.. _salt-cloud-functions:

=============== Cloud Functions

Cloud functions work much the same way as cloud actions, except that they don't perform an operation on a specific instance, and so do not need a machine name to be specified. However, since they perform an operation on a specific cloud provider, that provider must be specified.

.. code-block:: bash

$ salt-cloud -f show_image ec2 image=ami-fd20ad94

There are three universal salt-cloud functions that are extremely useful for gathering information about instances on a provider basis:

• list_nodes: Returns some general information about the instances for the given provider.
• list_nodes_full: Returns all information about the instances for the given provider.
• list_nodes_select: Returns select information about the instances for the given provider.

.. code-block:: bash

$ salt-cloud -f list_nodes linode
$ salt-cloud -f list_nodes_full linode
$ salt-cloud -f list_nodes_select linode

Another useful reference for viewing salt-cloud functions is the :ref:Salt Cloud Feature Matrix <salt-cloud-feature-matrix>.