facter
system fact gathering tool for Puppet
TLDR
SYNOPSIS
facter [options] [fact...]
DESCRIPTION
facter collects and displays system facts - information about the operating system, hardware, network, and other system properties. It's a core component of Puppet, providing data for configuration management.
Facts include OS details, IP addresses, memory, processors, disk space, and more. Custom facts can be written in Ruby or as executable external facts.
PARAMETERS
--json
Output in JSON format.--yaml
Output in YAML format.--list
List all fact names.--timing
Show timing for each fact.--debug
Debug output.--no-custom-facts
Disable custom facts.--external-dir dir
Directory for external facts.--puppet
Load Puppet's settings.-p
Include Puppet facts.
CONFIGURATION
/etc/facter/facts.d/
Custom external facts directory for system-wide facts./opt/puppetlabs/facter/facts.d/
Puppet-specific custom facts directory.~/.facter/facts.d/
User-specific custom facts directory.
COMMON FACTS
facter os.release.full # OS version
facter networking.ip # IP address
facter memory.total # Total memory
facter processors.count # CPU count
facter virtual # Virtualization
CAVEATS
Some facts require root privileges. Custom facts may slow collection. Facts may differ between facter versions. Puppet-specific facts need --puppet flag.
HISTORY
Facter was created by Luke Kanies as part of the Puppet project at Puppet Labs (now Puppet) in the mid-2000s. Facter 3, a rewrite in C++ (later Ruby again), was released in 2015 for improved performance.
