[Pkg-puppet-devel] Bug#781231: Bug#781231: err: Could not retrieve catalog from remote server: Error 400 on SERVER: Unsupported osfamily (Debian) or lsbdistid () at /usr/share/puppet/modules/apt/manifests/params.pp:39

[Stig Sandbeck Mathisen]

Russ Allbery <rra at debian.org> writes:

> So, I took another look at this, but I'm really not sure what we can
> do from a packaging perspective.  As you point out, there's no way to
> address this with a dependency in the Puppet module package, since
> lsb-release is required on the client, not the server.  I suppose we
> could raise the lsb-release dependency in puppet to a full
> dependency... maybe that would make sense?
>
> Stig, what do you think of making lsb-release a dependency of puppet
> instead of Recommends?  It's a little weird since Puppet itself
> doesn't require this, but I think it's generally true that just about
> any non-trivial Puppet policy ends up using the lsb facts, and
> lsb-release is a pretty small package (apart from the python3
> dependency, but I suspect that will be pulled in anyway on most
> systems by something).

One can either:

* Add lsb-release as a dependency, which pulls in python3 on all the
  nodes.

  On a test, in a clean debootstrapped docker image, installing "puppet"
  without recommended packages, apt reports 36.6 MB disk space use.
  Installing "lsb-release" after that is another 18 MB.

or:

* In puppet postinst, if lsb-release is not installed, add a file to
  /etc/facter/facts.d/things.yaml containing:

    ---
    lsbdistid: something

(or a .txt, json, .ini file, or an executable script) 

Which will make "facter lsbdistid" emit "something", and make that
module work.  That file will need care and feeding on upgrades, and
probably be removed if lsb-release is ever installed.  That solution
feels like a hack, and will complicate the dpkg pre/post scripts
forever.

I'd vote for adding lsb-release as a hard dependency, given that the
lsb* facts are so widely used by modules on the Puppet Forge.

-- 
Stig Sandbeck Mathisen
https://fnord.no/