Jira (PUP-10894) codedir behaviour does not match documentation

codedir behaviour does not match documentation

Issue Type:	Bug
Affects Versions:	PUP 6.20.0, PUP 5.5.22
Assignee:	Unassigned
Created:	2021/02/09 7:18 PM
Priority:	Normal
Reporter:	Jake Yip

Puppet Version: 6.18.0
Puppet Server Version: 6.18.0
OS Name/Version: Ubuntu 18.04.5 LTS \n \l

In the documentation https://puppet.com/docs/puppet/6.21/dirs_codedir.html#location, it states

When Puppet is running as root, as a Windows user with administrator privileges, or as the puppet user, it uses a system-wide codedir. When running as a non-root user, it uses a codedir in that user's home directory.

This doesn't seem to be true. As the puppet user,

puppet@puppet:~$ puppet config print codedir
/opt/puppetlabs/server/data/puppetserver/.puppetlabs/etc/code

My puppet version is

puppet@puppet:~$ apt-cache policy puppet-agent
puppet-agent:
{{ Installed: 6.20.0-1bionic}}
{{ Candidate: 6.20.0-1bionic}}
{{ Version table:}}
{{ *** 6.20.0-1bionic 500}}
{{ 500 http://apt.puppetlabs.com bionic/puppet6 amd64 Packages}}
{{ 100 /var/lib/dpkg/status}}

Desired Behavior:

It should use /etc/puppetlabs/code as stated in documentation

Actual Behavior:

puppet@puppet:~$ puppet config print codedir
/opt/puppetlabs/server/data/puppetserver/.puppetlabs/etc/code

It uses /opt/puppetlabs/server/data/puppetserver/.puppetlabs/etc/code

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Josh Cooper (Jira)

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Feb 25, 2021, 1:49:02 AM2/25/21

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Josh Cooper updated an issue

Puppet /

codedir behaviour does not match documentation

Change By:	Josh Cooper
Component/s:	Docs

Josh Cooper (Jira)

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Feb 25, 2021, 1:55:03 AM2/25/21

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Josh Cooper commented on

I think the puppet user’s home directory is /opt/puppetlabs/server/data/puppetserver/ so when puppet expands ~ we get the strange result. That said I’m curious why you’re running the command as the puppet user? Usually that account is only used when running puppetserver, since we don’t want a root process listening for network connections.

Josh Cooper (Jira)

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Jun 3, 2021, 12:29:01 PM6/3/21

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Josh Cooper commented on

Jake Yip the documentation is actually correct. When running as non-root the directory will be ~/.puppetlabs/etc/code, and it just so happens that the puppet user's home directory is /opt/puppetlabs/server/data/puppetserver/. As I mentioned earlier, the puppet user/group is the account that puppetserver runs under (for security reasons). If you want to run puppet agent as a non-root user, you'll want to create a user/service account for that purpose.

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Jake Yip (Jira)

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Jun 3, 2021, 9:03:02 PM6/3/21

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Jake Yip commented on

Sorry I didn't get the first reply of the message, it's been a while since I opened this ticket so my memory may be hazy.

I think the confusion is in the first part of the message "When Puppet is running as root, as a Windows user with administrator privileges, or as the puppet user, it uses a system-wide codedir"

So I read it to be using a system-wide codedir /etc/puppetlabs/code, when

Puppet is running as root, or
Puppet is running as a Windows user with administrator privileges, or
Puppet is running as the puppet user

Josh Cooper (Jira)

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Jun 3, 2021, 9:51:02 PM6/3/21

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Josh Cooper commented on

Ah! yeah that's a bug in the docs, we need to drop `or as the puppet user`.

Claire Cadman (Jira)

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Jun 4, 2021, 5:46:02 AM6/4/21

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Claire Cadman commented on

Is this what you mean?

When Puppet is running as root or as a Windows user with administrator privileges, it uses a system-wide codedir — /etc/puppetlabs/code. When running as a non-root user, it uses a codedir in that user's home directory. If you are running as puppetserver, which runs as the puppet user, the home directory is /opt/puppetlabs/server/data/puppetserver/.