How text-mode installation works

When you run the Puppet Enterprise installer in text mode, you pass a configuration file (pe.conf), which contains values for the parameters needed to install PE, to the installer.

Text-mode installation requires you to run the installer with a pe.conf file on each node on which you are installing a PE component. In other words, for a monolithic installation, you run the installer with pe.conf on one node, but for a split installation, you run the installer with pe.conf on three nodes.

• Monolithic text-mode installation instructions
• Split text-mode installation instructions

Before beginning an installation, review, choosing a PE architecture.

The pe.conf file

A pe.conf file is a HOCON formatted file that declares parameters and values needed to install and configure PE. For example, for a monolithic installation, you only need two key/value pairs:

"console_admin_password": "puppet"
"puppet_enterprise::puppet_master_host": "%{::trusted.certname}"

See the pe.conf parameter reference for more details about setting parameters in pe.conf and for a complete list of mandatory and optional parameters.

Obtaining a pe.conf file

You have a few options for creating or obtaining a pe.conf file to use during installations.

• Use the example pe.conf file provided in the conf.d directory in the PE installer tarball.

  Tip: In most cases, for a monolithic installation, you can use the example pe.conf file without making any changes.

• When prompted by the installer, select the text-mode installation option. This opens your default editor with the example pe.conf file, which you can edit. Installation will proceed using that pe.conf after you quit the editor.
• Use the web-based installer to create a pe.conf file. After you run the web-based installer, you can find the file at /etc/puppetlabs/enterprise/conf.d. You can also download the file by following the link provided on the confirmation page of the web-based installer.

For a complete list of mandatory and optional parameters, see the pe.conf parameter reference.