The top file is used to map what SLS modules get loaded onto what minions via the state system. The top file creates a few general abstractions. First it maps what nodes should pull from which environments, next it defines which matches systems should draw from.
Note
Environments in Salt are very flexible, this section defines how the top file can be used to define what states from what environments are to be used for specific minions.
If the intent is to bind minions to specific environments, then the environment option can be set in the minion configuration file.
The environments in the top file corresponds with the environments defined in the file_roots variable. In a simple, single environment setup you only have the base environment, and therefore only one state tree. Here is a simple example of file_roots in the master configuration:
file_roots:
base:
- /srv/salt
This means that the top file will only have one environment to pull from, here is a simple, single environment top file:
base:
'*':
- core
- edit
This also means that /srv/salt has a state tree. But if you want to use multiple environments, or partition the file server to serve more than just the state tree, then the file_roots option can be expanded:
file_roots:
base:
- /srv/salt/base
dev:
- /srv/salt/dev
qa:
- /srv/salt/qa
prod:
- /srv/salt/prod
Then our top file could reference the environments:
dev:
'webserver*dev*':
- webserver
'db*dev*':
- db
qa:
'webserver*qa*':
- webserver
'db*qa*':
- db
prod:
'webserver*prod*':
- webserver
'db*prod*':
- db
In this setup we have state trees in three of the four environments, and no state tree in the base environment. Notice that the targets for the minions specify environment data. In Salt the master determines who is in what environment, and many environments can be crossed together. For instance, a separate global state tree could be added to the base environment if it suits your deployment:
base:
'*':
- global
dev:
'webserver*dev*':
- webserver
'db*dev*':
- db
qa:
'webserver*qa*':
- webserver
'db*qa*':
- db
prod:
'webserver*prod*':
- webserver
'db*prod*':
- db
In this setup all systems will pull the global SLS from the base environment, as well as pull from their respective environments. If you assign only one SLS to a system, as in this example, a shorthand is also available:
base:
'*': global
dev:
'webserver*dev*': webserver
'db*dev*': db
qa:
'webserver*qa*': webserver
'db*qa*': db
prod:
'webserver*prod*': webserver
'db*prod*': db
Note
The top files from all defined environments will be compiled into a single top file for all states. Top files are environment agnostic.
Remember, that since everything is a file in Salt, the environments are primarily file server environments, this means that environments that have nothing to do with states can be defined and used to distribute other files.
A clean and recommended setup for multiple environments would look like this:
# Master file_roots configuration:
file_roots:
base:
- /srv/salt/base
dev:
- /srv/salt/dev
qa:
- /srv/salt/qa
prod:
- /srv/salt/prod
Then only place state trees in the dev, qa and prod environments, leaving the base environment open for generic file transfers. Then the top.sls file would look something like this:
dev:
'webserver*dev*':
- webserver
'db*dev*':
- db
qa:
'webserver*qa*':
- webserver
'db*qa*':
- db
prod:
'webserver*prod*':
- webserver
'db*prod*':
- db
In addition to globs, minions can be specified in top files a few other ways. Some common ones are compound matches and node groups.
Here is a slightly more complex top file example, showing the different types of matches you can perform:
base:
'*':
- ldap-client
- networking
- salt.minion
'salt-master*':
- salt.master
'^(memcache|web).(qa|prod).loc$':
- match: pcre
- nagios.mon.web
- apache.server
'os:Ubuntu':
- match: grain
- repos.ubuntu
'os:(RedHat|CentOS)':
- match: grain_pcre
- repos.epel
'foo,bar,baz':
- match: list
- database
'somekey:abc':
- match: pillar
- xyz
'nag1* or G@role:monitoring':
- match: compound
- nagios.server
In this example top.sls, all minions get the ldap-client, networking and salt.minion states. Any minion with an id matching the salt-master* glob will get the salt.master state. Any minion with ids matching the regular expression ^(memcache|web).(qa|prod).loc$ will get the nagios.mon.web and apache.server states. All Ubuntu minions will receive the repos.ubuntu state, while all RHEL and CentOS minions will receive the repos.epel state. The minions foo, bar, and baz will receive the database state. Any minion with a pillar named somekey, having a value of abc will receive the xyz state. Finally, minions with ids matching the nag1* glob or with a grain named role equal to monitoring will receive the nagios.server state.
As mentioned earlier, the top files in the different environments are compiled into a single set of data. The way in which this is done follows a few rules, which are important to understand when arranging top files in different environments. The examples below all assume that the file_roots are set as in the above multi-environment example.
/srv/salt/base/top.sls:
base:
'*':
- common
dev:
'webserver*dev*':
- webserver
'db*dev*':
- db
/srv/salt/dev/top.sls:
dev:
'10.10.100.0/24':
- match: ipcidr
- deployments.dev.site1
'10.10.101.0/24':
- match: ipcidr
- deployments.dev.site2
Note
The rules below assume that the environments being discussed were not defined in the base top file.
/srv/salt/dev/top.sls:
base:
'os:Ubuntu':
- common.ubuntu
dev:
'webserver*dev*':
- webserver
'db*dev*':
- db
/srv/salt/qa/top.sls:
base:
'os:Ubuntu':
- common.ubuntu
'os:CentOS':
- common.centos
qa:
'webserver*qa*':
- webserver
'db*qa*':
- db
/srv/salt/dev/top.sls:
dev:
'webserver*dev*':
- webserver
'db*dev*':
- db
qa:
'10.10.200.0/24':
- match: ipcidr
- deployments.qa.site1
'10.10.201.0/24':
- match: ipcidr
- deployments.qa.site2
/srv/salt/qa/top.sls:
qa:
'webserver*qa*':
- webserver
'db*qa*':
- db
Note
When in doubt, the simplest way to configure your states is with a single top.sls in the base environment.
Current Salt release: 2014.1.6
Docs for previous releases on salt.rtfd.org.
SLS Template Variable Reference