The confine method can be used with a fact, as shown in the following code:
Puppet::Type.type(:mynewtype).provide(:myprovider) do ... confine :osfamily => :redhat ... end
The confine method could also use exisits to base its conditions on whether a certain file is present on the system under management. The following example demonstrates how the provider is restricted to only those systems where Puppet's .config file exists:
Puppet::Type.type(:mynewtype).provide(:myprovider) do ... confine :exisits => Puppet[:config] ... end
Another possibility is to base the conditions of the confine method on certain Puppet features (they are all listed in the source code directory at https://github.com/puppetlabs/puppet/tree/master/lib/puppet/feature ...
