SaltStack targeting: storing roles in pillar
This is an attempt to record my thoughts and describe a solution with regard on how to target/classify minions in a SaltStack environment. SaltStack logo An interesting discussion on the topic can be found in this (rather old) thread on the Salt-User mailing list: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/salt-users/R_jgNdYDPk0 Basically I share the same concern of the thread author Martin F. Kraft, who in an attempt to put and end to this madness ended up writing reklass . Roles seem to be easy enough to understand and provide for a clear separation between the actual infrastructure and the desired configuration state, while allowing extensibility and customization (a more specific role can override some settings from another role).