puppet-apply

Apply Puppet manifests locally

TLDR

Apply a manifest

$ puppet apply [manifest.pp]

Dry run without making changes

$ puppet apply --noop [manifest.pp]

Apply with verbose output

$ puppet apply --verbose [manifest.pp]

Apply with full debug output

$ puppet apply --debug [manifest.pp]

Execute inline Puppet code

$ puppet apply -e "package { 'nginx': ensure => present }"

Apply with common testing options (verbose, detailed-exitcodes, show_diff)

$ puppet apply --test [manifest.pp]

Log output to a file

$ puppet apply --logdest [/var/log/puppet.log] [manifest.pp]

puppet apply executes Puppet manifests directly on the local system without requiring a Puppet server. It compiles and applies the specified manifest file, making it ideal for standalone configuration management, testing manifests during development, and bootstrapping systems before they join a Puppet infrastructure.The command accepts manifest files written in Puppet's declarative DSL or inline code via the -e flag. It supports --noop for dry-run previews of changes, --verbose and --debug for detailed execution output, and --modulepath for specifying where to find Puppet modules. Since it operates independently of a server, puppet apply is commonly used in container image builds, Vagrant provisioning, and one-off system configuration tasks.

PARAMETERS

MANIFEST

Puppet manifest file to compile and apply.

--noop

Dry run mode; shows what changes would be made without applying them.

-v, --verbose

Print extra information during execution.

-d, --debug

Enable full debugging output.

-e, --execute CODE

Execute a specific piece of Puppet code instead of a manifest file.

--test

Enable common testing options: verbose, detailed-exitcodes, and show_diff.

--detailed-exitcodes

Provide extra information via exit codes (0=no changes, 2=changes applied, 4=failures, 6=both).

-l, --logdest DEST

Where to send log messages (syslog, eventlog, console, or a file path). Defaults to console.

--catalog CATALOG

Apply a JSON catalog instead of compiling a manifest. Accepts a file path or stdin.

-L, --loadclasses

Load any stored classes from the classfile.

--modulepath PATH

Module search path for resolving classes and defined types.

CONFIGURATION

/etc/puppetlabs/puppet/puppet.conf

Configuration file controlling module paths, log level, environment settings, and other Puppet behavior for local apply runs.

/etc/puppetlabs/code/modules/

Default module path searched when resolving classes and defined types referenced in manifests.

CAVEATS

Requires Puppet installed. Operates without a Puppet server (masterless mode). Must be run as root to manage system resources.

HISTORY

puppet apply provides local Puppet manifest execution.