Jira (PUP-10214) Unexpected results on "replace => false" on symlinks

[Corey Hickey (JIRA)]

Title: Message Title

Corey Hickey created an issue   Puppet / PUP-10214 Unexpected results on "replace => false" on symlinks Issue Type: Bug Affects Versions: PUP 5.5.17 Assignee: Unassigned Components: Catalog Application Created: 2020/01/02 4:17 PM Priority: Normal Reporter: Corey Hickey Puppet Version: 5.5.17-1.el7 Puppet Server Version:5.3.10-1.el7 OS Name/Version: Centos 7 This is a copy of an old redmine ticket that was never resolved: https://projects.puppetlabs.com/issues/4872 To summarize, if puppet contains a declaration: file { '/foo': ensure => 'link', target => '/bar' replace => false, } ...and '/foo' already exists as a dangling symlink (pointing to a file that does not exist), then puppet will change the symlink to point back to '/bar'. Desired Behavior: Puppet should respect replace => false and not replace the symlink. Actual Behavior: As described above, puppet replaces the symlink.   I looked at the code and I think the current behavior is the same in master, though I don't have the means to test it myself. These parts seem relevant: lib/puppet/type/file/target.rb def insync?(currentvalue) if [:nochange, :notlink].include?(self.should) or @resource.recurse? return true elsif ! @resource.replace? and Puppet::FileSystem.exist?(@resource[:path]) return true else lib/puppet/file_system.rb # Determines if a file exists by verifying that the file can be stat'd. # Will follow symlinks and verify that the actual target path exists. # # @return [Boolean] true if the named file exists. # # @api public # def self.exist?(path) @impl.exist?(assert_path(path)) end I think that for this functionality, the file resource code should instead use a function that does not follow symlinks. Puppet is managing the file, not the target.   Thanks, Corey Add Comment   This message was sent by Atlassian JIRA (v7.7.1#77002-sha1:e75ca93) -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Puppet Bugs" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to puppet-bugs+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/puppet-bugs/JIRA.340916.1578010636000.11442.1578010680135%40Atlassian.JIRA.