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79 lines
3.9 KiB
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========================
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Salt 0.8.8 release notes
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========================
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Salt 0.8.8 is here! This release adds a great deal of code and some serious new
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features. The latest release can be downloaded here:
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:download:`salt-0.8.8.tar.gz`
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Improved Documentation has been set up for salt using sphinx thanks to the
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efforts of Seth House. This new documentation system will act as the back end
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to the salt website which is still under heavy development. The new sphinx
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documentation system has also been used to greatly clean up the salt manpages.
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The salt 7 manpage in particular now contains extensive information which was
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previously only in the wiki. The new documentation can be found at:
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http://docs.saltstack.com/
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We still have a lot to add, and when the domain is set up I will post another
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announcement.
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More additions have been made to the ZeroMQ setup, particularly in the realm
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of file transfers. Salt 0.8.8 introduces a built in, stateless, encrypted file
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server which allows salt minions to download files from the salt master using
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the same encryption system used for all other salt communications. The main
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motivation for the salt file server has been to facilitate the new salt state
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system.
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Much of the salt code has been cleaned up and a new cleaner logging system has
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been introduced thanks to the efforts of Pedro Algarvio. These additions will
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allow for much more flexible logging to be executed by salt, and fixed a great
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deal of my poor spelling in the salt docstrings! Pedro Algarvio has also
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cleaned up the API, making it easier to embed salt into another application.
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The biggest addition to salt found in 0.8.8 is the new state system. The salt
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module system has received a new front end which allows salt to be used as a
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configuration management system. The configuration management system allows for
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system configuration to be defined in data structures. The configuration
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management system, or as it is called in salt, the “salt state system” supports
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many of the features found in other configuration managers, but allows for
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system states to be written in a far simpler format, executes at blazing speeds,
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and operates via the salt minion matching system. The state system also operates
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within the normal scope of salt, and requires no additional configuration to
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use.
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The salt state system can enforce the following states with many more to come:
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Packages
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Files
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Services
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Executing commands
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Hosts
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The system used to define the salt states is based on a data structure, the
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data structure used to define the salt states has been made to be as easy to
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use as possible. The data structure is defined by default using a YAML file
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rendered via a Jinja template. This means that the state definition language
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supports all of the data structures that YAML supports, and all of the
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programming constructs and logic that Jinja supports. If the user does not
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like YAML or Jinja the states can be defined in yaml-mako, json-jinja, or
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json-mako. The system used to render the states is completely dynamic, and any
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rendering system can be added to the capabilities of Salt, this means that a
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rendering system that renders XML data in a cheetah template, or whatever you
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can imagine, can be easily added to the capabilities of salt.
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The salt state system also supports isolated environments, as well as matching
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code from several environments to a single salt minion.
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The feature base for Salt has grown quite a bit since my last serious
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documentation push. As we approach 0.9.0 the goals are becoming very clear, and
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the documentation needs a lot of work. The main goals for 0.9.0 are to further
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refine the state system, fix any bugs we find, get Salt running on as many
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platforms as we can, and get the documentation filled out. There is a lot more
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to come as Salt moves forward to encapsulate a much larger scope, while
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maintaining supreme usability and simplicity.
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If you would like a more complete overview of Salt please watch the Salt
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presentation:
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Slides:
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:download:`Salt.pdf`
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-Thomas S Hatch
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