diff --git a/site/profiles/manifests/base.pp b/site/profiles/manifests/base.pp
index 35874eb..e1a98c0 100644
--- a/site/profiles/manifests/base.pp
+++ b/site/profiles/manifests/base.pp
@@ -52,4 +52,8 @@ class profiles::base (
   # default users
   include profiles::accounts::sysadmin
 
+  # add a motd
+  include profiles::base::facts
+  include profiles::base::motd
+
 }
diff --git a/site/profiles/manifests/base/facts.pp b/site/profiles/manifests/base/facts.pp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e234625
--- /dev/null
+++ b/site/profiles/manifests/base/facts.pp
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+# a class to define some global facts
+class profiles::base::facts {
+
+  # The path where external facts are stored
+  $facts_d_path = '/opt/puppetlabs/facter/facts.d'
+
+  # Ensure the directory exists
+  file { $facts_d_path:
+    ensure => directory,
+    owner  => 'root',
+    group  => 'root',
+    mode   => '0755',
+  }
+
+  # facts to create
+  $fact_list = [ 'enc_role', 'enc_env' ]
+
+  # Manage the external fact file with content from the template
+  $fact_list.each | String $item | {
+    file { "${facts_d_path}/${item}.txt":
+      ensure  => file,
+      owner   => 'root',
+      group   => 'root',
+      mode    => '0644',
+      content => template("profiles/base/facts/${item}.erb"),
+      require => File[$facts_d_path],
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/site/profiles/manifests/base/motd.pp b/site/profiles/manifests/base/motd.pp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e1dd5ca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/site/profiles/manifests/base/motd.pp
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+# set the motd
+class profiles::base::motd (
+  String  $enc_role   = pick($facts['enc_role'], 'undefined'),
+  String  $enc_env    = pick($facts['enc_env'], 'undefined'),
+  String  $fqdn       = $facts['networking']['fqdn'],
+  String  $addr       = $facts['networking']['ip'],
+  String  $nic        = $facts['networking']['primary'],
+  String  $os_name    = $facts['os']['name'],
+  String  $os_release = $facts['os']['release']['full'],
+) {
+
+  # Use the regsubst function to remove the 'roles::' prefix from the role name
+  $clean_role = regsubst($enc_role, '^roles::', '')
+
+  # Manage the content of the /etc/motd file
+  file { '/etc/motd':
+    ensure  => file,
+    content => template('profiles/base/motd/motd.erb'),
+  }
+}
diff --git a/site/profiles/templates/base/facts/enc_env.erb b/site/profiles/templates/base/facts/enc_env.erb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7695e4d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/site/profiles/templates/base/facts/enc_env.erb
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+enc_env=<%= @enc_env %>
diff --git a/site/profiles/templates/base/facts/enc_role.erb b/site/profiles/templates/base/facts/enc_role.erb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d59acdf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/site/profiles/templates/base/facts/enc_role.erb
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+enc_role=<%= @enc_role[0] %>
diff --git a/site/profiles/templates/base/motd/motd.erb b/site/profiles/templates/base/motd/motd.erb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7ca06df
--- /dev/null
+++ b/site/profiles/templates/base/motd/motd.erb
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+<%
+# calculate padding for the longest word
+max_length = ['fqdn:', 'os:', 'role:', 'branch:', 'addr:', 'nic:'].max_by(&:length).length
+# helper lambda to right-align text
+align = ->(word) { word.ljust(max_length) }
+%>
+<%= align.call('fqdn:') %> <%= @fqdn %>
+<%= align.call('os:') %> <%= @os_name %> <%= @os_release %>
+<%= align.call('role:') %> <%= @clean_role %>
+<%= align.call('branch:') %> <%= @enc_env %>
+<%= align.call('addr:') %> <%= @addr %>
+<%= align.call('nic:') %> <%= @nic %>
+