SaltStack configuration management tools and their many functions

SaltStack Components

SaltStack can be run either in master-minion or standalone mode. The full master-minion model involves invoking the salt-minion daemon on each node. The minion will then search for and connect to a SaltStack master server. The master server then becomes the controller, collecting all the data on the nodes and managing all provisioning and management activity on it. In standalone mode, the salt-minion daemon is not run; however, the node can either look after itself and/or can provide functionality to look after other nodes that have no connectivity to a master server. A differentiator for SaltStack is the speed in which it can collect data and provision scripts back out. It uses ZeroMQ as a message bus to enable this.

SaltStack uses a series of terms for how it operates:

• Execution Modules represent the functions that are used across the platform;
• State Modules execute pieces of code that enforce, set up or change the configuration of a target node;
• Grains provide a system for gathering static information about a node, holding the information in RAM for rapid access;
• Renderer Modules convert commands and scripts through to the SaltStack engine, enabling it to use any serialized format of scripts; and
• Returners are systems that can collect information sent by nodes, aggregating it sensibly from any arbitrary locations the data was sent.

Runners are master-side applications executed by the SaltStack salt-run command itself.

SaltStack Licensing and Pricing Options

Pricing is available on a case-by-case basis, but is based on either a per-node or a level of support subscription model.

There are three levels of SaltStack support, aligned to offer support to different sizes and types of organization:

• SaltStack Basic offers web portal-based support, with same-day response and a degree of training included. It also provides discounts toward extra training and other services, such as workshops on getting started with SaltStack -- see below for more details -- and on continuous delivery for DevOps.
• SaltStack Priority support provides phone and web portal-based support, with 24/7 response tied into the agreed service-level agreement. Training is also included in this support package, along with the discounts offered with Basic. The package includes an annual implementation health check of the customer's environment.
• SaltStack Premium support makes the annual implementation health check to a quarterly check, and offers an optional named account manager.

All support packages give the user access to the SaltStack brains trust: a mix of community experts and SaltStack employees in the support, quality assurance, engineering and core development teams. SaltStack offers web-based Quickstart guides that help users set up and start utilizing Salt. Within its paid support subscriptions, it also provides Quickstart workshops that instruct customers on private infrastructure automation and public cloud orchestration.

SaltStack states that its tools are suitable for organizations of any size. Certainly, it has the speed and scalability to meet the needs of larger organizations. SaltStack can also work well for smaller organizations based on its capacity to be run in masterless mode, as well having a relatively low learning curve combined with specific support models.