Enable puppet support/hooks in base image

[dcj]

What I want is the ability to run puppet on the main/base FreeNAS server.

I understand that even if I were able to do so, there would be limits to what I would be able to configure/change, but I believe I would be able to configure enough things to make this very useful.

Here are two potential approaches to doing this:

1. Include the puppet package(s) in the base system. The disadvantage to this approach is that puppet versions change pretty frequently, and the base image would be stuck at that version.
2. Include ruby (I'd want 1.9) and ruby-gems in the base image, with the ability for gem installs to work (have the gems stored somewhere in ZFS). This has the advantage that more recent versions of puppet/facter/hiera could be installed....

I have no idea if this is even feasible, and I am not holding my breath for this feature, but it sure would be nice.

My motivation would be that after installing a new FreeNAS box, I'd install/run puppet in order to configure a bunch of things the way I want (ZFS file sets, jails, etc). Having the ability to run puppet in the base image would enable me to do that in a way that was consistent with how other servers in my network are configured and managed.

FYI, I do understand that it is possible to install puppet inside jails, and I am doing so. I have even created a jail template based on the portjail template that adds puppet, so that subsequent jails created from that template have puppet there, and I can use puppet to configure/install things within the jail.

But, at present, the base FreeNAS system is currently impervious to puppet , and it would be nice if there were a way to enable this for those who want it.