.. _targeting-glob:

========================== Matching the minion id

Each minion needs a unique identifier. By default when a minion starts for the first time it chooses its :abbr:FQDN (fully qualified domain name) as that identifier. The minion id can be overridden via the minion's :conf_minion:id configuration setting.

.. tip:: minion id and minion keys

The :term:`minion id <Minion ID>` is used to generate the minion's public/private keys
and if it ever changes the master must then accept the new key as though
the minion was a new host.

Globbing

The default matching that Salt utilizes is :py:mod:shell-style globbing <python2:fnmatch> around the :term:minion id <Minion ID>. This also works for states in the :term:top file <Top File>.

.. note::

You must wrap :command:`salt` calls that use globbing in single-quotes to
prevent the shell from expanding the globs before Salt is invoked.

Match all minions:

.. code-block:: bash

salt '*' test.version

Match all minions in the example.net domain or any of the example domains:

.. code-block:: bash

salt '*.example.net' test.version
salt '*.example.*' test.version

Match all the webN minions in the example.net domain (web1.example.net, web2.example.net … webN.example.net):

.. code-block:: bash

salt 'web?.example.net' test.version

Match the web1 through web5 minions:

.. code-block:: bash

salt 'web[1-5]' test.version

Match the web1 and web3 minions:

.. code-block:: bash

salt 'web[1,3]' test.version

Match the web-x, web-y, and web-z minions:

.. code-block:: bash

salt 'web-[x-z]' test.version

.. note::

For additional targeting methods please review the
:ref:`compound matchers <targeting-compound>` documentation.

Regular Expressions

Minions can be matched using Perl-compatible :py:mod:regular expressions <python2:re> (which is globbing on steroids and a ton of caffeine).

Match both web1-prod and web1-devel minions:

.. code-block:: bash

salt -E 'web1-(prod|devel)' test.version

When using regular expressions in a State's :term:top file <Top File>, you must specify the matcher as the first option. The following example executes the contents of webserver.sls on the above-mentioned minions.

.. code-block:: yaml

base:
  'web1-(prod|devel)':
  - match: pcre
  - webserver

Lists

At the most basic level, you can specify a flat list of minion IDs:

.. code-block:: bash

salt -L 'web1,web2,web3' test.version