Salt master Version 3008 is not communicating with VMware Salt (RaaS daemon)

Products

• VMware Salt

Issue/Introduction

The Salt Master fails to communicate with the RaaS (Returner as a Service) node using the existing master plugin after upgrading the Salt Master to version 3008.x or later on VMware Salt 8.18.3.

Environment

• VMware Salt 8.18.3

• VCF Salt 8.18.3

• Salt / Salt Master >= 3008

Cause

The existing Salt Master plugin (SSEAPE) bundled with Aria Automation Config / VCF Salt 8.18.3 is incompatible with Salt open-source version 3008.x and later. The master plugin must be upgraded to the latest published version (8.18.3.8), and internal module paths must be regenerated to restore functionality.

 

Resolution

Download the patched WHL file

Please log in to https://support.broadcom.com. Then download the patched WHL file from the URL below.

VCF Salt 8.18.3 Downloads Page

Note: This is a patched version intended strictly for Salt Masters running version 3008.x or higher and is not available via the standard VMware Salt UI.

Perform on every Salt Master

1. Capture installed extensions before upgrading:

   salt-pip list --format=freeze | grep saltext | tee salt-extensions.txt

2. Upgrade Salt to version 3008 or higher.
3. Upgrade the master plugin to the latest published version:

   systemctl stop salt-master
   salt-pip install /path/to/new_plugin_whl_file
   chown -R salt:salt /etc/salt /var/cache/salt /var/log/salt /var/run/salt /etc/salt/pki/master /opt/saltstack/

4. Back up the eAPIMasterPaths.conf file:

   cp /etc/salt/master.d/eAPIMasterPaths.conf /etc/salt/master.d/eAPIMasterPaths.conf.bkp

5. Run the /opt/saltstack/salt/extras-3.14/bin/sseapi-config --all command to get the correct SSEAPE module paths for the installed version:

   # /opt/saltstack/salt/extras-3.14/bin/sseapi-config --all
   # Beacons External Modules Path(s)
   beacons_dirs:
   - /opt/saltstack/salt/extras-3.14/sseape/beacons
   
   # Engines External Modules Path(s)
   engines_dirs:
   - /opt/saltstack/salt/extras-3.14/sseape/engines
   
   # Fileserver External Modules Path(s)
   fileserver_dirs:
   - /opt/saltstack/salt/extras-3.14/sseape/fileserver
   
   # Pillar External Modules Path(s)
   pillar_dirs:
   - /opt/saltstack/salt/extras-3.14/sseape/pillar
   
   # Returner External Modules Path(s)
   returner_dirs:
   - /opt/saltstack/salt/extras-3.14/sseape/returners
   
   # Roster External Modules Path(s)
   roster_dirs:
   - /opt/saltstack/salt/extras-3.14/sseape/roster
   
   # Runner External Modules Path(s)
   runner_dirs:
   - /opt/saltstack/salt/extras-3.14/sseape/runners
   
   # Salt External Modules Path(s)
   module_dirs:
   - /opt/saltstack/salt/extras-3.14/sseape/modules
   
   # States External Modules Paths(s)
   states_dirs:
   - /opt/saltstack/salt/extras-3.14/sseape/states

6. Replace the contents of /etc/salt/master.d/eAPIMasterPaths.conf with the paths from the previous command.
7. Remove the old sseape module manually, if any exist:

   rm -rf /opt/saltstack/salt/lib/python3.10/site-packages/sseape* /opt/saltstack/salt/lib/python3.11/site-packages/sseape* /opt/saltstack/salt/extras-3.10/sseape* /opt/saltstack/salt/extras-3.11/sseape*

8. Restart the master:

   systemctl restart salt-master

9. Refresh the grains by running the following command from the master against the minions:

   salt '*' saltutil.refresh_grains

10. Reinstall the extensions from step 1:

    salt-pip install $(cat salt-extensions.txt)

11. Run the following commands on the RaaS server to reflect the latest version of the plugin in the UI:

    cp ./SSEAPE-8.18.3.8-py3-none-any.whl /opt/saltstack/raas/static/master_plugins/
    grep "requirepass" /etc/valkey/valkey.conf
    valkey-cli -h 127.0.0.1 -p 6379 -a <output from the previous step>
    127.0.0.1:6379> select 2 
    DEL MASTER_PLUGINS_CACHE

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