Core Configuration

A number of core configuration options and some options that are global to the VM profiles can be set in the cloud configuration file. By default this file is located at /etc/salt/cloud.

Thread Pool Size

When salt cloud is operating in parallel mode via the -P argument, you can control the thread pool size by specifying the pool_size parameter with a positive integer value.

By default, the thread pool size will be set to the number of VMs that salt cloud is operating on.

pool_size: 10

Minion Configuration

The default minion configuration is set up in this file. Minions created by salt-cloud derive their configuration from this file. Almost all parameters found in Configuring the Salt Minion can be used here.

minion:
  master: saltmaster.example.com

In particular, this is the location to specify the location of the salt master and its listening port, if the port is not set to the default.

Similar to most other settings, Minion configuration settings are inherited across configuration files. For example, the master setting might be contained in the main cloud configuration file as demonstrated above, but additional settings can be placed in the provider, profile or map configuration files:

ec2-web:
  size: t1.micro
  minion:
    environment: test
    startup_states: sls
    sls_list:
      - web

When salt cloud creates a new minion, it can automatically add grain information to the minion configuration file identifying the sources originally used to define it.

The generated grain information will appear similar to:

grains:
  salt-cloud:
    driver: ec2
    provider: my_ec2:ec2
    profile: ec2-web

The generation of the salt-cloud grain can be suppressed by the option enable_cloud_grains: 'False' in the cloud configuration file.

Cloud Configuration Syntax

The data specific to interacting with public clouds is set up here.

Cloud provider configuration settings can live in several places. The first is in /etc/salt/cloud:

# /etc/salt/cloud
providers:
  my-aws-migrated-config:
    id: HJGRYCILJLKJYG
    key: 'kdjgfsgm;woormgl/aserigjksjdhasdfgn'
    keyname: test
    securitygroup: quick-start
    private_key: /root/test.pem
    driver: ec2

Cloud provider configuration data can also be housed in /etc/salt/cloud.providers or any file matching /etc/salt/cloud.providers.d/*.conf. All files in any of these locations will be parsed for cloud provider data.

Using the example configuration above:

# /etc/salt/cloud.providers
# or could be /etc/salt/cloud.providers.d/*.conf
my-aws-config:
  id: HJGRYCILJLKJYG
  key: 'kdjgfsgm;woormgl/aserigjksjdhasdfgn'
  keyname: test
  securitygroup: quick-start
  private_key: /root/test.pem
  driver: ec2

Note

Salt Cloud provider configurations within /etc/cloud.provider.d/ should not specify the providers starting key.

It is also possible to have multiple cloud configuration blocks within the same alias block. For example:

production-config:
  - id: HJGRYCILJLKJYG
    key: 'kdjgfsgm;woormgl/aserigjksjdhasdfgn'
    keyname: test
    securitygroup: quick-start
    private_key: /root/test.pem
    driver: ec2

  - user: example_user
    apikey: 123984bjjas87034
    driver: rackspace

However, using this configuration method requires a change with profile configuration blocks. The provider alias needs to have the provider key value appended as in the following example:

rhel_aws_dev:
  provider: production-config:ec2
  image: ami-e565ba8c
  size: t1.micro

rhel_aws_prod:
  provider: production-config:ec2
  image: ami-e565ba8c
  size: High-CPU Extra Large Instance

database_prod:
  provider: production-config:rackspace
  image: Ubuntu 12.04 LTS
  size: 256 server

Notice that because of the multiple entries, one has to be explicit about the provider alias and name, from the above example, production-config: ec2.

This data interactions with the salt-cloud binary regarding its --list-location, --list-images, and --list-sizes which needs a cloud provider as an argument. The argument used should be the configured cloud provider alias. If the provider alias has multiple entries, <provider-alias>: <provider-name> should be used.

To allow for a more extensible configuration, --providers-config, which defaults to /etc/salt/cloud.providers, was added to the cli parser. It allows for the providers' configuration to be added on a per-file basis.

Pillar Configuration

It is possible to configure cloud providers using pillars. This is only used when inside the cloud module. You can setup a variable called cloud that contains your profile, provider, and map to pass that information to the cloud servers instead of having to copy the full configuration to every minion. In your pillar file, you would use something like this:

cloud:
  ssh_key_name: saltstack
  ssh_key_file: /root/.ssh/id_rsa
  update_cachedir: True
  diff_cache_events: True

  providers:
    my-openstack:
      driver: openstack
      region_name: ORD
      cloud: mycloud

  profiles:
    ubuntu-openstack:
      provider: my-openstack
      size: ds512M
      image: CentOS 7
      script_args: git develop

  maps:
    my-dev-map:
      ubuntu-openstack:
        - dev-test01
        - dev-test02
        - dev-test03
        - dev-test04
    my-prd-map:
      ubuntu-openstack:
        - prd-web01
        - prd-web02
            minion:
              id: custom-minion-id-app1-stack1-frontend
            grains:
              roles:
                - webserver
              deployment: datacenter4-openstack
        - prod-db01
        - prod-db02

Cloud Configurations

Scaleway

To use Salt Cloud with Scaleway, you need to get an access key and an API token. API tokens are unique identifiers associated with your Scaleway account. To retrieve your access key and API token, log-in to the Scaleway control panel, open the pull-down menu on your account name and click on "My Credentials" link.

If you do not have API token you can create one by clicking the "Create New Token" button on the right corner.

my-scaleway-config:
  access_key: 15cf404d-4560-41b1-9a0c-21c3d5c4ff1f
  token: a7347ec8-5de1-4024-a5e3-24b77d1ba91d
  driver: scaleway

Note

In the cloud profile that uses this provider configuration, the syntax for the provider required field would be provider: my-scaleway-config.

Rackspace

Rackspace cloud requires two configuration options; a user and an apikey:

my-rackspace-config:
  user: example_user
  apikey: 123984bjjas87034
  driver: rackspace

Note

In the cloud profile that uses this provider configuration, the syntax for the provider required field would be provider: my-rackspace-config.

Amazon AWS

A number of configuration options are required for Amazon AWS including id, key, keyname, securitygroup, and private_key:

my-aws-quick-start:
  id: HJGRYCILJLKJYG
  key: 'kdjgfsgm;woormgl/aserigjksjdhasdfgn'
  keyname: test
  securitygroup: quick-start
  private_key: /root/test.pem
  driver: ec2

my-aws-default:
  id: HJGRYCILJLKJYG
  key: 'kdjgfsgm;woormgl/aserigjksjdhasdfgn'
  keyname: test
  securitygroup: default
  private_key: /root/test.pem
  driver: ec2

Note

In the cloud profile that uses this provider configuration, the syntax for the provider required field would be either provider: my-aws-quick-start or provider: my-aws-default.

Linode

Linode requires a single API key, but the default root password also needs to be set:

my-linode-config:
  apikey: asldkgfakl;sdfjsjaslfjaklsdjf;askldjfaaklsjdfhasldsadfghdkf
  password: F00barbaz
  ssh_pubkey: ssh-ed25519 AAAAC3NzaC1lZDI1NTE5AAAAIKHEOLLbeXgaqRQT9NBAopVz366SdYc0KKX33vAnq+2R user@host
  ssh_key_file: ~/.ssh/id_ed25519
  driver: linode

The password needs to be 8 characters and contain lowercase, uppercase, and numbers.

Note

In the cloud profile that uses this provider configuration, the syntax for the provider required field would be provider: my-linode-config

Joyent Cloud

The Joyent cloud requires three configuration parameters: The username and password that are used to log into the Joyent system, as well as the location of the private SSH key associated with the Joyent account. The SSH key is needed to send the provisioning commands up to the freshly created virtual machine.

my-joyent-config:
  user: fred
  password: saltybacon
  private_key: /root/joyent.pem
  driver: joyent

Note

In the cloud profile that uses this provider configuration, the syntax for the provider required field would be provider: my-joyent-config

GoGrid

To use Salt Cloud with GoGrid, log into the GoGrid web interface and create an API key. Do this by clicking on "My Account" and then going to the API Keys tab.

The apikey and the sharedsecret configuration parameters need to be set in the configuration file to enable interfacing with GoGrid:

my-gogrid-config:
  apikey: asdff7896asdh789
  sharedsecret: saltybacon
  driver: gogrid

Note

In the cloud profile that uses this provider configuration, the syntax for the provider required field would be provider: my-gogrid-config.

OpenStack

Using Salt for OpenStack uses the shade <https://docs.openstack.org/shade/latest/> driver managed by the openstack-infra team.

This driver can be configured using the /etc/openstack/clouds.yml file with os-client-config <https://docs.openstack.org/os-client-config/latest/>

myopenstack:
  driver: openstack
  region_name: RegionOne
  cloud: mycloud

Or by just configuring the same auth block directly in the cloud provider config.

myopenstack:
  driver: openstack
  region_name: RegionOne
  auth:
    username: 'demo'
    password: secret
    project_name: 'demo'
    auth_url: 'http://openstack/identity'

Both of these methods support using the vendor <https://docs.openstack.org/os-client-config/latest/user/vendor-support.html> options.

For more information, look at Openstack Cloud Driver Docs

DigitalOcean

Using Salt for DigitalOcean requires a client_key and an api_key. These can be found in the DigitalOcean web interface, in the "My Settings" section, under the API Access tab.

my-digitalocean-config:
  driver: digitalocean
  personal_access_token: xxx
  location: New York 1

Note

In the cloud profile that uses this provider configuration, the syntax for the provider required field would be provider: my-digital-ocean-config.

Parallels

Using Salt with Parallels requires a user, password and URL. These can be obtained from your cloud provider.

my-parallels-config:
  user: myuser
  password: xyzzy
  url: https://api.cloud.xmission.com:4465/paci/v1.0/
  driver: parallels

Note

In the cloud profile that uses this provider configuration, the syntax for the provider required field would be provider: my-parallels-config.

Proxmox

Using Salt with Proxmox requires a user, password, and URL. These can be obtained from your cloud host. Both PAM and PVE users can be used.

my-proxmox-config:
  driver: proxmox
  user: saltcloud@pve
  password: xyzzy
  url: your.proxmox.host

Note

In the cloud profile that uses this provider configuration, the syntax for the provider required field would be provider: my-proxmox-config.

LXC

The lxc driver uses saltify to install salt and attach the lxc container as a new lxc minion. As soon as we can, we manage baremetal operation over SSH. You can also destroy those containers via this driver.

devhost10-lxc:
  target: devhost10
  driver: lxc

And in the map file:

devhost10-lxc:
  provider: devhost10-lxc
  from_container: ubuntu
  backing: lvm
  sudo: True
  size: 3g
  ip: 10.0.3.9
  minion:
    master: 10.5.0.1
    master_port: 4506
  lxc_conf:
    - lxc.utsname: superlxc

Note

In the cloud profile that uses this provider configuration, the syntax for the provider required field would be provider: devhost10-lxc.

Saltify

The Saltify driver is a new, experimental driver designed to install Salt on a remote machine, virtual or bare metal, using SSH. This driver is useful for provisioning machines which are already installed, but not Salted. For more information about using this driver and for configuration examples, please see the Getting Started with Saltify documentation.

Vagrant

The Vagrant driver is a new, experimental driver for controlling a VagrantBox virtual machine, and installing Salt on it. The target host machine must be a working salt minion, which is controlled via the salt master using salt-api. For more information, see Getting Started With Vagrant.

Extending Profiles and Cloud Providers Configuration

As of 0.8.7, the option to extend both the profiles and cloud providers configuration and avoid duplication was added. The extends feature works on the current profiles configuration, but, regarding the cloud providers configuration, only works in the new syntax and respective configuration files, i.e. /etc/salt/salt/cloud.providers or /etc/salt/cloud.providers.d/*.conf.

Note

Extending cloud profiles and providers is not recursive. For example, a profile that is extended by a second profile is possible, but the second profile cannot be extended by a third profile.

Also, if a profile (or provider) is extending another profile and each contains a list of values, the lists from the extending profile will override the list from the original profile. The lists are not merged together.

Extending Profiles

Some example usage on how to use extends with profiles. Consider /etc/salt/salt/cloud.profiles containing:

development-instances:
  provider: my-ec2-config
  size: t1.micro
  ssh_username: ec2_user
  securitygroup:
    - default
  deploy: False

Amazon-Linux-AMI-2012.09-64bit:
  image: ami-54cf5c3d
  extends: development-instances

Fedora-17:
  image: ami-08d97e61
  extends: development-instances

CentOS-5:
  provider: my-aws-config
  image: ami-09b61d60
  extends: development-instances

The above configuration, once parsed would generate the following profiles data:

[
    {
        "deploy": False,
        "image": "ami-08d97e61",
        "profile": "Fedora-17",
        "provider": "my-ec2-config",
        "securitygroup": ["default"],
        "size": "t1.micro",
        "ssh_username": "ec2_user",
    },
    {
        "deploy": False,
        "image": "ami-09b61d60",
        "profile": "CentOS-5",
        "provider": "my-aws-config",
        "securitygroup": ["default"],
        "size": "t1.micro",
        "ssh_username": "ec2_user",
    },
    {
        "deploy": False,
        "image": "ami-54cf5c3d",
        "profile": "Amazon-Linux-AMI-2012.09-64bit",
        "provider": "my-ec2-config",
        "securitygroup": ["default"],
        "size": "t1.micro",
        "ssh_username": "ec2_user",
    },
    {
        "deploy": False,
        "profile": "development-instances",
        "provider": "my-ec2-config",
        "securitygroup": ["default"],
        "size": "t1.micro",
        "ssh_username": "ec2_user",
    },
]

Pretty cool right?

Extending Providers

Some example usage on how to use extends within the cloud providers configuration. Consider /etc/salt/salt/cloud.providers containing:

my-develop-envs:
  - id: HJGRYCILJLKJYG
    key: 'kdjgfsgm;woormgl/aserigjksjdhasdfgn'
    keyname: test
    securitygroup: quick-start
    private_key: /root/test.pem
    location: ap-southeast-1
    availability_zone: ap-southeast-1b
    driver: ec2

  - user: myuser@mycorp.com
    password: mypass
    ssh_key_name: mykey
    ssh_key_file: '/etc/salt/ibm/mykey.pem'
    location: Raleigh
    driver: ibmsce


my-productions-envs:
  - extends: my-develop-envs:ibmsce
    user: my-production-user@mycorp.com
    location: us-east-1
    availability_zone: us-east-1

The above configuration, once parsed would generate the following providers data:

"providers": {
    "my-develop-envs": [
        {
            "availability_zone": "ap-southeast-1b",
            "id": "HJGRYCILJLKJYG",
            "key": "kdjgfsgm;woormgl/aserigjksjdhasdfgn",
            "keyname": "test",
            "location": "ap-southeast-1",
            "private_key": "/root/test.pem",
            "driver": "aws",
            "securitygroup": "quick-start",
        },
        {
            "location": "Raleigh",
            "password": "mypass",
            "driver": "ibmsce",
            "ssh_key_file": "/etc/salt/ibm/mykey.pem",
            "ssh_key_name": "mykey",
            "user": "myuser@mycorp.com",
        },
    ],
    "my-productions-envs": [
        {
            "availability_zone": "us-east-1",
            "location": "us-east-1",
            "password": "mypass",
            "driver": "ibmsce",
            "ssh_key_file": "/etc/salt/ibm/mykey.pem",
            "ssh_key_name": "mykey",
            "user": "my-production-user@mycorp.com",
        }
    ],
}