.. title: SaltStack Quickstart Guide on Mac OS X
.. slug: saltstack-quickstart-guide-on-mac-os-x
.. date: 2014-08-03 21:32:20
.. tags: mac os x,python
.. category:
.. link:
.. description:
.. type: text

As always, refer to the official `SaltStack documentation <http://docs.saltstack.com/en/latest/>`_ **first**.

To
get up and running with SaltStack on Mac OS X can be a daunting task.
I have found it much easier to use `MacPorts <https://www.macports.org/>`_ to accomplish any such
tasks.

.. TEASER_END: Read more

Step 1: Install MacPorts on your Mac OS X. I find this to be an
essential step for any developer using Mac OS X. Of course, there's
`Homebrew <http://brew.sh/>`_ as an alternative. I haven't used it but you may check it
out as well.

Once you have setup MacPorts successfully you are ready
to begin. Of course, since MacPorts provides a variety of GCC versions
I prefer it over the default gcc provided on my Mac. Install a newer
GCC and link your system to it.

::

    [user@host ~] $ sudo port installgcc48
    [user@host ~] $ sudo mv /usr/bin/gcc /usr/bin/gcc.orig
    [user@host ~] $ sudo ln -s /opt/local/bin/gcc-mp-4.8 /usr/bin/gcc

Install Python 2.7.

::

    [user@host ~] $ sudo port install python27

Install Virtualenv.

::

    [user@host ~] $ sudo port install py27-virtualenv

M2Crypto is a requirement for SaltStack and you need
to install SWIG. Otherwise you may get errors[1].

::

    [user@host ~] $ sudo port install swig
    [user@host ~] $ sudo port install swig-python

Create your virtualenv.

::

    [user@host ~] $ /opt/local/bin/virtualenv-2.7 ~/dev/virt-env/salt-virt

Activate the virtualenv.

::

    [user@host ~] $ source ~/dev/virt-env/salt-virt/bin/activate

Install SaltStack pre-requisites.

::

    (salt-virt)[user@host ~] $ pip install pyzmq PyYAML pycrypto msgpack-python jinja2 psutil

Install SaltStack.

::

    (salt-virt)[user@host ~] $ pip install salt

Make sure things are working well.

::

    (salt-virt)[user@host~] $ python

    Python 2.7.8 (default, Jul 13 2014, 17:11:32)

    [GCC 4.2.1 Compatible Apple LLVM 5.1 (clang-503.0.40)] on darwin

    Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.

    >>> import salt

    >>> ^D


To deactivate the virtualenv,

::

    (salt-virt)[user@host~] $ deactivate

Note: this post was created using Mac OS X 10.9 (Mavericks) with SaltStack 2014.1.7.

[1] Possible SWIG error

::

    unable to execute 'swig': No such file or directory

    error: command 'swig' failed with exit status 1


Note: I published this post originally at `SaltStack Quickstart Guide on Mac OS X <https://codeghar.wordpress.com/2014/08/03/saltstack-quickstart-guide-on-mac-os-x/>`_. Migrated to Nikola in February 2015.