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 will replace the systemd module which is used by default on Arch Linux, and the httpd service will be managed using sysvinit.

Note

You can also set a provider globally in the minion config providers.

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.