Managing a user password for linux in puppet

Question

I need to create a test user with a password using puppet.

I\'ve read that puppet cannot manage user passwords in a generic cross-platform way, which is a pity. I am

Answer 1

I had success (gist) with ruby's String#crypt method from within a Puppet parser function.

AFAICS it's using the crypt libc functions (see: info crypt), and takes the same arguments $n$[rounds=$]salt, where n is the hashing function ($6 for SHA-512) and m is the number of key strengthening rounds (5000 by default).