in dependencies automatically whenever `boxen` is run.
### Node Definitions ###
Puppet has the concept of a ['node'](http://docs.puppetlabs.com/references/glossary.html#agent), which is essentially the machine on which Puppet is running. Puppet looks for [node definitions](http://docs.puppetlabs.com/learning/agent_master_basic.html#node-definitions) in the `manifests/site.pp` file in the Boxen repo. You'll see a default node declaration that looks like the following:
node default {
# core modules, needed for most things
include dnsmasq
<...>
}
All Puppet [class declarations](http://docs.puppetlabs.com/learning/modules1.html#classes) should be included in the default node definition. Theoretically, you _COULD_ declare every [Puppet resource](http://docs.puppetlabs.com/learning/ral.html) in the `manifests/site.pp` file, but that would quickly become unwieldy. Instead, it's easier to create [Puppet modules](http://docs.puppetlabs.com/learning/modules1.html#modules) inside the `modules` folder of the Boxen repo. Boxen is setup to discover any modules you create in the `modules` folder, and we've already created a `people` and `projects` module structure for you to start using.
### Creating a personal module ###
Using the `modules/people` folder that's been provided in the Boxen repo, start by creating a file in `modules/people/manifests` in the format of `your_last_name.pp` (Feel free to use the [Puppet module cheat sheet](http://docs.puppetlabs.com/module_cheat_sheet.pdf) if you need some extra help). If we were making a module for [Tim Sharpe](http://github.com/rodjek), we would create a file called `modules/people/manifests/sharpe.pp` that would look like the following:
# modules/people/manifests/sharpe.pp
class people::sharpe {
# Resource Declarations go here
package { 'tree':
ensure => installed,
provider => homebrew,
}
}
This class is installing the `tree` package out of
[Homebrew](https://github.com/mxcl/homebrew), but feel free to add whatever
resource declarations you'll need. Finally, add the following line in the
`manifests/site.pp` file within the default node definition:
include people::sharpe
Finally, run `boxen --noop` to [simulate, or
test](http://docs.puppetlabs.com/guides/tests_smoke.html#running-tests) what
changes your code would have made. If you're happy with how things look, you
can then run `boxen` to enforce the changes you've made
