Saltboot Formula

The Saltboot formula is used to configure disk images and partitioning for the selected hardware type.

The Saltboot formula is meant to be used as a group formula. Enable and configure Saltboot formula for hardware type groups.

To apply changes to a terminal, terminal needs to be restarted. Applying highstate does not have any effect on running terminals.
Procedure: Configuring the Hardware Type Group with Saltboot

  1. Open the details page for your new hardware type group, and navigate to the Formulas tab.

  2. Select the Saltboot formula and click Save.

  3. Navigate to the Formulas  Saltboot tab.

  4. In the Disk 1 section, set these parameters:

    • In the Disk symbolic ID field, enter a custom name for the disk (for example, disk1).

    • In the Device type field, select DISK.

    • In the Disk device field, select the device that corresponds to the device name on the target machine (for example, /dev/sda).

    • In the RAID level field, leave it empty.

    • In the Disk Label field, select gpt.

  5. In the Partition section, set these parameters for Partition 1:

    • In the Partition symbolic ID field, enter a custom name for the partition (for example, p1).

    • In the Partition size use value 500.

    • In the Device mount point use /boot/efi.

    • In the Filesystem format use vfat.

    • In the OS Image to deploy field, leave it empty.

    • In the Partition encryption password field, leave it empty.

    • In the Partition flags use boot.

  6. In the Partition section, set these parameters for Partition 2:

    • In the Partition symbolic ID field, enter a custom name for the partition (for example, p2).

    • In the Partition size field, specify a size for the partition in Mebibytes (MiB).

    • In the Device mount point field, select a location to mount the partition (for example, /data).

    • In the Filesystem format field, select your preferred format (for example, xfs).

    • In the OS Image to deploy field, leave it empty.

    • In the Partition encryption password field, enter a password if you want to encrypt the partition.

    • In the Partition flags field, leave it empty.

  7. In the Partition section, set these parameters for Partition 3:

    • In the Partition symbolic ID field, enter a custom name for the partition (for example, p3).

    • In the Partition size field, specify a size for the partition in Mebibytes (MiB).

    • In the Device mount point field, leave it empty.

    • In the Filesystem format field, select swap.

    • In the OS Image to deploy field, leave it empty.

    • In the Partition encryption password field, enter a password if you want to encrypt the partition.

    • In the Partition flags field, select swap.

  8. In the Partition section, set these parameters for Partition 4:

    • In the Partition symbolic ID field, enter a custom name for the partition (for example, p4).

    • In the Partition size field, leave it empty. This will ensure the partition uses up all remaining space.

    • In the Device mount point field, select /.

    • In the Filesystem format field, leave it empty.

    • In the OS Image to deploy field, enter the name of the image to deploy.

    • In the Image version field, leave it empty. This will ensure you use the latest available version.

    • In the Partition encryption password field, enter a password if you want to encrypt the partition.

    • In the Partition flags field, leave it empty.

  9. Click Save Formula to save your configuration.

Special Partition Types

The Saltboot formula helps you with setting up special partition types.

For terminal to be able to boot locally, either BIOS grub or EFI partition must be configured.

BIOS grub Partition

A BIOS grub partition is needed for local booting from a GPT disk on non-EFI machines. For more information, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BIOS_boot_partition.

In the formula, enter the following options:

Partition Symbolic ID: p1
Partition Size (MiB): 50
Partition Flags: bios_grub

Leave the other fields empty.

EFI Partition

An EFI partition is needed for local booting on EFI machines, Partition Table Type must be GPT. For more information, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EFI_system_partition.

In the formula, enter the following options:

Partition Symbolic ID: p1
Partition Size (MiB): 500
Device Mount Point: /boot/efi
Filesystem Format: vfat
Partition Flags: boot

Leave the other fields empty.

Customize the Client Boot Process

You can change the client boot process using Salt pillars. Two Salt pillars allow you to change the protocol and server used to download the image.

  • The saltboot_download_protocol pillar specifies which protocol should be used to download the image to the client. This overrides the default protocol specified in the image pillar. Allowed values are http, https, ftp, or tftp.

  • The saltboot_download_server pillar specifies which server to use to download the image. This overrides the default hostname specified in the image pillar.

Example: Changing the Saltboot Image Download Protocol

This example changes the protocol used for all clients.

Edit the /srv/pillar/top.sls file:

base:
  '*':
    - saltboot_proto

Edit the /srv/pillar/$branch_prefix.sls file:

saltboot_download_protocol: http
# can be http, https, ftp, tftp
Example: Changing the Saltboot Image Download Location

This example changes the download location for all clients on a specified branch or proxy server.

Edit the /srv/pillar/top.sls file:

base:
  'minion_id_prefix:$branch_prefix':
     - match: grain
     - $branch_prefix

Edit the /srv/pillar/$branch_prefix.sls file:

saltboot_download_server: $download_server_fqdn

In this example, the download server must be prepared by the image_sync state before you begin.

Troubleshooting the Saltboot Formula

msdos Disklabel Limitations

On the msdos disk label, you can create a maximum of four primary partitions. Extended partitions are not supported. If you need more than four partitions, use the GPT disk label instead.

For more information on troubleshooting problems with the Saltboot formula, see administration:tshoot-saltboot.adoc.