salt.states.reg#

Manage the Windows registry#

Many python developers think of registry keys as if they were python keys in a dictionary which is not the case. The windows registry is broken down into the following components:

Hives#

This is the top level of the registry. They all begin with HKEY.

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT (HKCR)

HKEY_CURRENT_USER (HKCU)

HKEY_LOCAL MACHINE (HKLM)

HKEY_USER (HKU)

HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG

Keys#

Hives contain keys. These are basically the folders beneath the hives. They can contain any number of subkeys.

When passing the hivekey values they must be quoted correctly depending on the backslashes being used (\ vs \\). The way backslashes are handled in the state file is different from the way they are handled when working on the CLI. The following are valid methods of passing the hivekey:

Using single backslashes:: HKLMSOFTWAREPython 'HKLMSOFTWAREPython'
Using double backslashes:: "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Python"

Values or Entries#

Values or Entries are the name/data pairs beneath the keys and subkeys. All keys have a default name/data pair. The name is (Default) with a displayed value of (value not set). The actual value is Null.

Example

The following example is taken from the windows startup portion of the registry:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run]
"RTHDVCPL"="\"C:\\Program Files\\Realtek\\Audio\\HDA\\RtkNGUI64.exe\" -s"
"NvBackend"="\"C:\\Program Files (x86)\\NVIDIA Corporation\\Update Core\\NvBackend.exe\""
"BTMTrayAgent"="rundll32.exe \"C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Intel\\Bluetooth\\btmshellex.dll\",TrayApp"

In this example these are the values for each:

Hive:: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Key and subkeys:: SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Run

Value:

There are 3 value names: RTHDVCPL, NvBackend, and BTMTrayAgent
Each value name has a corresponding value

salt.states.reg.absent(name, vname=None, use_32bit_registry=False)#

Ensure a registry value is removed. To remove a key use key_absent.

Parameters:

name (str) --
A string value representing the full path of the key to include the HIVE, Key, and all Subkeys. For example:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Salt

Valid hive values include:
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER or HKCU
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE or HKLM
- HKEY_USERS or HKU
vname (str) -- The name of the value you'd like to create beneath the Key. If this parameter is not passed it will assume you want to set the (Default) value
use_32bit_registry (bool) -- Use the 32bit portion of the registry. Applies only to 64bit windows. 32bit Windows will ignore this parameter. Default is False.

Returns:

A dictionary showing the results of the registry operation.

Return type:

dict

CLI Example:

'HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Salt':
  reg.absent
    - vname: version
In the above example the value named version will be removed from the SOFTWARE\Salt key in the HKEY_CURRENT_USER hive. If vname was not passed, the (Default) value would be deleted.

salt.states.reg.key_absent(name, use_32bit_registry=False)#

New in version 2015.5.4.

Ensure a registry key is removed. This will remove the key, subkeys, and all value entries.

Parameters:

name (str) --
A string representing the full path to the key to be removed to include the hive and the keypath. The hive can be any of the following:
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE or HKLM
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER or HKCU
- HKEY_USER or HKU
use_32bit_registry (bool) -- Use the 32bit portion of the registry. Applies only to 64bit windows. 32bit Windows will ignore this parameter. Default is False.

Returns:

A dictionary showing the results of the registry operation.

Return type:

dict

CLI Example:

The following example will delete the SOFTWARE\DeleteMe key in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE hive including all its subkeys and value pairs.
remove_key_demo:
  reg.key_absent:
    - name: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\DeleteMe
In the above example the path is interpreted as follows:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER is the hive

SOFTWARE\DeleteMe is the key

salt.states.reg.present(name, vname=None, vdata=None, vtype='REG_SZ', use_32bit_registry=False, win_owner=None, win_perms=None, win_deny_perms=None, win_inheritance=True, win_perms_reset=False)#

Ensure a registry key or value is present.

Parameters:

name (str) --
A string value representing the full path of the key to include the HIVE, Key, and all Subkeys. For example:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Salt

Valid hive values include:
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER or HKCU
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE or HKLM
- HKEY_USERS or HKU
vname (str) -- The name of the value you'd like to create beneath the Key. If this parameter is not passed it will assume you want to set the (Default) value
vdata (str, int, list, bytes) --
The value you'd like to set. If a value name (vname) is passed, this will be the data for that value name. If not, this will be the (Default) value for the key.

The type of data this parameter expects is determined by the value type specified in vtype. The correspondence is as follows:
- REG_BINARY: Binary data (str in Py2, bytes in Py3)
- REG_DWORD: int
- REG_EXPAND_SZ: str
- REG_MULTI_SZ: list of str
- REG_QWORD: int
- REG_SZ: str
Note

When setting REG_BINARY, string data will be converted to binary automatically. To pass binary data, use the built-in yaml tag !!binary to denote the actual binary characters. For example, the following lines will both set the same data in the registry:
- vdata: Salty Test
- vdata: !!binary U2FsdHkgVGVzdA==\n
For more information about the !!binary tag see here
Note

The type for the (Default) value is always REG_SZ and cannot be changed. This parameter is optional. If not passed, the Key will be created with no associated item/value pairs.
vtype (str) --
The value type for the data you wish to store in the registry. Valid values are:
- REG_BINARY
- REG_DWORD
- REG_EXPAND_SZ
- REG_MULTI_SZ
- REG_QWORD
- REG_SZ (Default)
use_32bit_registry (bool) -- Use the 32bit portion of the registry. Applies only to 64bit windows. 32bit Windows will ignore this parameter. Default is False.
win_owner (str) --
The owner of the registry key. If this is not passed, the account under which Salt is running will be used.

Note

Owner is set for the key that contains the value/data pair. You cannot set ownership on value/data pairs themselves.

New in version 2019.2.0.
win_perms (dict) --
A dictionary containing permissions to grant and their propagation. If not passed the 'Grant` permissions will not be modified.

Note

Permissions are set for the key that contains the value/data pair. You cannot set permissions on value/data pairs themselves.

For each user specify the account name, with a sub dict for the permissions to grant and the 'Applies to' setting. For example: {'Administrators': {'perms': 'full_control', 'applies_to': 'this_key_subkeys'}}. perms must be specified.

Registry permissions are specified using the perms key. You can specify a single basic permission or a list of advanced perms. The following are valid perms:
Basic (passed as a string):
full_control

read

write
Advanced (passed as a list):
delete

query_value

set_value

create_subkey

enum_subkeys

notify

create_link

read_control

write_dac

write_owner
The 'Applies to' setting is optional. It is specified using the applies_to key. If not specified this_key_subkeys is used. Valid options are:
Applies to settings:
this_key_only

this_key_subkeys

subkeys_only
New in version 2019.2.0.
win_deny_perms (dict) --
A dictionary containing permissions to deny and their propagation. If not passed the Deny permissions will not be modified.

Note

Permissions are set for the key that contains the value/data pair. You cannot set permissions on value/data pairs themselves.

Valid options are the same as those specified in win_perms

Note

'Deny' permissions always take precedence over 'grant'
permissions.

New in version 2019.2.0.
win_inheritance (bool) --
True to inherit permissions from the parent key. False to disable inheritance. Default is True.

Note

Inheritance is set for the key that contains the value/data pair. You cannot set inheritance on value/data pairs themselves.

New in version 2019.2.0.
win_perms_reset (bool) --
If True the existing DACL will be cleared and replaced with the settings defined in this function. If False, new entries will be appended to the existing DACL. Default is False

Note

Perms are reset for the key that contains the value/data pair. You cannot set permissions on value/data pairs themselves.

New in version 2019.2.0.

Returns:

A dictionary showing the results of the registry operation.

Return type:

dict

Example:

The following example will set the (Default) value for the SOFTWARE\Salt key in the HKEY_CURRENT_USER hive to 2016.3.1:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Salt:
  reg.present:
    - vdata: 2016.3.1

Example:

The following example will set the value for the version entry under the SOFTWARE\Salt key in the HKEY_CURRENT_USER hive to 2016.3.1. The value will be reflected in Wow6432Node:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Salt:
  reg.present:
    - vname: version
    - vdata: 2016.3.1

In the above example the path is interpreted as follows:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER is the hive

SOFTWARE\Salt is the key

vname is the value name ('version') that will be created under the key

vdata is the data that will be assigned to 'version'

Example:

Binary data can be set in two ways. The following two examples will set a binary value of Salty Test

no_conversion:
  reg.present:
    - name: HKLM\SOFTWARE\SaltTesting
    - vname: test_reg_binary_state
    - vdata: Salty Test
    - vtype: REG_BINARY

conversion:
  reg.present:
    - name: HKLM\SOFTWARE\SaltTesting
    - vname: test_reg_binary_state_with_tag
    - vdata: !!binary U2FsdHkgVGVzdA==\n
    - vtype: REG_BINARY

Example:

To set a REG_MULTI_SZ value:

reg_multi_sz:
  reg.present:
    - name: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Salt
    - vname: reg_multi_sz
    - vdata:
      - list item 1
      - list item 2

Example:

To ensure a key is present and has permissions:

set_key_permissions:
  reg.present:
    - name: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Salt
    - vname: version
    - vdata: 2016.3.1
    - win_owner: Administrators
    - win_perms:
        jsnuffy:
          perms: full_control
        sjones:
          perms:
            - read_control
            - enum_subkeys
            - query_value
          applies_to:
            - this_key_only
    - win_deny_perms:
        bsimpson:
          perms: full_control
          applies_to: this_key_subkeys
    - win_inheritance: True
    - win_perms_reset: True

Table of Contents

salt.states.reg#

Manage the Windows registry#

Hives#

Keys#

Values or Entries#