Default package_ensure value is not compatible with current stdlib default for ensure_packages()

[varesa]

Affected Puppet, Ruby, OS and module versions/distributions

• Puppet: puppetserver-7.9.2-1.el7.noarch, puppet-agent-7.20.0-1.el7.x86_64
• Ruby: ruby-2.0.0.648-39.el7_9.x86_64
• Distribution: CentOS Linux release 7.9.2009 (Core)
• Module version: first encountered with puppet/nginx 1.1.0 + puppetlabs/stdlib 8.5.0,
  Also tested with latest versions in git, as of 2022-11-30: https://github.com/voxpupuli/puppet-nginx/tree/09562ecbbba3ea1e9cc27a5a6989363575d8b789 + https://github.com/puppetlabs/puppetlabs-stdlib/tree/e1977c552f8c013f0f3928c246a8e348952dc844

How to reproduce (e.g Puppet code you use)

include nginx
ensure_packages(['nginx'])

Note: while the above snippet alone doesn't make much sense to use, it's a reduction of a much more complex setup, where one type of call is used by one module and the other used by some other module.

What are you seeing

Error: Evaluation Error: Error while evaluating a Function Call, Duplicate declaration: Package[nginx] is already declared at (file: /home/varesa/test-modules/nginx/manifests/package/redhat.pp, line: 106); cannot redeclare (file: /home/varesa/test.pp, line: 2) (file: /home/varesa/test.pp, line: 2, column: 1) on node test-node

What behaviour did you expect instead

ensure_packages() does not fail.

Output log

Any additional information you'd like to impart

This is something that used to work, but the stdlib defaults changed somewhere between 7.1.0 and 8.5.0 from { 'ensure' => 'present' } to { 'ensure' => 'installed' }. This means that the default of $package_ensure = present does not deduplicate with ensure_packages() and causes a conflicting resource declaration.

While I believe this would also be a breaking change for the nginx-module for the very same reason, maybe in some future major release it'd be a good idea to align with the current stdlib default, causing less friction when used with ensure_packages()?

Of course, as of now, there is the workaround of either overriding the ensure-parameter, either in the nginx class declaration, or the ensure_packages call. Assuming that at least one of these is not inside some third party / vendor module.

[kenyon]

Reference: puppetlabs/puppetlabs-stdlib#1196

[kenyon]

Yes, we should change the defaults to installed:

• puppet-nginx/manifests/init.pp

  Line 196 in 041e68a

  $package_ensure = present,

• puppet-nginx/manifests/init.pp

  Line 204 in 041e68a

  $passenger_package_ensure = 'present',

[kenyon]

Made #1523 for this.