2.5. Running the HTTP Server

After installing the httpd package, we start the service using another resource declaration: service.
Edit the httpd.pp manifest and add the highlighted lines: 
class mymodule::httpd {
  package { 'httpd':
    ensure => installed,
  }
  service { 'httpd':
    ensure => running,
    enable => true,
    require => Package["httpd"],
  }
}
This achieves a couple of things:
  • The ensure => running attribute checks if the service if running. If not, Puppet enables it.
  • The enable => true attribute sets the service to run when the system boots.
  • The require => Package["httpd"] attribute defines an ordering relationship between one resource declaration and another. In this case, it ensures the httpd service starts after the httpd package installs. This creates a dependency between the service and its respective package.
Run the puppet apply command again to test the changes to our module: 
# puppet apply mymodule/tests/init.pp --noop
Notice: Compiled catalog for puppet.example.com in environment production in 0.56 seconds
Notice: /Stage[main]/Mymodule::Httpd/Package[httpd]/ensure: current_value absent, should be present (noop)
Notice: /Stage[main]/Mymodule::Httpd/Service[httpd]/ensure: current_value stopped, should be running (noop)
Notice: Class[Mymodule::Httpd]: Would have triggered 'refresh' from 2 events
Notice: Stage[main]: Would have triggered 'refresh' from 1 events
Notice: Finished catalog run in 0.41 seconds
The highlighted line is the result of our new resource definition for the httpd service.