They listen to their commands and do what they say without question. But how exactly does this magic happen? Let me break it down for you in simpler terms:
1. First, you need a Salt Master server running somewhere on your network. This is the big daddy that gives orders to all of its minions. You can install Salt on Ubuntu by following these steps:
Add the Salt Stack repository to your sources list with this command: `sudo echo “deb https://repo.saltstack.com/apt/ubuntu/16.04/ xenial main” | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/saltstack-xenial.conf`
Add the Salt Stack GPG key with this command: `curl https://repo.saltstack.com/apt/ubuntu/16.04/ARM/saltstack-minion-KEY | sudo apt-key add -`
Update your package list and install Salt Master with these commands: `sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade salt-master`
2. Next, you need to configure the Salt Master by editing its configuration file at `/etc/salt/minion`. Here’s an example config that tells minions where to find their master and what environment they should use:
# Example Salt Minion Configuration File
# This is a YAML-formatted text document.
# For more information, see https://docs.saltstack.com/en/latest/topics/config/all/masterless_minion_configuration.html
# Set the name of this minion (required)
id: my-cool-server # Set the name of the minion to "my-cool-server"
# Define a list of environments that this minion should be in (optional)
environment: # Define a list of environments
- dev # Add "dev" environment to the list
- prod # Add "prod" environment to the list
# Specify where to find your Salt Master server (required)
master: salt.example.com # Set the Salt Master server to "salt.example.com"
# Set the port number for communicating with the Salt Master (default is 4505)
# This can be useful if you're running a non-standard port on your master
master_port: 8123 # Set the port number to 8123 for communication with the Salt Master
# Define any additional options that should be passed to the minion when it starts up
# For example, you might want to set the log level or disable certain features.
# See https://docs.saltstack.com/en/latest/ref/configuration/all/masterless_minion_configuration.html#id1 for more info.
# Add any additional options here, such as log level or disabled features.
3. Once your Salt Master is configured, you can start it with this command: `sudo systemctl restart salt-master`
4. Now let’s create a new minion on one of our servers by running these commands:
Add the Salt Stack repository to your sources list with this command: `sudo echo “deb https://repo.saltstack.com/apt/ubuntu/16.04/ xenial main” | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/saltstack-xenial.conf`
Add the Salt Stack GPG key with this command: `curl https://repo.saltstack.com/apt/ubuntu/16.04/ARM/saltstack-minion-KEY | sudo apt-key add -`
Update your package list and install Salt Minion with these commands: `sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade salt-minion`
5. Next, you need to configure the minion by editing its configuration file at `/etc/salt/minion`. Here’s an example config that tells the minion where to find its master and what environment it should use:
# Example Salt Minion Configuration File
# This is a YAML-formatted text document.
# For more information, see https://docs.saltstack.com/en/latest/topics/config/all/minion_configuration.html
# Set the name of this minion (required)
id: my-cool-server # Sets the name of the minion to "my-cool-server"
# Define a list of environments that this minion should be in (optional)
environment: # Defines a list of environments for the minion to be in
- dev # First environment is "dev"
- prod # Second environment is "prod"
# Specify where to find your Salt Master server (required)
master: salt.example.com # Sets the Salt Master server to "salt.example.com"
# Set the port number for communicating with the Salt Master (default is 4505)
# This can be useful if you're running a non-standard port on your master
master_port: 8123 # Sets the port number for communication with the Salt Master to 8123
6. Once your minion is configured, you need to restart it with this command: `sudo systemctl restart salt-minion`
7. Now let’s test our Salt setup by running a simple command on the master server: `salt ‘my-cool-server’ test.ping`
8. If everything is working correctly, you should see output like this:
# This script is used to test the Salt setup by running a simple command on the master server.
# The minion needs to be restarted after configuration.
sudo systemctl restart salt-minion
# The command to test the Salt setup on the master server.
salt 'my-cool-server' test.ping
# The output should include the following information:
# - ID: the name of the server being tested
# - Results: whether the test was successful or not
# - Comment: a message indicating the status of the Salt minion on the server
# The output should also be formatted using dashes and spaces for readability.
my-cool-server:
----------
ID: my-cool-server
Results: True
Comment: Salt minion running on my-cool-server
----------
9. Congratulations! You’ve successfully set up a Salt Master and Minions. Now you can use Salt to manage your servers with ease.