Salt: [BUG] Rendering SLS 'base:git.prod.salt.3001up' failed: could not find expected ':'

[tjyang]

Description
Getting following error message when trying to upgrade salt-minion to 3001.

 - Rendering SLS 'base:git.prod.salt.3001up' failed: could not find expected ':'

Setup

• Correct indentation

[me@salt01 salt]$ cat 3001up.sls

{% for key, repo in salt['pkg.list_repos']().items() %}
{% if repo.get('enabled', '1') == '1' and 'saltstack' in key %}
Remove repo {{ key }}:
  pkgrepo.absent:
      - name: {{ key }}
{% endif %}
{% endfor %}

{% if grains['os_family'] == 'RedHat' %}
install_at:
  pkg.installed:
      - name: at
      - name: curl
atd_service:
  service.running:
      - name: atd
      - enable: True
upgrade_salt_minion:
  cmd.run:
      - name: |
          echo "systemctl stop salt-minion.service
          yum -y remove salt-minion
          yum -y remove PyYAML m2crypto python-zmq zeromq python-crypto python-msgpack
          yum -y autoremove
          rm -rf /var/cache/salt/minion
          curl -Ls https://bootstrap.saltstack.com | sh -s -- -X -x python3 stable
          [ -f /etc/salt/minion.rpmsave ] && \
          ( cp -f /etc/salt/minion /etc/salt/minion.bak; \
          mv -f /etc/salt/minion.rpmsave /etc/salt/minion )
          systemctl is-enabled salt-minion.service || \
          (systemctl preset salt-minion.service && \
          systemctl enable salt-minion.service)
          systemctl start salt-minion.service" | at now
{% endif %}
[me@salt01 salt]$

• Wrong indentation starting from echo line that create this confusing message.

[me@salt01 salt]$ cat  3001up-ident-off.sls

{% for key, repo in salt['pkg.list_repos']().items() %}
{% if repo.get('enabled', '1') == '1' and 'saltstack' in key %}
Remove repo {{ key }}:
  pkgrepo.absent:
      - name: {{ key }}
{% endif %}
{% endfor %}

{% if grains['os_family'] == 'RedHat' %}
install_at:
  pkg.installed:
      - name: at
      - name: curl
atd_service:
  service.running:
      - name: atd
      - enable: True
upgrade_salt_minion:
  cmd.run:
      - name: |
        echo "systemctl stop salt-minion.service
        yum -y remove salt-minion
        yum -y remove PyYAML m2crypto python-zmq zeromq python-crypto python-msgpack
        yum -y autoremove
        rm -rf /var/cache/salt/minion
        curl -Ls https://bootstrap.saltstack.com | sh -s -- -X -x python3 stable
        [ -f /etc/salt/minion.rpmsave ] && \
        ( cp -f /etc/salt/minion /etc/salt/minion.bak; \
        mv -f /etc/salt/minion.rpmsave /etc/salt/minion )
        systemctl is-enabled salt-minion.service || \
        (systemctl preset salt-minion.service && \
        systemctl enable salt-minion.service)
        systemctl start salt-minion.service" | at now
{% endif %}
[me@salt01 salt]$

Steps to Reproduce the behavior
(Include debug logs if possible and relevant)

Expected behavior

Hoping to see error about wrong indentation starting from "echo" line.

Screenshots
If applicable, add screenshots to help explain your problem.

Versions Report

• version 3000.3 and 3001

Salt Version:
           Salt: 3000.3

Dependency Versions:
           cffi: 1.6.0
       cherrypy: unknown
       dateutil: 1.5
      docker-py: Not Installed
          gitdb: 0.6.4
      gitpython: 1.0.1
         Jinja2: 2.7.2
        libgit2: 0.26.3
       M2Crypto: 0.31.0
           Mako: 0.8.1
   msgpack-pure: Not Installed
 msgpack-python: 0.6.2
   mysql-python: 1.2.5
      pycparser: 2.14
       pycrypto: 2.6.1
   pycryptodome: 3.9.7
         pygit2: 0.26.4
         Python: 2.7.5 (default, Apr  2 2020, 13:16:51)
   python-gnupg: 0.4.3
         PyYAML: 3.11
          PyZMQ: 15.3.0
          smmap: 0.9.0
        timelib: 0.2.4
        Tornado: 4.5.3
            ZMQ: 4.1.4

System Versions:
           dist: centos 7.8.2003 Core
         locale: UTF-8
        machine: x86_64
        release: 3.10.0-1127.8.2.el7.x86_64
         system: Linux
        version: CentOS Linux 7.8.2003 Core

Additional context
Add any other context about the problem here.

[krionbsd]

@tjyang thanks for submitting the report, do you want to submit pull request with the fix?

[tjyang]

@krionbsd , Sorry I am just a saltstack user.

[krionbsd]

@tjyang I don't remember we provide this state file in base package, where did this state come from?

[tjyang]

@krionbsd, the example sls file is to illustrate wrong indentation generating mis-leading error message when parsing.

The example state file is from https://salt.tips/upgrading-salt-to-python-3/#upgrade-salt-on-centos-and-amazon-linux

[terminalmage]

This is not a bug. This is expected behavior. There is no way for Salt to tell you what you did wrong here, because what you wrote is not valid YAML. So, PyYAML cannot successfully load it into a data structure for Salt to analyze and tell you what is wrong.

And it's not just Salt, either. Google "online YAML parser" and try each of the below two blocks:

Wrong indentation, invalid YAML

hello:
  world:
    - foo: |
      one
      two
      three

Correct indentation, valid YAML

hello:
  world:
    - foo: |
        one
        two
        three

This PR adds some documentation for this particular case, but IMO there's little (if anything) else that can be done. Salt can't load invalid YAML.

[tjyang]

@terminalmage , thanks for PR to document this cryptic message.