diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 650022e..88cf7a6 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -22,3 +22,5 @@
 /convert_report.txt
 /update_report.txt
 .DS_Store
+.vscode/
+.envrc
diff --git a/.pdkignore b/.pdkignore
index b713b3b..2ec773a 100644
--- a/.pdkignore
+++ b/.pdkignore
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@
 /convert_report.txt
 /update_report.txt
 .DS_Store
+.vscode/
+.envrc
 /appveyor.yml
 /.fixtures.yml
 /Gemfile
diff --git a/.sync.yml b/.sync.yml
index 0bfcbe2..23bd6a2 100644
--- a/.sync.yml
+++ b/.sync.yml
@@ -1,4 +1,8 @@
 ---
+.gitignore:
+  required:
+    - ---.project
+
 .gitlab-ci.yml:
   unmanaged: true
 
diff --git a/Rakefile b/Rakefile
index a6b14c5..750ef46 100644
--- a/Rakefile
+++ b/Rakefile
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ end
 
 def changelog_future_release
   return unless Rake.application.top_level_tasks.include? "changelog"
-  returnVal = JSON.load(File.read('metadata.json'))['version']
+  returnVal = "v%s" % JSON.load(File.read('metadata.json'))['version']
   raise "unable to find the future_release (version) in metadata.json" if returnVal.nil?
   puts "GitHubChangelogGenerator future_release:#{returnVal}"
   returnVal
diff --git a/metadata.json b/metadata.json
index edc0d24..c34721e 100644
--- a/metadata.json
+++ b/metadata.json
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@
       "version_requirement": ">= 4.7.0 < 7.0.0"
     }
   ],
-  "template-url": "https://github.com/puppetlabs/pdk-templates/",
-  "template-ref": "1.9.0-0-g7281db5",
-  "pdk-version": "1.7.1"
-}
+  "template-url": "https://github.com/puppetlabs/pdk-templates",
+  "template-ref": "heads/master-0-gfde5699",
+  "pdk-version": "1.8.0"
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/spec/spec_helper.rb b/spec/spec_helper.rb
index 149ff03..1f8b6b4 100644
--- a/spec/spec_helper.rb
+++ b/spec/spec_helper.rb
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ default_fact_files.each do |f|
   next unless File.exist?(f) && File.readable?(f) && File.size?(f)
 
   begin
-    default_facts.merge!(YAML.safe_load(File.read(f)))
+    default_facts.merge!(YAML.safe_load(File.read(f), [], [], true))
   rescue => e
     RSpec.configuration.reporter.message "WARNING: Unable to load #{f}: #{e}"
   end