SaltStack as a replacement for OpenStack.

[lzyeval]

Hi, I've just heard SaltStack on FLOSS Weekly and my perception is
that this project can become a better cloud controller than OpenStack.

SaltStack has the potential to do everything OpenStack does and even
do much more.

What is the current direction of this project?

Being a remote execution manager? or extent to as a cloud controller?

LZY

[lzyeval]

Yeah, just saw the Butter project. This looks promising.

[Andrew Niemantsverdriet]

Salt is not quite a replacement for OpenStack yet. It is really close and currently can duplicate some of it functionality. Once salt can talk to multiple masters and there is a way to keep those masters in sync ( see: https://github.com/saltstack/salt/issues/409 )

Once a couple issues get cleared up salt will be a wonderful replacement for OpenStack. It currently can do lots of similar features. Salt can do remote execution and configuration management (think puppet).

So to answer your question, yes salt will be able to replace OpenStack.

Also I am not sure what the butter project is.

Thanks,
 _
/-\ ndrew

--
 _
/-\ ndrew Niemantsverdriet
Linux System Administrator
Academic Computing
(406) 238-7360
Rocky Mountain College
1511 Poly Dr.
Billings MT, 59102

[Joseph Hall]

On Thu, Jan 12, 2012 at 7:40 AM, Andrew Niemantsverdriet
<and...@rocky.edu> wrote:
> Also I am not sure what the butter project is.

Butter is a cloud controller project originally written by Tom around
the same time as Salt, which uses Salt to do its job. I believe
(correct me if I'm wrong) that Tom is planning to work more of the
functionality into Salt, and kind of phase out the Butter project.

That said, I've used Butter extensively in the past, and I don't know
where I'd be without it. Once you've used it, trying to manage VMs
without it feels like trying to hit a baseball with both hands tied
behind your back.

--
Joseph

[Jeff Schroeder]

Honestly I see them as somewhat complementary. Right now salt is one
of the better rpc systems out there and does great state management.
Right now OpenStack uses ssh for a lot of this + puppet or chef. There
is absolutely no reason that OpenStack couldn't use salt for both the
rpc and for the state management. In fact, since most of OpenStack is
written in python, it might make more sense.

That being said, salt will go where the community takes it! Perhaps we
build cloud controllers and end up using a lot of the OpenStack bits?
Only the community and the future can tell :)

--
Jeff Schroeder

Don't drink and derive, alcohol and analysis don't mix.
http://www.digitalprognosis.com

[Thomas S Hatch]

Sorry about the late reply

The goal is to be able to do a lot of the things that Open Stack can do, but Salt will also be able to act as a component inside of an Open Stack deployment. There are a lot more features that are needed besides just multiple masters though.

Butter is a cool project, but there are a few places where it will need to be altered, the plan is actually to rewrite it to make better use of new features in Salt. When I wrote it originally Salt only had modules, not states, no returners, no file server. Adding these capabilities changes the playing field a great deal!

So yes, the goal is to add more and more Open Stack like features to Salt Stack over time, and some deployments will find it a replacement to open stack, and some will find it a compliment!

- Thomas S Hatch