使用人偶从源代码构建

Question

How can I use puppet to build from source without using multiple Exec commands?. Do we have modules for it on forge that I could use?

Answer 1

It's possible to use Puppet to build applications from source without using execs, possibly with a custom written type and provider. Otherwise, yes, it'd have to be a few different exec resources with onlyif , creates etc. statements to stop them running every time the agent ran.

Puppet's model of configuration management is known as a desired state model: you define the end state of the system and let the system. This is why exec's are generally avoided in Puppet: they don't fit a desired state model. It also makes things like updating the application, or dealing with unknowns like a partial failure of the compilation that creates a required file.

In my opinion, I would not recommend using configuration management to build applications from source at all . There are a few issue inherent with doing so (this is not just for Puppet, but most config management languages):

• Slower runs, as running the compilation can be longer and detecting that it's complete is normally a slightly trickier tasks
• Issues with half complete state or failure: if the compilation breaks halfway through it's both harder to detect and resolve
• Making the compilation idempotent: You have to wrap the command in logic that detects if the installation has already been done. However, this is difficult, as things like the detection of a flag file or particular binary could occur even when the compilation ends in failure
• Upgrading or changing: There's no easy way to upgrade or change the application. A package would be easier to do this with.

This sounds like something that would be better served by packaging, using tools such as FPM or just native package building tools such as rpmbuild .