Start adding classes

In this section, you use the console to add a class to your Puppet agent. Classes are named chunks of Puppet code that are stored in modules. The class you assign in this exercise is derived from the module you installed previously.

The Puppet wsus_client module contains a class called wsus_client. In this exercise, you use the wsus_client class to supply the types and providers necessary to schedule updates using a WSUS server with Puppet.

To prepare the class, you create a group called windows_example and add the wsus_client class to it.

Note: The process for adding classes to agent nodes in the console is the same on both Windows and *nix operating systems.

Step 1: Create the windows_example group

To classify a node is to add classification data (classes, parameters, and variables) for the node group to the node.

Before you begin

These instructions assume you have installed PE, at least one Windows agent node, and the puppetlabs-wsus_client module.

  1. In the console, click Classification, and click Add group.
  2. In the Group name field, name your group, for example, windows_example, and click Add.
  3. Click Add membership rules, classes, and variables.
  4. On the Rules tab, in the Certname field, enter the name of the managed node you want to add to this group, and click Pin node.
    Repeat this step for any additional nodes you want to add.
    Note: Pinning a node adds the node to the group regardless of any rules specified for a node group. A pinned node remains in the node group until you manually remove it. Adding nodes dynamically describes how to use rules to add nodes to a node group.
  5. Commit your changes.

Step 2: Add the wsus_client class to the example group

Adding the class to the group and then running Puppet configures the group to use that class.

  1. In the console, click Classification, and find and select the windows_example group.
  2. On the Configuration tab, in the Add new class field, select wsus_client.

    If wsus_client doesn't appear in the list, you might have to click Refresh.

  3. Click Add class, and commit changes.

    The wsus_client class now appears in the list of classes for your agent node.

  4. Puppet runs, which configures the windows_ example group using the newly-assigned class. Wait one or two minutes.