diff --git a/lib/puppet/settings.rb b/lib/puppet/settings.rb
index 9a6a454ed..38dbf1d73 100644
--- a/lib/puppet/settings.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/settings.rb
@@ -1,1269 +1,1271 @@
 require 'puppet'
 require 'sync'
 require 'getoptlong'
 require 'puppet/util/loadedfile'
 require 'puppet/util/command_line/puppet_option_parser'
 require 'puppet/settings/errors'
 require 'puppet/settings/string_setting'
 require 'puppet/settings/file_setting'
 require 'puppet/settings/directory_setting'
 require 'puppet/settings/path_setting'
 require 'puppet/settings/boolean_setting'
 require 'puppet/settings/terminus_setting'
 require 'puppet/settings/duration_setting'
 
 # The class for handling configuration files.
 class Puppet::Settings
   include Enumerable
 
   # local reference for convenience
   PuppetOptionParser = Puppet::Util::CommandLine::PuppetOptionParser
 
   attr_accessor :files
   attr_reader :timer
 
   # These are the settings that every app is required to specify; there are reasonable defaults defined in application.rb.
   REQUIRED_APP_SETTINGS = [:logdir, :confdir, :vardir]
 
   # This method is intended for puppet internal use only; it is a convenience method that
   # returns reasonable application default settings values for a given run_mode.
   def self.app_defaults_for_run_mode(run_mode)
     {
         :name     => run_mode.to_s,
         :run_mode => run_mode.name,
         :confdir  => run_mode.conf_dir,
         :vardir   => run_mode.var_dir,
         :rundir   => run_mode.run_dir,
         :logdir   => run_mode.log_dir,
     }
   end
 
   def self.default_certname()
     hostname = hostname_fact
     domain = domain_fact
     if domain and domain != ""
       fqdn = [hostname, domain].join(".")
     else
       fqdn = hostname
     end
     fqdn.gsub(/\.$/, '')
   end
 
   def self.hostname_fact()
     Facter["hostname"].value
   end
 
   def self.domain_fact()
     Facter["domain"].value
   end
 
   def self.default_config_file_name
     "puppet.conf"
   end
 
   # Retrieve a config value
   def [](param)
     value(param)
   end
 
   # Set a config value.  This doesn't set the defaults, it sets the value itself.
   def []=(param, value)
     set_value(param, value, :memory)
   end
 
   # Generate the list of valid arguments, in a format that GetoptLong can
   # understand, and add them to the passed option list.
   def addargs(options)
     # Add all of the config parameters as valid options.
     self.each { |name, setting|
       setting.getopt_args.each { |args| options << args }
     }
 
     options
   end
 
   # Generate the list of valid arguments, in a format that OptionParser can
   # understand, and add them to the passed option list.
   def optparse_addargs(options)
     # Add all of the config parameters as valid options.
     self.each { |name, setting|
       options << setting.optparse_args
     }
 
     options
   end
 
   # Is our parameter a boolean parameter?
   def boolean?(param)
     param = param.to_sym
     @config.include?(param) and @config[param].kind_of?(BooleanSetting)
   end
 
   # Remove all set values, potentially skipping cli values.
   def clear
     @sync.synchronize do
       unsafe_clear
     end
   end
 
   # Remove all set values, potentially skipping cli values.
   def unsafe_clear(clear_cli = true, clear_application_defaults = false)
     @values.each do |name, values|
       next if ((name == :application_defaults) and !clear_application_defaults)
       next if ((name == :cli) and !clear_cli)
       @values.delete(name)
     end
 
     # Only clear the 'used' values if we were explicitly asked to clear out
     #  :cli values; otherwise, it may be just a config file reparse,
     #  and we want to retain this cli values.
     @used = [] if clear_cli
 
     @app_defaults_initialized = false if clear_application_defaults
 
     @cache.clear
   end
   private :unsafe_clear
 
   # This is mostly just used for testing.
   def clearused
     @cache.clear
     @used = []
   end
 
   def global_defaults_initialized?()
     @global_defaults_initialized
   end
 
   def initialize_global_settings(args = [])
     raise Puppet::DevError, "Attempting to initialize global default settings more than once!" if global_defaults_initialized?
 
     # The first two phases of the lifecycle of a puppet application are:
     # 1) Parse the command line options and handle any of them that are
     #    registered, defined "global" puppet settings (mostly from defaults.rb).
     # 2) Parse the puppet config file(s).
 
     parse_global_options(args)
     parse_config_files
 
     @global_defaults_initialized = true
   end
 
   # This method is called during application bootstrapping.  It is responsible for parsing all of the
   # command line options and initializing the settings accordingly.
   #
   # It will ignore options that are not defined in the global puppet settings list, because they may
   # be valid options for the specific application that we are about to launch... however, at this point
   # in the bootstrapping lifecycle, we don't yet know what that application is.
   def parse_global_options(args)
     # Create an option parser
     option_parser = PuppetOptionParser.new
     option_parser.ignore_invalid_options = true
 
     # Add all global options to it.
     self.optparse_addargs([]).each do |option|
       option_parser.on(*option) do |arg|
         opt, val = Puppet::Settings.clean_opt(option[0], arg)
         handlearg(opt, val)
       end
     end
 
     option_parser.on('--run_mode',
                      "The effective 'run mode' of the application: master, agent, or user.",
                      :REQUIRED) do |arg|
       Puppet.settings.preferred_run_mode = arg
     end
 
     option_parser.parse(args)
 
     # remove run_mode options from the arguments so that later parses don't think
     # it is an unknown option.
     while option_index = args.index('--run_mode') do
       args.delete_at option_index
       args.delete_at option_index
     end
     args.reject! { |arg| arg.start_with? '--run_mode=' }
   end
   private :parse_global_options
 
   # A utility method (public, is used by application.rb and perhaps elsewhere) that munges a command-line
   # option string into the format that Puppet.settings expects.  (This mostly has to deal with handling the
   # "no-" prefix on flag/boolean options).
   #
   # @param [String] opt the command line option that we are munging
   # @param [String, TrueClass, FalseClass] the value for the setting (as determined by the OptionParser)
   def self.clean_opt(opt, val)
     # rewrite --[no-]option to --no-option if that's what was given
     if opt =~ /\[no-\]/ and !val
       opt = opt.gsub(/\[no-\]/,'no-')
     end
     # otherwise remove the [no-] prefix to not confuse everybody
     opt = opt.gsub(/\[no-\]/, '')
     [opt, val]
   end
 
 
   def app_defaults_initialized?
     @app_defaults_initialized
   end
 
   def initialize_app_defaults(app_defaults)
     raise Puppet::DevError, "Attempting to initialize application default settings more than once!" if app_defaults_initialized?
     REQUIRED_APP_SETTINGS.each do |key|
       raise SettingsError, "missing required app default setting '#{key}'" unless app_defaults.has_key?(key)
     end
 
     app_defaults.each do |key, value|
       if key == :run_mode
         self.preferred_run_mode = value
       else
         set_value(key, value, :application_defaults)
       end
     end
     call_hooks_deferred_to_application_initialization
 
     @app_defaults_initialized = true
   end
 
   def call_hooks_deferred_to_application_initialization(options = {})
     @hooks_to_call_on_application_initialization.each do |setting|
       begin
         setting.handle(self.value(setting.name))
       rescue InterpolationError => err
         raise err unless options[:ignore_interpolation_dependency_errors]
         #swallow. We're not concerned if we can't call hooks because dependencies don't exist yet
         #we'll get another chance after application defaults are initialized
       end
     end
   end
   private :call_hooks_deferred_to_application_initialization
 
   # Do variable interpolation on the value.
   def convert(value, environment = nil)
     return nil if value.nil?
     return value unless value.is_a? String
     newval = value.gsub(/\$(\w+)|\$\{(\w+)\}/) do |value|
       varname = $2 || $1
       if varname == "environment" and environment
         environment
       elsif varname == "run_mode"
         preferred_run_mode
       elsif pval = self.value(varname, environment)
         pval
       else
         raise InterpolationError, "Could not find value for #{value}"
       end
     end
 
     newval
   end
 
   # Return a value's description.
   def description(name)
     if obj = @config[name.to_sym]
       obj.desc
     else
       nil
     end
   end
 
   def each
     @config.each { |name, object|
       yield name, object
     }
   end
 
   # Iterate over each section name.
   def eachsection
     yielded = []
     @config.each do |name, object|
       section = object.section
       unless yielded.include? section
         yield section
         yielded << section
       end
     end
   end
 
   # Return an object by name.
   def setting(param)
     param = param.to_sym
     @config[param]
   end
 
   # Handle a command-line argument.
   def handlearg(opt, value = nil)
     @cache.clear
 
     if value.is_a?(FalseClass)
       value = "false"
     elsif value.is_a?(TrueClass)
       value = "true"
     end
 
     value &&= munge_value(value)
     str = opt.sub(/^--/,'')
 
     bool = true
     newstr = str.sub(/^no-/, '')
     if newstr != str
       str = newstr
       bool = false
     end
     str = str.intern
 
     if @config[str].is_a?(Puppet::Settings::BooleanSetting)
       if value == "" or value.nil?
         value = bool
       end
     end
 
     set_value(str, value, :cli)
   end
 
   def include?(name)
     name = name.intern if name.is_a? String
     @config.include?(name)
   end
 
   # check to see if a short name is already defined
   def shortinclude?(short)
     short = short.intern if name.is_a? String
     @shortnames.include?(short)
   end
 
   # Create a new collection of config settings.
   def initialize
     @config = {}
     @shortnames = {}
 
     @created = []
     @searchpath = nil
 
     # Mutex-like thing to protect @values
     @sync = Sync.new
 
     # Keep track of set values.
     @values = Hash.new { |hash, key| hash[key] = {} }
 
     # And keep a per-environment cache
     @cache = Hash.new { |hash, key| hash[key] = {} }
 
     # The list of sections we've used.
     @used = []
 
     @hooks_to_call_on_application_initialization = []
   end
 
   # Prints the contents of a config file with the available config settings, or it
   # prints a single value of a config setting.
   def print_config_options
     env = value(:environment)
     val = value(:configprint)
     if val == "all"
       hash = {}
       each do |name, obj|
         val = value(name,env)
         val = val.inspect if val == ""
         hash[name] = val
       end
       hash.sort { |a,b| a[0].to_s <=> b[0].to_s }.each do |name, val|
         puts "#{name} = #{val}"
       end
     else
       val.split(/\s*,\s*/).sort.each do |v|
         if include?(v)
           #if there is only one value, just print it for back compatibility
           if v == val
             puts value(val,env)
             break
           end
           puts "#{v} = #{value(v,env)}"
         else
           puts "invalid parameter: #{v}"
           return false
         end
       end
     end
     true
   end
 
   def generate_config
     puts to_config
     true
   end
 
   def generate_manifest
     puts to_manifest
     true
   end
 
   def print_configs
     return print_config_options if value(:configprint) != ""
     return generate_config if value(:genconfig)
     generate_manifest if value(:genmanifest)
   end
 
   def print_configs?
     (value(:configprint) != "" || value(:genconfig) || value(:genmanifest)) && true
   end
 
   # Return a given object's file metadata.
   def metadata(param)
     if obj = @config[param.to_sym] and obj.is_a?(FileSetting)
       return [:owner, :group, :mode].inject({}) do |meta, p|
         if v = obj.send(p)
           meta[p] = v
         end
         meta
       end
     else
       nil
     end
   end
 
   # Make a directory with the appropriate user, group, and mode
   def mkdir(default)
     obj = get_config_file_default(default)
 
     Puppet::Util::SUIDManager.asuser(obj.owner, obj.group) do
       mode = obj.mode || 0750
       Dir.mkdir(obj.value, mode)
     end
   end
 
   # The currently configured run mode that is preferred for constructing the application configuration.
   def preferred_run_mode
     @preferred_run_mode_name || :user
   end
 
   # PRIVATE!  This only exists because we need a hook to validate the run mode when it's being set, and
   #  it should never, ever, ever, ever be called from outside of this file.
   # This method is also called when --run_mode MODE is used on the command line to set the default
   #
   # @param mode [String|Symbol] the name of the mode to have in effect
   # @api private
   def preferred_run_mode=(mode)
     mode = mode.to_s.downcase.intern
     raise ValidationError, "Invalid run mode '#{mode}'" unless [:master, :agent, :user].include?(mode)
     @preferred_run_mode_name = mode
   end
 
   # Return all of the parameters associated with a given section.
   def params(section = nil)
     if section
       section = section.intern if section.is_a? String
       @config.find_all { |name, obj|
         obj.section == section
       }.collect { |name, obj|
         name
       }
     else
       @config.keys
     end
   end
 
   # Parse the configuration file.  Just provides thread safety.
   def parse_config_files
     # we are able to support multiple config files; the "main" config file will
     # be the one located in /etc/puppet (or overridden $confdir)... but we can
     # also look for a config file in the user's home directory.  We only load
     # one configuration file in order to present a simple and consistent
     # configuration model to the end user.  It should also be noted we decided
     # to merge in the user puppet.conf with the system puppet.conf for a time
     # (e.g. load two configuration files) as a small part of #7749 but then
     # decided to reverse this decision in #15337 to return to a disjoint
     # configuration file model.
     config_files = [which_configuration_file]
 
     @sync.synchronize do
       unsafe_parse(config_files)
     end
 
     call_hooks_deferred_to_application_initialization :ignore_interpolation_dependency_errors => true
   end
   private :parse_config_files
 
   def main_config_file
     if explicit_config_file?
       return self[:config]
     else
       return File.join(Puppet::Util::RunMode[:master].conf_dir, config_file_name)
     end
   end
   private :main_config_file
 
   def user_config_file
     return File.join(Puppet::Util::RunMode[:user].conf_dir, config_file_name)
   end
   private :user_config_file
 
   # This method is here to get around some life-cycle issues.  We need to be
   # able to determine the config file name before the settings / defaults are
   # fully loaded.  However, we also need to respect any overrides of this value
   # that the user may have specified on the command line.
   #
   # The easiest way to do this is to attempt to read the setting, and if we
   # catch an error (meaning that it hasn't been set yet), we'll fall back to
   # the default value.
   def config_file_name
     begin
       return self[:config_file_name] if self[:config_file_name]
     rescue SettingsError => err
       # This just means that the setting wasn't explicitly set on the command line, so we will ignore it and
       #  fall through to the default name.
     end
     return self.class.default_config_file_name
   end
   private :config_file_name
 
   # Unsafely parse the file -- this isn't thread-safe and causes plenty of problems if used directly.
   def unsafe_parse(files)
     raise Puppet::DevError unless files.length > 0
 
     # build up a single data structure that contains the values from all of the parsed files.
     data = {}
     files.each do |file|
       next unless FileTest.exist?(file)
       begin
         file_data = parse_file(file)
 
         # This is a little kludgy; basically we are merging a hash of hashes.  We can't use "merge" at the
         # outermost level or we risking losing data from the hash we're merging into.
         file_data.keys.each do |key|
           if data.has_key?(key)
             data[key].merge!(file_data[key])
           else
             data[key] = file_data[key]
           end
         end
 
       rescue => detail
         Puppet.log_exception(detail, "Could not parse #{file}: #{detail}")
         return
       end
     end
 
     # If we get here and don't have any data, we just return and don't muck with the current state of the world.
     return if data.empty?
 
     # If we get here then we have some data, so we need to clear out any previous settings that may have come from
     #  config files.
     unsafe_clear(false, false)
 
     # And now we can repopulate with the values from our last parsing of the config files.
     metas = {}
     data.each do |area, values|
       metas[area] = values.delete(:_meta)
       values.each do |key,value|
         set_value(key, value, area, :dont_trigger_handles => true, :ignore_bad_settings => true )
       end
     end
 
     # Determine our environment, if we have one.
     if @config[:environment]
       env = self.value(:environment).to_sym
     else
       env = "none"
     end
 
     # Call any hooks we should be calling.
     settings_with_hooks.each do |setting|
       each_source(env) do |source|
         if value = @values[source][setting.name]
           # We still have to use value to retrieve the value, since
           # we want the fully interpolated value, not $vardir/lib or whatever.
           # This results in extra work, but so few of the settings
           # will have associated hooks that it ends up being less work this
           # way overall.
           setting.handle(self.value(setting.name, env))
           break
         end
       end
     end
 
     # We have to do it in the reverse of the search path,
     # because multiple sections could set the same value
     # and I'm too lazy to only set the metadata once.
     searchpath.reverse.each do |source|
       source = preferred_run_mode if source == :run_mode
       source = @name if (@name && source == :name)
       if meta = metas[source]
         set_metadata(meta)
       end
     end
   end
   private :unsafe_parse
 
 
   # Create a new setting.  The value is passed in because it's used to determine
   # what kind of setting we're creating, but the value itself might be either
   # a default or a value, so we can't actually assign it.
   #
   # See #define_settings for documentation on the legal values for the ":type" option.
   def newsetting(hash)
     klass = nil
     hash[:section] = hash[:section].to_sym if hash[:section]
 
     if type = hash[:type]
       unless klass = {
           :string     => StringSetting,
           :file       => FileSetting,
           :directory  => DirectorySetting,
           :path       => PathSetting,
           :boolean    => BooleanSetting,
           :terminus   => TerminusSetting,
           :duration   => DurationSetting,
       } [type]
         raise ArgumentError, "Invalid setting type '#{type}'"
       end
       hash.delete(:type)
     else
       # The only implicit typing we still do for settings is to fall back to "String" type if they didn't explicitly
       # specify a type.  Personally I'd like to get rid of this too, and make the "type" option mandatory... but
       # there was a little resistance to taking things quite that far for now.  --cprice 2012-03-19
       klass = StringSetting
     end
     hash[:settings] = self
     setting = klass.new(hash)
 
     setting
   end
 
   # This has to be private, because it doesn't add the settings to @config
   private :newsetting
 
   # Iterate across all of the objects in a given section.
   def persection(section)
     section = section.to_sym
     self.each { |name, obj|
       if obj.section == section
         yield obj
       end
     }
   end
 
   # Reparse our config file, if necessary.
   def reparse_config_files
     if files
       if filename = any_files_changed?
         Puppet.notice "Config file #{filename} changed; triggering re-parse of all config files."
         parse_config_files
         reuse
       end
     end
   end
 
   def files
     return @files if @files
     @files = []
     [main_config_file, user_config_file].each do |path|
       if FileTest.exist?(path)
         @files << Puppet::Util::LoadedFile.new(path)
       end
     end
     @files
   end
   private :files
 
   # Checks to see if any of the config files have been modified
   # @return the filename of the first file that is found to have changed, or nil if no files have changed
   def any_files_changed?
     files.each do |file|
       return file.file if file.changed?
     end
     nil
   end
   private :any_files_changed?
 
   def reuse
     return unless defined?(@used)
     @sync.synchronize do # yay, thread-safe
       new = @used
       @used = []
       self.use(*new)
     end
   end
 
   # The order in which to search for values.
   def searchpath(environment = nil)
     if environment
       [:cli, :memory, environment, :run_mode, :main, :application_defaults]
     else
       [:cli, :memory, :run_mode, :main, :application_defaults]
     end
   end
 
   # Get a list of objects per section
   def sectionlist
     sectionlist = []
     self.each { |name, obj|
       section = obj.section || "puppet"
       sections[section] ||= []
       sectionlist << section unless sectionlist.include?(section)
       sections[section] << obj
     }
 
     return sectionlist, sections
   end
 
   def service_user_available?
     return @service_user_available if defined?(@service_user_available)
 
     return @service_user_available = false unless user_name = self[:user]
 
     user = Puppet::Type.type(:user).new :name => self[:user], :audit => :ensure
 
     @service_user_available = user.exists?
   end
 
   # Allow later inspection to determine if the setting was set on the
   # command line, or through some other code path.  Used for the
   # `dns_alt_names` option during cert generate. --daniel 2011-10-18
   def set_by_cli?(param)
     param = param.to_sym
     !@values[:cli][param].nil?
   end
 
   def set_value(param, value, type, options = {})
     param = param.to_sym
 
     if !(setting = @config[param])
       if options[:ignore_bad_settings]
         return
       else
         raise ArgumentError,
           "Attempt to assign a value to unknown configuration parameter #{param.inspect}"
       end
     end
 
     setting.handle(value) if setting.has_hook? and not options[:dont_trigger_handles]
 
     @sync.synchronize do # yay, thread-safe
 
       @values[type][param] = value
       @cache.clear
 
       clearused
 
       # Clear the list of environments, because they cache, at least, the module path.
       # We *could* preferentially just clear them if the modulepath is changed,
       # but we don't really know if, say, the vardir is changed and the modulepath
       # is defined relative to it. We need the defined?(stuff) because of loading
       # order issues.
       Puppet::Node::Environment.clear if defined?(Puppet::Node) and defined?(Puppet::Node::Environment)
     end
 
     value
   end
 
 
 
 
   # Deprecated; use #define_settings instead
   def setdefaults(section, defs)
     Puppet.deprecation_warning("'setdefaults' is deprecated and will be removed; please call 'define_settings' instead")
     define_settings(section, defs)
   end
 
   # Define a group of settings.
   #
   # @param [Symbol] section a symbol to use for grouping multiple settings together into a conceptual unit.  This value
   #   (and the conceptual separation) is not used very often; the main place where it will have a potential impact
   #   is when code calls Settings#use method.  See docs on that method for further details, but basically that method
   #   just attempts to do any preparation that may be necessary before code attempts to leverage the value of a particular
   #   setting.  This has the most impact for file/directory settings, where #use will attempt to "ensure" those
   #   files / directories.
   # @param [Hash[Hash]] defs the settings to be defined.  This argument is a hash of hashes; each key should be a symbol,
   #   which is basically the name of the setting that you are defining.  The value should be another hash that specifies
   #   the parameters for the particular setting.  Legal values include:
   #    [:default] => required; this is a string value that will be used as a default value for a setting if no other
   #       value is specified (via cli, config file, etc.)  This string may include "variables", demarcated with $ or ${},
   #       which will be interpolated with values of other settings.
   #    [:desc] => required; a description of the setting, used in documentation / help generation
   #    [:type] => not required, but highly encouraged!  This specifies the data type that the setting represents.  If
   #       you do not specify it, it will default to "string".  Legal values include:
   #       :string - A generic string setting
   #       :boolean - A boolean setting; values are expected to be "true" or "false"
   #       :file - A (single) file path; puppet may attempt to create this file depending on how the settings are used.  This type
   #           also supports additional options such as "mode", "owner", "group"
   #       :directory - A (single) directory path; puppet may attempt to create this file depending on how the settings are used.  This type
   #           also supports additional options such as "mode", "owner", "group"
   #       :path - This is intended to be used for settings whose value can contain multiple directory paths, respresented
   #           as strings separated by the system path separator (e.g. system path, module path, etc.).
   #     [:mode] => an (optional) octal value to be used as the permissions/mode for :file and :directory settings
   #     [:owner] => optional owner username/uid for :file and :directory settings
   #     [:group] => optional group name/gid for :file and :directory settings
   #
   def define_settings(section, defs)
     section = section.to_sym
     call = []
     defs.each { |name, hash|
       raise ArgumentError, "setting definition for '#{name}' is not a hash!" unless hash.is_a? Hash
 
       name = name.to_sym
       hash[:name] = name
       hash[:section] = section
       raise ArgumentError, "Parameter #{name} is already defined" if @config.include?(name)
       tryconfig = newsetting(hash)
       if short = tryconfig.short
         if other = @shortnames[short]
           raise ArgumentError, "Parameter #{other.name} is already using short name '#{short}'"
         end
         @shortnames[short] = tryconfig
       end
       @config[name] = tryconfig
 
       # Collect the settings that need to have their hooks called immediately.
       # We have to collect them so that we can be sure we're fully initialized before
       # the hook is called.
       call << tryconfig if tryconfig.call_hook_on_define?
       @hooks_to_call_on_application_initialization << tryconfig if tryconfig.call_hook_on_initialize?
     }
 
     call.each { |setting| setting.handle(self.value(setting.name)) }
   end
 
   # Convert the settings we manage into a catalog full of resources that model those settings.
   def to_catalog(*sections)
     sections = nil if sections.empty?
 
     catalog = Puppet::Resource::Catalog.new("Settings")
 
     @config.keys.find_all { |key| @config[key].is_a?(FileSetting) }.each do |key|
       file = @config[key]
       next unless (sections.nil? or sections.include?(file.section))
       next unless resource = file.to_resource
       next if catalog.resource(resource.ref)
 
       Puppet.debug("Using settings: adding file resource '#{key}': '#{resource.inspect}'")
 
       catalog.add_resource(resource)
     end
 
     add_user_resources(catalog, sections)
 
     catalog
   end
 
   # Convert our list of config settings into a configuration file.
   def to_config
     str = %{The configuration file for #{Puppet.run_mode.name}.  Note that this file
 is likely to have unused configuration parameters in it; any parameter that's
 valid anywhere in Puppet can be in any config file, even if it's not used.
 
 Every section can specify three special parameters: owner, group, and mode.
 These parameters affect the required permissions of any files specified after
 their specification.  Puppet will sometimes use these parameters to check its
 own configured state, so they can be used to make Puppet a bit more self-managing.
 
+The file format supports octothorpe-commented lines, but not partial-line comments.
+
 Generated on #{Time.now}.
 
 }.gsub(/^/, "# ")
 
 #         Add a section heading that matches our name.
     str += "[#{preferred_run_mode}]\n"
     eachsection do |section|
       persection(section) do |obj|
         str += obj.to_config + "\n" unless obj.name == :genconfig
       end
     end
 
     return str
   end
 
   # Convert to a parseable manifest
   def to_manifest
     catalog = to_catalog
     catalog.resource_refs.collect do |ref|
       catalog.resource(ref).to_manifest
     end.join("\n\n")
   end
 
   # Create the necessary objects to use a section.  This is idempotent;
   # you can 'use' a section as many times as you want.
   def use(*sections)
     sections = sections.collect { |s| s.to_sym }
     @sync.synchronize do # yay, thread-safe
       sections = sections.reject { |s| @used.include?(s) }
 
       return if sections.empty?
 
       begin
         catalog = to_catalog(*sections).to_ral
       rescue => detail
         Puppet.log_and_raise(detail, "Could not create resources for managing Puppet's files and directories in sections #{sections.inspect}: #{detail}")
       end
 
       catalog.host_config = false
       catalog.apply do |transaction|
         if transaction.any_failed?
           report = transaction.report
           failures = report.logs.find_all { |log| log.level == :err }
           raise "Got #{failures.length} failure(s) while initializing: #{failures.collect { |l| l.to_s }.join("; ")}"
         end
       end
 
       sections.each { |s| @used << s }
       @used.uniq!
     end
   end
 
   def valid?(param)
     param = param.to_sym
     @config.has_key?(param)
   end
 
   def uninterpolated_value(param, environment = nil)
     param = param.to_sym
     environment &&= environment.to_sym
 
     # See if we can find it within our searchable list of values
     val = find_value(environment, param)
 
     # If we didn't get a value, use the default
     val = @config[param].default if val.nil?
 
     val
   end
 
   def find_value(environment, param)
       each_source(environment) do |source|
         # Look for the value.  We have to test the hash for whether
         # it exists, because the value might be false.
         @sync.synchronize do
           return @values[source][param] if @values[source].include?(param)
         end
       end
       return nil
   end
   private :find_value
 
   # Find the correct value using our search path.  Optionally accept an environment
   # in which to search before the other configuration sections.
   def value(param, environment = nil, bypass_interpolation = false)
     param = param.to_sym
     environment &&= environment.to_sym
 
     setting = @config[param]
 
     # Short circuit to nil for undefined parameters.
     return nil unless @config.include?(param)
 
     # Yay, recursion.
     #self.reparse unless [:config, :filetimeout].include?(param)
 
     # Check the cache first.  It needs to be a per-environment
     # cache so that we don't spread values from one env
     # to another.
     if cached = @cache[environment||"none"][param]
       return cached
     end
 
     val = uninterpolated_value(param, environment)
 
     return val if bypass_interpolation
     if param == :code
       # if we interpolate code, all hell breaks loose.
       return val
     end
 
     # Convert it if necessary
     begin
       val = convert(val, environment)
     rescue InterpolationError => err
       # This happens because we don't have access to the param name when the
       # exception is originally raised, but we want it in the message
       raise InterpolationError, "Error converting value for param '#{param}': #{err}", err.backtrace
     end
 
     val = setting.munge(val) if setting.respond_to?(:munge)
     # And cache it
     @cache[environment||"none"][param] = val
     val
   end
 
   # Open a file with the appropriate user, group, and mode
   def write(default, *args, &bloc)
     obj = get_config_file_default(default)
     writesub(default, value(obj.name), *args, &bloc)
   end
 
   # Open a non-default file under a default dir with the appropriate user,
   # group, and mode
   def writesub(default, file, *args, &bloc)
     obj = get_config_file_default(default)
     chown = nil
     if Puppet.features.root?
       chown = [obj.owner, obj.group]
     else
       chown = [nil, nil]
     end
 
     Puppet::Util::SUIDManager.asuser(*chown) do
       mode = obj.mode ? obj.mode.to_i : 0640
       args << "w" if args.empty?
 
       args << mode
 
       # Update the umask to make non-executable files
       Puppet::Util.withumask(File.umask ^ 0111) do
         File.open(file, *args) do |file|
           yield file
         end
       end
     end
   end
 
   def readwritelock(default, *args, &bloc)
     file = value(get_config_file_default(default).name)
     tmpfile = file + ".tmp"
     sync = Sync.new
     raise Puppet::DevError, "Cannot create #{file}; directory #{File.dirname(file)} does not exist" unless FileTest.directory?(File.dirname(tmpfile))
 
     sync.synchronize(Sync::EX) do
       File.open(file, ::File::CREAT|::File::RDWR, 0600) do |rf|
         rf.lock_exclusive do
           if File.exist?(tmpfile)
             raise Puppet::Error, ".tmp file already exists for #{file}; Aborting locked write. Check the .tmp file and delete if appropriate"
           end
 
           # If there's a failure, remove our tmpfile
           begin
             writesub(default, tmpfile, *args, &bloc)
           rescue
             File.unlink(tmpfile) if FileTest.exist?(tmpfile)
             raise
           end
 
           begin
             File.rename(tmpfile, file)
           rescue => detail
             Puppet.err "Could not rename #{file} to #{tmpfile}: #{detail}"
             File.unlink(tmpfile) if FileTest.exist?(tmpfile)
           end
         end
       end
     end
   end
 
   private
 
   def get_config_file_default(default)
     obj = nil
     unless obj = @config[default]
       raise ArgumentError, "Unknown default #{default}"
     end
 
     raise ArgumentError, "Default #{default} is not a file" unless obj.is_a? FileSetting
 
     obj
   end
 
   def add_user_resources(catalog, sections)
     return unless Puppet.features.root?
     return if Puppet.features.microsoft_windows?
     return unless self[:mkusers]
 
     @config.each do |name, setting|
       next unless setting.respond_to?(:owner)
       next unless sections.nil? or sections.include?(setting.section)
 
       if user = setting.owner and user != "root" and catalog.resource(:user, user).nil?
         resource = Puppet::Resource.new(:user, user, :parameters => {:ensure => :present})
         resource[:gid] = self[:group] if self[:group]
         catalog.add_resource resource
       end
       if group = setting.group and ! %w{root wheel}.include?(group) and catalog.resource(:group, group).nil?
         catalog.add_resource Puppet::Resource.new(:group, group, :parameters => {:ensure => :present})
       end
     end
   end
 
   # Yield each search source in turn.
   def each_source(environment)
     searchpath(environment).each do |source|
 
       # Modify the source as necessary.
       source = self.preferred_run_mode if source == :run_mode
       yield source
     end
   end
 
   # Return all settings that have associated hooks; this is so
   # we can call them after parsing the configuration file.
   def settings_with_hooks
     @config.values.find_all { |setting| setting.has_hook? }
   end
 
   # Extract extra setting information for files.
   def extract_fileinfo(string)
     result = {}
     value = string.sub(/\{\s*([^}]+)\s*\}/) do
       params = $1
       params.split(/\s*,\s*/).each do |str|
         if str =~ /^\s*(\w+)\s*=\s*([\w\d]+)\s*$/
           param, value = $1.intern, $2
           result[param] = value
           raise ArgumentError, "Invalid file option '#{param}'" unless [:owner, :mode, :group].include?(param)
 
           if param == :mode and value !~ /^\d+$/
             raise ArgumentError, "File modes must be numbers"
           end
         else
           raise ArgumentError, "Could not parse '#{string}'"
         end
       end
       ''
     end
     result[:value] = value.sub(/\s*$/, '')
     result
   end
 
   # Convert arguments into booleans, integers, or whatever.
   def munge_value(value)
     # Handle different data types correctly
     return case value
       when /^false$/i; false
       when /^true$/i; true
       when /^\d+$/i; Integer(value)
       when true; true
       when false; false
       else
         value.gsub(/^["']|["']$/,'').sub(/\s+$/, '')
     end
   end
 
   # This method just turns a file in to a hash of hashes.
   def parse_file(file)
     text = read_file(file)
 
     result = Hash.new { |names, name|
       names[name] = {}
     }
 
     count = 0
 
     # Default to 'main' for the section.
     section = :main
     result[section][:_meta] = {}
     text.split(/\n/).each do |line|
       count += 1
       case line
       when /^\s*\[(\w+)\]\s*$/
         section = $1.intern # Section names
         #disallow application_defaults in config file
         if section == :application_defaults
           raise Puppet::Error, "Illegal section 'application_defaults' in config file #{file} at line #{line}"
         end
         # Add a meta section
         result[section][:_meta] ||= {}
       when /^\s*#/; next # Skip comments
       when /^\s*$/; next # Skip blanks
       when /^\s*(\w+)\s*=\s*(.*?)\s*$/ # settings
         var = $1.intern
 
         # We don't want to munge modes, because they're specified in octal, so we'll
         # just leave them as a String, since Puppet handles that case correctly.
         if var == :mode
           value = $2
         else
           value = munge_value($2)
         end
 
         # Check to see if this is a file argument and it has extra options
         begin
           if value.is_a?(String) and options = extract_fileinfo(value)
             value = options[:value]
             options.delete(:value)
             result[section][:_meta][var] = options
           end
           result[section][var] = value
         rescue Puppet::Error => detail
           raise ParseError.new(detail.message, file, line, detail)
         end
       else
         raise ParseError.new("Could not match line #{line}", file, line)
       end
     end
 
     result
   end
 
   # Read the file in.
   def read_file(file)
     begin
       return File.read(file)
     rescue Errno::ENOENT
       raise ArgumentError, "No such file #{file}"
     rescue Errno::EACCES
       raise ArgumentError, "Permission denied to file #{file}"
     end
   end
 
   # Set file metadata.
   def set_metadata(meta)
     meta.each do |var, values|
       values.each do |param, value|
         @config[var].send(param.to_s + "=", value)
       end
     end
   end
 
   # Private method for internal test use only; allows to do a comprehensive clear of all settings between tests.
   #
   # @return nil
   def clear_everything_for_tests()
     @sync.synchronize do
       unsafe_clear(true, true)
       @global_defaults_initialized = false
       @app_defaults_initialized = false
     end
   end
   private :clear_everything_for_tests
 
   ##
   # (#15337) All of the logic to determine the configuration file to use
   #   should be centralized into this method.  The simplified approach is:
   #
   # 1. If there is an explicit configuration file, use that.  (--confdir or
   #    --config)
   # 2. If we're running as a root process, use the system puppet.conf
   #    (usually /etc/puppet/puppet.conf)
   # 3. Otherwise, use the user puppet.conf (usually ~/.puppet/puppet.conf)
   #
   # @todo this code duplicates {Puppet::Util::RunMode#which_dir} as described
   #   in {http://projects.puppetlabs.com/issues/16637 #16637}
   def which_configuration_file
     if explicit_config_file? or Puppet.features.root? then
       return main_config_file
     else
       return user_config_file
     end
   end
 
   def explicit_config_file?
     # Figure out if the user has provided an explicit configuration file.  If
     # so, return the path to the file, if not return nil.
     #
     # The easiest way to determine whether an explicit one has been specified
     #  is to simply attempt to evaluate the value of ":config".  This will
     #  obviously be successful if they've passed an explicit value for :config,
     #  but it will also result in successful interpolation if they've only
     #  passed an explicit value for :confdir.
     #
     # If they've specified neither, then the interpolation will fail and we'll
     #  get an exception.
     #
     begin
       return true if self[:config]
     rescue InterpolationError => err
       # This means we failed to interpolate, which means that they didn't
       #  explicitly specify either :config or :confdir... so we'll fall out to
       #  the default value.
       return false
     end
   end
   private :explicit_config_file?
 
 end