puppetlabs/puppet · error · ArgumentError

Cannot have both 'forcelocal' and 'ia_load_module' at the…

Error message

Cannot have both 'forcelocal' and 'ia_load_module' at the same time!

What it means

AIX user/group providers pass a -R argument to AIX commands to select the Information & Authentication (I&A) database. ia_load_module targets an explicit module (e.g. LDAP) while forcelocal pins the local 'files' module; ia_module_args raises ArgumentError when a resource sets both, because the flags are contradictory and no valid command line could be built.

Solutions

1. Set only one of the two attributes on each resource.
2. Where ia_load_module is used, explicitly ensure forcelocal is undef/false in the layer that sets it.
3. Use Hiera merge strategies / lookup_options so a single layer owns both keys.

Example fix

# before (Puppet DSL)
user { 'svc': forcelocal => true, ia_load_module => 'LDAP' }   # ArgumentError

# after
user { 'svc': ia_load_module => 'LDAP' }                       # pick one target

# Puppet DSL: validate in the profile before declaring
if $forcelocal and $ia_load_module {
  fail('forcelocal and ia_load_module are mutually exclusive')
}

When it happens

Trigger: user { 'svc': forcelocal => true, ia_load_module => 'LDAP' } - both attributes on one resource; Hiera layering where one layer sets forcelocal and another adds ia_load_module to the same resource.

Common situations: Copy-paste from module READMEs that show each option separately; profile composition merging both keys onto the same resource; module class defaults combined with site data.

Related errors

• Invalid value : must be an Integer!
• chpasswd said #
• Could not reset the groups property back to
• Could not set password on #
• Could not set on [ ]

AI-assisted analysis of puppetlabs/puppet@e227c27540 (2026-08-21). Data as JSON: /api/errors/5619f6319e570442. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at lib/puppet/provider/aix_object.rb:335

        # provider instance. The dup is necessary so that we do not
        # touch the class-level mapped object.
        @mappings[type][input] = mapped_object.dup
        @mappings[type][input].set_provider(self)
      end
    end

    @mappings
  end

  # Converts the given attributes hash to CLI args.
  def attributes_to_args(attributes)
    attributes.map do |attribute, value|
      "#{attribute}=#{value}"
    end
  end

  def ia_module_args
    raise ArgumentError, _("Cannot have both 'forcelocal' and 'ia_load_module' at the same time!") if @resource[:ia_load_module] && @resource[:forcelocal]
    return ["-R", @resource[:ia_load_module].to_s] if @resource[:ia_load_module]
    return ["-R", "files"] if @resource[:forcelocal]

    []
  end

  def lscmd
    [self.class.command(:list), '-c'] + ia_module_args + [@resource[:name]]
  end

  def addcmd(attributes)
    attribute_args = attributes_to_args(attributes)
    [self.class.command(:add)] + ia_module_args + attribute_args + [@resource[:name]]
  end

  def deletecmd
    [self.class.command(:delete)] + ia_module_args + [@resource[:name]]
  end

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