how do i generate a new private_key in my
/var/lib/puppet/ssl/private directory
I know how to generate certs, but no private keys generate
puppet cert --generate <proxy-FQDN>
thanks
If your issue is on a Puppet client then you may like to try the following:
On Client stop the client if running as a daemon then ‘rm -rf
/var/lib/puppet/ssl’
On the Puppetmaster remove the Client’s certificate ‘puppet cert clean
fqdn_of_client’
Finally back on the Client ‘puppet agent --test’
Please test this on a dev/test system before trying it on a production
system.
Depending on how the Puppetmaster has been setup you may like to take a
look on it for your key there 
Regards, Mike.