Install the apache module

Modules are self-contained, shareable bundles of code and data. Each module manages a specific task in your infrastructure, such as installing and configuring a piece of software. With Puppet Enterprise (PE), a lot of your infrastructure is supported by modules, so it is important to learn how to install, build, and use them. To practice working with modules, try installing the puppetlabs/apache module, which automates installing, configuring, and managing Apache services.

Before you begin
Install PE and at least one *nix agent node before installing the apache module.
Tip: You can write your own modules or download pre-built modules from the Forge. While you can use any module on the Forge, PE customers can take advantage of supported modules. These modules are designed to facilitate common services, and they are tested and maintained by Puppet.
  1. Go to the Apache module page on the Forge.
  2. Select r10k or Code Manager as the Installation Method, and follow the instructions to add the module declaration to your Puppetfile.

    By default, Code Manager installs the latest version and disables automatic updates; however, you can specify options to install a different version or keep the module current with the latest version. To automatically update the module when a new version is released, specify :latest (such as mod 'puppetlabs/apache', :latest). To install a specific version of the module and prevent automatic updates, specify the version number as a string (such as mod 'puppetlabs/apache', '5.4.0').

  3. Make sure your Puppetfile includes module declarations for the puppetlabs/stdlib and puppetlabs/concat modules, which are dependencies of the apache module. Dependencies for each module are listed on the Dependencies tab on the module’s Forge page, and you can specify the desired version in the same way you did for the primary module.
    For example, this code installs version 5.4.0 of the apache module, installs the module's dependencies, and prevents automatic updates (due to specified version numbers):
    mod 'puppetlabs/apache', '5.4.0'
mod 'puppetlabs/stdlib', '4.13.1'
mod 'puppetlabs/concat',  '2.2.1'
  4. SSH into your primary server and run puppet-code deploy --all to deploy code.
Results
You installed the apache module. Installing a module makes it available in PE so you can use it to manage nodes.
What to do next

After installing a module, you can run tasks included in the module from the PE console. The apache module contains a task that allows you to perform Apache service functions. To view or run the apache task in the PE console, go to the Run section, under Task, and enter apache in the Task field.

If the apache task doesn't appear, try refreshing the console in the browser. If it still does not appear, check that the puppetlabs/apache module is in your Puppetfile and try again.

To continue managing Apache configuration on *nix targets, Set up Apache node groups.