1 files changed, 16 insertions, 1 deletions
diff --git a/cloudinit/util.py b/cloudinit/util.py
index 2045a6ab..1b462a38 100644
--- a/cloudinit/util.py
+++ b/cloudinit/util.py
@@ -347,7 +347,7 @@ def extract_usergroup(ug_pair):
     return (u, g)
 
 
-def find_modules(root_dir):
+def find_modules(root_dir) -> dict:
     entries = dict()
     for fname in glob.glob(os.path.join(root_dir, "*.py")):
         if not os.path.isfile(fname):
@@ -2751,4 +2751,19 @@ def get_proc_ppid(pid):
         ppid = int(parts[3])
     return ppid
 
+
+def error(msg, rc=1, fmt='Error:\n{}', sys_exit=False):
+    """
+    Print error to stderr and return or exit
+
+    @param msg: message to print
+    @param rc: return code (default: 1)
+    @param fmt: format string for putting message in (default: 'Error:\n {}')
+    @param sys_exit: exit when called (default: false)
+    """
+    print(fmt.format(msg), file=sys.stderr)
+    if sys_exit:
+        sys.exit(rc)
+    return rc
+
 # vi: ts=4 expandtab