Puppet Nodes.pp Include Modules Execution Order - provisioning

Question

I am trying to set a sequential order on some of my modules for certain nodes.
node basenode{
include ps
include netfx
include hg
include reportviewer2012
include wdeploy30
include sqlexpress2008
include windowsrolesfeatures
include tcbase
}
node 'myserver' inherits basenode {
include tcuiagent
Class['tcuiagent'] -> Class['tcbase'] -> Class['windowsrolesfeatures'] -> Class['ps']
}
Certainly I DON'T want to set dependencies within the module resources because that will make them interdependent which I don't want to do. In this case, I want to accomplish this order.
ps (first one)
windowsrolesfeatures
anyotherpackage {hg,netfx...}(dont care the order of provisioning)
n. tcbase
tcuigant(last one)

Answer 1

If you really don't want to express relationships between modules, you can use stages to enforce an order.
You must first declare the stages in your top manifest :
## Very important : we define stages.
## Can only be done here.
stage { 'first': } # the first of first
stage { 'apt': } # to install apt sources and run apt-get update if necessary
# stage main # default stage, always available
stage { 'last': } # a stage after all the others
# Now we define the order :
Stage[first] -> Stage[apt] -> Stage[main] -> Stage[last]
Then use them :
# basics needing a run state
# We use the "class" syntax here because we need to specify a run stage.
class
{
'puppeted': # debug
stage => first, # note the explicit stage !
;
'apt_powered': # Very important for managing apt sources
stage => apt, # note the explicit stage !
#offline => 'true', # uncomment this if you are offline or don't want updates
;
'apt_powered::upgraded': # will systematically upgrade paquets. dev machine -> we want to stay up to date
stage => apt, # note the explicit stage !
;
}
But this is ugly and this is not what stages are made for.

Answer 2

I would strongly suggest rewriting the modules so that the order they are installed is not important anymore or create the necessary relationships to the resources.
If you are installing/configuring related resources from different modules, you could consider merging those modules.
Ger.

Answer 3

I guess I solve it using a different approach with node inheritance.
node windowsmachine{
include ps #powershell
include windowsrolesfeatures #windows roles and features
include netfx #netframework 4.0 and 4.5
}
node teamcitybase inherits windowsmachine {
include hg #mercurial
include nuget #nuget configuration
include reportviewer2012
include wdeploy30 #web deployment 3.0
include tcbase #asp.net configuration
include sqlexpress2008 #sqlexpress
}
node 'myserver1','myserver2' inherits teamcitybase{
#pending installation of puppet clients
}
node 'myserver3' inherits teamcitybase {
include tcuiagent
}
Windows Machine configuration modules do not depend on each other but myserver1 with the sqlexpress2008 depends on that baseline.
No stages or Module dependency!!!!!

Answer 4

After releasing the same problem i came across the following post which work the best from all that i have found.
1 #####################
2 # 1) Define the stages
3 #####################
4
5 stage { 'prereqs':
6 before => Stage['main'],
7 }
8
9 stage { 'final':
10 require => Stage['main'],
11 }
12
13 #####################
14 # 2) Define the classes
15 #####################
16
17 # We don't care when this class is executed, it will
18 # be included at random in the main stage
19 class doThisWhenever1 {
20
21 }
22
23 # We don't care when this class is executed either, it will
24 # be included at random in the main stage
25 class doThisWhenever2 {
26
27 }
28
29 # We want this class to be executed before the
30 # main stage
31 class doThisFirst {
32
33 exec {'firstThingsFirst':
34 command => '/bin/echo firstThingsFirst',
35 }
36 }
37
38 # We want this class to be executed after the
39 # main stage
40 class doThisLast {
41
42 exec {'lastly':
43 command => '/bin/echo lastly',
44 }
45
46 }
47
48 #####################
49 # 3) Assign the classes
50 # to a stage
51 #####################
52
53 class { 'doThisFirst':
54 stage => prereqs,
55 }
56
57 class { 'doThisLast':
58 stage => final,
59 }
60
61
62 include doThisFirst
63 include doThisLast
http://pipe-devnull.com/2013/09/20/puppet-ensure-class-execution-ordering.html
Regards