VMware vRealize SaltStack Config as a Windows Server Admin - Part 6

October 9, 2021 in - "How to use SaltStack Config with Windows Server and PowerShell"

Part 6: The latest item on my journey with VMware vRealize SaltStack Config as a Windows Server Admin is going to be a lot PowerShell. I use PowerShell for a lot of Automation, Windows Server and Linux Server. When working with VMware vRealize SaltStack Config I constantly found myself going to the CLI to test and learn how the salt functions work.

SaltConf 2021 - SaltStack Config Session

October 2, 2021 in - "Manage Windows Workloads Through vRealize Automation SaltStack Config"

I will be doing a SaltConf presentation for the first time at SaltConf 2021. I attended SaltConf 2020 for the first time after VMware purchased SaltStack Config. This past year I have spent a lot of time reviewing SaltStack Config as a Windows Admin and I am excited to share what I have learned to hopefully help some Windows Server Admins get started. I wanted to learn one of the configuration Management products for a couple of years and after VMware purchased SaltStack Config the decision became obvious to me which one I should learn since I live in VMware vRealize Products all day, every day.

VMware vRealize SaltStack Config as a Windows Server Admin - Part 5

October 1, 2021 in - "How to use SaltStack Config with Windows Server and PowerShell"

Part 5: The latest item on my journey with VMware vRealize SaltStack Config as a Windows Server Admin will be an update to some items that I have talked about in previous posts. I have been spending more time with VMware vRealize SaltStack Config and I have learned some better ways to do some of the processes that I have talked about already. My goal to to learn and use the built-in functions that are already in the product.

VMware vRealize SaltStack Config as a Windows Server Admin - Part 4

September 5, 2021 in - "How to use SaltStack Config with Windows Server and PowerShell"

Part 4: The latest item on my journey with VMware vRealize SaltStack Config as a Windows Server Admin will be salt grains. I have a specific use case that made me start looking at grains. In VMware vCenter I use vCenter TAGs to organize VMs. I also use vCenter TAGs to organize VMs in vRealize Operations. I want to use the same logic of using vCenter TAGs in SaltStack Config.

VMware vRealize SaltStack Config as a Windows Server Admin - Part 3

August 27, 2021 in - "How to use SaltStack Config with Windows Server and PowerShell"

Part 3: The next steps on my journey with VMware vRealize SaltStack Config as a Windows Server Admin will be beacons and reactors. Working with Jobs helped me understand how to make changes Ad-Hoc. I have a Job to quickly stop the Print Spooler but what if I always want the state of the Print Spooler Service to be stopped. How do I NOT allow a Server Admin to login into the server and manually start the service?

VMworld 2021 - SaltStack Config Session

August 12, 2021 in - "Manage Windows Workloads Through vRealize Automation SaltStack Config [MCL1895]"

I will be doing a VMworld presentation for the first time at VMworld 2021. I have attended VMworld since 2012 and it has been a goal of mine to do a presentation at a VMworld since the first year I attended. There are always so many good sessions to attend. We are putting many hours into this presentation so that the people attending feel it was worth their time and learn a lot about the topic.

VMware vRealize SaltStack Config as a Windows Server Admin - Part 2

August 5, 2021 in - "How to use SaltStack Config with Windows Server and PowerShell"

Part 2: I have been able to spend more time with VMware vRealize SaltStack Config. Here are some updates on my journey with SaltStack as a Windows Server Admin. Auto-Accept new minions: I wanted new Windows Server builds (minions) to be auto accepted into SaltStack Config instead of someone manually approving new minions. To do this you need to have a reactor.conf file. I created the file in SaltStack Config File Server in base/reactor/reactor.

VMware vRealize SaltStack Config as a Windows Server Admin - Part 1

July 16, 2021 in - "How to use SaltStack Config with Windows Server and PowerShell"

Part 1: I have recently started looking at using VMware vRealize SaltStack Config. This blog is a work in progress on my journey with Salt. I started at zero and let’s see what I discover as I work towards getting to PROD. So if this topic is interesting to you, check back often. I wanted to learn one of the server configuration products that are available like Salt, Puppet, Chef, Ansible, etc… but I wasn’t sure which would be the best choice long term.

About Dale Hassinger

January 1, 2020 in - "Contact Information"

Lead Systems Engineer, SME, vExpert 2020, 2021, vExpert Cloud Management 2021 If you can script it, You can Automate it… VMware vExpert 2020/21 2021 Email: Dale.Hassinger@vCrocs.info Location: Dillsburg, PA My current focus is Enterprise Automation, Monitoring and Logging. I am using VMware vRealize Automation and SaltStack Config to complete server builds, software installs, schedule VM snap shots, Microsoft 365 automation, Citrix Management, Automate Data Center Flips, Server Decommissions, and many other Day 2 processes… For monitoring I use vRealize Operations for the “Single Pane of Glass” experience.