HATech Academy - Saltstack 101

Introduction

This Intro to Saltstack training session introduces the student to Saltstack, its architecture and why it is so different to other options like Puppet, Chef and Ansible. The training labs in will introduce basic setup and configuration, state modules and execution modules, and how to query the infrastructure and retrieve an inventory of all connected devices. The presentation for this lab can be downloaded from : https://hatech.io/download/intro-to-saltstack/

LAB 1 -Create Resource Group

Login to your Azure Account
Click on the Resource Groups menu
Click ‘+’ add to create a new Resource Group
Provide a name for the Resource Group
For this lab choose West US for the Region
Click OK

Create Salt Master node

Select the Virtual Machines menu
Click ‘+’ to create a new Virtual Machine Instance
Choose Ubuntu 16.04 as the instance OS
Click Create
Give it a name of ‘saltmaster’
Provide a Username
Choose Password instead of SSH Key and enter a password
Select the Resource Group that you created above
Click OK
Choose B1MS as the instance size
Click OK
Click Advanced Network Security Group
Click Network Security Group (firewall)
Create New to add a new Firewall
Click default-allow-ssh
Add the following Destination Ports – 80,4505,4505
Click Save
Click OK to exit the Security settings
Click OK to exit the Optional settings
Check the Summary and click Create

Create Salt Minion node

Select the Virtual Machines menu
Click ‘+’ to create a new Virtual Machine Instance
Choose Ubuntu 16.04 as the instance OS
Click Create
Give it a name of ‘saltmaster’
Provide a Username
Choose Password instead of SSH Key and enter a password
Select the Resource Group that you created above
Click OK
Choose B1MS as the instance size
Click OK
Ensure the virtual network is the same as the Salt Master
Click Advanced for Network Security Group
Click Network Security group (firewall)
Click saltmaster-nsg or whatever name you gave the security group above
Click Save
Click OK to exit the Security settings
Click OK to exit the Optional settings
Check the Summary and click Create

Install SaltMaster

From Virtual Machines menu, click on the Salt Master node
Copy the public IP address
SSH into the node ex. ssh tkelley@
Run
```
sudo su
```

Run

wget -O - https://repo.saltstack.com/apt/ubuntu/18.04/amd64/latest/SALTSTACK-GPG-KEY.pub | sudo apt-key add -

Run

echo "deb http://repo.saltstack.com/apt/ubuntu/18.04/amd64/latest bionic main" >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/saltstack.list

Run

apt-get update && apt-get install -y salt-api salt-master salt-minion salt-ssh

Run
```
mkdir /srv/salt
```

Run

service salt-master status and ensure salt-master is running

Exit Box

Install SaltMinion

From Virtual Machines menu, click on the Salt Master node
Copy the public IP address
SSH into the node ex. ssh tkelley@
Run
```
sudo su
```

Run

wget -O - https://repo.saltstack.com/apt/ubuntu/18.04/amd64/latest/SALTSTACK-GPG-KEY.pub | sudo apt-key add -

Run

echo "deb http://repo.saltstack.com/apt/ubuntu/18.04/amd64/latest bionic main" >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/saltstack.list

Run

apt-get update && apt-get install -y salt-api salt-minion salt-ssh

Run
```
mkdir /srv/salt
```

Run

service salt-minion status and ensure salt-minion is running

Exit Box

Configure & Test

Run
```
nano /etc/salt/minion
```
On line 16, delete the # and change salt to the IP address of the master
Run control + x to exit the file
Press y to save changes
Press Enter to exit the file
Run
```
service salt-minion restart
```
Accept minion key
From Virtual Machines menu, click on the Salt Master node
Copy the public IP address
SSH into the node ex. ssh tkelley@
Run
```
sudo su
```
Run
```
salt-key -L
```
It may take a moment but in the Unaccepted Keys: section a key name for the
Salt Minion should be there
When it appears, run
```
salt-key -a
```
Press y to accept the key
Run
```
salt '*' test.ping
```

LAB 2 – Saltstack Execution Modules

The following lab is an example of some of the commands that can be executed from the command line on the Salt master:

The following command checks connectivity between the Master and the minions
```
salt '*' test.ping
```
The following command is an example of reading a file on the minion and sending the output to the salt master
```
salt '*' cmd.run 'cat /etc/hosts'
```
The following installs Apache on all the connected minions
```
salt '*' pkg.install 'apache2'
```
The following removes Apache on all the connected minions
```
salt '*' pkg.remove 'apache2'
```

LAB 3 – Saltstack State Modules

The following lab is an example of how we can declare a state that we wish a minion to match:

Create a new file called /srv/salt/webserver/init.sls
```
cd /srv/salt
mkdir webserver
nano webserver/init.sls
```

Create a state to install apache

apache2:
  pkg.installed: []
  service.running:
    - require:
      - pkg: apache2

Apply the state to your minions
```
salt '*' state.apply webserver
```

Jon Hathaway