VMware Aria Automation SaltStack Config (formerly vRealize Automation SaltStack Config)

In my previous post titled Introduction to VMware vRealize Automation SaltStack SecOps, I provided an introduction to VMware Aria Automation SaltStack Automation SecOps, as well as a brief history and overview of the product’s capabilities. In this post, I’ll dive deeper into the product’s compliance management capabilities. Compliance Checks Compliance checks are at the foundation of VMware Aria Automation SaltStack SecOps compliance management. These checks provide the information necessary to identify the purpose of the check, the operating systems it applies to, the rationale for the check, and, more importantly, the state file responsible for implementing/remediating the check.

Recently I began familiarizing myself with VMware vRealize Automation SaltStack Config in my home lab. While I'm still relatively new to the product, I was curious to learn more about the compliance and vulnerability management capabilities provided by the SecOps add-on. In this post, I introduce VMware vRealize Automation SaltStack SecOps and briefly review the various features and functionality provided by the product. In subsequent blog posts, I will give a more in-depth look at vulnerability management and compliance management capabilities.

For several years, VMware has been adding new integration capabilities into new releases of VMware Tools. These capabilities often supported VMware products, including vRealize Operations, NSX, AppDefence, and Carbon Black. The latest product to be integrated into VMware Tools 12.0.0 is VMware vRealize SaltStack Config. VMware Tools 12.0.0 now includes the ability to automate the deployment of the Salt Minion software utilizing vSphere virtual machine guest variables. This new integration makes it easier than ever to deploy new Salt Minions to both new and existing virtual machines.