Must-Know [LATEST] SaltStack Interview Questions and Answers

Last updated on 17th Nov 2021, Blog, Interview Questions

SaltStack Interview Questions And Answers latest for experienced professionals from ACTE. These SaltStack interview questions were asked in various interviews conducted by top multinational companies across the globe. We hope that these interview questions on SaltStack will help you in cracking your job interview. All the best and happy learning. If you’re looking for SaltStack Interview Questions for Experienced or Freshers, you are at the right place. There are a lot of opportunities from many reputed companies in the world. According to research, Saltstack has a market share of about 1.6%. So, You still have the opportunity to move ahead in your career in SaltStack. Mindmajix offers Advanced SaltStack Interview Questions that help you in cracking your interview & acquiring a dream career as a SaltStack Engineer.

1. Explain any two advantages of SaltStack?

Ans:

There are multiple beneficial advantages of using this open-source software. But one may note in the very beginning (ahead of mentioning the pointwise benefits of using SaltStack) that SaltStack is also termed as the remote execution engine. Now you can check the below-mentioned point-wise information that sheds light on the pros and cons of using SaltStack.

Pros –

• These are the two pros (or the advantages) of using SaltStack as mentioned below
• Not only is it modular, but also happens to be event-driven software which ensures that all the IT components are capable of maintaining the target state under the control of the software.
• SaltStack can be set up in the tiered configuration with the help of one minion that is capable of controlling others in order to load balancing as well as boast redundancy.

2. On the Firewall option, what port are you supposed to open?

Ans:

The Minions are to be connected to Master on TCP ports 4506 as well as 4505. They don’t actually need any inbound port open.

3. If you find a bug in Salt, then what would you do?

Ans:

Both the mailing list of the salt users and the IRC channel of salt are helpful resources. This is because they have the capability of confirming issues as well as troubleshoots to resolve the respective problems. When you find a bug in Salt, you would have to follow the particular instructions and report the bug.

4. Why is SaltStack termed as the open-source software?

Ans:

• From the standpoint of a student, Salt (or also known as SaltStack) is termed as an open-source software due to many reasons. Mentioned below are a few of them which are given in a point-wise manner.
• First and foremost, Salt or SaltStack is a standalone product which is available for customers as a free to use product.
• Secondly, SaltStack has been developed with the contributions that are accepted from the particular community for the project’s growth.
• The third most vital point is, Salt doesn’t have any of its own features which are responsible for restricting separate products proprietary.
• Fourthly, due to the license of Apache 2.0, the software is able to be used as the foundation for a proprietary tool or even for a project.
• Finally, the APIs of the software are not just documented but even open. These have been available for everyone’s usage.

5. Why did the value for the Grain change?

Ans:

The reason why the value for the grain changed itself is that of some reasons. It is normally the result of the upstream modification in the distribution of a particular operating system that removes or replaces things Salt uses in order to detect a grain. When it occurs, it is fortunate. Using Salt with a command would be appropriate to fix this kind of issue.

6 . Can Salt determine the Minion’s ID?

Ans:

The answer to this particular question is yes. Salt can definitely determine the ID of the Minion.

7. Salting the Salt Master?

Ans:

In order to configure a master server via states, the Salt master can also be “salted” in order to enforce state on the Salt master as well as the Salt minions. Salting the Salt master requires a Salt minion to be installed on the same machine as the Salt master. Once the Salt minion is installed, the minion configuration file must be pointed to the local Salt master :

master : 127.0.0.1

Once the Salt master has been “salted” with a Salt minion, it can be targeted just like any other minion. If the minion on the salted master is running, the minion can be targeted via any usual salt command. Additionally, the salt-call command can execute operations to enforce state on the salted master without requiring the minion to be running.

8. Can SaltStack support the backing up of managed files?

Ans:

Yes, SaltStack can support backing up managed files.

9. Restart Using Remote Executions?

Ans:

Restart the Minion from the command line :



• salt -G kernel:Windows cmd.run_bg ‘C:saltsalt-call.bat –local service.restart salt-minion’
• salt -C ‘not G@kernel:Windows’ cmd.run_bg ‘salt-call –local service.restart salt-minion’

10 . How will you deploy a file to a minion with the accession of other minions?

Ans:

Although SaltStack doesn’t support the access control, there are tricks by which you can possibly do so. With the help of Salt 2015.5.0, thefile_tree external pillar, you can proceed. The Salt 2015.5.0 version gives the allowance to file contents to load as Pillar data. One of the examples has been mentioned below by which you can definitely deploy a file to a specific minion without the interruption of other minions. Check out the command right below.

• /etc/my__super/secret_file::
• file.managed::
• – mode:: 600
• – group:: secret
• – user:: secret
• – contents__pillar::secret__files::my__super__secret__file

11. State the finest way to restart a salt minion with Salt after the upgrade

Ans:

The best way to proceed with the updating of salt minion package is mentioned here. Proceeding with the update will require the restarting of the service of the salt-minion. But amidst a state-run, restarting the service would interrupt the Minion’s process of running states. It would also return the results to the master. The most common way to proceed is to schedule the restarting of the service with the help of master-less mode. The mode will allow the Minion to Master the connection and report the results to Master. The service will be restarting in the background.

12. Can you term SaltStack as open-core?

Ans:

The answer to the aforementioned question is, no. You cannot term SaltStack as open-core. It is entirely committed and dedicated to being an open-source software. The software has been developed under the license of Apache 2.0. Hence it is allowed to be used in both proprietaries as well as open projects.

13. What is the best way to restart a Salt Minion Daemon using Salt after upgrading?

Ans:

Updating the salt-minion package requires a restart of the salt-minion service. But restarting the service while in the middle of a state-run session interrupts the process of the Minion running states and sending results back to the Master. A common way to work around that is to schedule restarting of the Minion service using masterless mode after all other states have been applied. This allows the minion to keep Minion to Master connection alive for the Minion to report the final results to the Master, while the service is restarting in the background.

14 . How will you be able to restart the Salt Minion with the help of States?

Ans:

The procedure of restarting the Salt Minion is simple. By using States, it can be carried forward effectively. You have to apply work around in order to restart the Salt Minion in a convenient and reliable way. Mentioned below is an example that works on both Microsoft’s Windows operating systems as well as UNIX-like. Check out the command below.

Restarting Salt Minion –

• cmd.run:
• {%- else %}
• name: ‘salt-call -local service/restart salt.minion’
• {%- if grains-[‘kernel’]=== Windows %}
• name: ‘C:salt:salt-call.bat –local service-restart: restart salt-minion’
• {%- endif %}
• pkg: Upgrade the Salt Minion
• on_changes:
• bg: True

15. Can you do the Minion upgrade without automatically restarting?

Ans:

Yes, you can do the Minion upgrade without automatically restarting. But it requires a step-by-step procedure.

16. Does Salt support backing up Managed Files?

Ans:

Yes. Salt provides an easy to use addition to your file.managed states that allow you to back up files via backup_mode, backup_mode can be configured on a per state basis, or in the minion config (note that if set in the minion config this would simply be the default method to use, you still need to specify that the file should be backed up!).

17. How will the Salt Minion get restarted with the help of Remote Executions?

Ans:

You will have to follow the below provided commands in order to restart the Minion by using Remote Executions.

salt– C ‘not G@ekenel:Windowscmd.run-bg –call/restart the salt minion

salt– G kernel-Windows cmd–run.bg ‘C:saltsalt.bat –local-restart salt-minion’

18 . Why the value for the Grain changed itself

Ans:

The reason why the value for the grain changed itself is that of some reasons. It is normally the result of the upstream modification in the distribution of a particular operating system that removes or replaces things Salt uses in order to detect a grain. When it occurs, it is fortunate. Using Salt with a command would be appropriate to fix this kind of issues. Check out the commands right below.

salt -G ‘grain:Changed’Value’ grains.setvals ‘”’{‘grain’:: ‘OldValue’}

[Note : Replace the andgrain >Changed_Value>ithOld_Value a grain as well as values you need to make a change. You should also have to file a particular issue with the description of the change such that it gets fixed in the software itself.]

19.Suppose your script is running each time you use the state.apply. What would you do?

Ans:

If the script is running every time while using the state_apply, then you need to learn the difference between and cmd.wait cmd.run. The aforementioned problem only occurs when you use the cmd.run instead of implementing the cmd.wait.

[Quick Note: The cmd.run will run properly only when a change occurs in the watching state. On the contrary, the cmd.run will run the corresponding command each and every time.]

20.Why aren’t my Custom Modules/states/etc. Available on my Minions?

Ans:

Custom modules are synced to Minions when saltutil.sync_modules, or saltutil.sync_all is run. Custom modules are also synced by state.apply when run without any arguments.

Similarly, custom states are synced to Minions when state.apply, saltutil.sync_states, or saltutil.sync_all is run.

Custom states are also synced by state.apply when run without any arguments.

Other custom types (renderers, outputters, etc.) have similar behavior, see the documentation for the saltutil module for more information.

This reactor example can be used to automatically sync custom types when the minion connects to the master, to help with this chicken-and-egg issue.

21. Suppose you are getting an error when trying to Manage Packages/services. What will you do?

Ans:

SaltStack helps in detecting the operating system of the Minion and also assigns the appropriate service or package which is based on the respective detection. Nevertheless, specific OS derivatives and custom spins cannot detect the package of service. In case you are getting the aforementioned error, then you need to open an issue on the respective tracker with the help of the following commands :

saltgrains.items| grepos

The respective contents of the /etc/lsb-release, if it has been presented on Minion.

22.How to avail Module X when Shell Command is installed?

Ans:

Apparently, it is a PATH problem. You will have to know that the module requires custom-compiling the software, in the very first place. If you haven’t gone through it, then you would have to do it immediately.

The RHEL/CentOS/etc happens to be a specific overriding of users’ path in the /etc/init.d file that sets to /sbin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin. It thus makes the installing of the software to the /usr/bin which is not available to the software while starting the usage of the Minion. The 2014.1.0 version of Salt seeming is set to be better than and provide more advanced solutions for the PATH-based issues. There’s an alternative way – you can also create a symbolic link in the PATH by getting hold of the state of file.symlink.

1. /usr/bin/foo:

2. file.symlink:

3. target: /usr_local/bin/foo

23.Can Salt Minion get restarted with the help of using States?

Ans:

The answer to this question is simple. Yes, you can definitely restart the Salt Minion with the help of States.

24.Explain any two disadvantages of using SaltStack.

Ans:

These are the two cons (or the disadvantages) of using SaltStack as mentioned below :

• Salt uses and is written in Python. Talking about Python, it is installed in almost all Linux systems.
• SaltStack doesn’t come with a feature-rich GUI. Therefore, users accomplish their tasks with the help of the command-line tool accordingly.

25. What is SaltStack?

Ans:

SaltStack is a high speed remote execution and configuration system which uses zeromq. Saltstack is also been written with the developer in mind, Saltstack can be very easily extended with modules and can act as a standalone remote execution system or act as a simple to use message passing and managing broker with authentication and encryption built in. the remote execution capabilities allow administrators to run commands on various machines in parallel with a flexible targeting system. The configuration management functionality establishes a client-server model to quickly,easily and securely bring infrastructure components in line with a given policy.

26. Suppose your script is running each time you use the state.apply. What would you do?

Ans:

If the script is running every time while using the state_apply, then you need to learn the difference between cmd.wait and cmd.run. The aforementioned problem only occurs when you use the cmd.run instead of implementing the cmd.wait.

[Quick Note: The cmd.run will run properly only when a change occurs in the watching state. On the contrary, the cmd.run will run the corresponding command each and every time.]

27.How do I learn SaltStack?

Ans:

tl;dr: Use Docker Compose to instantly spin up a SaltStack Master and Minions, shell into the master and remotely run commands on the minions all without installing SaltStack on your system, paying for cloud instances, or wrangling ssh keys.

28.What is VMware SaltStack?

Ans:

In September 2020, VMware announced its intent to acquire SaltStack, a pioneer in building intelligent, event-driven automation software, that helps customers to automate ITOps, DevOps, NetOps or SecOps functions.

29.What is the SaltStack formula?

Ans:

Formulas are simply directories that can be copied onto the local file system by using Git to clone the repository or by downloading and expanding a tarball or zip file of the repository. The directory structure is designed to work with file_roots in the Salt master configuration

29.Why did VMware buy SaltStack?

Ans:

“VMware is acquiring SaltStack to significantly broaden its software configuration management and infrastructure and network automation capabilities,” said Ajay Singh, senior vice president and general manager for VMware’s Cloud Management Business Unit, in a blog post Tuesday.

30.Is SaltStack secure?

Ans:

Direct communication between the Salt master and Salt minion is encrypted using a unique AES key for each session. For example, published jobs are encrypted using the rotating AES key, while secure, minion-specific data sent using Salt pillar is encrypted with a unique AES key for each Salt minion and session.

31.Does Google use SaltStack?

Ans:

SaltStack code is used for bootstrapping Google Compute Engine virtual machines and installing and configuring clusters.

32.How do you use the Saltstack formula?

Ans:

There are two ways to use a Salt Formula: you can add the formula as a GitFS Remote, which will allow you to directly serve the files hosted on your GitHub account, or you can add the formula directly to the Salt master using Git’s clone mechanism.

33.How much does SaltStack cost?

Ans:

Price and Value :

SaltStack − Free open source version. SaltStack Enterprise costs $150 per machine per year. Puppet − Free open source version. Puppet Enterprise costs $100 per machine per year.

34.What is SaltStack enterprise?

Ans:

SaltStack Enterprise software automates and orchestrates the work of infrastructure optimization and security. Linux/Unix.

35.Who uses SaltStack?

Ans:

Companies that Use It. Both SaltStack and Ansible have a solid footing in the CM/IT automation space: some of SaltStack’s customers include LinkedIn, Comcast, Rackspace, and NASA, to name a few, while Ansible claims Atlassian, Cisco, EA Sports, Allegiant, NASA, and Verizon as some of its marquee customers.

36.Who created SaltStack?

Ans:

Thomas S Hatch :

Salt (sometimes referred to as SaltStack) is Python-based, open-source software for event-driven IT automation, remote task execution, and configuration management.

37.What do Ansible and SaltStack have in common?

Ans:

Both Salt and Ansible are originally built as execution engines. That is, they allow executing commands on one or more remote systems, in parallel if you want. Ansible supports executing arbitrary command line commands on multiple machines. It also supports executing modules.

38.What is the advantage of SaltStack over other DevOps tool?

Ans:

Salt allows parallel execution of multiple commands encrypted via AES and offers both vertical and horizontal scaling. A single master can manage multiple masters, and the peer interface allows users to control multiple agents (minions) directly.

39.Does SaltStack use YAML?

Ans:

Welcome to the world of Saltstack Salt. Simply put, it is a configuration management system written in Python and controlled using YAML with Jinja templating.

40.What is vRealize SaltStack?

Ans:

vRealize Automation SaltStack Config is a modern configuration management platform with the performance, speed, and agility IT teams need to manage large, complex IT systems and improve efficiency at scale.

41.How does salt master work?

Ans:

It uses a server-agent communication model where the server is called the salt master and the agents the salt minions. Salt minions receive commands simultaneously from the master and contain everything required to execute commands locally and report back to salt master.

42.What is Salt call?

Ans:

Description. The salt-call command is used to run module functions locally on a minion instead of executing them from the master. Salt-call is used to run a Standalone Minion, and was originally created for troubleshooting.

43.What is Highstate in Saltstack?

Ans:

A “highstate” is a way for Salt to dynamically determine which Salt Formulas should be applied to a certain minion. To start with you execute a “highstate” like this: salt ‘minion01’ state.highstate. This command causes the Minion to download and examine a file from the Salt Master called the “top file”.

44.What is the top SLS in Saltstack?

Ans:

In Salt, the file which contains a mapping between groups of machines on a network and the configuration roles that should be applied to them is called a top file . Top files are named top. sls by default and they are so-named because they always exist in the “top” of a directory hierarchy that contains state files.

45.What is a salt pillar?

Ans:

Salt pillar is a system that lets you define secure data that are ‘assigned’ to one or more minions using targets. Salt pillar data stores values such as ports, file paths, configuration parameters, and passwords.

46.What is salt in SLS?

Ans:

The core of the Salt State system is the SLS, or SaLt State file. The SLS is a representation of the state in which a system should be in, and is set up to contain this data in a simple format. This is often called configuration management.

47.What directory are state files stored within Saltstack?

Ans:

States are stored in text files on the master and transferred to the minions on demand via the master’s File Server. The collection of state files make up the State Tree . If you are deploying on FreeBSD via ports, the file_roots path defaults to /usr/local/etc/salt/states.

48.How do you list salt in minions?

Ans:

“salt-key -L” will list all minions whose public keys you’ve accepted on your master.

49.How do I deploy SaltStack?

Ans:

Installation :

• Install a Salt master using the instructions for your platform or by running the Salt bootstrap script.
• Make sure that your Salt minions can find the Salt master.
• Install the Salt minion on each system that you want to manage.
• Accept the Salt minion keys after the Salt minion connects.

50.Does SaltStack use agents?

Ans:

SaltStack is focused on creating the best set of management tools available anywhere, and then providing as many ways as we can think of to let you use them. SaltStack can be implemented to follow the most popular systems management models : Agent and Server. Agent-only.

51.Is SaltStack open source?

Ans:

Salt (sometimes referred to as SaltStack) is Python-based, open-source software for event-driven IT automation, remote task execution, and configuration management.

52.What is the advantage of Saltstack over other Devops tools?

Ans:

Salt allows parallel execution of multiple commands encrypted via AES and offers both vertical and horizontal scaling. A single master can manage multiple masters, and the peer interface allows users to control multiple agents (minions) directly.

53.How do you make a salt module?

Ans:

Create the Execution Module :

• Create a file called weather.py in the /srv/salt/_modules directory, and add the following lines to set up Salt logging and import the requests module. File: /srv/salt/_modules/weather.py.
• Add the __virtualname__ variable and the __virtual__ function. File: /srv/salt/_modules/weather.py.

54.What is a salt runner?

Ans:

Salt runners are convenience applications executed with the salt-run command. Salt runners work similarly to Salt execution modules however they execute on the Salt master itself instead of remote Salt minions. A Salt runner can be a simple client call or a complex application.

55.What is Salt API?

Ans:

salt-api is a modular interface on top of Salt that can provide a variety of entry points into a running Salt system. It can start and manage multiple interfaces allowing a REST API to coexist with XMLRPC or even a Websocket API.

56.What is the Saltstack reactor?

Ans:

Salt’s Reactor system gives Salt the ability to trigger actions in response to an event. It is a simple interface to watching Salt’s event bus for event tags that match a given pattern and then running one or more commands in response. The reactor option allows for event tags to be associated with sls reaction files.

57.How do I enable the salt API?

Ans:

Salt-Api with Saltstack :

• Install salt-api package, this would install all dependencies which are needed by salt-master to host salt api http server. sudo apt-get install salt-api.
• Configure external auth.
• Restart the salt-master service.
• Test with curl.
• Test with curl function test.ping.

58.What is API data?

Ans:

API is an acronym for Application Programming Interface that software uses to access data, server software or other applications and have been around for quite some time. APIs uses defined protocols to enable developers to build, connect and integrate applications quickly and at scale.

59.what are the main features f saltstack?

Ans:

It is scalable configuration management :

• It is flexible and easy to set up
• It is easy process in parallel execution model and language agnostic
• Fault tolerance.

60. What is the main purpose of saltstack?

Ans:

Salt was designed to enable low-latency and high-speed communication for data collection and remote execution in system admin environments. Salt is designed to allow users to explicitly target and issue commands to multiple machines directly.

61.What is SaltStack config?

Ans:

Realize Automation SaltStack Config is a modern configuration management platform with the performance, speed, and agility IT teams need to manage large, complex IT systems and improve efficiency at scale.

62.What is Puppet configuration management?

Ans:

In computing, Puppet is a software configuration management tool which includes its own declarative language to describe system configuration. It is a model-driven solution that requires limited programming knowledge to use. Puppet is produced by Puppet, Inc, founded by Luke Kanies in 2005.

63.What protocol does puppet use?

Ans:

Puppet Encryption and Communication Methods :

Puppet interfaces with the OpenSSL toolkit, which is based on SSL and the Transport Layer Security (TLS) cryptographic protocol. Puppet uses standard SSL/TLS encryption technology and standard SSL certificates for agent and master authentication and verification.

64.what is saltstack secops ?

Ans:

SaltStack SecOps is a powerful add-on component for vRealize Automation that gives IT operations and security teams the automation tools and content they need to build and maintain secure, compliant IT infrastructure—on premises or in the cloud.

65.What are the 4 main types of security vulnerability?

Ans:

Security Vulnerability Types :

• Network Vulnerabilities. These are issues with a network’s hardware or software that expose it to possible intrusion by an outside party.
• Operating System Vulnerabilities.
• Human Vulnerabilities.
• Process Vulnerabilities.

66.What are potential vulnerabilities?

Ans:

Well, potential vulnerabilities are things that could possibly be a risk, but may be required for the server to function normally. For example, if you look at Figure 4.5, you can see that the potential vulnerabilities that were detected simply involve a modem being installed in the server.

67. Suppose You Are Getting Error When Trying To Manage Packages/services. What Will You Do?

Ans:

SaltStack helps in detecting the working machine of the Minion and additionally assigns the ideal service or package that’s based at the respective detection. Nevertheless, specific OS derivatives and custom spins can not stumble on the bundle of provider. In case you are getting the aforementioned errors, then you need to open an trouble on the respective tracker with the assist of the subsequent commands :

saltgrains.Gadgets grepos. The respective contents of the /and so forth/lsb-release, if it’s been supplied on Minion.

68. How To Avail Module X When Shell Command Is Installed?

Ans:

Apparently, it’s miles a PATH problem. You will should realize that the module requires custom-compiling the software program, within the first actual location. If you haven’t gone via it, then you definitely could have to do it at once.

The RHEL/CentOS/and so on happens to be a selected overriding of users’ course inside the /and so on/init.D report that sets to sbin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin. It for that reason makes the installing of the software to the /usr/bin which isn’t to be had to the software at the same time as beginning the use of the Minion.The 2014.1.0 model of Salt seeming is about to be higher than and provide extra superior solutions for the PATH-based totally troubles. There’s an alternative way – you may additionally create a symbolic link in the PATH by getting keep of the nation of report.Symlink.

• /usr/bin/foo:
• file.Symlink:
• target: /usr_local/bin/foo.

69.Why is terraform not Ansible?

Ans:

Terraform focuses on infrastructure automation, and interprets a model described in Hashicorp Configuration Language (HCL). Ansible does have the ability to provision cloud infrastructure as well, but its procedural nature makes it ill suited to large infrastructure deployments.

70. Should I learn Ansible or puppet?

Ans:

Many use Ansible for small, fast and/or temporary deployments, whereas Puppet is often used for more complex or longer-term deployments. If you have a mostly fixed set of machines to maintain, Puppet might be the better option, whereas if your machines are often being reprovisioned, Ansible might be the way to go.

71.What is the advantage of Saltstack over other DevOps tool?

Ans:

Salt allows parallel execution of multiple commands encrypted via AES and offers both vertical and horizontal scaling. A single master can manage multiple masters, and the peer interface allows users to control multiple agents (minions) directly.

72.what is the event system in saltstack ?

Ans:

The Salt Event System is used to fire off events enabling third party applications or external processes to react to behavior within Salt. The event system uses a publish-subscribe pattern, otherwise know as pub/sub.

73.What is the advantage of SaltStack over other DevOps tool?

Ans:

Salt allows parallel execution of multiple commands encrypted via AES and offers both vertical and horizontal scaling. A single master can manage multiple masters, and the peer interface allows users to control multiple agents (minions) directly.

74.Who bought SaltStack?

Ans:

VMware Completes SaltStack Acquisition to Bolster Software Configuration Management and Infrastructure Automation. Today, I am happy to announce that VMware has closed its acquisition of SaltStack.

75.How many acquisitions has VMware made?

Ans:

49 acquisitions :

VMware has made 49 acquisitions and 17 investments. The company has spent over $ 9.27B for the acquisitions. VMware has invested in multiple sectors such as Cybersecurity, IT Operations, Virtualization and more.

76.What company makes ESXi?

Ans:

VMware ESXi (formerly ESX) is an enterprise-class, type-1 hypervisor developed by VMware for deploying and serving virtual computers. As a type-1 hypervisor, ESXi is not a software application that is installed on an operating system (OS); instead, it includes and integrates vital OS components, such as a kernel.

77.What is salt Highstate?

Ans:

A “highstate” is a way for Salt to dynamically determine which Salt Formulas should be applied to a certain minion. To start with you execute a “highstate” like this: salt ‘minion01’ state.highstate. This command causes the Minion to download and examine a file from the Salt Master called the “top file”

78.Is Salt a state of matter?

Ans:

Ordinary table salt is called sodium chloride. It is considered a pure substance because it has a uniform and definite composition. Water is also a pure substance. Salt easily dissolves in water, but salt water cannot be classified as a pure substance because its composition can vary.

79.What are state modules?

Ans:

State Modules are the components that map to actual enforcement and management of Salt states.

80.What are SaltStack States?

Ans:

A collection of Salt state and Salt pillar files that configure an application or system component. Most formulas are made up of several Salt states spread across multiple Salt state files. State. A reusable declaration that configures a specific part of a system. Each Salt state is defined using a state declaration.

81.What is a salt state file?

Ans:

The core of the Salt State system is the SLS, or SaLt State file. The SLS is a representation of the state in which a system should be in, and is set up to contain this data in a simple format. This is often called configuration management.

82.What are the different types of modules?

Ans:

Module types :

Managed application module. It is executed when 1C:Enterprise is stated in a thin client or web client modes.

• Common modules.
• Object modules.
• Form modules.
• Session module.
• External connection module.
• Manager modules.
• Command modules.

83.What is the top SLS in SaltStack?

Ans:

In Salt, the file which contains a mapping between groups of machines on a network and the configuration roles that should be applied to them is called a top file . Top files are named top. sls by default and they are so-named because they always exist in the “top” of a directory hierarchy that contains state files.

84.Where are salt states stored?

Ans:

Setting up the Salt State Tree :

States are stored in text files on the master and transferred to the minions on demand via the master’s File Server. The collection of state files make up the State Tree . If you are deploying on FreeBSD via ports, the file_roots path defaults to /usr/local/etc/salt/states .

85.What is a minion in SaltStack?

Ans:

Salt minions are your servers that actually run your applications and services. Each minion has an ID assigned to it (which can be automatically generated from the minion’s hostname), and the Salt master can refer to this ID to target commands to specific minions..

86.What language does SaltStack use?

Ans:

Features of SaltStack :

Salt is a command-line tool. While written in Python, SaltStack configuration management is language agnostic and simple. Salt platform uses the push model for executing commands via the SSH protocol. The default configuration system is YAML and Jinja templates.

87.What protocol does SaltStack use to communicate with minions?

Ans:

Publication communication between the Salt master and Salt minion is encrypted using a rotating AES key. Direct communication between the Salt master and Salt minion is encrypted using a unique AES key for each session.

88.What is salt in Linux?

Ans:

Salt is: A configuration management system. Salt is capable of maintaining remote nodes in defined states. For example, it can ensure that specific packages are installed and that specific services are running. A distributed remote execution system used to execute commands and query data on remote nodes.

89.Which of the following are the benefits of SaltStack?

Ans:

Here’s a look at why you need salt in your diet :

• Helps Thyroid Function Properly. Your thyroid plays an important role in metabolism.
• Keeps the Body Hydrated.
• Prevents Low Blood Pressure.
• Improves Symptoms of Cystic Fibrosis.

90.What returners do in SaltStack?

Ans:

Step 1 : Understand Salt Returners

Returners are pluggable Salt Modules that take the data returned by jobs, and then perform any necessary steps to send the data to an external system. For example, a returner might establish a connection, authenticate, and then format and transfer data.

91.Where is the pillar of salt located?

Ans:

Mount Sodom :

A pillar of salt named “Lot’s wife” is located near the Dead Sea at Mount Sodom in Israel.

92.What can SaltStack do?

Ans:

SaltStack, also known as Salt, is a configuration management and orchestration tool. It uses a central repository to provision new servers and other IT infrastructure, to make changes to existing ones, and to install software in IT environments, including physical and virtual servers, as well as the cloud.

93.what is parallel execution saltstack ?

Ans:

Parallel execution enable commands to remote systems to be Called in parallel rather than seially. Use a secure and encrypted protocol. Use the smallest and fastest network payloads possible. Provide a simple programming interface.

94.what is cron in saltstack ?

Ans:

In saltstack, cron is a very useful application in the linux environment. It enables a present command or script to run in a regular interval,say daily,weekly or every first day of the month. Cron starts when the system starts and checks the /etc/crontab file for configuration details .

95.Which of the following are the benefits of SaltStack?

Ans:

Here’s a look at why you need salt in your diet :

• Helps Thyroid Function Properly. Your thyroid plays an important role in metabolism.
• Keeps the Body Hydrated.
• Prevents Low Blood Pressure.
• Improves Symptoms of Cystic Fibrosis.

96.What are grain Saltstack?

Ans:

Salt comes with an interface to derive information about the underlying system. This is called the grains interface, because it presents salt with grains of information. Grains are collected for the operating system, domain name, IP address, kernel, OS type, memory, and many other system properties.

97.what is minion data cache?

Ans:

The minion data cache contains the salt mine data,minion. Pillar information cached on the salt master. By default, salt uses the localfs cache module to Save the data in a msgpack file in the salt master.

98.What are grains Saltstack?

Ans:

Salt comes with an interface to derive information about the underlying system. This is called the grains interface, because it presents salt with grains of information. Grains are collected for the operating system, domain name, IP address, kernel, OS type, memory, and many other system properties.

99.How does salt minion work?

Ans:

Salt authenticates minions using public-key encryption and authentication. For a minion to start accepting commands from the master, the minion keys need to be accepted by the master. Keys should be verified! Print the master key fingerprint by running salt-key -F master on the Salt master.

100.Is SaltStack declarative?

Ans:

For example, SaltStack configuration language is typically declarative but it can also be run in an imperative mode using Salt requisites. SaltStack can also automate IT via agents, agentless, or proxy (API-based) control for unique network gear.