===========================
Spinning up Windows Minions
===========================
It is possible to use Salt Cloud to spin up Windows instances, and then install
Salt on them. This functionality is available on all cloud providers that are
supported by Salt Cloud. However, it may not necessarily be available on all
Windows images.
Requirements
============
Salt Cloud makes use of `impacket` and `winexe` to set up the Windows Salt
Minion installer.
`impacket` is usually available as either the `impacket` or the
`python-impacket` package, depending on the distribution. More information on
`impacket` can be found at the project home:
* `impacket project home`__
.. __: https://code.google.com/p/impacket/
`winexe` is less commonly available in distribution-specific repositories.
However, it is currently being built for various distributions in 3rd party
channels:
* `RPMs at pbone.net`__
.. __: http://rpm.pbone.net/index.php3?stat=3&search=winexe
* `openSUSE Build Service`__
.. __: http://software.opensuse.org/package/winexe
Optionally WinRM can be used instead of `winexe` if the python module `pywinrm`
is available and WinRM is supported on the target Windows version. Information
on pywinrm can be found at the project home:
* `pywinrm project home`__
.. __: https://github.com/diyan/pywinrm
Additionally, a copy of the Salt Minion Windows installer must be present on
the system on which Salt Cloud is running. This installer may be downloaded
from saltstack.com:
* `SaltStack Download Area`__
.. __: https://repo.saltstack.com/windows/
Firewall Settings
=================
Because Salt Cloud makes use of `smbclient` and `winexe`, port 445 must be open
on the target image. This port is not generally open by default on a standard
Windows distribution, and care must be taken to use an image in which this port
is open, or the Windows firewall is disabled.
If supported by the cloud provider, a PowerShell script may be used to open up
this port automatically, using the cloud provider's `userdata`. The following
script would open up port 445, and apply the changes:
.. code-block:: powershell
New-NetFirewallRule -Name "SMB445" -DisplayName "SMB445" -Protocol TCP -LocalPort 445
Set-Item (dir wsman:\localhost\Listener\*\Port -Recurse).pspath 445 -Force
Restart-Service winrm
For EC2, this script may be saved as a file, and specified in the provider or
profile configuration as `userdata_file`. For instance:
.. code-block:: yaml
my-ec2-config:
# Pass userdata to the instance to be created
userdata_file: /etc/salt/windows-firewall.ps1
.. note::
From versions 2016.11.0 and 2016.11.3, this file was passed through the
master's :conf_master:`renderer` to template it. However, this caused
issues with non-YAML data, so templating is no longer performed by default.
To template the userdata_file, add a ``userdata_template`` option to the
cloud profile:
.. code-block:: yaml
my-ec2-config:
# Pass userdata to the instance to be created
userdata_file: /etc/salt/windows-firewall.ps1
userdata_template: jinja
If no ``userdata_template`` is set in the cloud profile, then the master
configuration will be checked for a :conf_master:`userdata_template` value.
If this is not set, then no templating will be performed on the
userdata_file.
To disable templating in a cloud profile when a
:conf_master:`userdata_template` has been set in the master configuration
file, simply set ``userdata_template`` to ``False`` in the cloud profile:
.. code-block:: yaml
my-ec2-config:
# Pass userdata to the instance to be created
userdata_file: /etc/salt/windows-firewall.ps1
userdata_template: False
If you are using WinRM on EC2 the HTTPS port for the WinRM service must also be
enabled in your userdata. By default EC2 Windows images only have insecure HTTP
enabled. To enable HTTPS and basic authentication required by pywinrm consider
the following userdata example:
.. code-block:: powershell
New-NetFirewallRule -Name "SMB445" -DisplayName "SMB445" -Protocol TCP -LocalPort 445
New-NetFirewallRule -Name "WINRM5986" -DisplayName "WINRM5986" -Protocol TCP -LocalPort 5986
winrm quickconfig -q
winrm set winrm/config/winrs '@{MaxMemoryPerShellMB="300"}'
winrm set winrm/config '@{MaxTimeoutms="1800000"}'
winrm set winrm/config/service/auth '@{Basic="true"}'
$SourceStoreScope = 'LocalMachine'
$SourceStorename = 'Remote Desktop'
$SourceStore = New-Object -TypeName System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates.X509Store -ArgumentList $SourceStorename, $SourceStoreScope
$SourceStore.Open([System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates.OpenFlags]::ReadOnly)
$cert = $SourceStore.Certificates | Where-Object -FilterScript {
$_.subject -like '*'
}
$DestStoreScope = 'LocalMachine'
$DestStoreName = 'My'
$DestStore = New-Object -TypeName System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates.X509Store -ArgumentList $DestStoreName, $DestStoreScope
$DestStore.Open([System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates.OpenFlags]::ReadWrite)
$DestStore.Add($cert)
$SourceStore.Close()
$DestStore.Close()
winrm create winrm/config/listener?Address=*+Transport=HTTPS `@`{Hostname=`"($certId)`"`;CertificateThumbprint=`"($cert.Thumbprint)`"`}
Restart-Service winrm
No certificate store is available by default on EC2 images and creating
one does not seem possible without an MMC (cannot be automated). To use the
default EC2 Windows images the above copies the RDP store.
Configuration
=============
Configuration is set as usual, with some extra configuration settings. The
location of the Windows installer on the machine that Salt Cloud is running on
must be specified. This may be done in any of the regular configuration files
(main, providers, profiles, maps). For example:
Setting the installer in ``/etc/salt/cloud.providers``:
.. code-block:: yaml
my-softlayer:
driver: softlayer
user: MYUSER1138
apikey: 'e3b68aa711e6deadc62d5b76355674beef7cc3116062ddbacafe5f7e465bfdc9'
minion:
master: saltmaster.example.com
win_installer: /root/Salt-Minion-2014.7.0-AMD64-Setup.exe
win_username: Administrator
win_password: letmein
smb_port: 445
The default Windows user is `Administrator`, and the default Windows password
is blank.
If WinRM is to be used ``use_winrm`` needs to be set to `True`. ``winrm_port``
can be used to specify a custom port (must be HTTPS listener).
Auto-Generated Passwords on EC2
===============================
On EC2, when the `win_password` is set to `auto`, Salt Cloud will query EC2 for
an auto-generated password. This password is expected to take at least 4 minutes
to generate, adding additional time to the deploy process.
When the EC2 API is queried for the auto-generated password, it will be returned
in a message encrypted with the specified `keyname`. This requires that the
appropriate `private_key` file is also specified. Such a profile configuration
might look like:
.. code-block:: yaml
windows-server-2012:
provider: my-ec2-config
image: ami-c49c0dac
size: m1.small
securitygroup: windows
keyname: mykey
private_key: /root/mykey.pem
userdata_file: /etc/salt/windows-firewall.ps1
win_installer: /root/Salt-Minion-2014.7.0-AMD64-Setup.exe
win_username: Administrator
win_password: auto