PuppetConf 2017

Separating data from code is just as important as it has always been for creating reusable code that can be conveniently configured for different situations. This has been possible to do in Puppet for quite some time, using Hiera and automatic parameter lookup. The new release of Hiera 5, introduced late in the Puppet 4.x series, brings new capabilities for data management. Data is no longer just global — it can be defined in an environment and inside a module. Plus, data integration no longer requires special backends — the point of integration is now a function. There are also new ways to reference data files. And there's so much more in Hiera 5. This talk introduces all the features of Hiera 5 now available in Puppet 5, and shows how they can be used. Integrators who want to write their own backends will also learn how to do that.