Using iterations in states

The need to do the same task repeatedly for a number of entities of the same type is a very basic requirement of any role in an organization. To achieve this, languages and tools provide us with the feature of iterations, simply known as loops. In this recipe, you will learn how to apply iterations in our configuration.

How to do it...

1. We will use the same minion as the previous recipe. Modify the user pillar, that is, edit /opt/salt-cookbook/pillar/staging/user/init.sls to have the following contents:

   dev_user_list:
     optimus:
       uid: 7001
       passwd: '$1$Dw1TxMI7$pmeYTdmz.rlunqPd7JELR.'
     bumblebee:
       uid: 7002
       passwd: '$1$ZHUeIAfq$6sJl9rHVDX2UjBH1KrPZP1'
     ironhide:
       uid: 7003
       passwd: '$1$rcJAiq7y$bJzv3HzVTbeQlA3cIu1Gb1'

2. Edit /opt/salt-cookbook/staging/user/init.sls to have the following contents:

   {% for user, details in pillar['dev_user_list'].iteritems() %}
   {{ user }}:
     user.present:
       - home: /home/{{ user }}
       - uid: {{ details['uid'] }}
    ...