Puppet: Could not find resource 'File[/etc/auditbeat/auditbeat.yml]' in parameter 'require'

I'm using Puppet to replace Spacewalk Configuration Channels. I'm very new to puppet, and the class I'm writing should copy some files to the host system. I have this in my class:

class main_configurations {
  file { '/etc/auditbeat':
    ensure  => directory,
    path    => '/etc/auditbeat',
    require => File['/etc/auditbeat/auditbeat.yml'],
    source  => 'puppet:///modules/main_configurations/auditbeat/auditbeat.yml',
    recurse => true,
  }
}

But when I run puppet agent -t I get the following error:

Error: Could not retrieve catalog from remote server: Error 500 on SERVER: Server Error: Could not find resource 'File[/etc/auditbeat/auditbeat.yml]' in parameter 'require' (file: /etc/puppetlabs/code/environments/production/modules/main_configurations/manifests/init.pp, line: 8) on node <servername>

For completeness, this is the folder structure on my puppet server:

/etc/puppetlabs/code/environments/production/modules/main_configurations/files/auditbeat
/etc/puppetlabs/code/environments/production/modules/main_configurations/files/auditbeat/auditbeat.yml
/etc/puppetlabs/code/environments/production/modules/main_configurations/files/auditbeat/audit.rules.d
/etc/puppetlabs/code/environments/production/modules/main_configurations/files/auditbeat/audit.rules.d/auditbeat-rules.conf

Solution

But when I run puppet agent -t I get the following error:

Error: Could not retrieve catalog from remote server: Error 500 on SERVER: Server Error: Could not find resource 'File[/etc/auditbeat/auditbeat.yml]' in parameter 'require' (file: /etc/puppetlabs/code/environments/production/modules/main_configurations/manifests/init.pp, line: 8) on node

As @MattSchuchard explained in comments, that means exactly what it says: you have a require parameter that refers to resource File[/etc/auditbeat/auditbeat.yml], but that (Puppet) resource is not declared in any of the manifest files that were processed. This constitutes an inconsistency in your manifest set. It has nothing to do with which files are available for installation from your module or which are already present on the target, nor about what Puppet might do when given a manifest set free of such inconsistencies.

Considering the declaration that is presented:

  file { '/etc/auditbeat':
    ensure  => directory,
    path    => '/etc/auditbeat',
    require => File['/etc/auditbeat/auditbeat.yml'],
    source  => 'puppet:///modules/main_configurations/auditbeat/auditbeat.yml',
    recurse => true,
  }

I'm inclined to think that you misunderstand at least what the require metaparameter means. It is one of several that speak to the relative order in which various resources are applied. It says that application of the resource being declared requires the specified other resources to have successfully been applied before. That's surely not what you intend here.

Moreover, a resource reference such as you are assigning to that parameter does not serve as a resource declaration. It does not contain enough information to do so. As the name suggests, it is a reference to a resource declared elsewhere.

It looks like you are trying to manage a subdirectory tree rooted at /etc/auditbeat to match a tree in your module. In that case, you probably want something more like this:

  file { '/etc/auditbeat':
    # no path required if it is already given by the resource title
    ensure  => 'directory',
    source  => 'puppet:///modules/main_configurations/auditbeat',
    recurse => true,
  }

Mainly, that drops the require parameter.

Note that that combination will also enable purging for the destination subtree, so that unmanaged non-directories anywhere within are removed. If you don't want that then use recurse => 'remote' instead.

There is a variety of other attributes that you might want to add, mostly to do with ownership and mode for the installed files. If you just want to copy some or all of that from the files on the server then you will want to add source_permissions => 'use'. Alternatively, there are attributes for explicitly specifying ownership and mode in your manifest.