Testing Puppet node definitions

Sometimes Puppet node definitions get a little hairy. Here is a quick trick I use to validate them manually. This is inspired by this review.

Given a regex node definition create a test file called node.pp:

node /^git(-frontend\d+)?\.openstack\.org$/ { 
  notify { 'match': }
} 

 Then, using the --certname="testnode" syntax to puppet apply, do some quick spot testing to see what happens.

$: puppet apply nodedef.pp 
Error: Could not find default node or by name with 'maxwell.pdx.edu, maxwell.pdx, maxwell' on node maxwell.pdx.edu
Error: Could not find default node or by name with 'maxwell.pdx.edu, maxwell.pdx, maxwell' on node maxwell.pdx.edu
$: puppet apply --certname='git.openstack.org' nodedef.pp  
Notice: Compiled catalog for git.openstack.org in environment production in 0.02 seconds
Notice: match
Notice: /Stage[main]/Main/Node[git-frontendd.openstack.org]/Notify[match]/message: defined 'message' as 'match'
Notice: Finished catalog run in 0.03 seconds
$: puppet apply --certname='git48.openstack.org' nodedef.pp  
Error: Could not find default node or by name with 'git48.openstack.org, git48.openstack, git48, maxwell.pdx.edu, maxwell.pdx, maxwell' on node git48.openstack.org
Error: Could not find default node or by name with 'git48.openstack.org, git48.openstack, git48, maxwell.pdx.edu, maxwell.pdx, maxwell' on node git48.openstack.org
$: puppet apply --certname='git-frontend01.openstack.org' nodedef.pp  
Notice: Compiled catalog for git-frontend01.openstack.org in environment production in 0.02 seconds
Notice: match
Notice: /Stage[main]/Main/Node[git-frontendd.openstack.org]/Notify[match]/message: defined 'message' as 'match'
Notice: Finished catalog run in 0.03 seconds 

This gives us the confidence to push this node definition to production without worrying about affecting existing git servers.