puppetlabs/puppet · error · Puppet::Error

Resource type #{self.class.name} does not support parameter

Error message

Resource type #{self.class.name} does not support parameter #{name}

What it means

Puppet::Type#newattr resolves an attribute name to its Parameter/Property class via self.class.attrclass(name). When the type never declared that attribute, klass is nil and Puppet::Error 'Resource type X does not support parameter Y' is raised. Note the sibling guard in []= ('no parameter named...') catches most manifest-level typos earlier; this specific raise surfaces from internal property-creation paths and direct newattr calls, e.g. providers or custom types referencing an attribute that was never declared with newparam/newproperty.

Source

Thrown at lib/puppet/type.rb:785

  # by this resource. Otherwise, an attribute instance is created
  # and kept in this resource's parameters hash.
  # @overload newattr(name)
  #   @param name [Symbol] symbolic name of the attribute
  # @overload newattr(klass)
  #   @param klass [Class] a class supported as an attribute class, i.e. a subclass of
  #     Parameter or Property
  # @return [Object] An instance of the named Parameter or Property class associated
  #   to this resource type instance, or nil if the attribute is not supported
  #
  def newattr(name)
    if name.is_a?(Class)
      klass = name
      name = klass.name
    end

    klass = self.class.attrclass(name)
    unless klass
      raise Puppet::Error, "Resource type #{self.class.name} does not support parameter #{name}"
    end

    if provider and !provider.class.supports_parameter?(klass)
      missing = klass.required_features.find_all { |f| !provider.class.feature?(f) }
      debug "Provider %s does not support features %s; not managing attribute %s" % [provider.class.name, missing.join(", "), name]
      return nil
    end

    return @parameters[name] if @parameters.include?(name)

    @parameters[name] = klass.new(:resource => self)
  end

  # Returns a string representation of the resource's containment path in
  # the catalog.
  # @return [String]
  def path
    @path ||= '/' + pathbuilder.join('/')

View on GitHub (pinned to e227c27540)

Solutions

  1. Verify what the type supports: puppet describe -s <type> (or check its newparam/newproperty declarations in the source)
  2. For custom types, declare the attribute: newparam(:foo) { ... } or newproperty(:foo) in the type definition
  3. Guard in Ruby: return unless self.class.attrclass(name) before calling newattr
  4. If a module update removed the parameter, pin or update the module to a matching version

Example fix

# before (custom type: provider references undeclared param)
Puppet::Type.newtype(:myapp) do
  newparam(:name) { isnamevar }
end
# provider later calls resource.newattr(:config_path) => Puppet::Error

# after
Puppet::Type.newtype(:myapp) do
  newparam(:name) { isnamevar }
  newparam(:config_path) { desc 'Path to config file' }
end
Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

return nil unless self.class.attrclass(name) # guard before newattr
raise "type #{self.class.name} does not support parameter #{name}" unless self.class.validattr?(name)

Try / catch

begin
  resource.newattr(name)
rescue Puppet::Error => e
  raise unless e.message =~ /does not support parameter/
  Puppet.err "skipping unsupported attribute #{name}"
end

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: Calling resource.newattr(:misspelled) or newattr(:undeclared) from Ruby; custom provider code doing resource.newattr(:ensure) on a type where ensure is a param not a property; setting attributes on a type whose defining module failed to load its newparam declarations; misspelled parameters in manifests usually hit the earlier validattr? guard instead.

Common situations: Writing a custom type where the provider references a parameter you forgot to declare; version mismatches where a module expects a parameter that the installed type version removed; copy-pasted provider code from a different type.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of puppetlabs/puppet@e227c27540 (2026-08-21). Data as JSON: /api/errors/2d7f4ffe98c7d3e3. Report an issue: GitHub.