Troubleshooting puppet infrastructure run commands

If puppet infrastructure run commands fail, review the logs at /var/log/puppetlabs/installer/bolt_info.log and check for these issues.

Running commands when logged in as a non-root user

All puppet infrastructure run commands require you to act as the root user on all nodes that the command touches. If you are trying to run a puppet infrastructure run command as a non-root user, you must be able to SSH into the impacted nodes (as the same non-root user) in order for the command to succeed.

When you run a puppet infrastructure run command, Bolt uses your system's existing OpenSSH ssh_config configuration file to connect to your nodes. If this file is missing or misconfigured, Bolt tries to connect as root. To make sure the correct user connects to the nodes, you have the following options:
  • Set up your OpenSSH ssh_config configuration file to point to a user with sudo privileges. For example:
    Host *.example.net
  UserKnownHostsFile=~/.ssh/known_hosts
  User <USER_WITH_SUDO_PRIVILEGES>
  • When running a puppet infrastructure run command, include the --user <USER_WITH_SUDO_PRIVILEGES> flag.
If your sudo configuration requires a password to run commands, include the --sudo-password <PASSWORD> flag when running a puppet infrastructure run command.
Tip: To avoid logging the password to .bash_history, set HISTCONTROL=ignorespace in your .bashrc file, and add a space to the beginning of the command.
If your operating system distribution includes the requiretty option in the /etc/sudoers file, you must do one of the following:
  • Remove this option from the file.
  • Include the --tty flag when running a puppet infrastructure run command.

Passing hashes from the command line

When passing a hash on the command line as part of a puppet infrastructure run command, the hash must be wrapped in quotes, much like a JSON object. For example:
'{"parameter_one": "value_one", “parameter_two”: “value_two”}'