Salt Formulas and States Forrest Alvarez

Formulas are the evolution of Salt states, they are the future of

Salt.

Salt States

Core of Salt !Range from basic to very complex !Used for provisioning and deployment

States Refresher

Syntax is fairly simple !Modular focus !Ease of use

Example Statenginx: pkg: - installed service: - running - enable: True - reload: True

State Directory Structure/srv/salt/nginx/init.sls - Installs and starts service !/srv/salt/mysql/client.sls - installs client !/srv/salt/mysql/server.sls - installs the server and starts the service

Salt States Can Become Complexapache: pkg: - installed {% if grains[‘os_family’] == ‘RedHat’ %} - name: httpd {% elif grains[‘os_family’] == ‘Debian’ %} - name: apache2 {% endif %}

Pillar ExploitationOS variables that shouldn’t be in pillar are !Pillar becomes bloated !Harder to understand for new users

Combine pillar and state complexity

Complexity leads to problemsDifferent operating systems !Multiple locations in a state !Several states require changes

How Do We Address This?Ease of use !Simple to modify multiple locations !Can be applied to existing configurations

Salt FormulasEvolution of the Salt states !Easy to write because you already are !Somewhat difficult to understand how they work

Formula Directory Structure/srv/salt/apache/init.sls !/srv/salt/apache/conf.sls !/srv/salt/apache/map.jinja !

The Core of Formulas, map.jinjaSets data based on OS grains !Merges with Pillar data !Centralizes variables !

Creating The Map{% set apache = salt[‘grains.filter_by’]({ ‘Debian’: { ‘server’: ‘apache2’, ‘service’: ‘apache2’, ‘conf’: ‘/etc/apache2/apache.conf’, }, ‘RedHat’: { ‘server’: ‘httpd’, ‘service’: ‘httpd’, ‘conf’: ‘/etc/httpd/httpd.conf’, }, }, merge=salt[‘pillar.get’](‘apache:lookup’)) %}

Using Maps in States{% from “apache/map.jinja” import apache with context %} !apache: pkg: - installed - name: {{ apache.server }} service: - running - name: {{ apache.service }} - enable: True

Beforeapache:

pkg:

- installed

{% if grains[‘os_family’] == ‘RedHat’ %}

- name: httpd

{% elif grains[‘os_family’] == ‘Debian’ %}

- name: apache2

{% endif %}

service:

- running

{% if grains[‘os_family’] == ‘RedHat’ %}

- name: httpd

{% elif grains[‘os_family’] == ‘Debian’ %}

- name: apache2

{% endif %}

- enable: True

After{% from “apache/map.jinja” import apache with context %} !apache: pkg: - installed - name: {{ apache.server }} service: - running - name: {{ apache.service }} - enable: True

A Few Seconds After That

More Maps in States {% from “apache/map.jinja” import apache with context %} !include:

- apache !apache_conf:

file:

- managed

- name: {{ apache.conf }}

- source: {{ salt[‘pillar.get’](‘apache:lookup:config:tmpl’) }} # Notice this variable doesn’t live in our map

- template: jinja

- user: root

- group: root

- mode: ‘0644’

- watch_in:

- service: apache

PillarsSplitting pillar data !Identifying it with sets of states Will all be combined in the end

Pillar Directory Structure/srv/pillar/top.sls !/srv/pillar/apache.sls !/srv/pillar/php.sls

The Pillar Top.slsbase: ‘*’: - apache - php

Extending Your Pillarapache: lookup: config: tmpl: salt://apache/files/redhat/httpd.conf

Merging Maps With PillarsMultiple pillars further reduce complexity !Easy to include several pillars in your top pillar !Pillar variables can overwrite map

Overwriting Maps

apache: lookup: config: tmpl: salt://apache/files/redhat/ server: my_custom_apache

Clear Location of VariablesWhere did I miss that conf name change? !Did I make sure to update all my requires? !Hey, could you modify this value?

The Simpler the BetterWorks great even if you only have a single OS !Easy to hand off !Fewer files to manage

Managing FormulasDirectory structure is the same as always !One map file per formula !Pillars are just included in your top pillar

Creating a Formulamap.jinja !Example Pillar !Modular structure

Writing Formulas Effectively

Think about what is OS based !Consider what might need to be expanded !Look at how someone else would see your formula

Premade Salt FormulasOver 75 formulas publicly available !Not all formulas require the map !Fork it with GIT and modify as needed

Contributing BackFork an existing repo !Ask for a repo to be made !Contact the members

IRC: forrest !Twitter: failvarez !GitHub: gravyboat

Questions?

SourcesXKCD: Kayak comic - http://xkcd.com/209/ Easy button - http://dealer-communications.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/easy_button.png Bad cabling - http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2353/2219131561_31feee1745.jpg

Earl of Lemongrab - http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2013/108/e/3/lemongrab_by_twillis-d6266g9.png Dat Map - http://cdn.memegenerator.net/instances/500x/43904408.jpg Bruce Lee - http://www.elliottcaras.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Bruce-Lee-Simplicity-is-the-key-2-brilliance.jpg Structure of Salt - http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/NaCl.png Github OctoCat - http://www.iconsdb.com/icons/download/black/github-10-512.png