State Providers

New in version 0.9.8.

Salt predetermines what modules should be mapped to what uses based on the properties of a system. These determinations are generally made for modules that provide things like package and service management.

Sometimes in states, it may be necessary to use an alternative module to provide the needed functionality. For instance, an older Arch Linux system may not be running systemd, so instead of using the systemd service module, you can revert to the default service module:

httpd:
  service.running:
    - enable: True
    - provider: service

In this instance, the basic service module (which manages sysvinit-based services) will replace the systemd module which is used by default on Arch Linux.

However, if it is necessary to make this override for most or every service, it is better to just override the provider in the minion config file, as described in the section below.

Setting a Provider in the Minion Config File

Sometimes, when running Salt on custom Linux spins, or distros that are derived from other distros, Salt does not successfully detect providers. The providers which are most likely to be affected by this are:

  • pkg
  • service
  • user
  • group

When something like this happens, rather than specifying the provider manually in each state, it easier to use the providers parameter in the minion config file to set the provider.

If you end up needing to override a provider because it was not detected, please let us know! File an issue on the issue tracker, and provide the output from the grains.items function, taking care to sanitize any sensitive information.

Below are tables that should help with deciding which provider to use if one needs to be overridden.

Provider: pkg

Execution Module Used for
apt Debian/Ubuntu-based distros which use apt-get(8) for package management
brew Mac OS software management using Homebrew
ebuild Gentoo-based systems (utilizes the portage python module as well as emerge(1))
freebsdpkg FreeBSD-based OSes using pkg_add(1)
openbsdpkg OpenBSD-based OSes using pkg_add(1)
pacman Arch Linux-based distros using pacman(8)
pkgin NetBSD-based OSes using pkgin(1)
pkgng FreeBSD-based OSes using pkg(8)
pkgutil Solaris-based OSes using OpenCSW's pkgutil(1)
solarispkg Solaris-based OSes using pkgadd(1M)
win_pkg Windows
yumpkg RedHat-based distros and derivatives (utilizes the yum and rpmUtils modules)
yumpkg5 RedHat-based distros and derivatives (wraps yum(8))
zypper SUSE-based distros using zypper(8)

Provider: service

Execution Module Used for
debian_service Debian Linux (non-systemd)
freebsdservice FreeBSD-based OSes using service(8)
gentoo_service Gentoo Linux using sysvinit and rc-update(8)
launchctl Mac OS hosts using launchctl(1)
netbsdservice NetBSD-based OSes
openbsdservice OpenBSD-based OSes
rh_service RedHat-based distros and derivatives using service(8) and chkconfig(8). Supports both pure sysvinit and mixed sysvinit/upstart systems.
service Fallback which simply wraps sysvinit scripts
smf Solaris-based OSes which use SMF
systemd Linux distros which use systemd
upstart Ubuntu-based distros using upstart
win_service Windows

Provider: user

Execution Module Used for
useradd Linux, NetBSD, and OpenBSD systems using useradd(8), userdel(8), and usermod(8)
pw_user FreeBSD-based OSes using pw(8)
solaris_user Solaris-based OSes using useradd(1M), userdel(1M), and usermod(1M)
win_useradd Windows

Provider: group

Execution Module Used for
groupadd Linux, NetBSD, and OpenBSD systems using groupadd(8), groupdel(8), and groupmod(8)
pw_group FreeBSD-based OSes using pw(8)
solaris_group Solaris-based OSes using groupadd(1M), groupdel(1M), and groupmod(1M)
win_groupadd Windows

Arbitrary Module Redirects

The provider statement can also be used for more powerful means, instead of overwriting or extending the module used for the named service an arbitrary module can be used to provide certain functionality.

emacs:
  pkg.installed:
    - provider:
      - pkg: yumpkg5
      - cmd: customcmd

In this example the default pkg module is being redirected to use the yumpkg5 module (yum via shelling out instead of via the yum Python API), but is also using a custom module to invoke commands. This could be used to dramatically change the behavior of a given state.