SaltStack Use Cases
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There are constantly conversations going on about SaltStack, many of which are interesting to say the least. But something I'm simply not understanding are what use cases everyone is using saltstack for?
As Scott explained it to me in PM the other day is that it's Godmode or Universal GPO (that actually works).
Does this mean I can use it to manage all of my client systems, Mac, Windows and Linux? Does it support upgrading software, installing new software, wiping systems etc?
I know these are some basic questions, but the true underlying question I have is what use cases, are you all using SaltStack for?
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@DustinB3403 said in SaltStack Use Cases:
Does this mean I can use it to manage all of my client systems, Mac, Windows and Linux? Does it support upgrading software, installing new software, wiping systems etc?
Yes. Absolutely.
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@scottalanmiller said in SaltStack Use Cases:
@DustinB3403 said in SaltStack Use Cases:
Does this mean I can use it to manage all of my client systems, Mac, Windows and Linux? Does it support upgrading software, installing new software, wiping systems etc?
Yes. Absolutely.
Locally and remotely?
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The bigger questions are probably more around where it makes sense, not where it could work. Because you can remote execute commands via Salt, you can use it for effectively anything.
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@wirestyle22 said in SaltStack Use Cases:
@scottalanmiller said in SaltStack Use Cases:
@DustinB3403 said in SaltStack Use Cases:
Does this mean I can use it to manage all of my client systems, Mac, Windows and Linux? Does it support upgrading software, installing new software, wiping systems etc?
Yes. Absolutely.
Locally and remotely?
Once you can admin remotely, what does locally even mean?
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@scottalanmiller said in SaltStack Use Cases:
@wirestyle22 said in SaltStack Use Cases:
@scottalanmiller said in SaltStack Use Cases:
@DustinB3403 said in SaltStack Use Cases:
Does this mean I can use it to manage all of my client systems, Mac, Windows and Linux? Does it support upgrading software, installing new software, wiping systems etc?
Yes. Absolutely.
Locally and remotely?
Once you can admin remotely, what does locally even mean?
Truth
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@wirestyle22 said in SaltStack Use Cases:
@scottalanmiller said in SaltStack Use Cases:
@wirestyle22 said in SaltStack Use Cases:
@scottalanmiller said in SaltStack Use Cases:
@DustinB3403 said in SaltStack Use Cases:
Does this mean I can use it to manage all of my client systems, Mac, Windows and Linux? Does it support upgrading software, installing new software, wiping systems etc?
Yes. Absolutely.
Locally and remotely?
Once you can admin remotely, what does locally even mean?
Truth
That's a lesson I learned best from UNIX X11. Once the desktop is a network service, local is just another network location.
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Okay so back to the question at hand.
What use cases are you all using SS for?
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@DustinB3403 said in SaltStack Use Cases:
What use cases are you all using SS for?
Primarily around building and defining servers, but moving to desktops as well. Our new system is that it's for... literally everything.
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I'm using it for standing up new Apache / PHP or Nginx / PHP instances. Installing ZeroTier / joining machines to the ZT network.
Haven't had time to mess with it much more than that.
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@DustinB3403 said in SaltStack Use Cases:
I know these are some basic questions, but the true underlying question I have is what use cases, are you all using SaltStack for?
I was just about to post this same question! Good to see some conversation going on this.
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@dafyre said in SaltStack Use Cases:
I'm using it for standing up new Apache / PHP or Nginx / PHP instances. Installing ZeroTier / joining machines to the ZT network.
Haven't had time to mess with it much more than that.
So the only issue I see that is holding me back from using saltstack is that it seems to be more for deploying servers and systems.
I don't often have a ton of systems to deploy at once, or on a regular basis.
What I feel like would be useful would be PDQ Deploy / GPO - Godmode all in one solution. But every time someone explains their use of SaltStack I immediately think to my self that it is not what I need.
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@dafyre said in SaltStack Use Cases:
Installing ZeroTier / joining machines to the ZT network.
Any how to guides?
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So you can use Salt (or Chef, or Ansible, or Puppet) for anything. But where it shines is in defining your systems (servers, desktops, routers, switches, etc.) It's the tool for doing everything you do for management.... installing apps, configuring apps, configuring system settings, remote access, pulling information, etc.
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@DustinB3403 said in SaltStack Use Cases:
So the only issue I see that is holding me back from using saltstack is that it seems to be more for deploying servers and systems.
That's the issue. It seems.
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@DustinB3403 said in SaltStack Use Cases:
I don't often have a ton of systems to deploy at once, or on a regular basis.
Yeah, that's a perception problem. I'm not saying that you should just up and install Salt and do everything that way. But I am saying that the perception that Salt is for new builds is incorrect.
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@scottalanmiller said in SaltStack Use Cases:
@DustinB3403 said in SaltStack Use Cases:
So the only issue I see that is holding me back from using saltstack is that it seems to be more for deploying servers and systems.
That's the issue. It seems.
How does something seeming to be for a specific use case an issue? I'm asking where might I find use out of saltstack. . .
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@DustinB3403 said in SaltStack Use Cases:
@scottalanmiller said in SaltStack Use Cases:
@DustinB3403 said in SaltStack Use Cases:
So the only issue I see that is holding me back from using saltstack is that it seems to be more for deploying servers and systems.
That's the issue. It seems.
How does something seeming to be for a specific use case an issue? I'm asking where might I find use out of saltstack. . .
Well the biggest challenge there is knowing what you do. And I mean that honestly, like... I know you and I know what you did a month ago. But you are in a new job and I actually don't know what your day to day workload looks like yet. So where Salt would make sense to you is hard for me to describe.
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@DustinB3403 said in SaltStack Use Cases:
@scottalanmiller said in SaltStack Use Cases:
@DustinB3403 said in SaltStack Use Cases:
So the only issue I see that is holding me back from using saltstack is that it seems to be more for deploying servers and systems.
That's the issue. It seems.
How does something seeming to be for a specific use case an issue?
By making you think that it might not apply to you because of the assumed use case.
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@FATeknollogee said in SaltStack Use Cases:
@dafyre said in SaltStack Use Cases:
Installing ZeroTier / joining machines to the ZT network.
Any how to guides?
Not quite. I've got to sanitize my salt files before I can share them.
