Salt stack (salt open) is an opensource utility that can be used to orchestrate vCenter tasks. In this blog, I will guide you on how to install, and set a basic clone operation with salt stack.
Install:
pre-requisite: Linux VM (cent os or ubuntu), I’ve used Ubuntu 20.4 for the below example.
Log into ssh of the ubuntu VM, and add salt stack repository:
wget -O - https://repo.saltstack.com/py3/debian/10/amd64/latest/SALTSTACK-GPG-KEY.pub | sudo apt-key add -
add key: in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/saltstack.list
nano /etc/apt/sources.list.d/saltstack.listadd the below line on the file:
deb http://repo.saltstack.com/py3/debian/10/amd64/latest buster main
update repository
sudo apt updateinstall stalt stack
sudo apt-get install salt-master salt-minion salt-ssh salt-syndic salt-cloud salt-api -yEdit vi /etc/salt/master and add the salt master IP address to interface
interface: 172.16.8.9Configuring VMware provider
Pre-requisite: Pyvomi must be installed
sudo apt install python3-pip
pip3 install pyVmomiConfirm pyvomi is imported:
python3 -c "import pyVmomi" ; echo $?Setup cloud provider:
create /etc/salt/cloud.providers.d/vmware.conf with the below contents: (replace user, password and url as per what you have in your enveronment)
#/etc/salt/cloud.providers.d/vmware.conf
vcsa:
driver: vmware
user: '[email protected]'
password: 'P@ssw0rd'
url: 'vcsa.ntitta.lab'
verify_ssl: False
homelabs:
driver: vmware
user: '[email protected]'
password: '*************'
url: 'vcsa.ntitta.in'
now you can test the above config by querying for images using below command:
salt-cloud --list-images vcsa
Okay, Now, lets set up profiles: Create /etc/salt/cloud.profiles.d/vmware.conf with the below content:
#/etc/salt/cloud.profiles.d/vmware.conf
ubuntu20:
provider: vcsa
clonefrom: ub20
cluster: vSAN
ssh_username: root
password: 'P@ssw0rd'
update salt config
salt-cloud -uTest a deployment:
salt-cloud -p ubuntu20 test-stal1-vm
Troubleshooting: (enable debug by using the below )
salt-cloud -p w16k salty-w16-test-1 -l debug