having a file from which to source would be useful...

README

@@ -44,7 +44,9 @@ definitions -- so simply including them in a node definition won't work...
 * `ensure`: typically set to "present" or "absent", but any value legal 
 for a file resource can be used.  Defaults to "present"
 * `content`: set this to the text of the snippet -- eg, through 
-template().  Defaults to `template("apache2/$name.conf.erb")`, which is
+template(). If set to "source_file", the file's content will be sourced from
+puppet master's puppet:///files/apache2/${fqdn}/${name}.conf or puppet:///files/apache2/${name}.conf,
+whichever is available first. Defaults to `template("apache2/$name.conf.erb")`, which is
 unlikely to be what you want.
 * `order`: specifies the load order for this config snippet.  the snippet 
 will end up in `/etc/apache2/conf.d/$order-$name.conf`, and apache will load 
@@ -77,7 +79,9 @@ remove the package, even if ensure is set to absent.
 before evaluating the rest of the site definition.  It does not currently
 remove the package, even if ensure is set to absent.
 * `content`: set this to the text of the site definition -- eg, through 
-template().  If unset, the module will simply ensure that a file named 
+template().  If set to "source_file", the file's content will be sourced from
+puppet master's puppet:///files/apache2/${fqdn}/${name} or puppet:///files/apache2/${name},
+whichever is available first.  If unset, the module will simply ensure that a file named 
 "/etc/apache2/sites-available/$name" exists
 
 ## Example ##

manifests/init.pp

@@ -118,19 +118,45 @@
   # Define an apache2 config snippet. Places all config snippets into
   # /etc/apache2/conf.d, where they will be automatically loaded
 	define config ( $ensure = 'present', $content = '', $order="500") {
-	  $real_content = $content ? { '' => template("apache2/${name}.conf.erb"), 
-	    default => $content,
-	  }
-
-	  file { "${apache_conf}/${order}-${name}.conf":
-      ensure => $ensure,
-      content => $content,
-      mode => 644,
-  	  owner => root,
-  	  group => root,
-		# given the way File[$apache_conf] is defined, this might lead to 
-		# multiple restarts.  not sure.
-			notify => Exec["reload-apache2"], 
+    case $content {
+      '': {
+        file { "${apache_conf}/${order}-${name}.conf":
+          ensure => $ensure,
+          content => template("apache2/${name}.conf.erb"),
+          mode => 644,
+          owner => root,
+          group => root,
+        # given the way File[$apache_conf] is defined, this might lead to 
+        # multiple restarts.  not sure.
+          notify => Exec["reload-apache2"], 
+        }
+      }
+
+      'source_file': {
+        file { "${apache_conf}/${order}-${name}.conf":
+          source => [ "puppet:///files/apache2/${fqdn}/${name}.conf", "puppet:///files/apache2/${name}.conf" ],
+          ensure => $ensure,
+          mode => 644,
+          owner => root,
+          group => root,
+        # given the way File[$apache_conf] is defined, this might lead to 
+        # multiple restarts.  not sure.
+          notify => Exec["reload-apache2"], 
+        }
+      }
+
+      default: {
+        file { "${apache_conf}/${order}-${name}.conf":
+          ensure => $ensure,
+          content => template("apache2/${name}.conf.erb"),
+          mode => 644,
+          owner => root,
+          group => root,
+        # given the way File[$apache_conf] is defined, this might lead to 
+        # multiple restarts.  not sure.
+          notify => Exec["reload-apache2"], 
+        }
+      }
     }
 	}
 
@@ -179,6 +205,17 @@
         }
       }
 
+      'source_file': {
+        file { "${apache_sites}-available/${name}":
+          source => [ "puppet:///files/apache2/${fqdn}/${name}", "puppet:///files/apache2/${name}" ],
+          mode => 644,
+      	  owner => root,
+      	  group => root,
+    	    ensure => present,
+    	    alias => "site-$name",
+        }
+      }
+
       default: {
     	  file { "${apache_sites}-available/${name}":
           content => $content,