globbing.rst

Matching the minion id

.. glossary::

    minion id
        A unique identifier for a given minion. By default the minion id is the
        FQDN of that host but this can be overridden.

Each minion needs a unique identifier. By default when a minion starts for the first time it chooses its :abbr:`FQDN (fully qualified domain name)` as that identifier. The minion id can be overridden via the minion's :conf_minion:`id` configuration setting.

Tip

minion id and minion keys

The :term:`minion id` is used to generate the minion's public/private keys and if it ever changes the master must then accept the new key as though the minion was a new host.

Globbing

The default matching that Salt utilizes is shell-style globbing around the :term:`minion id`. This also works for states in the :term:`top file`.

Note

You must wrap :command:`salt` calls that use globbing in single-quotes to prevent the shell from expanding the globs before Salt is invoked.

Match all minions:

salt '*' test.ping

Match all minions in the example.net domain or any of the example domains:

salt '*.example.net' test.ping
salt '*.example.*' test.ping

Match all the webN minions in the example.net domain (web1.example.net, web2.example.net … webN.example.net):

salt 'web?.example.net' test.ping

Match the web1 through web5 minions:

salt 'web[1-5]' test.ping

Match the web-x, web-y, and web-z minions:

salt 'web-[x-z]' test.ping

Regular Expressions

Minions can be matched using Perl-compatible regular expressions (which is globbing on steroids and a ton of caffeine).

Match both web1-prod and web1-devel minions:

salt -E 'web1-(prod|devel)' test.ping

When using regular expressions in a State's :term:`top file`, you must specify the matcher as the first option. The following example executes the contents of webserver.sls on the above-mentioned minions.

base:
  'web1-(prod|devel)':
  - match: pcre
  - webserver

Lists

At the most basic level, you can specify a flat list of minion IDs:

salt -L 'web1,web2,web3' test.ping