The document provides an overview of Salt configuration management, highlighting its simplicity, parallel execution, security, and open-source nature. It details the architecture with the roles of salt master and minion, command syntax, and various functionalities like states, top files, and pillar data. Additionally, it discusses event notifications, beacons, and references for further information on SaltStack.

1. Salt Configuration
Management
SaltStack.com

2. Salt Marketing Points
● Simplicity - Basic Architecture
● Parallel execution
● Secure encryption / authentication
● Open Source: https://github.com/saltstack/salt

3. Architecture
● Salt master: the central management
system.
● Salt minion: a managed system.

4. Execute Commands
● salt ‘*’ cmd.run ‘ls -l /etc’
● salt ‘*’ disk.usage
● salt ‘*’ network.interfaces

5. Salt Command Syntax
Synopsis
salt <target> <module.function> <arguments>
Flags
-E
--pcre
Perl Compatible Reg. Exp. to match on minion name
-G
--grain
Allows targeting by matching predefined values in minion machines
-C
--compound
Allows combining criteria

6. Targeting
● salt ‘minion1’ disk.usage
● salt ‘minion*’ disk.usage
● salt -G ‘os:Ubuntu’ test.ping
● salt -E ‘minion[0-9]’ test.ping
● salt -C ‘G@os:Ubuntu and minion*’ test.ping

8. More definitions...
● Salt States - Scripts that use predefined functions that are run against minions
and tracked - preventing them from running
multiple times.
● Top File - Configures which files to run against which minions

9. Predefined Functions?!? I want to do more
Functions are just Python methods
sorted into modules. You can write your
own if you need to do anything too
complicated or you can be lazy:
https://github.com/saltstack-formulas

10. Sample Modules
on GitHub
● Docker
● Jenkins
● Wordpress
● Apache
● mySQL
● Node
● ...even Salt

11. Pillar
Data assigned to minions using targets
Think configurations for a machine
i.e. Ports, Usernames, Passwords, etc.
Configure different machines to look at different
environments, hostnames, etc.
Applied by template or specified manually:
salt '*' state.apply ftpsync pillar='{"ftpusername": "test"}’

12. Includes
DRY applies here too
EX top of salt state:
include:
- mercurial

13. Ordering & Requisites
Things happen in order from the top file or based on includes…
To get fancy you can have the following:

14. Jinja - Magic Conditionals
Want to make Pillars more than statically assigned to minions?
Refresh the pillar variables and use them in a state file

15. What about my data or modifying files?

16. 5 More Slides… Events
What kind of things can you get notified of
● Periodic Presence Updates - which minions are connected
● Minion Connected
● Minion Disconnnected
● State Completion
● Custom
○ Salt-call event.send /my/test/event ‘{“data”: “my test event”}’

17. Beacons
Trigger events for non-salt related things
● File System Changes
● System Load
● Service Status
● Shell Activity (user login)
● Network and Disk Usage

18. Reacting to Events

20. References
● https://docs.saltstack.com/en/getstarted/index.html
● https://docs.saltstack.com/en/latest/contents.html
● https://linux.die.net/man/1/salt
● https://github.com/saltstack/salt
● https://github.com/saltstack-formulas
● Images stolen shamelessly from Google Image Search