Install a release candidate

You can make an important contribution to the Salt Project by installing and testing release candidates (RCs) of Salt when they are made available prior to a release. Testing the RC and reporting any bugs or performance issues helps ensure code quality and minimizes disruptions to service when Salt users upgrade their Salt infrastructure.

What is a release candidate (RC)?

Release candidates are early versions of Salt that are released prior to an official Salt release. For LTS releases of Salt, the Salt Project releases two RCs in the months leading up to the official LTS release.

Report bugs

To report any bugs you find while testing a release candidate, open an issue on the Salt repository on GitHub and write [RC] in the issue title. For example: [RC][BUG] Description of bug.

Install using packages

RC builds for a few major platforms are available at the Salt repository: https://repo.saltproject.io/salt_rc/

RC builds are typically only available for the latest version of the operating system at the time the RC is available. Older versions of operating systems might not get an RC release.

To install release candidate packages:

1. Use the standard minor install instructions for your operating system. See Manual install directions by operating system.

2. On the step where you normally import the Salt Project repository key and pin the package to a specific version of Salt, after https://repo.saltproject.io insert salt_rc/ before the remainder of the file path.

   GPG key change

   The GPG key for the 3007.1 release is now named: SALT-PROJECT-GPG-PUBKEY-2023. You must import the new GPG key before upgrading or your upgrade will fail.

   To install the latest RC, run the following commands:

   RHEL 9

   sudo rpm --import https://repo.saltproject.io/salt_rc/salt/py3/redhat/9/x86_64/latest/SALT-PROJECT-GPG-PUBKEY-2023.pub
   curl -fsSL https://repo.saltproject.io/salt_rc/salt/py3/redhat/9/x86_64/latest.repo | sudo tee /etc/yum.repos.d/salt.repo
   

   Ubuntu 22.04 (Jammy)

   sudo curl -fsSL -o /etc/apt/keyrings/salt-archive-keyring-2023.gpg https://repo.saltproject.io/salt_rc/salt/py3/ubuntu/22.04/amd64/latest/SALT-PROJECT-GPG-PUBKEY-2023.gpg
   echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/salt-archive-keyring-2023.gpg] https://repo.saltproject.io/salt_rc/salt/py3/ubuntu/22.04/amd64/latest/ jammy main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/salt.list
   

   Debian 11 (Bullseye)

   sudo mkdir -p /etc/apt/keyrings
   
   sudo curl -fsSL -o /etc/apt/keyrings/salt-archive-keyring-2023.gpg https://repo.saltproject.io/salt_rc/salt/py3/debian/11/amd64/latest/SALT-PROJECT-GPG-PUBKEY-2023.gpg
   
   echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/salt-archive-keyring-2023.gpg] https://repo.saltproject.io/salt_rc/salt/py3/debian/11/amd64/latest/ bullseye main" | sudo tee  /etc/apt/sources.list.d/salt.list
   

   Windows

   The following are URLs for the latest release candidate:

   Arch	File type	Download install file
   AMD64	exe	https://repo.saltproject.io/salt_rc/salt/py3/windows/latest/Salt-Minion-3007.0rc1-Py3-AMD64-Setup.exe
   AMD64	msi	https://repo.saltproject.io/salt_rc/salt/py3/windows/latest/Salt-Minion-3007.0rc1-Py3-AMD64.msi
   x86	exe	https://repo.saltproject.io/salt_rc/salt/py3/windows/latest/Salt-Minion-3007.0rc1-Py3-x86-Setup.exe
   x86	msi	https://repo.saltproject.io/salt_rc/salt/py3/windows/latest/Salt-Minion-3007.0rc1-Py3-x86.msi

   Download the installer that matches your operating system. Double-click the installer to install Salt. You can also install the release candidate from the command line using various switches. Those can be found by running the .exe installer with the /? option.

   Salt-Minion-3007.0rc1-Py3-AMD64-Setup.exe /?
   

   For options for the .msi installer, see the documentation here.

Install using bootstrap

You can install a release candidate of Salt using one of the scripts in the Salt bootstrap project.

Linux/macOS

Run the following command for the latest RC release, using 3007.0rc1 as an example:

curl -o install_salt.sh -L https://bootstrap.saltproject.io
sudo sh install_salt.sh -P -x python3 git v3007.0rc1

To install a master using Salt bootstrap, use the -M flag. For example:

curl -o install_salt.sh -L https://bootstrap.saltproject.io
sudo sh install_salt.sh -P -M -x python3 git v3007.0rc1

If you want to install only a master and not a minion using Salt bootstrap, use the -M and -N flags. For example:

curl -o install_salt.sh -L https://bootstrap.saltproject.io
sudo sh install_salt.sh -P -M -N -x python3 git v3007.0rc1

Windows

Run the following command to install the latest RC release:

Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope Process -Force
[System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [System.Net.SecurityProtocolType]'Tls12'
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri https://winbootstrap.saltproject.io -OutFile .\bootstrap.ps1
.\bootstrap.ps1 -RepoUrl https://repo.saltproject.io/salt_rc/salt/py3/windows

Install using pip

To install the release candidate using pip from PyPi:

1. Install the build dependencies:

   To pip install the latest RC release:

   RHEL systems

   Run the following commands:

   sudo yum install python3-pip python3-devel gcc gcc-c++
   

   Debian systems

   Run the following commands:

   sudo apt-get install python3-pip python3-dev gcc g++
   

   Other systems

   Install:

   • pip
   • Python header libraries
   • C and C++ compilers

   Windows

   There are 3 requirements for Salt on Windows:

   • Python (3.10+)
   • VC Redistributable - 2013 for Salt 3006.x and below - 2022 for Salt 3007.x and above
   • Visual Studio Build Tools

   Install a compatible version of Python and the corresponding version of VC Redistributable for the version of Salt you want to install.

   Salt dependencies require Visual Studio Build tools to compile properly. The easiest way to install the build tools is with the install_vs_buildtools.ps1 powershell script in the Salt repo. Run the following command to download and run this script:

   Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope Process -Force
   [System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [System.Net.SecurityProtocolType]'Tls12'
   Invoke-WebRequest -Uri https://raw.githubusercontent.com/saltstack/salt/master/pkg/windows/install_vs_buildtools.ps1 -OutFile .\install_vs_buildtools.ps1
   .\install_vs_buildtools.ps1
   

2. Install Salt using the following command:

   Linux

   sudo pip install salt==$rc_tag_version
   

   Windows

   pip install salt==$rc_tag_version
   

   To pip install the latest RC release, using 3007.0rc1 as an example:

   Linux/macOS

   sudo pip install salt==3007.0rc1
   

   Windows

   pip install salt==3007.0rc1