Node groups¶

Nodegroups are declared using a compound target specification. The compound target documentation can be found here.

The nodegroups master config file parameter is used to define nodegroups. Here's an example nodegroup configuration within /etc/salt/master:

nodegroups:
  group1: 'L@foo.domain.com,bar.domain.com,baz.domain.com or bl*.domain.com'
  group2: 'G@os:Debian and foo.domain.com'
  group3: 'G@os:Debian and N@group1'

Note

The L within group1 is matching a list of minions, while the G in group2 is matching specific grains. See the compound matchers documentation for more details.

Note

Nodgroups can reference other nodegroups as seen in group3. Ensure that you do not have circular references. Circular references will be detected and cause partial expansion with a logged error message.

To match a nodegroup on the CLI, use the -N command-line option:

salt -N group1 test.ping

To match a nodegroup in your top file, make sure to put - match: nodegroup on the line directly following the nodegroup name.

base:
  group1:
    - match: nodegroup
    - webserver

Note

When adding or modifying nodegroups to a master configuration file, the master must be restarted for those changes to be fully recognized.

A limited amount of functionality, such as targeting with -N from the command-line may be available without a restart.