By including the common module first, you won't get ugliness like this: Nov 14 10:29:02 - [citest79656] Warning: Unknown variable: 'apt::apt_base_dir'. at /srv/leap/puppet/code/modules/apt/manifests/config.pp:69:15 Nov 14 10:29:02 - [citest79656] Warning: Unknown variable: 'apt::apt_base_dir'. at /srv/leap/puppet/code/modules/apt/manifests/config.pp:77:30 Nov 14 10:29:02 - [citest79656] Warning: Unknown variable: 'apt::apt_base_dir'. at /srv/leap/puppet/code/modules/apt/manifests/config.pp:78:30