vCROCS
About Posts Tags Categories
vCROCS

Contents

VMware vRealize SaltStack Config as a Windows Server Admin - Part 7

Dale Hassinger included in VCF Automation
   1340 words   7 minutes 
/saltstack-config-part-07/featured-image.png

VMware vRealize SaltStack Config as a Windows Server Admin - Part 7

The more I use VMware vRealize SaltStack Config as a Windows Server Admin the more I see the importance of having grain information added to the minion to be able to target servers many different ways. During a recent discussion it was suggested to have the ability to target Windows Server minions by the Windows server Features|Roles that were installed on the server and by which software was installed on a server. There are built-in salt functions to get Features|Roles and installed software. Here is the code I used to get the information and add to the minion grain file using PowerShell.

This will allow you to create targets to:

  • minions with specific VMware Tools Versions
  • minion with Web Server Feature|Role enabled
  • etc…
Salt Functions:
  1
  2
  3
  4
  5
  6
  7
  8
  9
 10
 11
 12
 13
 14
 15
 16
 17
 18
 19
 20
 21
 22
 23
 24
 25
 26
 27
 28
 29
 30
 31
 32
 33
 34
 35
 36
 37
 38
 39
 40
 41
 42
 43
 44
 45
 46
 47
 48
 49
 50
 51
 52
 53
 54
 55
 56
 57
 58
 59
 60
 61
 62
 63
 64
 65
 66
 67
 68
 69
 70
 71
 72
 73
 74
 75
 76
 77
 78
 79
 80
 81
 82
 83
 84
 85
 86
 87
 88
 89
 90
 91
 92
 93
 94
 95
 96
 97
 98
 99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151

# The POSH-SSH PowerShell module MUST be installed to use this code.

# Name of Minion that you want to add grain data
$minion = 'DBH-210'

# ----- [ SSH Connection to SalStack Config Server ] ------------------------------------
Write-Host 'Making SSH Connection to SaltStack Config Server...'

$Server   = 'ssc.vCROCS.local'
$userName = 'root'
$Password = 'VMware#1'

# The next line is how to create the encrypted password
$psPassword = ConvertTo-SecureString -String $Password -AsPlainText -Force
$creds = new-object -typename System.Management.Automation.PSCredential -argumentlist $username, $psPassword

$Params = @{
    "ComputerName" = $Server
    "Credential"   = $creds
} # End Params

# SSH Connection to SaltStack Server
$sshSession = Get-SSHSession
if($sshSession.SessionId -eq 0){
    Write-Host 'SSH Connection to SSC Server already completed'
} # End If
else{
    Write-Host 'Creating new SSH Connection to SSC Server'
    New-SSHSession @Params
} # End Else

# ----- [ Start Adding Grain Data ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

# ----- [ Minion Get Windows Server Features|Roles Installed ] ------------------------------------
Write-Host 'Getting Windows Server Features|Roles Installed...'

$sshCommand = 'salt "' + $minion + '" win_servermanager.list_installed --output=json'
#$sshCommand

$Params = @{
    "SessionId" = 0
    "Command"   = $sshCommand
} # End Params

$results = Invoke-SSHCommand @Params

$features = $results.Output
$features = $results.Output | ConvertFrom-Json
$features = $features.PsObject.Properties.Value
$features = $features | ConvertTo-Xml

# Append Each Feature|Role information to grains
Write-Host 'Appending Windows Server Features|Roles Installed to grains...'

$grainsKey = 'vCROCS_Windows_Feature'

foreach($feature in $features.Objects.Object.Property){
    $grainsValue = $feature.Name + ' | ' + $feature.'#text'

    # Grains Append
    $sshCommand = 'salt "' + $minion + '" grains.append ' + $grainsKey + ' "' + $grainsValue + '"'
    #$sshCommand

    $Params = @{
        "SessionId" = 0
        "Command"   = $sshCommand
    } # End Params

    Invoke-SSHCommand @Params
    
} # End Foreach



# ----- [ Minion Get Windows Server Installed Software ] ------------------------------------
Write-Host 'Getting Windows Server Installed Software...'

# Get Installed Software
$sshCommand = 'salt "' + $minion + '" pkg.list_pkgs --output=json'
#$sshCommand

$Params = @{
    "SessionId" = 0
    "Command"   = $sshCommand
} # End Params

$results = Invoke-SSHCommand @Params

$installedPackages = $results.Output
$installedPackages = $installedPackages | ConvertFrom-Json
$installedPackages = $installedPackages.PsObject.Properties.Value
$installedPackages = $installedPackages | ConvertTo-Xml

$grainsKey = 'vCROCS_Windows_Installed_Software'

# Append Windows Server Installed Software to grains
Write-Host 'Appending Windows Server Installed Software to grains...'

foreach($installedPackage in $installedPackages.Objects.Object.Property){
    $grainsValue = $installedPackage.Name + ' | ' + $installedPackage.'#text'

    # Grains Append
    $sshCommand = 'salt "' + $minion + '" grains.append ' + $grainsKey + ' "' + $grainsValue + '"'
    #$sshCommand

    $Params = @{
        "SessionId" = 0
        "Command"   = $sshCommand
    } # End Params

    Invoke-SSHCommand @Params

} # End Foreach


# ----- [ Add a Date that grains last updated ] ----------------------------------------------------------------
$grainsupdateDate = Get-Date
$grainsValue = $grainsupdateDate.ToString("MM/dd/yyyy")
$grainsKey = 'vCROCS_last_grains_update'

# Grains Append
$sshCommand = 'salt "' + $minion + '" grains.append ' + $grainsKey + ' "' + $grainsValue + '"'
#$sshCommand

$Params = @{
    "SessionId" = 0
    "Command"   = $sshCommand
} # End Params

Invoke-SSHCommand @Params

# ----- [ End Adding Grain Data ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

# ----- [ Sync minion Grain Data ] ------------------------------------------------------------------
Write-Host 'Syncing Minion Grain Data...'
# Sync Grains Data
$sshCommand = 'salt "' + $minion + '" saltutil.sync_grains'
#$sshCommand

$Params = @{
    "SessionId" = 0
    "Command"   = $sshCommand
} # End Params

Invoke-SSHCommand @Params

# ----- [ Disconnect from SaltStack Config Server ] ------------------------------------------------------------------
Write-Host 'Disconnecting from SaltStack Config Server...'
Remove-SSHSession -SessionId 0

# ----- [ End of Code ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Example grains file after running script

The default location of the grains file is in directory “C:\salt\conf"

 1
 2
 3
 4
 5
 6
 7
 8
 9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38

vCROCS_Windows_Feature:
- FileAndStorage-Services | File and Storage Services
- NET-Framework-45-Core | .NET Framework 4.7
- NET-Framework-45-Features | .NET Framework 4.7 Features
- NET-Framework-Core | .NET Framework 3.5 (includes .NET 2.0 and 3.0)
- NET-Framework-Features | .NET Framework 3.5 Features
- NET-WCF-Services45 | WCF Services
- NET-WCF-TCP-PortSharing45 | TCP Port Sharing
- PowerShell | Windows PowerShell 5.1
- PowerShell-ISE | Windows PowerShell ISE
- PowerShellRoot | Windows PowerShell
- PowerShell-V2 | Windows PowerShell 2.0 Engine
- RSAT | Remote Server Administration Tools
- RSAT-Feature-Tools | Feature Administration Tools
- RSAT-SNMP | SNMP Tools
- SNMP-Service | SNMP Service
- SNMP-WMI-Provider | SNMP WMI Provider
- Storage-Services | Storage Services
- System-DataArchiver | System Data Archiver
- Telnet-Client | Telnet Client
- WoW64-Support | WoW64 Support
- XPS-Viewer | XPS Viewer
vCROCS_Windows_Installed_Software:
- Microsoft Silverlight | 5.1.50918.0
- Microsoft Visual C++ 2013 Redistributable (x64) - 12.0.40664 | 12.0.40664.0
- Microsoft Visual C++ 2013 x64 Additional Runtime - 12.0.40664 | 12.0.40664
- Microsoft Visual C++ 2013 x64 Minimum Runtime - 12.0.40664 | 12.0.40664
- Microsoft Visual C++ 2015-2022 Redistributable (x64) - 14.30.30704 | 14.30.30704.0
- Microsoft Visual C++ 2015-2022 Redistributable (x86) - 14.30.30704 | 14.30.30704.0
- Microsoft Visual C++ 2022 X64 Additional Runtime - 14.30.30704 | 14.30.30704
- Microsoft Visual C++ 2022 X64 Minimum Runtime - 14.30.30704 | 14.30.30704
- Microsoft Visual C++ 2022 X86 Additional Runtime - 14.30.30704 | 14.30.30704
- Microsoft Visual C++ 2022 X86 Minimum Runtime - 14.30.30704 | 14.30.30704
- Salt Minion 3003.1 (Python 3) | 3003.1
- UniversalForwarder | 8.2.4.0
- VMware Tools | 11.3.5.18557794
vCROCS_last_grains_update:
- 01/14/2022
SaltStack Target using Windows Server Software Installed:

Show all minions that have VMware Tools | 11.3.5.18557794 installed

/saltstack-config-part-07/Salt-48.PNG
Click to see Larger Image
Lessons Learned:
  • Windows Server Features|Roles make a great way to target minions.
  • Windows Server installed software also makes a great way to target minions.
When I write about vRealize Automation ("vRA") I always say there are many ways to accomplish the same task. SaltStack Config is the same way. I am showing what I felt was important to see but every organization/environment will be different. There is no right or wrong way to use Salt. This is a GREAT Tool that is included with your vRealize Suite Advanced/Enterprise license. If you own the vRealize Suite, you own SaltStack Config.
  • If you like wearing Crocs and want to get a pair like I wear, follow this link to Amazon: My Favorite Crocs
  • If you found this Blog article useful and it helped you, Buy me a coffee to start my day.
Updated on 2024-10-22
 SaltStack Config, VMware Aria Automation, VRealize Automation, PowerShell, Windows Server, Configuration Management, POSH SSH
Back | Home