiding the hiera_hash/create_resources pattern.

Beginning with hiera_resources

hiera_resources() allows you to use arbitrary hiera data to create and manage classes and defined types. Provide a hash with a top level name followed by a second level resource type and subsequent levels containing the required resource parameters and values.

For instance, given the following hiera YAML file:

---
messages1:
  notify:
    title 1:
      message: this is the first message stored in YAML
    title 2:
      message: this is the second message stored in YAML

You may include hiera_resources('messages1') in a manifest to create two notify resources, 'title 1' and 'title 2'.

hiera_resources() does not verify the contents of the hash or referenced resource type. It does accept a second value as a default value if the lookup fails, following the same tiered hierarchy as the hiera hash.

Title-only or parameter-less resources can be created by leaving a dangling colon or an empty hash ({}). For example:

----
title-only:
  notify:
    Title and message:
    Title and message with empty hash: {}

Usage

Ensure that hiera_resources is in your $modulepath and that pluginsync is set to true on the master. You may then use hiera_resources() in your manifests.

Credits

This version of hiera_resources is based on this excellent blog post by Robin Bowes and a subsequent refactoring.

Contributions from:

• Sascha Spreitzer
• Shane Madden