Getting Started With Linode¶

Linode is a public cloud host with a focus on Linux instances.

Starting with the 2015.8.0 release of Salt, the Linode driver uses Linode's native REST API. There are no external dependencies required to use the Linode driver.

Configuration¶

Linode requires a single API key, but the default root password for new instances also needs to be set:

# Note: This example is for /etc/salt/cloud.providers or any file in the
# /etc/salt/cloud.providers.d/ directory.

my-linode-config:
  apikey: asldkgfakl;sdfjsjaslfjaklsdjf;askldjfaaklsjdfhasldsadfghdkf
  password: F00barbaz
  ssh_pubkey: ssh-ed25519 AAAAC3NzaC1lZDI1NTE5AAAAIKHEOLLbeXgaqRQT9NBAopVz366SdYc0KKX33vAnq+2R user@host
  ssh_key_file: ~/.ssh/id_ed25519
  driver: linode

The password needs to be 8 characters and contain lowercase, uppercase, and numbers.

Note

Changed in version 2015.8.0.

The provider parameter in cloud provider definitions was renamed to driver. This change was made to avoid confusion with the provider parameter that is used in cloud profile definitions. Cloud provider definitions now use driver to refer to the Salt cloud module that provides the underlying functionality to connect to a cloud host, while cloud profiles continue to use provider to refer to provider configurations that you define.

Profiles¶

Cloud Profiles¶

Set up an initial profile at /etc/salt/cloud.profiles or in the /etc/salt/cloud.profiles.d/ directory:

linode_1024:
  provider: my-linode-config
  size: Linode 2048
  image: CentOS 7
  location: London, England, UK

Sizes can be obtained using the --list-sizes option for the salt-cloud command:

# salt-cloud --list-sizes my-linode-config
my-linode-config:
    ----------
    linode:
        ----------
        Linode 1024:
            ----------
            bandwidth:
                2000
            disk:
                49152
            driver:
            get_uuid:
            id:
                1
            name:
                Linode 1024
            price:
                20.0
            ram:
                1024
            uuid:
                03e18728ce4629e2ac07c9cbb48afffb8cb499c4
...SNIP...

Images can be obtained using the --list-images option for the salt-cloud command:

# salt-cloud --list-images my-linode-config
my-linode-config:
    ----------
    linode:
        ----------
        Arch Linux 2013.06:
            ----------
            driver:
            extra:
                ----------
                64bit:
                    1
                pvops:
                    1
            get_uuid:
            id:
                112
            name:
                Arch Linux 2013.06
            uuid:
                8457f92eaffc92b7666b6734a96ad7abe1a8a6dd
...SNIP...

Locations can be obtained using the --list-locations option for the salt-cloud command:

# salt-cloud --list-locations my-linode-config
my-linode-config:
    ----------
    linode:
        ----------
        Atlanta, GA, USA:
            ----------
            abbreviation:
                atlanta
            id:
                4
        Dallas, TX, USA:
            ----------
            abbreviation:
                dallas
            id:
                2
...SNIP...

Cloning¶

When salt-cloud accesses Linode via linode-python it can clone machines.

It is safest to clone a stopped machine. To stop a machine run

salt-cloud -a stop machine_to_clone

To create a new machine based on another machine, add an entry to your linode cloud profile that looks like this:

li-clone:
  provider: my-linode-config
  clonefrom: machine_to_clone
  script_args: -C -F

Then run salt-cloud as normal, specifying -p li-clone. The profile name can be anything; It doesn't have to be li-clone.

clonefrom: is the name of an existing machine in Linode from which to clone. Script_args: -C -F is necessary to avoid re-deploying Salt via salt-bootstrap. -C will just re-deploy keys so the new minion will not have a duplicate key or minion_id on the Master, and -F will force a rewrite of the Minion config file on the new Minion. If -F isn't provided, the new Minion will have the machine_to_clone's Minion ID, instead of its own Minion ID, which can cause problems.

Note

Pull Request #733 to the salt-bootstrap repo makes the -F argument non-necessary. Once that change is released into a stable version of the Bootstrap Script, the -C argument will be sufficient for the script_args setting.

If the machine_to_clone does not have Salt installed on it, refrain from using the script_args: -C -F altogether, because the new machine will need to have Salt installed.