Summary

Return data command is always sent to the Master, even after the salt command has finished listening for it. The event bus picks up those messages and can store them in an external job cache. If the salt command is still listening, then it will be displayed using an outputter. But specifying a returner will always send return data someplace to be processed, so long as the Master itself is still running.

Returners can be specified using the --return flag, or can be set to run by default on the Minion using the ext_job_cache master configuration option, or on the Master using the master_job_cache master configuration option.

Now that we have ways of handling return data, it's time to create more intelligent processes to execute our commands. Next up: runners.