Set the pxp-agent log level to trace in Puppet Enterprise 2019.8

To debug a Puppet orchestration issue on one or more nodes, increase the pxp-agent log level to trace. For example, you might want to do this when debugging a Continuous Delivery for Puppet Enterprise job hardware issue.

Version and installation information

PE version: All supported versions
Installation type: Any

Solution

The log level for pxp-agent can be changed either in Hiera or by using Hiera data in the console via the key puppet_enterprise::pxp_agent::pxp_loglevel.

By default the log level is set to info. When the log level is set to trace to debug issues, the amount of data logged increases dramatically. Increase the log level only on nodes where debugging is required and revert to info as soon as possible.

Set the log level in Hiera

1. Set the log level to trace by adding the following to the Hiera data file for each target node. You might have to create files.

   puppet_enterprise::pxp_agent::pxp_loglevel: trace

   The location of the Hiera data file for setting per-node data is in our documentation. If you’re using Code Manager, create or edit data files in your control repo using the path given in the documentation.

2. If you are using Code Manager, deploy code.

3. On the target nodes, run puppet agent -t.

To revert to info, remove the key that you added (puppet_enterprise::pxp_agent::pxp_loglevel: trace), and complete the rest of the steps above.

Set the log level in the console

1. In the console, click Node Groups, and click Add group. Specify the parent group as All Nodes, the group name as PXP Debugging, and then click Add.

2. Pin the nodes that need the log level increased to the PXP Debugging node group. On the Rules tab, in the pinned nodes section, enter the certname of each node, click Pin node, and then commit changes.

3. For the PXP Debugging node group, click Configuration data, in the class puppet_enterprise::pxp_agent set the pxp_loglevel parameter to the value trace using our documentation for setting configuration data.

4. On the target nodes, run puppet agent -t.

To revert to info, in the console, delete the PXP Debugging node group.