The curriculum

Salt Academy.

Salt is a great product but the docs not so much. This is my attempt to fix that.

I will be adding more courses when I have time. And I know the page is a bit AI-ish, but we will fix that in the future.

8 guides
127 modules
5 courses

The curriculum · in order

Step 1 · Install

VCF Salt — install guide.

The 3-server architecture we run in production. Eleven install steps. Blue/green ready. Never roll back a database again.

3 servers
11 steps
10min rebuild
Read the install guide →

Step 2 · Use it

Your first Salt state.

From hello-world to pillar to Git. Windows + Linux side by side. The rebuild-from-Git pattern, applied to your day-one workflow.

5 first states
11 real-world
Git ready
Read the tutorial →

Step 3 · Master states

Salt states, the parts you'll actually use.

The 6 daily state modules, the requisite system, 4 real production patterns, 6 anti-patterns. Without the spec sheet.

6 modules
4 requisites
4 real patterns
Read the states guide →

Step 4 · Windows

Salt on Windows. The practical bits.

Install the minion, learn the 6 quirks Salt has on Windows, manage software fleet-wide with winrepo.

5 install steps
6 quirks
winrepo deep dive
Read the Windows guide →

Step 5 · Salt + AI

Salt + AI — patterns that actually work.

AI writes plausible Salt YAML. Sometimes it runs. The patterns that actually work — plus the failure modes nobody warns you about.

7 sections
MCP setup
5 anti-patterns
Read Salt + AI →

Advanced · AI Tooling

The AI toolchain. Installed, signed in, working.

VSCode, the SaltStack extension, Copilot Chat, Claude in Chrome, Claude Code (IDE + terminal). Install commands lifted from official docs.

6 tools
25min read
SALT 501
Read AI Tooling →

References · for lookup, not reading in order

Reference · Cheat Sheet

Salt Cheat Sheet.

60-ish commands organised by category. Vibe checks, keys, targeting, states, debug, jobs, network. Copy-paste ready.

60+ commands
8 categories
Cmd+D worthy
Read the cheat sheet →

Reference · State Modules

Every Salt state module. Grouped by what they do.

All 127 Salt master state modules, regrouped into 9 functional categories with usage examples. Search by what you're trying to do.

127 modules
9 categories
83 w/ examples
Browse all 127 →

OFFICIAL RESOURCES

Want to go deeper than the curriculum?

The Academy is written in plain English. The official sources are more thorough and always current — worth bookmarking.

Salt Project

The main project site — overview, news, community.

saltproject.io ↗

Official documentation

The full reference — every module, state, and pillar.

docs.saltproject.io ↗

Source & latest releases

Source, releases, and the full issue tracker — always current.

github.com/saltstack/salt ↗

VCF Salt

The licensed enterprise build from Broadcom — RBAC, RaaS, UI for regulated environments.

techdocs.broadcom.com ↗

Salt in the wild

Live from upstream — releases as they ship, blog posts as they drop.

From the blog · saltproject.io

Releases · saltstack/salt · stable only