puppet not signing cert or getting new requests

Question

I am not sure how to word the question, so here is the problem:

I have a brand new install of puppet-server and puppet using v2.6.16 and running on 2 nodes (puppet and puppet-agent, respectively) following the steps at http://docs.puppetlabs.com/guides/installation.html for a Linux box (CentOS).

On the puppet[-server] box, I issue puppetca -la and get back:

+ puppet (DB:50:1B:37:47:78:DA:F2:69:28:B7:E2:22:1B:C5:28) (alt names: DNS:puppet, DNS:puppet.abc.com)

(note that puppet-agent is not listed) ... also, no puppet instances are listed with puppet cert list

When signing the box with puppetca --sign puppet, I get:

err: Could not call sign: Could not find certificate request for puppet

Same with puppetca --sign puppet.abc.com

There is a puppet.pem in the private_keys and certs directory. The certificate_requests directory is empty. Auto-signing is off.

I'd be happy to supply any additional information and would appreciate any assistance.

The puppet.conf on both machines is as follows, sans comments:

[main]
  logdir = /var/log/puppet
  rundir = /var/run/puppet
  vardir = /var/lib/puppet
  factpath = $vardir/lib/facter
  ssldir = $vardir/ssl
  server = puppet.abc.com
  dns_alt_names = puppet, puppet.abc.com
  pluginsync = true

[agent]
  classfile = $vardir/classes.txt
  localconfig = $vardir/localconfig

[master]
  templatedir = var/lib/puppet/templates

EDIT DUE TO COMMENTS

• Master is running
• Agent can contact master via hostname
• Agent CANNOT telnet to 8140 on master -- master is listening on 0.0.0.0:8140 with iptables and selinux off
• May 14 13:40:13 puppet-agent puppet-agent[25920]: (/File[/var/lib/puppet/lib]) Failed to generate additional resources using 'eval_generate': SSL_connect returned=1 errno=0 state=SSLv3 read server certificate B: certificate verify failed May 14 13:40:13 puppet-agent puppet-agent[25920]: (/File[/var/lib/puppet/lib]) Could not evaluate: SSL_connect returned=1 errno=0 state=SSLv3 read server certificate B: certificate verify failed Could not retrieve file metadata for puppet://puppet.abc.com/plugins: SSL_connect returned=1 errno=0 state=SSLv3 read server certificate B: certificate verify failed May 14 13:40:14 puppet-agent puppet-agent[25920]: Could not retrieve catalog from remote server: SSL_connect returned=1 errno=0 state=SSLv3 read server certificate B: certificate verify failed
• puppet agent --test yields: dnsdomainname: Unknown host info: Retrieving plugin err: /File[/var/lib/puppet/lib]: Failed to generate additional resources using 'eval_generate': SSL_connect returned=1 errno=0 state=SSLv3 read server certificate B: certificate verify failed err: /File[/var/lib/puppet/lib]: Could not evaluate: SSL_connect returned=1 errno=0 state=SSLv3 read server certificate B: certificate verify failed Could not retrieve file metadata for puppet://puppet.abc.com/plugins: SSL_connect returned=1 errno=0 state=SSLv3 read server certificate B: certificate verify failed dnsdomainname: Unknown host err: Could not retrieve catalog from remote server: SSL_connect returned=1 errno=0 state=SSLv3 read server certificate B: certificate verify failed warning: Not using cache on failed catalog err: Could not retrieve catalog; skipping run May 14 13:40:14 puppet-agent puppet-agent[25920]: Using cached catalog
• netstat produces ruby/puppet in a LISTEN state and the agent in a TIME_WAIT

Solution

Any open signing requests should be listed in puppet cert list on the master. If they don't show up there, there's no use trying to sign them. Once signed, they disappear from the list and will only show up in puppet cert list --all.

It appears your master is not receiving signing requests from the agent, since your list is empty There is a number of things that could be wrong. Let's start with these:

• Is the master running?
• Does the hostname 'puppet' or 'puppet.abc.com' resolve from the agent?
• Is TCP port 8140 on the master reachable from the agent (try: telnet puppet 8140)?
• What does syslog on the agent say?
• Try puppet agent --test on the agent, which will attempt to connect to the master and stay in foreground to show the output.

Comments

[Atulmaharaj]

My advice, forget about the puppetca commands. That's old stuff and will just confuse the issue. Modern versions of Puppet, such as the one you're using, do everything via puppet subcommands, such as puppet cert. See puppet help for the list of available commands.

[Spechal]

Adjusted question with results of your comments. Thanks!

[Spechal]

Resolved the issue with troubleshooting steps above ... giving answer. Thanks!

[Satish]

puppet cert is highly depend on DNS (FQDN). So make sure you have proper DNS entry and PTR entry.