Separating data (Hiera)
Hiera is a built-in key-value configuration data lookup system, used for separating data from Puppet code.
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About Hiera
Puppet’s strength is in reusable code. Code that serves many needs must be configurable: put site-specific information in external configuration data files, rather than in the code itself. -
Getting started with Hiera
This page introduces the basic concepts and tasks to get you started with Hiera, including how to create a hiera.yaml config file and write data. It is the foundation for understanding the more advanced topics described in the rest of the Hiera documentation. -
Configuring Hiera
The Hiera configuration file is calledhiera.yaml
. It configures the hierarchy for a given layer of data. -
Creating and editing data
Important aspects of using Hiera are merge behavior and interpolation. -
Looking up data with Hiera
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Writing new data backends
You can extend Hiera to look up values in data sources, for example, a PostgreSQL database table, a custom web app, or a new kind of structured data file. -
Debugging Hiera
When debugging Hiera,puppet lookup
can help identify exactly what Hiera was doing when it raised an error, or how it decided to look up a key and where it got its value. -
Upgrading to Hiera 5
Upgrading to Hiera 5 offers some major advantages. A real environment data layer means changes to your hierarchy are now routine and testable, using multiple backends in your hierarchy is easier and you can make a custom backend.