From 83777a9d657a13dbf2aead11f7f26f97ba91c480 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: ed lane <ed.lane.0@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2018 09:01:13 -0600
Subject: [PATCH] Backport of AzureARM from Salt 2018.3 to OpenSUSE-Salt
 2016.11.4 (#72)

* patches applied from azurearm-backport-from-2018.3-to-2016.11.4
* fix Python 2.6 incompatible syntax
---
 salt/cloud/clouds/azurearm.py  | 396 +++++++++++++++++------
 salt/utils/cloud.py            | 694 +++++++++++++++++++++--------------------
 salt/utils/crypt.py            | 140 +++++++++
 salt/utils/data.py             | 568 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 salt/utils/decorators/jinja.py |  85 +++++
 salt/utils/files.py            | 526 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-
 salt/utils/msazure.py          |   4 +-
 salt/utils/platform.py         | 158 ++++++++++
 salt/utils/stringutils.py      | 405 ++++++++++++++++++++++++
 salt/utils/versions.py         | 293 +++++++++++++++++
 salt/utils/yaml.py             |  10 +
 salt/utils/yamldumper.py       |  74 ++++-
 salt/utils/yamlloader.py       |  79 +++--
 13 files changed, 2959 insertions(+), 473 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 salt/utils/crypt.py
 create mode 100644 salt/utils/data.py
 create mode 100644 salt/utils/decorators/jinja.py
 create mode 100644 salt/utils/platform.py
 create mode 100644 salt/utils/stringutils.py
 create mode 100644 salt/utils/versions.py
 create mode 100644 salt/utils/yaml.py

diff --git a/salt/cloud/clouds/azurearm.py b/salt/cloud/clouds/azurearm.py
index fcec348ab5..05038e501b 100644
--- a/salt/cloud/clouds/azurearm.py
+++ b/salt/cloud/clouds/azurearm.py
@@ -10,23 +10,44 @@ The Azure cloud module is used to control access to Microsoft Azure
 :depends:
     * `Microsoft Azure SDK for Python <https://pypi.python.org/pypi/azure>`_ >= 2.0rc5
     * `Microsoft Azure Storage SDK for Python <https://pypi.python.org/pypi/azure-storage>`_ >= 0.32
+    * `Microsoft Azure CLI <https://pypi.python.org/pypi/azure-cli>` >= 2.0.12
 :configuration:
     Required provider parameters:
 
+    if using username and password:
     * ``subscription_id``
     * ``username``
     * ``password``
 
+    if using a service principal:
+    * ``subscription_id``
+    * ``tenant``
+    * ``client_id``
+    * ``secret``
+
 Example ``/etc/salt/cloud.providers`` or
 ``/etc/salt/cloud.providers.d/azure.conf`` configuration:
 
 .. code-block:: yaml
 
-    my-azure-config:
+    my-azure-config with username and password:
       driver: azure
       subscription_id: 3287abc8-f98a-c678-3bde-326766fd3617
       username: larry
       password: 123pass
+
+    Or my-azure-config with service principal:
+      driver: azure
+      subscription_id: 3287abc8-f98a-c678-3bde-326766fd3617
+      tenant: ABCDEFAB-1234-ABCD-1234-ABCDEFABCDEF
+      client_id: ABCDEFAB-1234-ABCD-1234-ABCDEFABCDEF
+      secret: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
+
+      The Service Principal can be created with the new Azure CLI (https://github.com/Azure/azure-cli) with:
+      az ad sp create-for-rbac -n "http://<yourappname>" --role <role> --scopes <scope>
+      For example, this creates a service principal with 'owner' role for the whole subscription:
+      az ad sp create-for-rbac -n "http://mysaltapp" --role owner --scopes /subscriptions/3287abc8-f98a-c678-3bde-326766fd3617
+      *Note: review the details of Service Principals. Owner role is more than you normally need, and you can restrict scope to a resource group or individual resources.
 '''
 # pylint: disable=E0102
 
@@ -39,25 +60,31 @@ import logging
 import pprint
 import base64
 import yaml
+import collections
 import salt.cache
 import salt.config as config
-import salt.utils
 import salt.utils.cloud
-import salt.ext.six as six
+import salt.utils.data
+import salt.utils.files
+from salt.utils.versions import LooseVersion
+from salt.ext import six
 import salt.version
 from salt.exceptions import (
     SaltCloudSystemExit,
     SaltCloudExecutionFailure,
     SaltCloudExecutionTimeout,
 )
+from salt.ext.six.moves import filter
 
 # Import 3rd-party libs
 HAS_LIBS = False
 try:
     import salt.utils.msazure
     from salt.utils.msazure import object_to_dict
-    import azure.storage
-    from azure.common.credentials import UserPassCredentials
+    from azure.common.credentials import (
+        UserPassCredentials,
+        ServicePrincipalCredentials,
+    )
     from azure.mgmt.compute import ComputeManagementClient
     from azure.mgmt.compute.models import (
         CachingTypes,
@@ -70,6 +97,7 @@ try:
         OSDisk,
         OSProfile,
         StorageProfile,
+        SubResource,
         VirtualHardDisk,
         VirtualMachine,
         VirtualMachineSizeTypes,
@@ -78,6 +106,7 @@ try:
     from azure.mgmt.network.models import (
         IPAllocationMethod,
         NetworkInterface,
+        NetworkInterfaceDnsSettings,
         NetworkInterfaceIPConfiguration,
         NetworkSecurityGroup,
         PublicIPAddress,
@@ -87,6 +116,7 @@ try:
     from azure.mgmt.storage import StorageManagementClient
     from azure.mgmt.web import WebSiteManagementClient
     from msrestazure.azure_exceptions import CloudError
+    from azure.storage.cloudstorageaccount import CloudStorageAccount
     HAS_LIBS = True
 except ImportError:
     pass
@@ -116,7 +146,13 @@ def __virtual__():
         return False
 
     if get_dependencies() is False:
-        return False
+        return (
+            False,
+            'The following dependencies are required to use the AzureARM driver: '
+            'Microsoft Azure SDK for Python >= 2.0rc5, '
+            'Microsoft Azure Storage SDK for Python >= 0.32, '
+            'Microsoft Azure CLI >= 2.0.12'
+        )
 
     global cache  # pylint: disable=global-statement,invalid-name
     cache = salt.cache.Cache(__opts__)
@@ -128,11 +164,19 @@ def get_configured_provider():
     '''
     Return the first configured instance.
     '''
-    return config.is_provider_configured(
+    provider = config.is_provider_configured(
         __opts__,
         __active_provider_name__ or __virtualname__,
-        ('subscription_id', 'username', 'password')
-    )
+        ('subscription_id', 'tenant', 'client_id', 'secret')
+        )
+    if provider is False:
+        return config.is_provider_configured(
+            __opts__,
+            __active_provider_name__ or __virtualname__,
+            ('subscription_id', 'username', 'password')
+        )
+    else:
+        return provider
 
 
 def get_dependencies():
@@ -157,17 +201,31 @@ def get_conn(Client=None):
         get_configured_provider(), __opts__, search_global=False
     )
 
-    username = config.get_cloud_config_value(
-        'username',
-        get_configured_provider(), __opts__, search_global=False
-    )
-
-    password = config.get_cloud_config_value(
-        'password',
+    tenant = config.get_cloud_config_value(
+        'tenant',
         get_configured_provider(), __opts__, search_global=False
     )
+    if tenant is not None:
+        client_id = config.get_cloud_config_value(
+            'client_id',
+            get_configured_provider(), __opts__, search_global=False
+        )
+        secret = config.get_cloud_config_value(
+            'secret',
+            get_configured_provider(), __opts__, search_global=False
+        )
+        credentials = ServicePrincipalCredentials(client_id, secret, tenant=tenant)
+    else:
+        username = config.get_cloud_config_value(
+            'username',
+            get_configured_provider(), __opts__, search_global=False
+        )
+        password = config.get_cloud_config_value(
+            'password',
+            get_configured_provider(), __opts__, search_global=False
+        )
+        credentials = UserPassCredentials(username, password)
 
-    credentials = UserPassCredentials(username, password)
     client = Client(
         credentials=credentials,
         subscription_id=subscription_id,
@@ -202,29 +260,14 @@ def avail_locations(conn=None, call=None):  # pylint: disable=unused-argument
 
     ret = {}
     regions = webconn.global_model.get_subscription_geo_regions()
-    for location in regions.value:  # pylint: disable=no-member
+    if hasattr(regions, 'value'):
+        regions = regions.value
+    for location in regions:  # pylint: disable=no-member
         lowername = str(location.name).lower().replace(' ', '')
         ret[lowername] = object_to_dict(location)
     return ret
 
 
-def _cache(bank, key, fun, **kwargs):
-    '''
-    Cache an Azure ARM object
-    '''
-    items = cache.fetch(bank, key)
-    if items is None:
-        items = {}
-        try:
-            item_list = fun(**kwargs)
-        except CloudError as exc:
-            log.warning('There was a cloud error calling {0} with kwargs {1}: {2}'.format(fun, kwargs, exc))
-        for item in item_list:
-            items[item.name] = object_to_dict(item)
-        cache.store(bank, key, items)
-    return items
-
-
 def avail_images(conn=None, call=None):  # pylint: disable=unused-argument
     '''
     List available images for Azure
@@ -241,59 +284,79 @@ def avail_images(conn=None, call=None):  # pylint: disable=unused-argument
 
     region = get_location()
     bank = 'cloud/metadata/azurearm/{0}'.format(region)
-    publishers = _cache(
+    publishers = cache.cache(
         bank,
         'publishers',
         compconn.virtual_machine_images.list_publishers,
+        loop_fun=object_to_dict,
+        expire=config.get_cloud_config_value(
+            'expire_publisher_cache', get_configured_provider(),
+            __opts__, search_global=False, default=604800,  # 7 days
+        ),
         location=region,
     )
 
     ret = {}
     for publisher in publishers:
-        pub_bank = os.path.join(bank, 'publishers', publisher)
-        offers = _cache(
+        pub_bank = os.path.join(bank, 'publishers', publisher['name'])
+        offers = cache.cache(
             pub_bank,
             'offers',
             compconn.virtual_machine_images.list_offers,
+            loop_fun=object_to_dict,
+            expire=config.get_cloud_config_value(
+                'expire_offer_cache', get_configured_provider(),
+                __opts__, search_global=False, default=518400,  # 6 days
+            ),
             location=region,
-            publisher_name=publishers[publisher]['name'],
+            publisher_name=publisher['name'],
         )
 
         for offer in offers:
-            offer_bank = os.path.join(pub_bank, 'offers', offer)
-            skus = _cache(
+            offer_bank = os.path.join(pub_bank, 'offers', offer['name'])
+            skus = cache.cache(
                 offer_bank,
                 'skus',
                 compconn.virtual_machine_images.list_skus,
+                loop_fun=object_to_dict,
+                expire=config.get_cloud_config_value(
+                    'expire_sku_cache', get_configured_provider(),
+                    __opts__, search_global=False, default=432000,  # 5 days
+                ),
                 location=region,
-                publisher_name=publishers[publisher]['name'],
-                offer=offers[offer]['name'],
+                publisher_name=publisher['name'],
+                offer=offer['name'],
             )
 
             for sku in skus:
-                sku_bank = os.path.join(offer_bank, 'skus', sku)
-                results = _cache(
+                sku_bank = os.path.join(offer_bank, 'skus', sku['name'])
+                results = cache.cache(
                     sku_bank,
                     'results',
                     compconn.virtual_machine_images.list,
+                    loop_fun=object_to_dict,
+                    expire=config.get_cloud_config_value(
+                        'expire_version_cache', get_configured_provider(),
+                        __opts__, search_global=False, default=345600,  # 4 days
+                    ),
                     location=region,
-                    publisher_name=publishers[publisher]['name'],
-                    offer=offers[offer]['name'],
-                    skus=skus[sku]['name'],
+                    publisher_name=publisher['name'],
+                    offer=offer['name'],
+                    skus=sku['name'],
                 )
 
                 for version in results:
                     name = '|'.join((
-                        publishers[publisher]['name'],
-                        offers[offer]['name'],
-                        skus[sku]['name'],
-                        results[version]['name'],
+                        publisher['name'],
+                        offer['name'],
+                        sku['name'],
+                        version['name'],
                     ))
                     ret[name] = {
-                        'publisher': publishers[publisher]['name'],
-                        'offer': offers[offer]['name'],
-                        'sku': skus[sku]['name'],
-                        'version': results[version]['name'],
+                        'publisher': publisher['name'],
+                        'offer': offer['name'],
+                        'sku': sku['name'],
+                        'version': version['name'],
                     }
     return ret
 
@@ -322,7 +385,7 @@ def avail_sizes(call=None):  # pylint: disable=unused-argument
 
 def list_nodes(conn=None, call=None):  # pylint: disable=unused-argument
     '''
-    List VMs on this Azure account
+    List VMs on this Azure Active Provider
     '''
     if call == 'action':
         raise SaltCloudSystemExit(
@@ -335,7 +398,18 @@ def list_nodes(conn=None, call=None):  # pylint: disable=unused-argument
         compconn = get_conn()
 
     nodes = list_nodes_full(compconn, call)
+
+    active_resource_group = None
+    try:
+        provider, driver = __active_provider_name__.split(':')
+        active_resource_group = __opts__['providers'][provider][driver]['resource_group']
+    except KeyError:
+        pass
+
     for node in nodes:
+        if active_resource_group is not None:
+            if nodes[node]['resource_group'] != active_resource_group:
+                continue
         ret[node] = {'name': node}
         for prop in ('id', 'image', 'size', 'state', 'private_ips', 'public_ips'):
             ret[node][prop] = nodes[node].get(prop)
@@ -359,14 +433,16 @@ def list_nodes_full(conn=None, call=None):  # pylint: disable=unused-argument
     for group in list_resource_groups():
         nodes = compconn.virtual_machines.list(group)
         for node in nodes:
+            private_ips, public_ips = __get_ips_from_node(group, node)
             ret[node.name] = object_to_dict(node)
             ret[node.name]['id'] = node.id
             ret[node.name]['name'] = node.name
             ret[node.name]['size'] = node.hardware_profile.vm_size
             ret[node.name]['state'] = node.provisioning_state
-            ret[node.name]['private_ips'] = node.network_profile.network_interfaces
-            ret[node.name]['public_ips'] = node.network_profile.network_interfaces
+            ret[node.name]['private_ips'] = private_ips
+            ret[node.name]['public_ips'] = public_ips
             ret[node.name]['storage_profile']['data_disks'] = []
+            ret[node.name]['resource_group'] = group
             for disk in node.storage_profile.data_disks:
                 ret[node.name]['storage_profile']['data_disks'].append(make_safe(disk))
             try:
@@ -384,6 +460,30 @@ def list_nodes_full(conn=None, call=None):  # pylint: disable=unused-argument
     return ret
 
 
+def __get_ips_from_node(resource_group, node):
+    '''
+    List private and public IPs from a VM interface
+    '''
+    global netconn  # pylint: disable=global-statement,invalid-name
+    if not netconn:
+        netconn = get_conn(NetworkManagementClient)
+
+    private_ips = []
+    public_ips = []
+    for node_iface in node.network_profile.network_interfaces:
+        node_iface_name = node_iface.id.split('/')[-1]
+        network_interface = netconn.network_interfaces.get(resource_group, node_iface_name)
+        for ip_configuration in network_interface.ip_configurations:
+            if ip_configuration.private_ip_address:
+                private_ips.append(ip_configuration.private_ip_address)
+            if ip_configuration.public_ip_address and ip_configuration.public_ip_address.id:
+                public_iface_name = ip_configuration.public_ip_address.id.split('/')[-1]
+                public_iface = netconn.public_ip_addresses.get(resource_group, public_iface_name)
+                public_ips.append(public_iface.ip_address)
+
+    return private_ips, public_ips
+
+
 def list_resource_groups(conn=None, call=None):  # pylint: disable=unused-argument
     '''
     List resource groups associated with the account
@@ -409,7 +509,7 @@ def list_resource_groups(conn=None, call=None):  # pylint: disable=unused-argume
         loop_fun=object_to_dict,
         expire=config.get_cloud_config_value(
             'expire_group_cache', get_configured_provider(),
-            __opts__, search_global=False, default=86400,
+            __opts__, search_global=False, default=14400,
         )
     )
 
@@ -474,7 +574,7 @@ def show_instance(name, resource_group=None, call=None):  # pylint: disable=unus
     data['resource_group'] = resource_group
 
     __utils__['cloud.cache_node'](
-        salt.utils.simple_types_filter(data),
+        salt.utils.data.simple_types_filter(data),
         __active_provider_name__,
         __opts__
     )
@@ -516,7 +616,7 @@ def list_networks(call=None, kwargs=None):  # pylint: disable=unused-argument
                 loop_fun=make_safe,
                 expire=config.get_cloud_config_value(
                     'expire_network_cache', get_configured_provider(),
-                    __opts__, search_global=False, default=86400,
+                    __opts__, search_global=False, default=3600,
                 ),
                 resource_group_name=group,
             )
@@ -566,11 +666,12 @@ def list_subnets(call=None, kwargs=None):  # pylint: disable=unused-argument
     for subnet in subnets:
         ret[subnet.name] = make_safe(subnet)
         ret[subnet.name]['ip_configurations'] = {}
-        for ip_ in subnet.ip_configurations:
-            comps = ip_.id.split('/')
-            name = comps[-1]
-            ret[subnet.name]['ip_configurations'][name] = make_safe(ip_)
-            ret[subnet.name]['ip_configurations'][name]['subnet'] = subnet.name
+        if subnet.ip_configurations:
+            for ip_ in subnet.ip_configurations:
+                comps = ip_.id.split('/')
+                name = comps[-1]
+                ret[subnet.name]['ip_configurations'][name] = make_safe(ip_)
+                ret[subnet.name]['ip_configurations'][name]['subnet'] = subnet.name
         ret[subnet.name]['resource_group'] = kwargs['resource_group']
     return ret
 
@@ -658,11 +759,18 @@ def show_interface(call=None, kwargs=None):  # pylint: disable=unused-argument
     data['ip_configurations'] = {}
     for ip_ in iface.ip_configurations:
         data['ip_configurations'][ip_.name] = make_safe(ip_)
-        pubip = netconn.public_ip_addresses.get(
-            kwargs['resource_group'],
-            ip_.name,
-        )
-        data['ip_configurations'][ip_.name]['public_ip_address']['ip_address'] = pubip.ip_address
+        if ip_.public_ip_address is not None:
+            try:
+                pubip = netconn.public_ip_addresses.get(
+                    kwargs['resource_group'],
+                    ip_.name,
+                )
+                data['ip_configurations'][ip_.name]['public_ip_address']['ip_address'] = pubip.ip_address
+            except Exception as exc:
+                log.warning('There was a cloud error: {0}'.format(exc))
+                log.warning('{0}'.format(type(exc)))
+                continue
+
     return data
 
 
@@ -712,6 +820,9 @@ def list_interfaces(call=None, kwargs=None):  # pylint: disable=unused-argument
         kwargs = {}
 
     if kwargs.get('resource_group') is None:
+        kwargs['resource_group'] = kwargs.get('group')
+
+    if kwargs['resource_group'] is None:
         kwargs['resource_group'] = config.get_cloud_config_value(
             'resource_group', {}, __opts__, search_global=True,
             default=config.get_cloud_config_value(
@@ -728,7 +839,7 @@ def list_interfaces(call=None, kwargs=None):  # pylint: disable=unused-argument
         loop_fun=make_safe,
         expire=config.get_cloud_config_value(
             'expire_interface_cache', get_configured_provider(),
-            __opts__, search_global=False, default=86400,
+            __opts__, search_global=False, default=3600,
         ),
         resource_group_name=kwargs['resource_group']
     )
@@ -766,6 +877,17 @@ def create_interface(call=None, kwargs=None):  # pylint: disable=unused-argument
     if kwargs.get('iface_name') is None:
         kwargs['iface_name'] = '{0}-iface0'.format(vm_['name'])
 
+    backend_pools = None
+    if kwargs.get('load_balancer') and kwargs.get('backend_pool'):
+        load_balancer_obj = netconn.load_balancers.get(
+            resource_group_name=kwargs['network_resource_group'],
+            load_balancer_name=kwargs['load_balancer'],
+        )
+        backend_pools = list(filter(
+            lambda backend: backend.name == kwargs['backend_pool'],
+            load_balancer_obj.backend_address_pools,
+        ))
+
     subnet_obj = netconn.subnets.get(
         resource_group_name=kwargs['network_resource_group'],
         virtual_network_name=kwargs['network'],
@@ -774,6 +896,13 @@ def create_interface(call=None, kwargs=None):  # pylint: disable=unused-argument
 
     ip_kwargs = {}
     ip_configurations = None
+
+    if 'private_ip_address' in kwargs.keys():
+        ip_kwargs['private_ip_address'] = kwargs['private_ip_address']
+        ip_kwargs['private_ip_allocation_method'] = IPAllocationMethod.static
+    else:
+        ip_kwargs['private_ip_allocation_method'] = IPAllocationMethod.dynamic
+
     if bool(kwargs.get('public_ip')) is True:
         pub_ip_name = '{0}-ip'.format(kwargs['iface_name'])
         poller = netconn.public_ip_addresses.create_or_update(
@@ -799,7 +928,7 @@ def create_interface(call=None, kwargs=None):  # pylint: disable=unused-argument
                     ip_configurations = [
                         NetworkInterfaceIPConfiguration(
                             name='{0}-ip'.format(kwargs['iface_name']),
-                            private_ip_allocation_method='Dynamic',
+                            load_balancer_backend_address_pools=backend_pools,
                             subnet=subnet_obj,
                             **ip_kwargs
                         )
@@ -816,14 +945,35 @@ def create_interface(call=None, kwargs=None):  # pylint: disable=unused-argument
         ip_configurations = [
             NetworkInterfaceIPConfiguration(
                 name='{0}-ip'.format(kwargs['iface_name']),
-                private_ip_allocation_method='Dynamic',
+                load_balancer_backend_address_pools=backend_pools,
                 subnet=subnet_obj,
+                **ip_kwargs
             )
         ]
 
+    dns_settings = None
+    if kwargs.get('dns_servers') is not None:
+        if isinstance(kwargs['dns_servers'], list):
+            dns_settings = NetworkInterfaceDnsSettings(
+                dns_servers=kwargs['dns_servers'],
+                applied_dns_servers=kwargs['dns_servers'],
+                internal_dns_name_label=None,
+                internal_fqdn=None,
+                internal_domain_name_suffix=None,
+            )
+
+    network_security_group = None
+    if kwargs.get('security_group') is not None:
+        network_security_group = netconn.network_security_groups.get(
+            resource_group_name=kwargs['resource_group'],
+            network_security_group_name=kwargs['security_group'],
+        )
+
     iface_params = NetworkInterface(
         location=kwargs['location'],
+        network_security_group=network_security_group,
         ip_configurations=ip_configurations,
+        dns_settings=dns_settings,
     )
 
     poller = netconn.network_interfaces.create_or_update(
@@ -867,6 +1017,16 @@ def request_instance(call=None, kwargs=None):  # pylint: disable=unused-argument
             'name', vm_, __opts__, search_global=True
         )
 
+    vm_['availability_set_id'] = None
+    if vm_.get('availability_set'):
+        availability_set = compconn.availability_sets.get(
+            resource_group_name=vm_['resource_group'],
+            availability_set_name=vm_['availability_set'],
+        )
+        vm_['availability_set_id'] = SubResource(
+            id=availability_set.id
+        )
+
     os_kwargs = {}
     userdata = None
     userdata_file = config.get_cloud_config_value(
@@ -878,7 +1038,7 @@ def request_instance(call=None, kwargs=None):  # pylint: disable=unused-argument
         )
     else:
         if os.path.exists(userdata_file):
-            with salt.utils.fopen(userdata_file, 'r') as fh_:
+            with salt.utils.files.fopen(userdata_file, 'r') as fh_:
                 userdata = fh_.read()
 
     userdata = salt.utils.cloud.userdata_template(__opts__, vm_, userdata)
@@ -924,6 +1084,19 @@ def request_instance(call=None, kwargs=None):  # pylint: disable=unused-argument
     for volume in volumes:
         if isinstance(volume, six.string_types):
             volume = {'name': volume}
+
+        # Creating the name of the datadisk if missing in the configuration of the minion
+        # If the "name: name_of_my_disk" entry then we create it with the same logic than the os disk
+        volume.setdefault(
+            'name', volume.get(
+                'name', volume.get('name', '{0}-datadisk{1}'.format(
+                    vm_['name'],
+                    str(lun),
+                    ),
+                )
+            )
+        )
+
         # Use the size keyword to set a size, but you can use either the new
         # azure name (disk_size_gb) or the old (logical_disk_size_in_gb)
         # instead. If none are set, the disk has size 100GB.
@@ -1006,6 +1179,7 @@ def request_instance(call=None, kwargs=None):  # pylint: disable=unused-argument
                 ),
                 os_type=os_type,
                 image=source_image,
+                disk_size_gb=vm_.get('os_disk_size_gb', 30)
             ),
             data_disks=data_disks,
             image_reference=img_ref,
@@ -1021,6 +1195,16 @@ def request_instance(call=None, kwargs=None):  # pylint: disable=unused-argument
                 NetworkInterfaceReference(vm_['iface_id']),
             ],
         ),
+        availability_set=vm_['availability_set_id'],
+    )
+
+    __utils__['cloud.fire_event'](
+        'event',
+        'requesting instance',
+        'salt/cloud/{0}/requesting'.format(vm_['name']),
+        args=__utils__['cloud.filter_event']('requesting', vm_, ['name', 'profile', 'provider', 'driver']),
+        sock_dir=__opts__['sock_dir'],
+        transport=__opts__['transport']
     )
 
     poller = compconn.virtual_machines.create_or_update(
@@ -1052,20 +1236,11 @@ def create(vm_):
     except AttributeError:
         pass
 
-    # Since using "provider: <provider-engine>" is deprecated, alias provider
-    # to use driver: "driver: <provider-engine>"
-    if 'provider' in vm_:
-        vm_['driver'] = vm_.pop('provider')
-
     __utils__['cloud.fire_event'](
         'event',
         'starting create',
         'salt/cloud/{0}/creating'.format(vm_['name']),
-        args={
-            'name': vm_['name'],
-            'profile': vm_['profile'],
-            'provider': vm_['driver'],
-        },
+        args=__utils__['cloud.filter_event']('creating', vm_, ['name', 'profile', 'provider', 'driver']),
         sock_dir=__opts__['sock_dir'],
         transport=__opts__['transport']
     )
@@ -1078,8 +1253,8 @@ def create(vm_):
     def _query_ip_address():
         data = request_instance(kwargs=vm_)
         ifaces = data['network_profile']['network_interfaces']
-        iface = ifaces.keys()[0]
-        ip_name = ifaces[iface]['ip_configurations'].keys()[0]
+        iface = list(ifaces)[0]
+        ip_name = list(ifaces[iface]['ip_configurations'])[0]
 
         if vm_.get('public_ip') is True:
             hostname = ifaces[iface]['ip_configurations'][ip_name]['public_ip_address']
@@ -1109,7 +1284,9 @@ def create(vm_):
         finally:
             raise SaltCloudSystemExit(str(exc))
 
-    hostname = _query_ip_address()
+    # calling _query_ip_address() causes Salt to attempt to build the VM again.
+    #hostname = _query_ip_address()
+    hostname = data
 
     if not hostname or not isinstance(hostname, six.string_types):
         log.error('Failed to get a value for the hostname.')
@@ -1139,11 +1316,7 @@ def create(vm_):
         'event',
         'created instance',
         'salt/cloud/{0}/created'.format(vm_['name']),
-        args={
-            'name': vm_['name'],
-            'profile': vm_['profile'],
-            'provider': vm_['driver'],
-        },
+        args=__utils__['cloud.filter_event']('created', vm_, ['name', 'profile', 'provider', 'driver']),
         sock_dir=__opts__['sock_dir'],
         transport=__opts__['transport']
     )
@@ -1168,6 +1341,15 @@ def destroy(name, conn=None, call=None, kwargs=None):  # pylint: disable=unused-
             '-a or --action.'
         )
 
+    __utils__['cloud.fire_event'](
+        'event',
+        'destroying instance',
+        'salt/cloud/{0}/destroying'.format(name),
+        args={'name': name},
+        sock_dir=__opts__['sock_dir'],
+        transport=__opts__['transport']
+    )
+
     global compconn  # pylint: disable=global-statement,invalid-name
     if not compconn:
         compconn = get_conn()
@@ -1261,6 +1443,15 @@ def destroy(name, conn=None, call=None, kwargs=None):  # pylint: disable=unused-
                 )
             )
 
+    __utils__['cloud.fire_event'](
+        'event',
+        'destroyed instance',
+        'salt/cloud/{0}/destroyed'.format(name),
+        args={'name': name},
+        sock_dir=__opts__['sock_dir'],
+        transport=__opts__['transport']
+    )
+
     return ret
 
 
@@ -1268,7 +1459,7 @@ def make_safe(data):
     '''
     Turn object data into something serializable
     '''
-    return salt.utils.simple_types_filter(object_to_dict(data))
+    return salt.utils.data.simple_types_filter(object_to_dict(data))
 
 
 def create_security_group(call=None, kwargs=None):  # pylint: disable=unused-argument
@@ -1509,10 +1700,15 @@ def pages_to_list(items):
     while True:
         try:
             page = items.next()  # pylint: disable=incompatible-py3-code
-            for item in page:
-                objs.append(item)
+            if isinstance(page, collections.Iterable):
+                for item in page:
+                    objs.append(item)
+            else:
+                objs.append(page)
         except GeneratorExit:
             break
+        except StopIteration:
+            break
     return objs
 
 
@@ -1542,7 +1738,7 @@ def list_containers(call=None, kwargs=None):  # pylint: disable=unused-argument
     if not storconn:
         storconn = get_conn(StorageManagementClient)
 
-    storageaccount = azure.storage.CloudStorageAccount(
+    storageaccount = CloudStorageAccount(
         config.get_cloud_config_value(
             'storage_account',
             get_configured_provider(), __opts__, search_global=False
@@ -1583,7 +1779,7 @@ def list_blobs(call=None, kwargs=None):  # pylint: disable=unused-argument
             'A container must be specified'
         )
 
-    storageaccount = azure.storage.CloudStorageAccount(
+    storageaccount = CloudStorageAccount(
         config.get_cloud_config_value(
             'storage_account',
             get_configured_provider(), __opts__, search_global=False
@@ -1623,7 +1819,7 @@ def delete_blob(call=None, kwargs=None):  # pylint: disable=unused-argument
             'A blob must be specified'
         )
 
-    storageaccount = azure.storage.CloudStorageAccount(
+    storageaccount = CloudStorageAccount(
         config.get_cloud_config_value(
             'storage_account',
             get_configured_provider(), __opts__, search_global=False
diff --git a/salt/utils/cloud.py b/salt/utils/cloud.py
index 0485a7476a..0d59aaf7db 100644
--- a/salt/utils/cloud.py
+++ b/salt/utils/cloud.py
@@ -4,10 +4,9 @@ Utility functions for salt.cloud
 '''
 
 # Import python libs
-from __future__ import absolute_import
+from __future__ import absolute_import, print_function, unicode_literals
 import errno
 import os
-import sys
 import stat
 import codecs
 import shutil
@@ -26,16 +25,6 @@ import re
 import uuid
 
 
-# Let's import pwd and catch the ImportError. We'll raise it if this is not
-# Windows
-try:
-    import pwd
-except ImportError:
-    if not sys.platform.lower().startswith('win'):
-        # We can't use salt.utils.is_windows() from the import a little down
-        # because that will cause issues under windows at install time.
-        raise
-
 try:
     import salt.utils.smb
 
@@ -57,11 +46,17 @@ import salt.client
 import salt.config
 import salt.loader
 import salt.template
-import salt.utils
+import salt.utils.compat
+import salt.utils.crypt
+import salt.utils.data
 import salt.utils.event
-from salt.utils import vt
+import salt.utils.files
+import salt.utils.platform
+import salt.utils.stringutils
+import salt.utils.versions
+import salt.utils.vt
+import salt.utils.yaml
 from salt.utils.nb_popen import NonBlockingPopen
-from salt.utils.yamldumper import SafeOrderedDumper
 from salt.utils.validate.path import is_writeable
 
 # Import salt cloud libs
@@ -75,11 +70,18 @@ from salt.exceptions import (
     SaltCloudPasswordError
 )
 
-# Import third party libs
-import salt.ext.six as six
+# Import 3rd-party libs
+from salt.ext import six
 from salt.ext.six.moves import range  # pylint: disable=import-error,redefined-builtin,W0611
 from jinja2 import Template
-import yaml
+
+# Let's import pwd and catch the ImportError. We'll raise it if this is not
+# Windows. This import has to be below where we import salt.utils.platform!
+try:
+    import pwd
+except ImportError:
+    if not salt.utils.platform.is_windows():
+        raise
 
 try:
     import getpass
@@ -88,6 +90,10 @@ try:
 except ImportError:
     HAS_GETPASS = False
 
+# This is required to support international characters in AWS EC2 tags or any
+# other kind of metadata provided by particular Cloud vendor.
+MSGPACK_ENCODING = 'utf-8'
+
 NSTATES = {
     0: 'running',
     1: 'rebooting',
@@ -107,15 +113,15 @@ def __render_script(path, vm_=None, opts=None, minion=''):
     '''
     Return the rendered script
     '''
-    log.info('Rendering deploy script: {0}'.format(path))
+    log.info('Rendering deploy script: %s', path)
     try:
-        with salt.utils.fopen(path, 'r') as fp_:
-            template = Template(fp_.read())
-            return str(template.render(opts=opts, vm=vm_, minion=minion))
+        with salt.utils.files.fopen(path, 'r') as fp_:
+            template = Template(salt.utils.stringutils.to_unicode(fp_.read()))
+            return six.text_type(template.render(opts=opts, vm=vm_, minion=minion))
     except AttributeError:
         # Specified renderer was not found
-        with salt.utils.fopen(path, 'r') as fp_:
-            return fp_.read()
+        with salt.utils.files.fopen(path, 'r') as fp_:
+            return six.text_type(fp_.read())
 
 
 def os_script(os_, vm_=None, opts=None, minion=''):
@@ -161,10 +167,10 @@ def gen_keys(keysize=2048):
     salt.crypt.gen_keys(tdir, 'minion', keysize)
     priv_path = os.path.join(tdir, 'minion.pem')
     pub_path = os.path.join(tdir, 'minion.pub')
-    with salt.utils.fopen(priv_path) as fp_:
-        priv = fp_.read()
-    with salt.utils.fopen(pub_path) as fp_:
-        pub = fp_.read()
+    with salt.utils.files.fopen(priv_path) as fp_:
+        priv = salt.utils.stringutils.to_unicode(fp_.read())
+    with salt.utils.files.fopen(pub_path) as fp_:
+        pub = salt.utils.stringutils.to_unicode(fp_.read())
     shutil.rmtree(tdir)
     return priv, pub
 
@@ -181,12 +187,12 @@ def accept_key(pki_dir, pub, id_):
             os.makedirs(key_path)
 
     key = os.path.join(pki_dir, 'minions', id_)
-    with salt.utils.fopen(key, 'w+') as fp_:
-        fp_.write(pub)
+    with salt.utils.files.fopen(key, 'w+') as fp_:
+        fp_.write(salt.utils.stringutils.to_str(pub))
 
     oldkey = os.path.join(pki_dir, 'minions_pre', id_)
     if os.path.isfile(oldkey):
-        with salt.utils.fopen(oldkey) as fp_:
+        with salt.utils.files.fopen(oldkey) as fp_:
             if fp_.read() == pub:
                 os.remove(oldkey)
 
@@ -198,7 +204,7 @@ def remove_key(pki_dir, id_):
     key = os.path.join(pki_dir, 'minions', id_)
     if os.path.isfile(key):
         os.remove(key)
-        log.debug('Deleted \'{0}\''.format(key))
+        log.debug('Deleted \'%s\'', key)
 
 
 def rename_key(pki_dir, id_, new_id):
@@ -286,18 +292,20 @@ def salt_config_to_yaml(configuration, line_break='\n'):
     '''
     Return a salt configuration dictionary, master or minion, as a yaml dump
     '''
-    return yaml.dump(configuration,
-                     line_break=line_break,
-                     default_flow_style=False,
-                     Dumper=SafeOrderedDumper)
+    return salt.utils.yaml.safe_dump(
+        configuration,
+        line_break=line_break,
+        default_flow_style=False)
 
 
-def bootstrap(vm_, opts):
+def bootstrap(vm_, opts=None):
     '''
     This is the primary entry point for logging into any system (POSIX or
     Windows) to install Salt. It will make the decision on its own as to which
     deploy function to call.
     '''
+    if opts is None:
+        opts = __opts__
     deploy_config = salt.config.get_cloud_config_value(
         'deploy',
         vm_, opts, default=False)
@@ -311,6 +319,11 @@ def bootstrap(vm_, opts):
             }
         }
 
+    if vm_.get('driver') == 'saltify':
+        saltify_driver = True
+    else:
+        saltify_driver = False
+
     key_filename = salt.config.get_cloud_config_value(
         'key_filename', vm_, opts, search_global=False,
         default=salt.config.get_cloud_config_value(
@@ -346,7 +359,7 @@ def bootstrap(vm_, opts):
 
     ret = {}
 
-    minion_conf = salt.utils.cloud.minion_config(opts, vm_)
+    minion_conf = minion_config(opts, vm_)
     deploy_script_code = os_script(
         salt.config.get_cloud_config_value(
             'os', vm_, opts, default='bootstrap-salt'
@@ -363,7 +376,7 @@ def bootstrap(vm_, opts):
 
     # If we haven't generated any keys yet, do so now.
     if 'pub_key' not in vm_ and 'priv_key' not in vm_:
-        log.debug('Generating keys for \'{0[name]}\''.format(vm_))
+        log.debug('Generating keys for \'%s\'', vm_['name'])
 
         vm_['priv_key'], vm_['pub_key'] = gen_keys(
             salt.config.get_cloud_config_value(
@@ -390,13 +403,14 @@ def bootstrap(vm_, opts):
 
     # NOTE: deploy_kwargs is also used to pass inline_script variable content
     #       to run_inline_script function
+    host = salt.config.get_cloud_config_value('ssh_host', vm_, opts)
     deploy_kwargs = {
         'opts': opts,
-        'host': vm_['ssh_host'],
+        'host': host,
         'port': salt.config.get_cloud_config_value(
             'ssh_port', vm_, opts, default=22
         ),
-        'salt_host': vm_.get('salt_host', vm_['ssh_host']),
+        'salt_host': vm_.get('salt_host', host),
         'username': ssh_username,
         'script': deploy_script_code,
         'inline_script': inline_script_config,
@@ -405,10 +419,7 @@ def bootstrap(vm_, opts):
         'tmp_dir': salt.config.get_cloud_config_value(
             'tmp_dir', vm_, opts, default='/tmp/.saltcloud'
         ),
-        'deploy_command': salt.config.get_cloud_config_value(
-            'deploy_command', vm_, opts,
-            default='/tmp/.saltcloud/deploy.sh',
-        ),
+        'vm_': vm_,
         'start_action': opts['start_action'],
         'parallel': opts['parallel'],
         'sock_dir': opts['sock_dir'],
@@ -438,6 +449,9 @@ def bootstrap(vm_, opts):
             'script_env', vm_, opts
         ),
         'minion_conf': minion_conf,
+        'force_minion_config': salt.config.get_cloud_config_value(
+            'force_minion_config', vm_, opts, default=False
+        ),
         'preseed_minion_keys': vm_.get('preseed_minion_keys', None),
         'display_ssh_output': salt.config.get_cloud_config_value(
             'display_ssh_output', vm_, opts, default=True
@@ -451,9 +465,17 @@ def bootstrap(vm_, opts):
         'maxtries': salt.config.get_cloud_config_value(
             'wait_for_passwd_maxtries', vm_, opts, default=15
         ),
+        'preflight_cmds': salt.config.get_cloud_config_value(
+            'preflight_cmds', vm_, opts, default=[]
+        ),
+        'cloud_grains': {'driver': vm_['driver'],
+                         # XXXXXXXX hack to make backport of 2018.3 to 2016.11.4 work
+                         # 'provider': vm_['provider'],
+                         'profile': vm_['profile']
+                         }
     }
 
-    inline_script_kwargs = deploy_kwargs
+    inline_script_kwargs = deploy_kwargs.copy()  # make a copy at this point
 
     # forward any info about possible ssh gateway to deploy script
     # as some providers need also a 'gateway' configuration
@@ -465,7 +487,7 @@ def bootstrap(vm_, opts):
         deploy_kwargs['make_master'] = True
         deploy_kwargs['master_pub'] = vm_['master_pub']
         deploy_kwargs['master_pem'] = vm_['master_pem']
-        master_conf = salt.utils.cloud.master_config(opts, vm_)
+        master_conf = master_config(opts, vm_)
         deploy_kwargs['master_conf'] = master_conf
 
         if master_conf.get('syndic_master', None):
@@ -475,6 +497,9 @@ def bootstrap(vm_, opts):
         'make_minion', vm_, opts, default=True
     )
 
+    if saltify_driver:
+        deploy_kwargs['wait_for_passwd_maxtries'] = 0  # No need to wait/retry with Saltify
+
     win_installer = salt.config.get_cloud_config_value(
         'win_installer', vm_, opts
     )
@@ -483,7 +508,7 @@ def bootstrap(vm_, opts):
             'smb_port', vm_, opts, default=445
         )
         deploy_kwargs['win_installer'] = win_installer
-        minion = salt.utils.cloud.minion_config(opts, vm_)
+        minion = minion_config(opts, vm_)
         deploy_kwargs['master'] = minion['master']
         deploy_kwargs['username'] = salt.config.get_cloud_config_value(
             'win_username', vm_, opts, default='Administrator'
@@ -499,6 +524,14 @@ def bootstrap(vm_, opts):
         deploy_kwargs['winrm_port'] = salt.config.get_cloud_config_value(
             'winrm_port', vm_, opts, default=5986
         )
+        deploy_kwargs['winrm_use_ssl'] = salt.config.get_cloud_config_value(
+            'winrm_use_ssl', vm_, opts, default=True
+        )
+        deploy_kwargs['winrm_verify_ssl'] = salt.config.get_cloud_config_value(
+            'winrm_verify_ssl', vm_, opts, default=True
+        )
+        if saltify_driver:
+            deploy_kwargs['port_timeout'] = 1  # No need to wait/retry with Saltify
 
     # Store what was used to the deploy the VM
     event_kwargs = copy.deepcopy(deploy_kwargs)
@@ -524,7 +557,7 @@ def bootstrap(vm_, opts):
     if inline_script_config and deploy_config is False:
         inline_script_deployed = run_inline_script(**inline_script_kwargs)
         if inline_script_deployed is not False:
-            log.info('Inline script(s) ha(s|ve) run on {0}'.format(vm_['name']))
+            log.info('Inline script(s) ha(s|ve) run on %s', vm_['name'])
         ret['deployed'] = False
         return ret
     else:
@@ -536,16 +569,16 @@ def bootstrap(vm_, opts):
         if inline_script_config:
             inline_script_deployed = run_inline_script(**inline_script_kwargs)
             if inline_script_deployed is not False:
-                log.info('Inline script(s) ha(s|ve) run on {0}'.format(vm_['name']))
+                log.info('Inline script(s) ha(s|ve) run on %s', vm_['name'])
 
         if deployed is not False:
             ret['deployed'] = True
             if deployed is not True:
                 ret.update(deployed)
-            log.info('Salt installed on {0}'.format(vm_['name']))
+            log.info('Salt installed on %s', vm_['name'])
             return ret
 
-    log.error('Failed to start Salt on host {0}'.format(vm_['name']))
+    log.error('Failed to start Salt on host %s', vm_['name'])
     return {
         'Error': {
             'Not Deployed': 'Failed to start Salt on host {0}'.format(
@@ -591,7 +624,7 @@ def wait_for_fun(fun, timeout=900, **kwargs):
     Wait until a function finishes, or times out
     '''
     start = time.time()
-    log.debug('Attempting function {0}'.format(fun))
+    log.debug('Attempting function %s', fun)
     trycount = 0
     while True:
         trycount += 1
@@ -600,15 +633,11 @@ def wait_for_fun(fun, timeout=900, **kwargs):
             if not isinstance(response, bool):
                 return response
         except Exception as exc:
-            log.debug('Caught exception in wait_for_fun: {0}'.format(exc))
+            log.debug('Caught exception in wait_for_fun: %s', exc)
             time.sleep(1)
-            log.debug(
-                'Retrying function {0} on  (try {1})'.format(
-                    fun, trycount
-                )
-            )
+            log.debug('Retrying function %s on  (try %s)', fun, trycount)
         if time.time() - start > timeout:
-            log.error('Function timed out: {0}'.format(timeout))
+            log.error('Function timed out: %s', timeout)
             return False
 
 
@@ -635,17 +664,12 @@ def wait_for_port(host, port=22, timeout=900, gateway=None):
         test_ssh_host = ssh_gateway
         test_ssh_port = ssh_gateway_port
         log.debug(
-            'Attempting connection to host {0} on port {1} '
-            'via gateway {2} on port {3}'.format(
-                host, port, ssh_gateway, ssh_gateway_port
-            )
+            'Attempting connection to host %s on port %s '
+            'via gateway %s on port %s',
+            host, port, ssh_gateway, ssh_gateway_port
         )
     else:
-        log.debug(
-            'Attempting connection to host {0} on port {1}'.format(
-                host, port
-            )
-        )
+        log.debug('Attempting connection to host %s on port %s', host, port)
     trycount = 0
     while True:
         trycount += 1
@@ -665,33 +689,19 @@ def wait_for_port(host, port=22, timeout=900, gateway=None):
             sock.close()
             break
         except socket.error as exc:
-            log.debug('Caught exception in wait_for_port: {0}'.format(exc))
+            log.debug('Caught exception in wait_for_port: %s', exc)
             time.sleep(1)
             if time.time() - start > timeout:
-                log.error('Port connection timed out: {0}'.format(timeout))
+                log.error('Port connection timed out: %s', timeout)
                 return False
-            if not gateway:
-                log.debug(
-                    'Retrying connection to host {0} on port {1} '
-                    '(try {2})'.format(
-                        test_ssh_host, test_ssh_port, trycount
-                    )
-                )
-            else:
-                log.debug(
-                    'Retrying connection to Gateway {0} on port {1} '
-                    '(try {2})'.format(
-                        test_ssh_host, test_ssh_port, trycount
-                    )
-                )
+            log.debug(
+                'Retrying connection to %s %s on port %s (try %s)',
+                'gateway' if gateway else 'host', test_ssh_host, test_ssh_port, trycount
+            )
     if not gateway:
         return True
     # Let the user know that his gateway is good!
-    log.debug(
-        'Gateway {0} on port {1} is reachable.'.format(
-            test_ssh_host, test_ssh_port
-        )
-    )
+    log.debug('Gateway %s on port %s is reachable.', test_ssh_host, test_ssh_port)
 
     # Now we need to test the host via the gateway.
     # We will use netcat on the gateway to test the port
@@ -730,7 +740,7 @@ def wait_for_port(host, port=22, timeout=900, gateway=None):
         ' '.join(ssh_args), gateway['ssh_gateway_user'], ssh_gateway,
         ssh_gateway_port, pipes.quote(command)
     )
-    log.debug('SSH command: \'{0}\''.format(cmd))
+    log.debug('SSH command: \'%s\'', cmd)
 
     kwargs = {'display_ssh_output': False,
               'password': gateway.get('ssh_gateway_password', None)}
@@ -748,7 +758,7 @@ def wait_for_port(host, port=22, timeout=900, gateway=None):
                 gateway_retries -= 1
                 log.error(
                     'Gateway usage seems to be broken, '
-                    'password error ? Tries left: {0}'.format(gateway_retries))
+                    'password error ? Tries left: %s', gateway_retries)
             if not gateway_retries:
                 raise SaltCloudExecutionFailure(
                     'SSH gateway is reachable but we can not login')
@@ -761,14 +771,12 @@ def wait_for_port(host, port=22, timeout=900, gateway=None):
                 return True
         time.sleep(1)
         if time.time() - start > timeout:
-            log.error('Port connection timed out: {0}'.format(timeout))
+            log.error('Port connection timed out: %s', timeout)
             return False
         log.debug(
-            'Retrying connection to host {0} on port {1} '
-            'via gateway {2} on port {3}. (try {4})'.format(
-                host, port, ssh_gateway, ssh_gateway_port,
-                trycount
-            )
+            'Retrying connection to host %s on port %s '
+            'via gateway %s on port %s. (try %s)',
+            host, port, ssh_gateway, ssh_gateway_port, trycount
         )
 
 
@@ -778,10 +786,8 @@ def wait_for_winexesvc(host, port, username, password, timeout=900):
     '''
     start = time.time()
     log.debug(
-        'Attempting winexe connection to host {0} on port {1}'.format(
-            host,
-            port
-        )
+        'Attempting winexe connection to host %s on port %s',
+        host, port
     )
     creds = "-U '{0}%{1}' //{2}".format(
         username,
@@ -805,60 +811,62 @@ def wait_for_winexesvc(host, port, username, password, timeout=900):
             if ret_code == 0:
                 log.debug('winexe connected...')
                 return True
-            log.debug('Return code was {0}'.format(ret_code))
-            time.sleep(1)
+            log.debug('Return code was %s', ret_code)
         except socket.error as exc:
-            log.debug('Caught exception in wait_for_winexesvc: {0}'.format(exc))
-            time.sleep(1)
-            if time.time() - start > timeout:
-                log.error('winexe connection timed out: {0}'.format(timeout))
-                return False
-            log.debug(
-                'Retrying winexe connection to host {0} on port {1} '
-                '(try {2})'.format(
-                    host,
-                    port,
-                    try_count
-                )
-            )
+            log.debug('Caught exception in wait_for_winexesvc: %s', exc)
+
+        if time.time() - start > timeout:
+            log.error('winexe connection timed out: %s', timeout)
+            return False
+        log.debug(
+            'Retrying winexe connection to host %s on port %s (try %s)',
+            host, port, try_count
+        )
+        time.sleep(1)
 
 
-def wait_for_winrm(host, port, username, password, timeout=900):
+def wait_for_winrm(host, port, username, password, timeout=900, use_ssl=True, verify=True):
     '''
     Wait until WinRM connection can be established.
     '''
     start = time.time()
     log.debug(
-        'Attempting WinRM connection to host {0} on port {1}'.format(
-            host, port
-        )
+        'Attempting WinRM connection to host %s on port %s',
+        host, port
     )
+    transport = 'ssl'
+    if not use_ssl:
+        transport = 'plaintext'
     trycount = 0
     while True:
         trycount += 1
         try:
-            s = winrm.Session(host, auth=(username, password), transport='ssl')
+            winrm_kwargs = {'target': host,
+                            'auth': (username, password),
+                            'transport': transport}
+            if not verify:
+                log.debug("SSL validation for WinRM disabled.")
+                winrm_kwargs['server_cert_validation'] = 'ignore'
+            s = winrm.Session(**winrm_kwargs)
             if hasattr(s.protocol, 'set_timeout'):
                 s.protocol.set_timeout(15)
-            log.trace('WinRM endpoint url: {0}'.format(s.url))
+            log.trace('WinRM endpoint url: %s', s.url)
             r = s.run_cmd('sc query winrm')
             if r.status_code == 0:
                 log.debug('WinRM session connected...')
                 return s
-            log.debug('Return code was {0}'.format(r.status_code))
-            time.sleep(1)
+            log.debug('Return code was %s', r.status_code)
         except WinRMTransportError as exc:
-            log.debug('Caught exception in wait_for_winrm: {0}'.format(exc))
-            if time.time() - start > timeout:
-                log.error('WinRM connection timed out: {0}'.format(timeout))
-                return None
-            log.debug(
-                'Retrying WinRM connection to host {0} on port {1} '
-                '(try {2})'.format(
-                    host, port, trycount
-                )
-            )
-            time.sleep(1)
+            log.debug('Caught exception in wait_for_winrm: %s', exc)
+
+        if time.time() - start > timeout:
+            log.error('WinRM connection timed out: %s', timeout)
+            return None
+        log.debug(
+            'Retrying WinRM connection to host %s on port %s (try %s)',
+            host, port, trycount
+        )
+        time.sleep(1)
 
 
 def validate_windows_cred(host,
@@ -879,7 +887,7 @@ def validate_windows_cred(host,
         host
     )
 
-    for i in xrange(retries):
+    for i in range(retries):
         ret_code = win_cmd(
             cmd,
             logging_command=logging_cmd
@@ -923,16 +931,15 @@ def wait_for_passwd(host, port=22, ssh_timeout=15, username='root',
                         )
                     )
                 kwargs['key_filename'] = key_filename
-                log.debug('Using {0} as the key_filename'.format(key_filename))
+                log.debug('Using %s as the key_filename', key_filename)
             elif password:
                 kwargs['password'] = password
                 log.debug('Using password authentication')
 
             trycount += 1
             log.debug(
-                'Attempting to authenticate as {0} (try {1} of {2})'.format(
-                    username, trycount, maxtries
-                )
+                'Attempting to authenticate as %s (try %s of %s)',
+                username, trycount, maxtries
             )
 
             status = root_cmd('date', tty=False, sudo=False, **kwargs)
@@ -942,11 +949,7 @@ def wait_for_passwd(host, port=22, ssh_timeout=15, username='root',
                     time.sleep(trysleep)
                     continue
 
-                log.error(
-                    'Authentication failed: status code {0}'.format(
-                        status
-                    )
-                )
+                log.error('Authentication failed: status code %s', status)
                 return False
             if connectfail is False:
                 return True
@@ -984,6 +987,8 @@ def deploy_windows(host,
                    master_sign_pub_file=None,
                    use_winrm=False,
                    winrm_port=5986,
+                   winrm_use_ssl=True,
+                   winrm_verify_ssl=True,
                    **kwargs):
     '''
     Copy the install files to a remote Windows box, and execute them
@@ -996,8 +1001,8 @@ def deploy_windows(host,
         return False
 
     starttime = time.mktime(time.localtime())
-    log.debug('Deploying {0} at {1} (Windows)'.format(host, starttime))
-    log.trace('HAS_WINRM: {0}, use_winrm: {1}'.format(HAS_WINRM, use_winrm))
+    log.debug('Deploying %s at %s (Windows)', host, starttime)
+    log.trace('HAS_WINRM: %s, use_winrm: %s', HAS_WINRM, use_winrm)
 
     port_available = wait_for_port(host=host, port=port, timeout=port_timeout * 60)
 
@@ -1009,8 +1014,9 @@ def deploy_windows(host,
 
     if HAS_WINRM and use_winrm:
         winrm_session = wait_for_winrm(host=host, port=winrm_port,
-                                           username=username, password=password,
-                                           timeout=port_timeout * 60)
+                                       username=username, password=password,
+                                       timeout=port_timeout * 60, use_ssl=winrm_use_ssl,
+                                       verify=winrm_verify_ssl)
         if winrm_session is not None:
             service_available = True
     else:
@@ -1019,12 +1025,8 @@ def deploy_windows(host,
                                                timeout=port_timeout * 60)
 
     if port_available and service_available:
-        log.debug('SMB port {0} on {1} is available'.format(port, host))
-        log.debug(
-            'Logging into {0}:{1} as {2}'.format(
-                host, port, username
-            )
-        )
+        log.debug('SMB port %s on %s is available', port, host)
+        log.debug('Logging into %s:%s as %s', host, port, username)
         newtimeout = timeout - (time.mktime(time.localtime()) - starttime)
 
         smb_conn = salt.utils.smb.get_conn(host, username, password)
@@ -1056,12 +1058,12 @@ def deploy_windows(host,
 
         if master_sign_pub_file:
             # Read master-sign.pub file
-            log.debug("Copying master_sign.pub file from {0} to minion".format(master_sign_pub_file))
+            log.debug("Copying master_sign.pub file from %s to minion", master_sign_pub_file)
             try:
-                with salt.utils.fopen(master_sign_pub_file, 'rb') as master_sign_fh:
+                with salt.utils.files.fopen(master_sign_pub_file, 'rb') as master_sign_fh:
                     smb_conn.putFile('C$', 'salt\\conf\\pki\\minion\\master_sign.pub', master_sign_fh.read)
             except Exception as e:
-                log.debug("Exception copying master_sign.pub file {0} to minion".format(master_sign_pub_file))
+                log.debug("Exception copying master_sign.pub file %s to minion", master_sign_pub_file)
 
         # Copy over win_installer
         # win_installer refers to a file such as:
@@ -1070,7 +1072,7 @@ def deploy_windows(host,
         comps = win_installer.split('/')
         local_path = '/'.join(comps[:-1])
         installer = comps[-1]
-        with salt.utils.fopen(win_installer, 'rb') as inst_fh:
+        with salt.utils.files.fopen(win_installer, 'rb') as inst_fh:
             smb_conn.putFile('C$', 'salttemp/{0}'.format(installer), inst_fh.read)
 
         if use_winrm:
@@ -1129,8 +1131,11 @@ def deploy_windows(host,
         # Delete C:\salttmp\ and installer file
         # Unless keep_tmp is True
         if not keep_tmp:
-            smb_conn.deleteFile('C$', 'salttemp/{0}'.format(installer))
-            smb_conn.deleteDirectory('C$', 'salttemp')
+            if use_winrm:
+                winrm_cmd(winrm_session, 'rmdir', ['/Q', '/S', 'C:\\salttemp\\'])
+            else:
+                smb_conn.deleteFile('C$', 'salttemp/{0}'.format(installer))
+                smb_conn.deleteDirectory('C$', 'salttemp')
         # Shell out to winexe to ensure salt-minion service started
         if use_winrm:
             winrm_cmd(winrm_session, 'sc', ['stop', 'salt-minion'])
@@ -1201,20 +1206,26 @@ def deploy_script(host,
                   sudo_password=None,
                   sudo=False,
                   tty=None,
-                  deploy_command='/tmp/.saltcloud/deploy.sh',
+                  vm_=None,
                   opts=None,
                   tmp_dir='/tmp/.saltcloud',
                   file_map=None,
                   master_sign_pub_file=None,
+                  cloud_grains=None,
+                  force_minion_config=False,
                   **kwargs):
     '''
     Copy a deploy script to a remote server, execute it, and remove it
     '''
     if not isinstance(opts, dict):
         opts = {}
+    vm_ = vm_ or {}  # if None, default to empty dict
+    cloud_grains = cloud_grains or {}
 
     tmp_dir = '{0}-{1}'.format(tmp_dir.rstrip('/'), uuid.uuid4())
-    deploy_command = os.path.join(tmp_dir, 'deploy.sh')
+    deploy_command = salt.config.get_cloud_config_value(
+        'deploy_command', vm_, opts,
+        default=os.path.join(tmp_dir, 'deploy.sh'))
     if key_filename is not None and not os.path.isfile(key_filename):
         raise SaltCloudConfigError(
             'The defined key_filename \'{0}\' does not exist'.format(
@@ -1226,14 +1237,16 @@ def deploy_script(host,
     if 'gateway' in kwargs:
         gateway = kwargs['gateway']
 
-    starttime = time.mktime(time.localtime())
-    log.debug('Deploying {0} at {1}'.format(host, starttime))
-
+    starttime = time.localtime()
+    log.debug(
+        'Deploying %s at %s',
+        host, time.strftime('%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S', starttime)
+    )
     known_hosts_file = kwargs.get('known_hosts_file', '/dev/null')
     hard_timeout = opts.get('hard_timeout', None)
 
     if wait_for_port(host=host, port=port, gateway=gateway):
-        log.debug('SSH port {0} on {1} is available'.format(port, host))
+        log.debug('SSH port %s on %s is available', port, host)
         if wait_for_passwd(host, port=port, username=username,
                            password=password, key_filename=key_filename,
                            ssh_timeout=ssh_timeout,
@@ -1241,11 +1254,7 @@ def deploy_script(host,
                            gateway=gateway, known_hosts_file=known_hosts_file,
                            maxtries=maxtries, hard_timeout=hard_timeout):
 
-            log.debug(
-                'Logging into {0}:{1} as {2}'.format(
-                    host, port, username
-                )
-            )
+            log.debug('Logging into %s:%s as %s', host, port, username)
             ssh_kwargs = {
                 'hostname': host,
                 'port': port,
@@ -1260,7 +1269,7 @@ def deploy_script(host,
                 ssh_kwargs['ssh_gateway_key'] = gateway['ssh_gateway_key']
                 ssh_kwargs['ssh_gateway_user'] = gateway['ssh_gateway_user']
             if key_filename:
-                log.debug('Using {0} as the key_filename'.format(key_filename))
+                log.debug('Using %s as the key_filename', key_filename)
                 ssh_kwargs['key_filename'] = key_filename
             elif password and kwargs.get('has_ssh_agent', False) is False:
                 ssh_kwargs['password'] = password
@@ -1299,10 +1308,9 @@ def deploy_script(host,
                 remote_file = file_map[map_item]
                 if not os.path.exists(map_item):
                     log.error(
-                        'The local file "{0}" does not exist, and will not be '
-                        'copied to "{1}" on the target system'.format(
-                            local_file, remote_file
-                        )
+                        'The local file "%s" does not exist, and will not be '
+                        'copied to "%s" on the target system',
+                        local_file, remote_file
                     )
                     file_map_fail.append({local_file: remote_file})
                     continue
@@ -1360,6 +1368,8 @@ def deploy_script(host,
                         salt_config_to_yaml(minion_grains),
                         ssh_kwargs
                     )
+                if cloud_grains and opts.get('enable_cloud_grains', True):
+                    minion_conf['grains'] = {'salt-cloud': cloud_grains}
                 ssh_file(
                     opts,
                     '{0}/minion'.format(tmp_dir),
@@ -1443,6 +1453,15 @@ def deploy_script(host,
                             'Can\'t set ownership for {0}'.format(
                                 preseed_minion_keys_tempdir))
 
+            # Run any pre-flight commands before running deploy scripts
+            preflight_cmds = kwargs.get('preflight_cmds', [])
+            for command in preflight_cmds:
+                cmd_ret = root_cmd(command, tty, sudo, **ssh_kwargs)
+                if cmd_ret:
+                    raise SaltCloudSystemExit(
+                        'Pre-flight command failed: \'{0}\''.format(command)
+                    )
+
             # The actual deploy script
             if script:
                 # got strange escaping issues with sudoer, going onto a
@@ -1456,7 +1475,8 @@ def deploy_script(host,
                     raise SaltCloudSystemExit(
                         'Can\'t set perms on {0}/deploy.sh'.format(tmp_dir))
 
-            newtimeout = timeout - (time.mktime(time.localtime()) - starttime)
+            time_used = time.mktime(time.localtime()) - time.mktime(starttime)
+            newtimeout = timeout - time_used
             queue = None
             process = None
             # Consider this code experimental. It causes Salt Cloud to wait
@@ -1477,6 +1497,8 @@ def deploy_script(host,
             if script:
                 if 'bootstrap-salt' in script:
                     deploy_command += ' -c \'{0}\''.format(tmp_dir)
+                    if force_minion_config:
+                        deploy_command += ' -F'
                     if make_syndic is True:
                         deploy_command += ' -S'
                     if make_master is True:
@@ -1529,13 +1551,13 @@ def deploy_script(host,
                             deploy_command
                         )
                     )
-                log.debug('Executed command \'{0}\''.format(deploy_command))
+                log.debug('Executed command \'%s\'', deploy_command)
 
                 # Remove the deploy script
                 if not keep_tmp:
                     root_cmd('rm -f \'{0}/deploy.sh\''.format(tmp_dir),
                              tty, sudo, **ssh_kwargs)
-                    log.debug('Removed {0}/deploy.sh'.format(tmp_dir))
+                    log.debug('Removed %s/deploy.sh', tmp_dir)
                     if script_env:
                         root_cmd(
                             'rm -f \'{0}/environ-deploy-wrapper.sh\''.format(
@@ -1543,51 +1565,45 @@ def deploy_script(host,
                             ),
                             tty, sudo, **ssh_kwargs
                         )
-                        log.debug(
-                            'Removed {0}/environ-deploy-wrapper.sh'.format(
-                                tmp_dir
-                            )
-                        )
+                        log.debug('Removed %s/environ-deploy-wrapper.sh', tmp_dir)
 
             if keep_tmp:
-                log.debug(
-                    'Not removing deployment files from {0}/'.format(tmp_dir)
-                )
+                log.debug('Not removing deployment files from %s/', tmp_dir)
             else:
                 # Remove minion configuration
                 if minion_pub:
                     root_cmd('rm -f \'{0}/minion.pub\''.format(tmp_dir),
                              tty, sudo, **ssh_kwargs)
-                    log.debug('Removed {0}/minion.pub'.format(tmp_dir))
+                    log.debug('Removed %s/minion.pub', tmp_dir)
                 if minion_pem:
                     root_cmd('rm -f \'{0}/minion.pem\''.format(tmp_dir),
                              tty, sudo, **ssh_kwargs)
-                    log.debug('Removed {0}/minion.pem'.format(tmp_dir))
+                    log.debug('Removed %s/minion.pem', tmp_dir)
                 if minion_conf:
                     root_cmd('rm -f \'{0}/grains\''.format(tmp_dir),
                              tty, sudo, **ssh_kwargs)
-                    log.debug('Removed {0}/grains'.format(tmp_dir))
+                    log.debug('Removed %s/grains', tmp_dir)
                     root_cmd('rm -f \'{0}/minion\''.format(tmp_dir),
                              tty, sudo, **ssh_kwargs)
-                    log.debug('Removed {0}/minion'.format(tmp_dir))
+                    log.debug('Removed %s/minion', tmp_dir)
                 if master_sign_pub_file:
                     root_cmd('rm -f {0}/master_sign.pub'.format(tmp_dir),
                              tty, sudo, **ssh_kwargs)
-                    log.debug('Removed {0}/master_sign.pub'.format(tmp_dir))
+                    log.debug('Removed %s/master_sign.pub', tmp_dir)
 
                 # Remove master configuration
                 if master_pub:
                     root_cmd('rm -f \'{0}/master.pub\''.format(tmp_dir),
                              tty, sudo, **ssh_kwargs)
-                    log.debug('Removed {0}/master.pub'.format(tmp_dir))
+                    log.debug('Removed %s/master.pub', tmp_dir)
                 if master_pem:
                     root_cmd('rm -f \'{0}/master.pem\''.format(tmp_dir),
                              tty, sudo, **ssh_kwargs)
-                    log.debug('Removed {0}/master.pem'.format(tmp_dir))
+                    log.debug('Removed %s/master.pem', tmp_dir)
                 if master_conf:
                     root_cmd('rm -f \'{0}/master\''.format(tmp_dir),
                              tty, sudo, **ssh_kwargs)
-                    log.debug('Removed {0}/master'.format(tmp_dir))
+                    log.debug('Removed %s/master', tmp_dir)
 
                 # Remove pre-seed keys directory
                 if preseed_minion_keys is not None:
@@ -1596,9 +1612,7 @@ def deploy_script(host,
                             preseed_minion_keys_tempdir
                         ), tty, sudo, **ssh_kwargs
                     )
-                    log.debug(
-                        'Removed {0}'.format(preseed_minion_keys_tempdir)
-                    )
+                    log.debug('Removed %s', preseed_minion_keys_tempdir)
 
             if start_action and not parallel:
                 queuereturn = queue.get()
@@ -1610,19 +1624,14 @@ def deploy_script(host,
                     # )
                     # for line in output:
                     #    print(line)
-                    log.info(
-                        'Executing {0} on the salt-minion'.format(
-                            start_action
-                        )
-                    )
+                    log.info('Executing %s on the salt-minion', start_action)
                     root_cmd(
                         'salt-call {0}'.format(start_action),
                         tty, sudo, **ssh_kwargs
                     )
                     log.info(
-                        'Finished executing {0} on the salt-minion'.format(
-                            start_action
-                        )
+                        'Finished executing %s on the salt-minion',
+                        start_action
                     )
             # Fire deploy action
             fire_event(
@@ -1674,12 +1683,12 @@ def run_inline_script(host,
         gateway = kwargs['gateway']
 
     starttime = time.mktime(time.localtime())
-    log.debug('Deploying {0} at {1}'.format(host, starttime))
+    log.debug('Deploying %s at %s', host, starttime)
 
     known_hosts_file = kwargs.get('known_hosts_file', '/dev/null')
 
     if wait_for_port(host=host, port=port, gateway=gateway):
-        log.debug('SSH port {0} on {1} is available'.format(port, host))
+        log.debug('SSH port %s on %s is available', port, host)
         newtimeout = timeout - (time.mktime(time.localtime()) - starttime)
         if wait_for_passwd(host, port=port, username=username,
                            password=password, key_filename=key_filename,
@@ -1687,11 +1696,7 @@ def run_inline_script(host,
                            display_ssh_output=display_ssh_output,
                            gateway=gateway, known_hosts_file=known_hosts_file):
 
-            log.debug(
-                'Logging into {0}:{1} as {2}'.format(
-                    host, port, username
-                )
-            )
+            log.debug('Logging into %s:%s as %s', host, port, username)
             newtimeout = timeout - (time.mktime(time.localtime()) - starttime)
             ssh_kwargs = {
                 'hostname': host,
@@ -1707,7 +1712,7 @@ def run_inline_script(host,
                 ssh_kwargs['ssh_gateway_key'] = gateway['ssh_gateway_key']
                 ssh_kwargs['ssh_gateway_user'] = gateway['ssh_gateway_user']
             if key_filename:
-                log.debug('Using {0} as the key_filename'.format(key_filename))
+                log.debug('Using %s as the key_filename', key_filename)
                 ssh_kwargs['key_filename'] = key_filename
             elif password and 'has_ssh_agent' in kwargs and kwargs['has_ssh_agent'] is False:
                 ssh_kwargs['password'] = password
@@ -1718,26 +1723,53 @@ def run_inline_script(host,
                         allow_failure=True, **ssh_kwargs) and inline_script:
                 log.debug('Found inline script to execute.')
                 for cmd_line in inline_script:
-                    log.info("Executing inline command: " + str(cmd_line))
+                    log.info('Executing inline command: %s', cmd_line)
                     ret = root_cmd('sh -c "( {0} )"'.format(cmd_line),
                                    tty, sudo, allow_failure=True, **ssh_kwargs)
                     if ret:
-                        log.info("[" + str(cmd_line) + "] Output: " + str(ret))
+                        log.info('[%s] Output: %s', cmd_line, ret)
 
     # TODO: ensure we send the correct return value
     return True
 
 
-def fire_event(key, msg, tag, args=None, sock_dir=None, transport='zeromq'):
-    # Fire deploy action
-    if sock_dir is None:
-        salt.utils.warn_until(
-            'Oxygen',
-            '`salt.utils.cloud.fire_event` requires that the `sock_dir`'
-            'parameter be passed in when calling the function.'
-        )
-        sock_dir = __opts__['sock_dir']
+def filter_event(tag, data, defaults):
+    '''
+    Accept a tag, a dict and a list of default keys to return from the dict, and
+    check them against the cloud configuration for that tag
+    '''
+    ret = {}
+    keys = []
+    use_defaults = True
 
+    for ktag in __opts__.get('filter_events', {}):
+        if tag != ktag:
+            continue
+        keys = __opts__['filter_events'][ktag]['keys']
+        use_defaults = __opts__['filter_events'][ktag].get('use_defaults', True)
+
+    if use_defaults is False:
+        defaults = []
+
+    # For PY3, if something like ".keys()" or ".values()" is used on a dictionary,
+    # it returns a dict_view and not a list like in PY2. "defaults" should be passed
+    # in with the correct data type, but don't stack-trace in case it wasn't.
+    if not isinstance(defaults, list):
+        defaults = list(defaults)
+
+    defaults = list(set(defaults + keys))
+
+    for key in defaults:
+        if key in data:
+            ret[key] = data[key]
+
+    return ret
+
+
+def fire_event(key, msg, tag, sock_dir, args=None, transport='zeromq'):
+    '''
+    Fire deploy action
+    '''
     event = salt.utils.event.get_event(
         'master',
         sock_dir,
@@ -1765,7 +1797,7 @@ def _exec_ssh_cmd(cmd, error_msg=None, allow_failure=False, **kwargs):
     password_retries = kwargs.get('password_retries', 3)
     try:
         stdout, stderr = None, None
-        proc = vt.Terminal(
+        proc = salt.utils.vt.Terminal(
             cmd,
             shell=True,
             log_stdout=True,
@@ -1782,7 +1814,7 @@ def _exec_ssh_cmd(cmd, error_msg=None, allow_failure=False, **kwargs):
                 if ('key_filename' in kwargs and kwargs['key_filename']
                     and SSH_PASSWORD_PROMP_SUDO_RE.search(stdout)
                 ):
-                    proc.sendline(kwargs['sudo_password', None])
+                    proc.sendline(kwargs['sudo_password'])
                 # elif authenticating via password and haven't exhausted our
                 # password_retires
                 elif (
@@ -1805,9 +1837,9 @@ def _exec_ssh_cmd(cmd, error_msg=None, allow_failure=False, **kwargs):
                 )
             )
         return proc.exitstatus
-    except vt.TerminalException as err:
+    except salt.utils.vt.TerminalException as err:
         trace = traceback.format_exc()
-        log.error(error_msg.format(cmd, err, trace))
+        log.error(error_msg.format(cmd, err, trace))  # pylint: disable=str-format-in-logging
     finally:
         proc.close(terminate=True, kill=True)
     # Signal an error
@@ -1831,7 +1863,7 @@ def scp_file(dest_path, contents=None, kwargs=None, local_file=None):
                     if exc.errno != errno.EBADF:
                         raise exc
 
-        log.debug('Uploading {0} to {1}'.format(dest_path, kwargs['hostname']))
+        log.debug('Uploading %s to %s', dest_path, kwargs['hostname'])
 
         ssh_args = [
             # Don't add new hosts to the host key database
@@ -1917,7 +1949,7 @@ def scp_file(dest_path, contents=None, kwargs=None, local_file=None):
             )
         )
 
-        log.debug('SCP command: \'{0}\''.format(cmd))
+        log.debug('SCP command: \'%s\'', cmd)
         retcode = _exec_ssh_cmd(cmd,
                                 error_msg='Failed to upload file \'{0}\': {1}\n{2}',
                                 password_retries=3,
@@ -1956,7 +1988,7 @@ def sftp_file(dest_path, contents=None, kwargs=None, local_file=None):
         if contents is not None:
             try:
                 tmpfd, file_to_upload = tempfile.mkstemp()
-                if isinstance(contents, str):
+                if isinstance(contents, six.string_types):
                     os.write(tmpfd, contents.encode(__salt_system_encoding__))
                 else:
                     os.write(tmpfd, contents)
@@ -1972,7 +2004,7 @@ def sftp_file(dest_path, contents=None, kwargs=None, local_file=None):
             if os.path.isdir(local_file):
                 put_args = ['-r']
 
-        log.debug('Uploading {0} to {1} (sftp)'.format(dest_path, kwargs.get('hostname')))
+        log.debug('Uploading %s to %s (sftp)', dest_path, kwargs.get('hostname'))
 
         ssh_args = [
             # Don't add new hosts to the host key database
@@ -2047,7 +2079,7 @@ def sftp_file(dest_path, contents=None, kwargs=None, local_file=None):
         cmd = 'echo "put {0} {1} {2}" | sftp {3} {4[username]}@{5}'.format(
             ' '.join(put_args), file_to_upload, dest_path, ' '.join(ssh_args), kwargs, ipaddr
         )
-        log.debug('SFTP command: \'{0}\''.format(cmd))
+        log.debug('SFTP command: \'%s\'', cmd)
         retcode = _exec_ssh_cmd(cmd,
                                 error_msg='Failed to upload file \'{0}\': {1}\n{2}',
                                 password_retries=3,
@@ -2093,13 +2125,7 @@ def win_cmd(command, **kwargs):
         proc.communicate()
         return proc.returncode
     except Exception as err:
-        log.error(
-            'Failed to execute command \'{0}\': {1}\n'.format(
-                logging_command,
-                err
-            ),
-            exc_info=True
-        )
+        log.exception('Failed to execute command \'%s\'', logging_command)
     # Signal an error
     return 1
 
@@ -2108,9 +2134,7 @@ def winrm_cmd(session, command, flags, **kwargs):
     '''
     Wrapper for commands to be run against Windows boxes using WinRM.
     '''
-    log.debug('Executing WinRM command: {0} {1}'.format(
-        command, flags
-    ))
+    log.debug('Executing WinRM command: %s %s', command, flags)
     r = session.run_cmd(command, flags)
     return r.status_code
 
@@ -2130,7 +2154,7 @@ def root_cmd(command, tty, sudo, allow_failure=False, **kwargs):
             logging_command = 'sudo -S "XXX-REDACTED-XXX" {0}'.format(command)
             command = 'sudo -S {0}'.format(command)
 
-        log.debug('Using sudo to run command {0}'.format(logging_command))
+        log.debug('Using sudo to run command %s', logging_command)
 
     ssh_args = []
 
@@ -2201,9 +2225,8 @@ def root_cmd(command, tty, sudo, allow_failure=False, **kwargs):
             )
         ])
         log.info(
-            'Using SSH gateway {0}@{1}:{2}'.format(
-                ssh_gateway_user, ssh_gateway, ssh_gateway_port
-            )
+            'Using SSH gateway %s@%s:%s',
+            ssh_gateway_user, ssh_gateway, ssh_gateway_port
         )
 
     if 'port' in kwargs:
@@ -2221,7 +2244,7 @@ def root_cmd(command, tty, sudo, allow_failure=False, **kwargs):
         logging_command = 'timeout {0} {1}'.format(hard_timeout, logging_command)
         cmd = 'timeout {0} {1}'.format(hard_timeout, cmd)
 
-    log.debug('SSH command: \'{0}\''.format(logging_command))
+    log.debug('SSH command: \'%s\'', logging_command)
 
     retcode = _exec_ssh_cmd(cmd, allow_failure=allow_failure, **kwargs)
     return retcode
@@ -2235,11 +2258,7 @@ def check_auth(name, sock_dir=None, queue=None, timeout=300):
     event = salt.utils.event.SaltEvent('master', sock_dir, listen=True)
     starttime = time.mktime(time.localtime())
     newtimeout = timeout
-    log.debug(
-        'In check_auth, waiting for {0} to become available'.format(
-            name
-        )
-    )
+    log.debug('In check_auth, waiting for %s to become available', name)
     while newtimeout > 0:
         newtimeout = timeout - (time.mktime(time.localtime()) - starttime)
         ret = event.get_event(full=True)
@@ -2248,7 +2267,7 @@ def check_auth(name, sock_dir=None, queue=None, timeout=300):
         if ret['tag'] == 'minion_start' and ret['data']['id'] == name:
             queue.put(name)
             newtimeout = 0
-            log.debug('Minion {0} is ready to receive commands'.format(name))
+            log.debug('Minion %s is ready to receive commands', name)
 
 
 def ip_to_int(ip):
@@ -2318,14 +2337,11 @@ def remove_sshkey(host, known_hosts=None):
 
     if known_hosts is not None:
         log.debug(
-            'Removing ssh key for {0} from known hosts file {1}'.format(
-                host, known_hosts
-            )
+            'Removing ssh key for %s from known hosts file %s',
+            host, known_hosts
         )
     else:
-        log.debug(
-            'Removing ssh key for {0} from known hosts file'.format(host)
-        )
+        log.debug('Removing ssh key for %s from known hosts file', host)
 
     cmd = 'ssh-keygen -R {0}'.format(host)
     subprocess.call(cmd, shell=True)
@@ -2368,18 +2384,14 @@ def wait_for_ip(update_callback,
     duration = timeout
     while True:
         log.debug(
-            'Waiting for VM IP. Giving up in 00:{0:02d}:{1:02d}.'.format(
-                int(timeout // 60),
-                int(timeout % 60)
-            )
+            'Waiting for VM IP. Giving up in 00:%02d:%02d.',
+            int(timeout // 60), int(timeout % 60)
         )
         data = update_callback(*update_args, **update_kwargs)
         if data is False:
             log.debug(
                 '\'update_callback\' has returned \'False\', which is '
-                'considered a failure. Remaining Failures: {0}.'.format(
-                    max_failures
-                )
+                'considered a failure. Remaining Failures: %s.', max_failures
             )
             max_failures -= 1
             if max_failures <= 0:
@@ -2405,7 +2417,7 @@ def wait_for_ip(update_callback,
             if interval > timeout:
                 interval = timeout + 1
             log.info('Interval multiplier in effect; interval is '
-                     'now {0}s.'.format(interval))
+                     'now %ss.', interval)
 
 
 def list_nodes_select(nodes, selection, call=None):
@@ -2430,7 +2442,7 @@ def list_nodes_select(nodes, selection, call=None):
         pairs = {}
         data = nodes[node]
         for key in data:
-            if str(key) in selection:
+            if six.text_type(key) in selection:
                 value = data[key]
                 pairs[key] = value
         ret[node] = pairs
@@ -2446,19 +2458,19 @@ def lock_file(filename, interval=.5, timeout=15):
     Note that these locks are only recognized by Salt Cloud, and not other
     programs or platforms.
     '''
-    log.trace('Attempting to obtain lock for {0}'.format(filename))
+    log.trace('Attempting to obtain lock for %s', filename)
     lock = filename + '.lock'
     start = time.time()
     while True:
         if os.path.exists(lock):
             if time.time() - start >= timeout:
-                log.warning('Unable to obtain lock for {0}'.format(filename))
+                log.warning('Unable to obtain lock for %s', filename)
                 return False
             time.sleep(interval)
         else:
             break
 
-    with salt.utils.fopen(lock, 'a'):
+    with salt.utils.files.fopen(lock, 'a'):
         pass
 
 
@@ -2469,12 +2481,12 @@ def unlock_file(filename):
     Note that these locks are only recognized by Salt Cloud, and not other
     programs or platforms.
     '''
-    log.trace('Removing lock for {0}'.format(filename))
+    log.trace('Removing lock for %s', filename)
     lock = filename + '.lock'
     try:
         os.remove(lock)
     except OSError as exc:
-        log.trace('Unable to remove lock for {0}: {1}'.format(filename, exc))
+        log.trace('Unable to remove lock for %s: %s', filename, exc)
 
 
 def cachedir_index_add(minion_id, profile, driver, provider, base=None):
@@ -2497,8 +2509,9 @@ def cachedir_index_add(minion_id, profile, driver, provider, base=None):
     lock_file(index_file)
 
     if os.path.exists(index_file):
-        with salt.utils.fopen(index_file, 'r') as fh_:
-            index = msgpack.load(fh_)
+        mode = 'rb' if six.PY3 else 'r'
+        with salt.utils.files.fopen(index_file, mode) as fh_:
+            index = salt.utils.data.decode(msgpack.load(fh_, encoding=MSGPACK_ENCODING))
     else:
         index = {}
 
@@ -2513,8 +2526,9 @@ def cachedir_index_add(minion_id, profile, driver, provider, base=None):
         }
     })
 
-    with salt.utils.fopen(index_file, 'w') as fh_:
-        msgpack.dump(index, fh_)
+    mode = 'wb' if six.PY3 else 'w'
+    with salt.utils.files.fopen(index_file, mode) as fh_:
+        msgpack.dump(index, fh_, encoding=MSGPACK_ENCODING)
 
     unlock_file(index_file)
 
@@ -2529,16 +2543,18 @@ def cachedir_index_del(minion_id, base=None):
     lock_file(index_file)
 
     if os.path.exists(index_file):
-        with salt.utils.fopen(index_file, 'r') as fh_:
-            index = msgpack.load(fh_)
+        mode = 'rb' if six.PY3 else 'r'
+        with salt.utils.files.fopen(index_file, mode) as fh_:
+            index = salt.utils.data.decode(msgpack.load(fh_, encoding=MSGPACK_ENCODING))
     else:
         return
 
     if minion_id in index:
         del index[minion_id]
 
-    with salt.utils.fopen(index_file, 'w') as fh_:
-        msgpack.dump(index, fh_)
+    mode = 'wb' if six.PY3 else 'w'
+    with salt.utils.files.fopen(index_file, mode) as fh_:
+        msgpack.dump(index, fh_, encoding=MSGPACK_ENCODING)
 
     unlock_file(index_file)
 
@@ -2582,7 +2598,7 @@ def request_minion_cachedir(
         base = __opts__['cachedir']
 
     if not fingerprint and pubkey is not None:
-        fingerprint = salt.utils.pem_finger(key=pubkey, sum_type=(opts and opts.get('hash_type') or 'sha256'))
+        fingerprint = salt.utils.crypt.pem_finger(key=pubkey, sum_type=(opts and opts.get('hash_type') or 'sha256'))
 
     init_cachedir(base)
 
@@ -2594,8 +2610,9 @@ def request_minion_cachedir(
 
     fname = '{0}.p'.format(minion_id)
     path = os.path.join(base, 'requested', fname)
-    with salt.utils.fopen(path, 'w') as fh_:
-        msgpack.dump(data, fh_)
+    mode = 'wb' if six.PY3 else 'w'
+    with salt.utils.files.fopen(path, mode) as fh_:
+        msgpack.dump(data, fh_, encoding=MSGPACK_ENCODING)
 
 
 def change_minion_cachedir(
@@ -2626,13 +2643,13 @@ def change_minion_cachedir(
     fname = '{0}.p'.format(minion_id)
     path = os.path.join(base, cachedir, fname)
 
-    with salt.utils.fopen(path, 'r') as fh_:
-        cache_data = msgpack.load(fh_)
+    with salt.utils.files.fopen(path, 'r') as fh_:
+        cache_data = salt.utils.data.decode(msgpack.load(fh_, encoding=MSGPACK_ENCODING))
 
     cache_data.update(data)
 
-    with salt.utils.fopen(path, 'w') as fh_:
-        msgpack.dump(cache_data, fh_)
+    with salt.utils.files.fopen(path, 'w') as fh_:
+        msgpack.dump(cache_data, fh_, encoding=MSGPACK_ENCODING)
 
 
 def activate_minion_cachedir(minion_id, base=None):
@@ -2669,21 +2686,23 @@ def delete_minion_cachedir(minion_id, provider, opts, base=None):
     fname = '{0}.p'.format(minion_id)
     for cachedir in 'requested', 'active':
         path = os.path.join(base, cachedir, driver, provider, fname)
-        log.debug('path: {0}'.format(path))
+        log.debug('path: %s', path)
         if os.path.exists(path):
             os.remove(path)
 
 
-def list_cache_nodes_full(opts, provider=None, base=None):
+def list_cache_nodes_full(opts=None, provider=None, base=None):
     '''
     Return a list of minion data from the cloud cache, rather from the cloud
     providers themselves. This is the cloud cache version of list_nodes_full().
     '''
+    if opts is None:
+        opts = __opts__
     if opts.get('update_cachedir', False) is False:
         return
 
     if base is None:
-        base = os.path.join(__opts__['cachedir'], 'active')
+        base = os.path.join(opts['cachedir'], 'active')
 
     minions = {}
     # First, get a list of all drivers in use
@@ -2698,12 +2717,13 @@ def list_cache_nodes_full(opts, provider=None, base=None):
             minions[driver][prov] = {}
             min_dir = os.path.join(prov_dir, prov)
             # Get a list of all nodes per provider
-            for minion_id in os.listdir(min_dir):
+            for fname in os.listdir(min_dir):
                 # Finally, get a list of full minion data
-                fname = '{0}.p'.format(minion_id)
                 fpath = os.path.join(min_dir, fname)
-                with salt.utils.fopen(fpath, 'r') as fh_:
-                    minions[driver][prov][minion_id] = msgpack.load(fh_)
+                minion_id = fname[:-2]  # strip '.p' from end of msgpack filename
+                mode = 'rb' if six.PY3 else 'r'
+                with salt.utils.files.fopen(fpath, mode) as fh_:
+                    minions[driver][prov][minion_id] = salt.utils.data.decode(msgpack.load(fh_, encoding=MSGPACK_ENCODING))
 
     return minions
 
@@ -2713,8 +2733,13 @@ def cache_nodes_ip(opts, base=None):
     Retrieve a list of all nodes from Salt Cloud cache, and any associated IP
     addresses. Returns a dict.
     '''
+    salt.utils.versions.warn_until(
+        'Flourine',
+        'This function is incomplete and non-functional '
+        'and will be removed in Salt Flourine.'
+    )
     if base is None:
-        base = __opts__['cachedir']
+        base = opts['cachedir']
 
     minions = list_cache_nodes_full(opts, base=base)
 
@@ -2759,8 +2784,8 @@ def update_bootstrap(config, url=None):
         else:
             script_name = os.path.basename(url)
     elif os.path.exists(url):
-        with salt.utils.fopen(url) as fic:
-            script_content = fic.read()
+        with salt.utils.files.fopen(url) as fic:
+            script_content = salt.utils.stringutils.to_unicode(fic.read())
         script_name = os.path.basename(url)
     # in last case, assuming we got a script content
     else:
@@ -2832,28 +2857,20 @@ def update_bootstrap(config, url=None):
             try:
                 os.makedirs(entry)
             except (OSError, IOError) as err:
-                log.info(
-                    'Failed to create directory \'{0}\''.format(entry)
-                )
+                log.info('Failed to create directory \'%s\'', entry)
                 continue
 
         if not is_writeable(entry):
-            log.debug(
-                'The \'{0}\' is not writeable. Continuing...'.format(
-                    entry
-                )
-            )
+            log.debug('The \'%s\' is not writeable. Continuing...', entry)
             continue
 
         deploy_path = os.path.join(entry, script_name)
         try:
             finished_full.append(deploy_path)
-            with salt.utils.fopen(deploy_path, 'w') as fp_:
-                fp_.write(script_content)
+            with salt.utils.files.fopen(deploy_path, 'w') as fp_:
+                fp_.write(salt.utils.stringutils.to_str(script_content))
         except (OSError, IOError) as err:
-            log.debug(
-                'Failed to write the updated script: {0}'.format(err)
-            )
+            log.debug('Failed to write the updated script: %s', err)
             continue
 
     return {'Success': {'Files updated': finished_full}}
@@ -2881,8 +2898,9 @@ def cache_node_list(nodes, provider, opts):
     for node in nodes:
         diff_node_cache(prov_dir, node, nodes[node], opts)
         path = os.path.join(prov_dir, '{0}.p'.format(node))
-        with salt.utils.fopen(path, 'w') as fh_:
-            msgpack.dump(nodes[node], fh_)
+        mode = 'wb' if six.PY3 else 'w'
+        with salt.utils.files.fopen(path, mode) as fh_:
+            msgpack.dump(nodes[node], fh_, encoding=MSGPACK_ENCODING)
 
 
 def cache_node(node, provider, opts):
@@ -2906,8 +2924,9 @@ def cache_node(node, provider, opts):
     if not os.path.exists(prov_dir):
         os.makedirs(prov_dir)
     path = os.path.join(prov_dir, '{0}.p'.format(node['name']))
-    with salt.utils.fopen(path, 'w') as fh_:
-        msgpack.dump(node, fh_)
+    mode = 'wb' if six.PY3 else 'w'
+    with salt.utils.files.fopen(path, mode) as fh_:
+        msgpack.dump(node, fh_, encoding=MSGPACK_ENCODING)
 
 
 def missing_node_cache(prov_dir, node_list, provider, opts):
@@ -2980,17 +2999,17 @@ def diff_node_cache(prov_dir, node, new_data, opts):
         )
         return
 
-    with salt.utils.fopen(path, 'r') as fh_:
+    with salt.utils.files.fopen(path, 'r') as fh_:
         try:
-            cache_data = msgpack.load(fh_)
+            cache_data = salt.utils.data.decode(msgpack.load(fh_, encoding=MSGPACK_ENCODING))
         except ValueError:
-            log.warning('Cache for {0} was corrupt: Deleting'.format(node))
+            log.warning('Cache for %s was corrupt: Deleting', node)
             cache_data = {}
 
     # Perform a simple diff between the old and the new data, and if it differs,
     # return both dicts.
     # TODO: Return an actual diff
-    diff = cmp(new_data, cache_data)
+    diff = salt.utils.compat.cmp(new_data, cache_data)
     if diff != 0:
         fire_event(
             'event',
@@ -3108,7 +3127,7 @@ def store_password_in_keyring(credential_id, username, password=None):
         try:
             _save_password_in_keyring(credential_id, username, password)
         except keyring.errors.PasswordSetError as exc:
-            log.debug('Problem saving password in the keyring: {0}'.format(exc))
+            log.debug('Problem saving password in the keyring: %s', exc)
     except ImportError:
         log.error('Tried to store password in keyring, but no keyring module is installed')
         return False
@@ -3145,9 +3164,10 @@ def run_func_until_ret_arg(fun, kwargs, fun_call=None,
                     for k, v in six.iteritems(d0):
                         r_set[k] = v
         status = _unwrap_dict(r_set, argument_being_watched)
-        log.debug('Function: {0}, Watched arg: {1}, Response: {2}'.format(str(fun).split(' ')[1],
-                                                                          argument_being_watched,
-                                                                          status))
+        log.debug(
+            'Function: %s, Watched arg: %s, Response: %s',
+            six.text_type(fun).split(' ')[1], argument_being_watched, status
+        )
         time.sleep(5)
 
     return True
@@ -3189,22 +3209,16 @@ def check_key_path_and_mode(provider, key_path):
     '''
     if not os.path.exists(key_path):
         log.error(
-            'The key file \'{0}\' used in the \'{1}\' provider configuration '
-            'does not exist.\n'.format(
-                key_path,
-                provider
-            )
+            'The key file \'%s\' used in the \'%s\' provider configuration '
+            'does not exist.\n', key_path, provider
         )
         return False
 
-    key_mode = str(oct(stat.S_IMODE(os.stat(key_path).st_mode)))
-    if key_mode not in ('0400', '0600'):
+    key_mode = stat.S_IMODE(os.stat(key_path).st_mode)
+    if key_mode not in (0o400, 0o600):
         log.error(
-            'The key file \'{0}\' used in the \'{1}\' provider configuration '
-            'needs to be set to mode 0400 or 0600.\n'.format(
-                key_path,
-                provider
-            )
+            'The key file \'%s\' used in the \'%s\' provider configuration '
+            'needs to be set to mode 0400 or 0600.\n', key_path, provider
         )
         return False
 
@@ -3254,6 +3268,6 @@ def userdata_template(opts, vm_, userdata):
                     'Templated userdata resulted in non-string result (%s), '
                     'converting to string', templated
                 )
-                templated = str(templated)
+                templated = six.text_type(templated)
 
         return templated
diff --git a/salt/utils/crypt.py b/salt/utils/crypt.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..10b744044e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/salt/utils/crypt.py
@@ -0,0 +1,140 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+'''
+Functions dealing with encryption
+'''
+
+from __future__ import absolute_import, print_function, unicode_literals
+
+# Import Python libs
+import hashlib
+import logging
+import os
+
+log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+# Import Salt libs
+import salt.loader
+import salt.utils.files
+from salt.exceptions import SaltInvocationError
+
+try:
+    import Crypto.Random
+    HAS_CRYPTO = True
+except ImportError:
+    HAS_CRYPTO = False
+
+
+def decrypt(data,
+            rend,
+            translate_newlines=False,
+            renderers=None,
+            opts=None,
+            valid_rend=None):
+    '''
+    .. versionadded:: 2017.7.0
+
+    Decrypt a data structure using the specified renderer. Written originally
+    as a common codebase to handle decryption of encrypted elements within
+    Pillar data, but should be flexible enough for other uses as well.
+
+    Returns the decrypted result, but any decryption renderer should be
+    recursively decrypting mutable types in-place, so any data structure passed
+    should be automagically decrypted using this function. Immutable types
+    obviously won't, so it's a good idea to check if ``data`` is hashable in
+    the calling function, and replace the original value with the decrypted
+    result if that is not the case. For an example of this, see
+    salt.pillar.Pillar.decrypt_pillar().
+
+    data
+        The data to be decrypted. This can be a string of ciphertext or a data
+        structure. If it is a data structure, the items in the data structure
+        will be recursively decrypted.
+
+    rend
+        The renderer used to decrypt
+
+    translate_newlines : False
+        If True, then the renderer will convert a literal backslash followed by
+        an 'n' into a newline before performing the decryption.
+
+    renderers
+        Optionally pass a loader instance containing loaded renderer functions.
+        If not passed, then the ``opts`` will be required and will be used to
+        invoke the loader to get the available renderers. Where possible,
+        renderers should be passed to avoid the overhead of loading them here.
+
+    opts
+        The master/minion configuration opts. Used only if renderers are not
+        passed.
+
+    valid_rend
+        A list containing valid renderers, used to restrict the renderers which
+        this function will be allowed to use. If not passed, no restriction
+        will be made.
+    '''
+    try:
+        if valid_rend and rend not in valid_rend:
+            raise SaltInvocationError(
+                '\'{0}\' is not a valid decryption renderer. Valid choices '
+                'are: {1}'.format(rend, ', '.join(valid_rend))
+            )
+    except TypeError as exc:
+        # SaltInvocationError inherits TypeError, so check for it first and
+        # raise if needed.
+        if isinstance(exc, SaltInvocationError):
+            raise
+        # 'valid' argument is not iterable
+        log.error('Non-iterable value %s passed for valid_rend', valid_rend)
+
+    if renderers is None:
+        if opts is None:
+            raise TypeError('opts are required')
+        renderers = salt.loader.render(opts, {})
+
+    rend_func = renderers.get(rend)
+    if rend_func is None:
+        raise SaltInvocationError(
+            'Decryption renderer \'{0}\' is not available'.format(rend)
+        )
+
+    return rend_func(data, translate_newlines=translate_newlines)
+
+
+def reinit_crypto():
+    '''
+    When a fork arises, pycrypto needs to reinit
+    From its doc::
+
+        Caveat: For the random number generator to work correctly,
+        you must call Random.atfork() in both the parent and
+        child processes after using os.fork()
+
+    '''
+    if HAS_CRYPTO:
+        Crypto.Random.atfork()
+
+
+def pem_finger(path=None, key=None, sum_type='sha256'):
+    '''
+    Pass in either a raw pem string, or the path on disk to the location of a
+    pem file, and the type of cryptographic hash to use. The default is SHA256.
+    The fingerprint of the pem will be returned.
+
+    If neither a key nor a path are passed in, a blank string will be returned.
+    '''
+    if not key:
+        if not os.path.isfile(path):
+            return ''
+
+        with salt.utils.files.fopen(path, 'rb') as fp_:
+            key = b''.join([x for x in fp_.readlines() if x.strip()][1:-1])
+
+    pre = getattr(hashlib, sum_type)(key).hexdigest()
+    finger = ''
+    for ind, _ in enumerate(pre):
+        if ind % 2:
+            # Is odd
+            finger += '{0}:'.format(pre[ind])
+        else:
+            finger += pre[ind]
+    return finger.rstrip(':')
diff --git a/salt/utils/data.py b/salt/utils/data.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b3b8aa2ff9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/salt/utils/data.py
@@ -0,0 +1,568 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+'''
+Functions for manipulating, inspecting, or otherwise working with data types
+and data structures.
+'''
+
+from __future__ import absolute_import
+
+# Import Python libs
+import collections
+import copy
+import fnmatch
+import logging
+import re
+import yaml
+
+# Import Salt libs
+import salt.utils.dictupdate
+import salt.utils.stringutils
+from salt.defaults import DEFAULT_TARGET_DELIM
+from salt.exceptions import SaltException
+from salt.utils.decorators.jinja import jinja_filter
+
+# Import 3rd-party libs
+from salt.ext import six
+from salt.ext.six.moves import range  # pylint: disable=redefined-builtin
+
+log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+
+@jinja_filter('compare_dicts')
+def compare_dicts(old=None, new=None):
+    '''
+    Compare before and after results from various salt functions, returning a
+    dict describing the changes that were made.
+    '''
+    ret = {}
+    for key in set((new or {})).union((old or {})):
+        if key not in old:
+            # New key
+            ret[key] = {'old': '',
+                        'new': new[key]}
+        elif key not in new:
+            # Key removed
+            ret[key] = {'new': '',
+                        'old': old[key]}
+        elif new[key] != old[key]:
+            # Key modified
+            ret[key] = {'old': old[key],
+                        'new': new[key]}
+    return ret
+
+
+@jinja_filter('compare_lists')
+def compare_lists(old=None, new=None):
+    '''
+    Compare before and after results from various salt functions, returning a
+    dict describing the changes that were made
+    '''
+    ret = dict()
+    for item in new:
+        if item not in old:
+            ret['new'] = item
+    for item in old:
+        if item not in new:
+            ret['old'] = item
+    return ret
+
+
+@jinja_filter('json_decode_dict')
+def decode_dict(data):
+    '''
+    JSON decodes as unicode, Jinja needs bytes...
+    '''
+    rv = {}
+    for key, value in six.iteritems(data):
+        if isinstance(key, six.text_type) and six.PY2:
+            key = key.encode('utf-8')
+        if isinstance(value, six.text_type) and six.PY2:
+            value = value.encode('utf-8')
+        elif isinstance(value, list):
+            value = decode_list(value)
+        elif isinstance(value, dict):
+            value = decode_dict(value)
+        rv[key] = value
+    return rv
+
+
+@jinja_filter('json_decode_list')
+def decode_list(data):
+    '''
+    JSON decodes as unicode, Jinja needs bytes...
+    '''
+    rv = []
+    for item in data:
+        if isinstance(item, six.text_type) and six.PY2:
+            item = item.encode('utf-8')
+        elif isinstance(item, list):
+            item = decode_list(item)
+        elif isinstance(item, dict):
+            item = decode_dict(item)
+        rv.append(item)
+    return rv
+
+
+@jinja_filter('exactly_n_true')
+def exactly_n(l, n=1):
+    '''
+    Tests that exactly N items in an iterable are "truthy" (neither None,
+    False, nor 0).
+    '''
+    i = iter(l)
+    return all(any(i) for j in range(n)) and not any(i)
+
+
+@jinja_filter('exactly_one_true')
+def exactly_one(l):
+    '''
+    Check if only one item is not None, False, or 0 in an iterable.
+    '''
+    return exactly_n(l)
+
+
+def filter_by(lookup_dict,
+              lookup,
+              traverse,
+              merge=None,
+              default='default',
+              base=None):
+    '''
+    Common code to filter data structures like grains and pillar
+    '''
+    ret = None
+    # Default value would be an empty list if lookup not found
+    val = traverse_dict_and_list(traverse, lookup, [])
+
+    # Iterate over the list of values to match against patterns in the
+    # lookup_dict keys
+    for each in val if isinstance(val, list) else [val]:
+        for key in lookup_dict:
+            test_key = key if isinstance(key, six.string_types) else str(key)
+            test_each = each if isinstance(each, six.string_types) else str(each)
+            if fnmatch.fnmatchcase(test_each, test_key):
+                ret = lookup_dict[key]
+                break
+        if ret is not None:
+            break
+
+    if ret is None:
+        ret = lookup_dict.get(default, None)
+
+    if base and base in lookup_dict:
+        base_values = lookup_dict[base]
+        if ret is None:
+            ret = base_values
+
+        elif isinstance(base_values, collections.Mapping):
+            if not isinstance(ret, collections.Mapping):
+                raise SaltException(
+                    'filter_by default and look-up values must both be '
+                    'dictionaries.')
+            ret = salt.utils.dictupdate.update(copy.deepcopy(base_values), ret)
+
+    if merge:
+        if not isinstance(merge, collections.Mapping):
+            raise SaltException(
+                'filter_by merge argument must be a dictionary.')
+
+        if ret is None:
+            ret = merge
+        else:
+            salt.utils.dictupdate.update(ret, copy.deepcopy(merge))
+
+    return ret
+
+
+def traverse_dict(data, key, default=None, delimiter=DEFAULT_TARGET_DELIM):
+    '''
+    Traverse a dict using a colon-delimited (or otherwise delimited, using the
+    'delimiter' param) target string. The target 'foo:bar:baz' will return
+    data['foo']['bar']['baz'] if this value exists, and will otherwise return
+    the dict in the default argument.
+    '''
+    try:
+        for each in key.split(delimiter):
+            data = data[each]
+    except (KeyError, IndexError, TypeError):
+        # Encountered a non-indexable value in the middle of traversing
+        return default
+    return data
+
+
+def traverse_dict_and_list(data, key, default=None, delimiter=DEFAULT_TARGET_DELIM):
+    '''
+    Traverse a dict or list using a colon-delimited (or otherwise delimited,
+    using the 'delimiter' param) target string. The target 'foo:bar:0' will
+    return data['foo']['bar'][0] if this value exists, and will otherwise
+    return the dict in the default argument.
+    Function will automatically determine the target type.
+    The target 'foo:bar:0' will return data['foo']['bar'][0] if data like
+    {'foo':{'bar':['baz']}} , if data like {'foo':{'bar':{'0':'baz'}}}
+    then return data['foo']['bar']['0']
+    '''
+    for each in key.split(delimiter):
+        if isinstance(data, list):
+            try:
+                idx = int(each)
+            except ValueError:
+                embed_match = False
+                # Index was not numeric, lets look at any embedded dicts
+                for embedded in (x for x in data if isinstance(x, dict)):
+                    try:
+                        data = embedded[each]
+                        embed_match = True
+                        break
+                    except KeyError:
+                        pass
+                if not embed_match:
+                    # No embedded dicts matched, return the default
+                    return default
+            else:
+                try:
+                    data = data[idx]
+                except IndexError:
+                    return default
+        else:
+            try:
+                data = data[each]
+            except (KeyError, TypeError):
+                return default
+    return data
+
+
+def subdict_match(data,
+                  expr,
+                  delimiter=DEFAULT_TARGET_DELIM,
+                  regex_match=False,
+                  exact_match=False):
+    '''
+    Check for a match in a dictionary using a delimiter character to denote
+    levels of subdicts, and also allowing the delimiter character to be
+    matched. Thus, 'foo:bar:baz' will match data['foo'] == 'bar:baz' and
+    data['foo']['bar'] == 'baz'. The former would take priority over the
+    latter.
+    '''
+    def _match(target, pattern, regex_match=False, exact_match=False):
+        if regex_match:
+            try:
+                return re.match(pattern.lower(), str(target).lower())
+            except Exception:
+                log.error('Invalid regex \'{0}\' in match'.format(pattern))
+                return False
+        elif exact_match:
+            return str(target).lower() == pattern.lower()
+        else:
+            return fnmatch.fnmatch(str(target).lower(), pattern.lower())
+
+    def _dict_match(target, pattern, regex_match=False, exact_match=False):
+        wildcard = pattern.startswith('*:')
+        if wildcard:
+            pattern = pattern[2:]
+
+        if pattern == '*':
+            # We are just checking that the key exists
+            return True
+        elif pattern in target:
+            # We might want to search for a key
+            return True
+        elif subdict_match(target,
+                           pattern,
+                           regex_match=regex_match,
+                           exact_match=exact_match):
+            return True
+        if wildcard:
+            for key in target:
+                if _match(key,
+                          pattern,
+                          regex_match=regex_match,
+                          exact_match=exact_match):
+                    return True
+                if isinstance(target[key], dict):
+                    if _dict_match(target[key],
+                                   pattern,
+                                   regex_match=regex_match,
+                                   exact_match=exact_match):
+                        return True
+                elif isinstance(target[key], list):
+                    for item in target[key]:
+                        if _match(item,
+                                  pattern,
+                                  regex_match=regex_match,
+                                  exact_match=exact_match):
+                            return True
+        return False
+
+    for idx in range(1, expr.count(delimiter) + 1):
+        splits = expr.split(delimiter)
+        key = delimiter.join(splits[:idx])
+        matchstr = delimiter.join(splits[idx:])
+        log.debug('Attempting to match \'{0}\' in \'{1}\' using delimiter '
+                  '\'{2}\''.format(matchstr, key, delimiter))
+        match = traverse_dict_and_list(data, key, {}, delimiter=delimiter)
+        if match == {}:
+            continue
+        if isinstance(match, dict):
+            if _dict_match(match,
+                           matchstr,
+                           regex_match=regex_match,
+                           exact_match=exact_match):
+                return True
+            continue
+        if isinstance(match, list):
+            # We are matching a single component to a single list member
+            for member in match:
+                if isinstance(member, dict):
+                    if _dict_match(member,
+                                   matchstr,
+                                   regex_match=regex_match,
+                                   exact_match=exact_match):
+                        return True
+                if _match(member,
+                          matchstr,
+                          regex_match=regex_match,
+                          exact_match=exact_match):
+                    return True
+            continue
+        if _match(match,
+                  matchstr,
+                  regex_match=regex_match,
+                  exact_match=exact_match):
+            return True
+    return False
+
+
+@jinja_filter('substring_in_list')
+def substr_in_list(string_to_search_for, list_to_search):
+    '''
+    Return a boolean value that indicates whether or not a given
+    string is present in any of the strings which comprise a list
+    '''
+    return any(string_to_search_for in s for s in list_to_search)
+
+
+def is_dictlist(data):
+    '''
+    Returns True if data is a list of one-element dicts (as found in many SLS
+    schemas), otherwise returns False
+    '''
+    if isinstance(data, list):
+        for element in data:
+            if isinstance(element, dict):
+                if len(element) != 1:
+                    return False
+            else:
+                return False
+        return True
+    return False
+
+
+def repack_dictlist(data,
+                    strict=False,
+                    recurse=False,
+                    key_cb=None,
+                    val_cb=None):
+    '''
+    Takes a list of one-element dicts (as found in many SLS schemas) and
+    repacks into a single dictionary.
+    '''
+    if isinstance(data, six.string_types):
+        try:
+            data = yaml.safe_load(data)
+        except yaml.parser.ParserError as err:
+            log.error(err)
+            return {}
+
+    if key_cb is None:
+        key_cb = lambda x: x
+    if val_cb is None:
+        val_cb = lambda x, y: y
+
+    valid_non_dict = (six.string_types, six.integer_types, float)
+    if isinstance(data, list):
+        for element in data:
+            if isinstance(element, valid_non_dict):
+                continue
+            elif isinstance(element, dict):
+                if len(element) != 1:
+                    log.error(
+                        'Invalid input for repack_dictlist: key/value pairs '
+                        'must contain only one element (data passed: %s).',
+                        element
+                    )
+                    return {}
+            else:
+                log.error(
+                    'Invalid input for repack_dictlist: element %s is '
+                    'not a string/dict/numeric value', element
+                )
+                return {}
+    else:
+        log.error(
+            'Invalid input for repack_dictlist, data passed is not a list '
+            '(%s)', data
+        )
+        return {}
+
+    ret = {}
+    for element in data:
+        if isinstance(element, valid_non_dict):
+            ret[key_cb(element)] = None
+        else:
+            key = next(iter(element))
+            val = element[key]
+            if is_dictlist(val):
+                if recurse:
+                    ret[key_cb(key)] = repack_dictlist(val, recurse=recurse)
+                elif strict:
+                    log.error(
+                        'Invalid input for repack_dictlist: nested dictlist '
+                        'found, but recurse is set to False'
+                    )
+                    return {}
+                else:
+                    ret[key_cb(key)] = val_cb(key, val)
+            else:
+                ret[key_cb(key)] = val_cb(key, val)
+    return ret
+
+
+@jinja_filter('is_list')
+def is_list(value):
+    '''
+    Check if a variable is a list.
+    '''
+    return isinstance(value, list)
+
+
+@jinja_filter('is_iter')
+def is_iter(y, ignore=six.string_types):
+    '''
+    Test if an object is iterable, but not a string type.
+
+    Test if an object is an iterator or is iterable itself. By default this
+    does not return True for string objects.
+
+    The `ignore` argument defaults to a list of string types that are not
+    considered iterable. This can be used to also exclude things like
+    dictionaries or named tuples.
+
+    Based on https://bitbucket.org/petershinners/yter
+    '''
+
+    if ignore and isinstance(y, ignore):
+        return False
+    try:
+        iter(y)
+        return True
+    except TypeError:
+        return False
+
+
+@jinja_filter('sorted_ignorecase')
+def sorted_ignorecase(to_sort):
+    '''
+    Sort a list of strings ignoring case.
+
+    >>> L = ['foo', 'Foo', 'bar', 'Bar']
+    >>> sorted(L)
+    ['Bar', 'Foo', 'bar', 'foo']
+    >>> sorted(L, key=lambda x: x.lower())
+    ['bar', 'Bar', 'foo', 'Foo']
+    >>>
+    '''
+    return sorted(to_sort, key=lambda x: x.lower())
+
+
+def is_true(value=None):
+    '''
+    Returns a boolean value representing the "truth" of the value passed. The
+    rules for what is a "True" value are:
+
+        1. Integer/float values greater than 0
+        2. The string values "True" and "true"
+        3. Any object for which bool(obj) returns True
+    '''
+    # First, try int/float conversion
+    try:
+        value = int(value)
+    except (ValueError, TypeError):
+        pass
+    try:
+        value = float(value)
+    except (ValueError, TypeError):
+        pass
+
+    # Now check for truthiness
+    if isinstance(value, (six.integer_types, float)):
+        return value > 0
+    elif isinstance(value, six.string_types):
+        return str(value).lower() == 'true'
+    else:
+        return bool(value)
+
+
+@jinja_filter('mysql_to_dict')
+def mysql_to_dict(data, key):
+    '''
+    Convert MySQL-style output to a python dictionary
+    '''
+    ret = {}
+    headers = ['']
+    for line in data:
+        if not line:
+            continue
+        if line.startswith('+'):
+            continue
+        comps = line.split('|')
+        for comp in range(len(comps)):
+            comps[comp] = comps[comp].strip()
+        if len(headers) > 1:
+            index = len(headers) - 1
+            row = {}
+            for field in range(index):
+                if field < 1:
+                    continue
+                else:
+                    row[headers[field]] = salt.utils.stringutils.to_num(comps[field])
+            ret[row[key]] = row
+        else:
+            headers = comps
+    return ret
+
+
+def simple_types_filter(data):
+    '''
+    Convert the data list, dictionary into simple types, i.e., int, float, string,
+    bool, etc.
+    '''
+    if data is None:
+        return data
+
+    simpletypes_keys = (six.string_types, six.text_type, six.integer_types, float, bool)
+    simpletypes_values = tuple(list(simpletypes_keys) + [list, tuple])
+
+    if isinstance(data, (list, tuple)):
+        simplearray = []
+        for value in data:
+            if value is not None:
+                if isinstance(value, (dict, list)):
+                    value = simple_types_filter(value)
+                elif not isinstance(value, simpletypes_values):
+                    value = repr(value)
+            simplearray.append(value)
+        return simplearray
+
+    if isinstance(data, dict):
+        simpledict = {}
+        for key, value in six.iteritems(data):
+            if key is not None and not isinstance(key, simpletypes_keys):
+                key = repr(key)
+            if value is not None and isinstance(value, (dict, list, tuple)):
+                value = simple_types_filter(value)
+            elif value is not None and not isinstance(value, simpletypes_values):
+                value = repr(value)
+            simpledict[key] = value
+        return simpledict
+
+    return data
diff --git a/salt/utils/decorators/jinja.py b/salt/utils/decorators/jinja.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7af0f3a7b6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/salt/utils/decorators/jinja.py
@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+'''
+Jinja-specific decorators
+'''
+from __future__ import absolute_import
+
+# Import Python libs
+import logging
+
+log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+
+class JinjaFilter(object):
+    '''
+    This decorator is used to specify that a function is to be loaded as a
+    Jinja filter.
+    '''
+    salt_jinja_filters = {}
+
+    def __init__(self, name=None):
+        '''
+        '''
+        self.name = name
+
+    def __call__(self, function):
+        '''
+        '''
+        name = self.name or function.__name__
+        if name not in self.salt_jinja_filters:
+            log.debug('Marking \'%s\' as a jinja filter', name)
+            self.salt_jinja_filters[name] = function
+        return function
+
+
+jinja_filter = JinjaFilter
+
+
+class JinjaTest(object):
+    '''
+    This decorator is used to specify that a function is to be loaded as a
+    Jinja test.
+    '''
+    salt_jinja_tests = {}
+
+    def __init__(self, name=None):
+        '''
+        '''
+        self.name = name
+
+    def __call__(self, function):
+        '''
+        '''
+        name = self.name or function.__name__
+        if name not in self.salt_jinja_tests:
+            log.debug('Marking \'%s\' as a jinja test', name)
+            self.salt_jinja_tests[name] = function
+        return function
+
+
+jinja_test = JinjaTest
+
+
+class JinjaGlobal(object):
+    '''
+    This decorator is used to specify that a function is to be loaded as a
+    Jinja global.
+    '''
+    salt_jinja_globals = {}
+
+    def __init__(self, name=None):
+        '''
+        '''
+        self.name = name
+
+    def __call__(self, function):
+        '''
+        '''
+        name = self.name or function.__name__
+        if name not in self.salt_jinja_globals:
+            log.debug('Marking "{0}" as a jinja global'.format(name))
+            self.salt_jinja_globals[name] = function
+        return function
+
+
+jinja_global = JinjaGlobal
diff --git a/salt/utils/files.py b/salt/utils/files.py
index 5097f8e6fd..4f06f2366e 100644
--- a/salt/utils/files.py
+++ b/salt/utils/files.py
@@ -1,4 +1,7 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+'''
+Functions for working with files
+'''
 
 from __future__ import absolute_import
 
@@ -7,23 +10,48 @@ import contextlib
 import errno
 import logging
 import os
+import re
 import shutil
+import stat
 import subprocess
+import tempfile
 import time
+import urllib
 
-# Import salt libs
-import salt.utils
+# Import Salt libs
+import salt.utils.validate.path
+import salt.utils.platform
+import salt.utils.stringutils
 import salt.modules.selinux
 from salt.exceptions import CommandExecutionError, FileLockError, MinionError
+from salt.utils.decorators.jinja import jinja_filter
 
 # Import 3rd-party libs
 from salt.ext import six
+from salt.ext.six.moves import range
+try:
+    import fcntl
+    HAS_FCNTL = True
+except ImportError:
+    # fcntl is not available on windows
+    HAS_FCNTL = False
 
 log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
-TEMPFILE_PREFIX = '__salt.tmp.'
+LOCAL_PROTOS = ('', 'file')
 REMOTE_PROTOS = ('http', 'https', 'ftp', 'swift', 's3')
 VALID_PROTOS = ('salt', 'file') + REMOTE_PROTOS
+TEMPFILE_PREFIX = '__salt.tmp.'
+
+HASHES = {
+    'sha512': 128,
+    'sha384': 96,
+    'sha256': 64,
+    'sha224': 56,
+    'sha1': 40,
+    'md5': 32,
+}
+HASHES_REVMAP = dict([(y, x) for x, y in six.iteritems(HASHES)])
 
 
 def guess_archive_type(name):
@@ -31,7 +59,9 @@ def guess_archive_type(name):
     Guess an archive type (tar, zip, or rar) by its file extension
     '''
     name = name.lower()
-    for ending in ('tar', 'tar.gz', 'tar.bz2', 'tar.xz', 'tgz', 'tbz2', 'txz',
+    for ending in ('tar', 'tar.gz', 'tgz',
+                   'tar.bz2', 'tbz2', 'tbz',
+                   'tar.xz', 'txz',
                    'tar.lzma', 'tlz'):
         if name.endswith('.' + ending):
             return 'tar'
@@ -41,6 +71,24 @@ def guess_archive_type(name):
     return None
 
 
+def mkstemp(*args, **kwargs):
+    '''
+    Helper function which does exactly what ``tempfile.mkstemp()`` does but
+    accepts another argument, ``close_fd``, which, by default, is true and closes
+    the fd before returning the file path. Something commonly done throughout
+    Salt's code.
+    '''
+    if 'prefix' not in kwargs:
+        kwargs['prefix'] = '__salt.tmp.'
+    close_fd = kwargs.pop('close_fd', True)
+    fd_, f_path = tempfile.mkstemp(*args, **kwargs)
+    if close_fd is False:
+        return fd_, f_path
+    os.close(fd_)
+    del fd_
+    return f_path
+
+
 def recursive_copy(source, dest):
     '''
     Recursively copy the source directory to the destination,
@@ -49,7 +97,7 @@ def recursive_copy(source, dest):
     (identical to cp -r on a unix machine)
     '''
     for root, _, files in os.walk(source):
-        path_from_source = root.replace(source, '').lstrip('/')
+        path_from_source = root.replace(source, '').lstrip(os.sep)
         target_directory = os.path.join(dest, path_from_source)
         if not os.path.exists(target_directory):
             os.makedirs(target_directory)
@@ -74,21 +122,21 @@ def copyfile(source, dest, backup_mode='', cachedir=''):
         )
     bname = os.path.basename(dest)
     dname = os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(dest))
-    tgt = salt.utils.mkstemp(prefix=bname, dir=dname)
+    tgt = mkstemp(prefix=bname, dir=dname)
     shutil.copyfile(source, tgt)
     bkroot = ''
     if cachedir:
         bkroot = os.path.join(cachedir, 'file_backup')
     if backup_mode == 'minion' or backup_mode == 'both' and bkroot:
         if os.path.exists(dest):
-            salt.utils.backup_minion(dest, bkroot)
+            backup_minion(dest, bkroot)
     if backup_mode == 'master' or backup_mode == 'both' and bkroot:
         # TODO, backup to master
         pass
     # Get current file stats to they can be replicated after the new file is
     # moved to the destination path.
     fstat = None
-    if not salt.utils.is_windows():
+    if not salt.utils.platform.is_windows():
         try:
             fstat = os.stat(dest)
         except OSError:
@@ -106,7 +154,7 @@ def copyfile(source, dest, backup_mode='', cachedir=''):
         except (ImportError, CommandExecutionError):
             pass
         if policy == 'Enforcing':
-            with salt.utils.fopen(os.devnull, 'w') as dev_null:
+            with fopen(os.devnull, 'w') as dev_null:
                 cmd = [rcon, dest]
                 subprocess.call(cmd, stdout=dev_null, stderr=dev_null)
     if os.path.isfile(tgt):
@@ -234,3 +282,463 @@ def wait_lock(path, lock_fn=None, timeout=5, sleep=0.1, time_start=None):
         if obtained_lock:
             os.remove(lock_fn)
             log.trace('Write lock for %s (%s) released', path, lock_fn)
+
+
+@contextlib.contextmanager
+def set_umask(mask):
+    '''
+    Temporarily set the umask and restore once the contextmanager exits
+    '''
+    if salt.utils.platform.is_windows():
+        # Don't attempt on Windows
+        yield
+    else:
+        try:
+            orig_mask = os.umask(mask)
+            yield
+        finally:
+            os.umask(orig_mask)
+
+
+def fopen(*args, **kwargs):
+    '''
+    Wrapper around open() built-in to set CLOEXEC on the fd.
+
+    This flag specifies that the file descriptor should be closed when an exec
+    function is invoked;
+
+    When a file descriptor is allocated (as with open or dup), this bit is
+    initially cleared on the new file descriptor, meaning that descriptor will
+    survive into the new program after exec.
+
+    NB! We still have small race condition between open and fcntl.
+    '''
+    binary = None
+    # ensure 'binary' mode is always used on Windows in Python 2
+    if ((six.PY2 and salt.utils.platform.is_windows() and 'binary' not in kwargs) or
+            kwargs.pop('binary', False)):
+        if len(args) > 1:
+            args = list(args)
+            if 'b' not in args[1]:
+                args[1] = args[1].replace('t', 'b')
+                if 'b' not in args[1]:
+                    args[1] += 'b'
+        elif kwargs.get('mode'):
+            if 'b' not in kwargs['mode']:
+                kwargs['mode'] = kwargs['mode'].replace('t', 'b')
+                if 'b' not in kwargs['mode']:
+                    kwargs['mode'] += 'b'
+        else:
+            # the default is to read
+            kwargs['mode'] = 'rb'
+    elif six.PY3 and 'encoding' not in kwargs:
+        # In Python 3, if text mode is used and the encoding
+        # is not specified, set the encoding to 'utf-8'.
+        binary = False
+        if len(args) > 1:
+            args = list(args)
+            if 'b' in args[1]:
+                binary = True
+        if kwargs.get('mode', None):
+            if 'b' in kwargs['mode']:
+                binary = True
+        if not binary:
+            kwargs['encoding'] = __salt_system_encoding__
+
+    if six.PY3 and not binary and not kwargs.get('newline', None):
+        kwargs['newline'] = ''
+
+    f_handle = open(*args, **kwargs)  # pylint: disable=resource-leakage
+
+    if is_fcntl_available():
+        # modify the file descriptor on systems with fcntl
+        # unix and unix-like systems only
+        try:
+            FD_CLOEXEC = fcntl.FD_CLOEXEC   # pylint: disable=C0103
+        except AttributeError:
+            FD_CLOEXEC = 1                  # pylint: disable=C0103
+        old_flags = fcntl.fcntl(f_handle.fileno(), fcntl.F_GETFD)
+        fcntl.fcntl(f_handle.fileno(), fcntl.F_SETFD, old_flags | FD_CLOEXEC)
+
+    return f_handle
+
+
+@contextlib.contextmanager
+def flopen(*args, **kwargs):
+    '''
+    Shortcut for fopen with lock and context manager.
+    '''
+    with fopen(*args, **kwargs) as f_handle:
+        try:
+            if is_fcntl_available(check_sunos=True):
+                fcntl.flock(f_handle.fileno(), fcntl.LOCK_SH)
+            yield f_handle
+        finally:
+            if is_fcntl_available(check_sunos=True):
+                fcntl.flock(f_handle.fileno(), fcntl.LOCK_UN)
+
+
+@contextlib.contextmanager
+def fpopen(*args, **kwargs):
+    '''
+    Shortcut for fopen with extra uid, gid, and mode options.
+
+    Supported optional Keyword Arguments:
+
+    mode
+        Explicit mode to set. Mode is anything os.chmod would accept
+        as input for mode. Works only on unix/unix-like systems.
+
+    uid
+        The uid to set, if not set, or it is None or -1 no changes are
+        made. Same applies if the path is already owned by this uid.
+        Must be int. Works only on unix/unix-like systems.
+
+    gid
+        The gid to set, if not set, or it is None or -1 no changes are
+        made. Same applies if the path is already owned by this gid.
+        Must be int. Works only on unix/unix-like systems.
+
+    '''
+    # Remove uid, gid and mode from kwargs if present
+    uid = kwargs.pop('uid', -1)  # -1 means no change to current uid
+    gid = kwargs.pop('gid', -1)  # -1 means no change to current gid
+    mode = kwargs.pop('mode', None)
+    with fopen(*args, **kwargs) as f_handle:
+        path = args[0]
+        d_stat = os.stat(path)
+
+        if hasattr(os, 'chown'):
+            # if uid and gid are both -1 then go ahead with
+            # no changes at all
+            if (d_stat.st_uid != uid or d_stat.st_gid != gid) and \
+                    [i for i in (uid, gid) if i != -1]:
+                os.chown(path, uid, gid)
+
+        if mode is not None:
+            mode_part = stat.S_IMODE(d_stat.st_mode)
+            if mode_part != mode:
+                os.chmod(path, (d_stat.st_mode ^ mode_part) | mode)
+
+        yield f_handle
+
+
+def safe_walk(top, topdown=True, onerror=None, followlinks=True, _seen=None):
+    '''
+    A clone of the python os.walk function with some checks for recursive
+    symlinks. Unlike os.walk this follows symlinks by default.
+    '''
+    if _seen is None:
+        _seen = set()
+
+    # We may not have read permission for top, in which case we can't
+    # get a list of the files the directory contains.  os.path.walk
+    # always suppressed the exception then, rather than blow up for a
+    # minor reason when (say) a thousand readable directories are still
+    # left to visit.  That logic is copied here.
+    try:
+        # Note that listdir and error are globals in this module due
+        # to earlier import-*.
+        names = os.listdir(top)
+    except os.error as err:
+        if onerror is not None:
+            onerror(err)
+        return
+
+    if followlinks:
+        status = os.stat(top)
+        # st_ino is always 0 on some filesystems (FAT, NTFS); ignore them
+        if status.st_ino != 0:
+            node = (status.st_dev, status.st_ino)
+            if node in _seen:
+                return
+            _seen.add(node)
+
+    dirs, nondirs = [], []
+    for name in names:
+        full_path = os.path.join(top, name)
+        if os.path.isdir(full_path):
+            dirs.append(name)
+        else:
+            nondirs.append(name)
+
+    if topdown:
+        yield top, dirs, nondirs
+    for name in dirs:
+        new_path = os.path.join(top, name)
+        if followlinks or not os.path.islink(new_path):
+            for x in safe_walk(new_path, topdown, onerror, followlinks, _seen):
+                yield x
+    if not topdown:
+        yield top, dirs, nondirs
+
+
+def safe_rm(tgt):
+    '''
+    Safely remove a file
+    '''
+    try:
+        os.remove(tgt)
+    except (IOError, OSError):
+        pass
+
+
+def rm_rf(path):
+    '''
+    Platform-independent recursive delete. Includes code from
+    http://stackoverflow.com/a/2656405
+    '''
+    def _onerror(func, path, exc_info):
+        '''
+        Error handler for `shutil.rmtree`.
+
+        If the error is due to an access error (read only file)
+        it attempts to add write permission and then retries.
+
+        If the error is for another reason it re-raises the error.
+
+        Usage : `shutil.rmtree(path, onerror=onerror)`
+        '''
+        if salt.utils.platform.is_windows() and not os.access(path, os.W_OK):
+            # Is the error an access error ?
+            os.chmod(path, stat.S_IWUSR)
+            func(path)
+        else:
+            raise  # pylint: disable=E0704
+    if os.path.islink(path) or not os.path.isdir(path):
+        os.remove(path)
+    else:
+        shutil.rmtree(path, onerror=_onerror)
+
+
+@jinja_filter('is_empty')
+def is_empty(filename):
+    '''
+    Is a file empty?
+    '''
+    try:
+        return os.stat(filename).st_size == 0
+    except OSError:
+        # Non-existent file or permission denied to the parent dir
+        return False
+
+
+def is_fcntl_available(check_sunos=False):
+    '''
+    Simple function to check if the ``fcntl`` module is available or not.
+
+    If ``check_sunos`` is passed as ``True`` an additional check to see if host is
+    SunOS is also made. For additional information see: http://goo.gl/159FF8
+    '''
+    if check_sunos and salt.utils.platform.is_sunos():
+        return False
+    return HAS_FCNTL
+
+
+def safe_filename_leaf(file_basename):
+    '''
+    Input the basename of a file, without the directory tree, and returns a safe name to use
+    i.e. only the required characters are converted by urllib.quote
+    If the input is a PY2 String, output a PY2 String. If input is Unicode output Unicode.
+    For consistency all platforms are treated the same. Hard coded to utf8 as its ascii compatible
+    windows is \\ / : * ? " < > | posix is /
+
+    .. versionadded:: 2017.7.2
+
+    :codeauthor: Damon Atkins <https://github.com/damon-atkins>
+    '''
+    def _replace(re_obj):
+        return urllib.quote(re_obj.group(0), safe='')
+    if not isinstance(file_basename, six.text_type):
+        # the following string is not prefixed with u
+        return re.sub('[\\\\:/*?"<>|]',
+                      _replace,
+                      six.text_type(file_basename, 'utf8').encode('ascii', 'backslashreplace'))
+    # the following string is prefixed with u
+    return re.sub('[\\\\:/*?"<>|]', _replace, file_basename, flags=re.UNICODE)
+
+
+def safe_filepath(file_path_name, dir_sep=None):
+    '''
+    Input the full path and filename, splits on directory separator and calls safe_filename_leaf for
+    each part of the path. dir_sep allows coder to force a directory separate to a particular character
+
+    .. versionadded:: 2017.7.2
+
+    :codeauthor: Damon Atkins <https://github.com/damon-atkins>
+    '''
+    if not dir_sep:
+        dir_sep = os.sep
+    # Normally if file_path_name or dir_sep is Unicode then the output will be Unicode
+    # This code ensure the output type is the same as file_path_name
+    if not isinstance(file_path_name, six.text_type) and isinstance(dir_sep, six.text_type):
+        dir_sep = dir_sep.encode('ascii')  # This should not be executed under PY3
+    # splitdrive only set drive on windows platform
+    (drive, path) = os.path.splitdrive(file_path_name)
+    path = dir_sep.join([safe_filename_leaf(file_section) for file_section in path.rsplit(dir_sep)])
+    if drive:
+        path = dir_sep.join([drive, path])
+    return path
+
+
+@jinja_filter('is_text_file')
+def is_text(fp_, blocksize=512):
+    '''
+    Uses heuristics to guess whether the given file is text or binary,
+    by reading a single block of bytes from the file.
+    If more than 30% of the chars in the block are non-text, or there
+    are NUL ('\x00') bytes in the block, assume this is a binary file.
+    '''
+    int2byte = (lambda x: bytes((x,))) if six.PY3 else chr
+    text_characters = (
+        b''.join(int2byte(i) for i in range(32, 127)) +
+        b'\n\r\t\f\b')
+    try:
+        block = fp_.read(blocksize)
+    except AttributeError:
+        # This wasn't an open filehandle, so treat it as a file path and try to
+        # open the file
+        try:
+            with fopen(fp_, 'rb') as fp2_:
+                block = fp2_.read(blocksize)
+        except IOError:
+            # Unable to open file, bail out and return false
+            return False
+    if b'\x00' in block:
+        # Files with null bytes are binary
+        return False
+    elif not block:
+        # An empty file is considered a valid text file
+        return True
+    try:
+        block.decode('utf-8')
+        return True
+    except UnicodeDecodeError:
+        pass
+
+    nontext = block.translate(None, text_characters)
+    return float(len(nontext)) / len(block) <= 0.30
+
+
+@jinja_filter('is_bin_file')
+def is_binary(path):
+    '''
+    Detects if the file is a binary, returns bool. Returns True if the file is
+    a bin, False if the file is not and None if the file is not available.
+    '''
+    if not os.path.isfile(path):
+        return False
+    try:
+        with fopen(path, 'rb') as fp_:
+            try:
+                data = fp_.read(2048)
+                if six.PY3:
+                    data = data.decode(__salt_system_encoding__)
+                return salt.utils.stringutils.is_binary(data)
+            except UnicodeDecodeError:
+                return True
+    except os.error:
+        return False
+
+
+def remove(path):
+    '''
+    Runs os.remove(path) and suppresses the OSError if the file doesn't exist
+    '''
+    try:
+        os.remove(path)
+    except OSError as exc:
+        if exc.errno != errno.ENOENT:
+            raise
+
+
+@jinja_filter('list_files')
+def list_files(directory):
+    '''
+    Return a list of all files found under directory (and its subdirectories)
+    '''
+    ret = set()
+    ret.add(directory)
+    for root, dirs, files in safe_walk(directory):
+        for name in files:
+            ret.add(os.path.join(root, name))
+        for name in dirs:
+            ret.add(os.path.join(root, name))
+
+    return list(ret)
+
+
+def st_mode_to_octal(mode):
+    '''
+    Convert the st_mode value from a stat(2) call (as returned from os.stat())
+    to an octal mode.
+    '''
+    try:
+        return oct(mode)[-4:]
+    except (TypeError, IndexError):
+        return ''
+
+
+def normalize_mode(mode):
+    '''
+    Return a mode value, normalized to a string and containing a leading zero
+    if it does not have one.
+
+    Allow "keep" as a valid mode (used by file state/module to preserve mode
+    from the Salt fileserver in file states).
+    '''
+    if mode is None:
+        return None
+    if not isinstance(mode, six.string_types):
+        mode = str(mode)
+    if six.PY3:
+        mode = mode.replace('0o', '0')
+    # Strip any quotes any initial zeroes, then though zero-pad it up to 4.
+    # This ensures that somethign like '00644' is normalized to '0644'
+    return mode.strip('"').strip('\'').lstrip('0').zfill(4)
+
+
+def human_size_to_bytes(human_size):
+    '''
+    Convert human-readable units to bytes
+    '''
+    size_exp_map = {'K': 1, 'M': 2, 'G': 3, 'T': 4, 'P': 5}
+    human_size_str = str(human_size)
+    match = re.match(r'^(\d+)([KMGTP])?$', human_size_str)
+    if not match:
+        raise ValueError(
+            'Size must be all digits, with an optional unit type '
+            '(K, M, G, T, or P)'
+        )
+    size_num = int(match.group(1))
+    unit_multiplier = 1024 ** size_exp_map.get(match.group(2), 0)
+    return size_num * unit_multiplier
+
+
+def backup_minion(path, bkroot):
+    '''
+    Backup a file on the minion
+    '''
+    dname, bname = os.path.split(path)
+    if salt.utils.platform.is_windows():
+        src_dir = dname.replace(':', '_')
+    else:
+        src_dir = dname[1:]
+    if not salt.utils.platform.is_windows():
+        fstat = os.stat(path)
+    msecs = str(int(time.time() * 1000000))[-6:]
+    if salt.utils.platform.is_windows():
+        # ':' is an illegal filesystem path character on Windows
+        stamp = time.strftime('%a_%b_%d_%H-%M-%S_%Y')
+    else:
+        stamp = time.strftime('%a_%b_%d_%H:%M:%S_%Y')
+    stamp = '{0}{1}_{2}'.format(stamp[:-4], msecs, stamp[-4:])
+    bkpath = os.path.join(bkroot,
+                          src_dir,
+                          '{0}_{1}'.format(bname, stamp))
+    if not os.path.isdir(os.path.dirname(bkpath)):
+        os.makedirs(os.path.dirname(bkpath))
+    shutil.copyfile(path, bkpath)
+    if not salt.utils.platform.is_windows():
+        os.chown(bkpath, fstat.st_uid, fstat.st_gid)
+        os.chmod(bkpath, fstat.st_mode)
diff --git a/salt/utils/msazure.py b/salt/utils/msazure.py
index 7488f3077c..8080b9049e 100644
--- a/salt/utils/msazure.py
+++ b/salt/utils/msazure.py
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ except ImportError:
     pass
 
 # Import salt libs
-import salt.ext.six as six
+from salt.ext import six
 from salt.exceptions import SaltSystemExit
 
 log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
@@ -186,7 +186,7 @@ def object_to_dict(obj):
         ret = obj
     else:
         ret = {}
-        for item in dir(obj):
+        for item in obj.__dict__:
             if item.startswith('_'):
                 continue
             # This is ugly, but inspect.isclass() doesn't seem to work
diff --git a/salt/utils/platform.py b/salt/utils/platform.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8ba56f2023
--- /dev/null
+++ b/salt/utils/platform.py
@@ -0,0 +1,158 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+'''
+Functions for identifying which platform a machine is
+'''
+# Import Python libs
+from __future__ import absolute_import, print_function, unicode_literals
+import os
+import subprocess
+import sys
+
+# Import Salt libs
+from salt.utils.decorators import memoize as real_memoize
+
+
+@real_memoize
+def is_windows():
+    '''
+    Simple function to return if a host is Windows or not
+    '''
+    return sys.platform.startswith('win')
+
+
+@real_memoize
+def is_proxy():
+    '''
+    Return True if this minion is a proxy minion.
+    Leverages the fact that is_linux() and is_windows
+    both return False for proxies.
+    TODO: Need to extend this for proxies that might run on
+    other Unices
+    '''
+    import __main__ as main
+    # This is a hack.  If a proxy minion is started by other
+    # means, e.g. a custom script that creates the minion objects
+    # then this will fail.
+    ret = False
+    try:
+        # Changed this from 'salt-proxy in main...' to 'proxy in main...'
+        # to support the testsuite's temp script that is called 'cli_salt_proxy'
+        if 'proxy' in main.__file__:
+            ret = True
+    except AttributeError:
+        pass
+    return ret
+
+
+@real_memoize
+def is_linux():
+    '''
+    Simple function to return if a host is Linux or not.
+    Note for a proxy minion, we need to return something else
+    '''
+    return sys.platform.startswith('linux')
+
+
+@real_memoize
+def is_darwin():
+    '''
+    Simple function to return if a host is Darwin (macOS) or not
+    '''
+    return sys.platform.startswith('darwin')
+
+
+@real_memoize
+def is_sunos():
+    '''
+    Simple function to return if host is SunOS or not
+    '''
+    return sys.platform.startswith('sunos')
+
+
+@real_memoize
+def is_smartos():
+    '''
+    Simple function to return if host is SmartOS (Illumos) or not
+    '''
+    if not is_sunos():
+        return False
+    else:
+        return os.uname()[3].startswith('joyent_')
+
+
+@real_memoize
+def is_smartos_globalzone():
+    '''
+    Function to return if host is SmartOS (Illumos) global zone or not
+    '''
+    if not is_smartos():
+        return False
+    else:
+        cmd = ['zonename']
+        try:
+            zonename = subprocess.Popen(
+                cmd, shell=False,
+                stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE)
+        except OSError:
+            return False
+        if zonename.returncode:
+            return False
+        if zonename.stdout.read().strip() == 'global':
+            return True
+
+        return False
+
+
+@real_memoize
+def is_smartos_zone():
+    '''
+    Function to return if host is SmartOS (Illumos) and not the gz
+    '''
+    if not is_smartos():
+        return False
+    else:
+        cmd = ['zonename']
+        try:
+            zonename = subprocess.Popen(
+                cmd, shell=False,
+                stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE)
+        except OSError:
+            return False
+        if zonename.returncode:
+            return False
+        if zonename.stdout.read().strip() == 'global':
+            return False
+
+        return True
+
+
+@real_memoize
+def is_freebsd():
+    '''
+    Simple function to return if host is FreeBSD or not
+    '''
+    return sys.platform.startswith('freebsd')
+
+
+@real_memoize
+def is_netbsd():
+    '''
+    Simple function to return if host is NetBSD or not
+    '''
+    return sys.platform.startswith('netbsd')
+
+
+@real_memoize
+def is_openbsd():
+    '''
+    Simple function to return if host is OpenBSD or not
+    '''
+    return sys.platform.startswith('openbsd')
+
+
+@real_memoize
+def is_aix():
+    '''
+    Simple function to return if host is AIX or not
+    '''
+    return sys.platform.startswith('aix')
diff --git a/salt/utils/stringutils.py b/salt/utils/stringutils.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9b6d285791
--- /dev/null
+++ b/salt/utils/stringutils.py
@@ -0,0 +1,405 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+'''
+Functions for manipulating or otherwise processing strings
+'''
+
+# Import Python libs
+from __future__ import absolute_import, print_function, unicode_literals
+import errno
+import fnmatch
+import logging
+import os
+import shlex
+import re
+import time
+
+# Import Salt libs
+from salt.utils.decorators.jinja import jinja_filter
+
+# Import 3rd-party libs
+from salt.ext import six
+from salt.ext.six.moves import range  # pylint: disable=redefined-builtin
+
+log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+
+@jinja_filter('to_bytes')
+def to_bytes(s, encoding=None):
+    '''
+    Given bytes, bytearray, str, or unicode (python 2), return bytes (str for
+    python 2)
+    '''
+    if six.PY3:
+        if isinstance(s, bytes):
+            return s
+        if isinstance(s, bytearray):
+            return bytes(s)
+        if isinstance(s, six.string_types):
+            return s.encode(encoding or __salt_system_encoding__)
+        raise TypeError('expected bytes, bytearray, or str')
+    else:
+        return to_str(s, encoding)
+
+
+def to_str(s, encoding=None):
+    '''
+    Given str, bytes, bytearray, or unicode (py2), return str
+    '''
+    # This shouldn't be six.string_types because if we're on PY2 and we already
+    # have a string, we should just return it.
+    if isinstance(s, str):
+        return s
+    if six.PY3:
+        if isinstance(s, (bytes, bytearray)):
+            # https://docs.python.org/3/howto/unicode.html#the-unicode-type
+            # replace error with U+FFFD, REPLACEMENT CHARACTER
+            return s.decode(encoding or __salt_system_encoding__, "replace")
+        raise TypeError('expected str, bytes, or bytearray not {}'.format(type(s)))
+    else:
+        if isinstance(s, bytearray):
+            return str(s)
+        if isinstance(s, unicode):  # pylint: disable=incompatible-py3-code,undefined-variable
+            return s.encode(encoding or __salt_system_encoding__)
+        raise TypeError('expected str, bytearray, or unicode')
+
+
+def to_unicode(s, encoding=None):
+    '''
+    Given str or unicode, return unicode (str for python 3)
+    '''
+    if not isinstance(s, (bytes, bytearray, six.string_types)):
+        return s
+    if six.PY3:
+        if isinstance(s, (bytes, bytearray)):
+            return to_str(s, encoding)
+    else:
+        # This needs to be str and not six.string_types, since if the string is
+        # already a unicode type, it does not need to be decoded (and doing so
+        # will raise an exception).
+        if isinstance(s, str):
+            return s.decode(encoding or __salt_system_encoding__)
+    return s
+
+
+@jinja_filter('str_to_num')  # Remove this for Neon
+@jinja_filter('to_num')
+def to_num(text):
+    '''
+    Convert a string to a number.
+    Returns an integer if the string represents an integer, a floating
+    point number if the string is a real number, or the string unchanged
+    otherwise.
+    '''
+    try:
+        return int(text)
+    except ValueError:
+        try:
+            return float(text)
+        except ValueError:
+            return text
+
+
+def to_none(text):
+    '''
+    Convert a string to None if the string is empty or contains only spaces.
+    '''
+    if str(text).strip():
+        return text
+    return None
+
+
+def is_quoted(value):
+    '''
+    Return a single or double quote, if a string is wrapped in extra quotes.
+    Otherwise return an empty string.
+    '''
+    ret = ''
+    if isinstance(value, six.string_types) \
+            and value[0] == value[-1] \
+            and value.startswith(('\'', '"')):
+        ret = value[0]
+    return ret
+
+
+def dequote(value):
+    '''
+    Remove extra quotes around a string.
+    '''
+    if is_quoted(value):
+        return value[1:-1]
+    return value
+
+
+@jinja_filter('is_hex')
+def is_hex(value):
+    '''
+    Returns True if value is a hexidecimal string, otherwise returns False
+    '''
+    try:
+        int(value, 16)
+        return True
+    except (TypeError, ValueError):
+        return False
+
+
+def is_binary(data):
+    '''
+    Detects if the passed string of data is binary or text
+    '''
+    if not data or not isinstance(data, six.string_types):
+        return False
+    if '\0' in data:
+        return True
+
+    text_characters = ''.join([chr(x) for x in range(32, 127)] + list('\n\r\t\b'))
+    # Get the non-text characters (map each character to itself then use the
+    # 'remove' option to get rid of the text characters.)
+    if six.PY3:
+        trans = ''.maketrans('', '', text_characters)
+        nontext = data.translate(trans)
+    else:
+        if isinstance(data, unicode):  # pylint: disable=incompatible-py3-code
+            char_map = {}
+            for x in text_characters:
+                char_map[ord(x)] = None
+            trans_args = (char_map,)
+        else:
+            trans_args = (None, str(text_characters))  # future lint: blacklisted-function
+        nontext = data.translate(*trans_args)
+
+    # If more than 30% non-text characters, then
+    # this is considered binary data
+    if float(len(nontext)) / len(data) > 0.30:
+        return True
+    return False
+
+
+@jinja_filter('random_str')
+def random(size=32):
+    key = os.urandom(size)
+    return key.encode('base64').replace('\n', '')[:size]
+
+
+@jinja_filter('contains_whitespace')
+def contains_whitespace(text):
+    '''
+    Returns True if there are any whitespace characters in the string
+    '''
+    return any(x.isspace() for x in text)
+
+
+def human_to_bytes(size):
+    '''
+    Given a human-readable byte string (e.g. 2G, 30M),
+    return the number of bytes.  Will return 0 if the argument has
+    unexpected form.
+
+    .. versionadded:: Oxygen
+    '''
+    sbytes = size[:-1]
+    unit = size[-1]
+    if sbytes.isdigit():
+        sbytes = int(sbytes)
+        if unit == 'P':
+            sbytes *= 1125899906842624
+        elif unit == 'T':
+            sbytes *= 1099511627776
+        elif unit == 'G':
+            sbytes *= 1073741824
+        elif unit == 'M':
+            sbytes *= 1048576
+        else:
+            sbytes = 0
+    else:
+        sbytes = 0
+    return sbytes
+
+
+def build_whitespace_split_regex(text):
+    '''
+    Create a regular expression at runtime which should match ignoring the
+    addition or deletion of white space or line breaks, unless between commas
+
+    Example:
+
+    .. code-block:: python
+
+        >>> import re
+        >>> import salt.utils.stringutils
+        >>> regex = salt.utils.stringutils.build_whitespace_split_regex(
+        ...     """if [ -z "$debian_chroot" ] && [ -r /etc/debian_chroot ]; then"""
+        ... )
+
+        >>> regex
+        '(?:[\\s]+)?if(?:[\\s]+)?\\[(?:[\\s]+)?\\-z(?:[\\s]+)?\\"\\$debian'
+        '\\_chroot\\"(?:[\\s]+)?\\](?:[\\s]+)?\\&\\&(?:[\\s]+)?\\[(?:[\\s]+)?'
+        '\\-r(?:[\\s]+)?\\/etc\\/debian\\_chroot(?:[\\s]+)?\\]\\;(?:[\\s]+)?'
+        'then(?:[\\s]+)?'
+        >>> re.search(
+        ...     regex,
+        ...     """if [ -z "$debian_chroot" ] && [ -r /etc/debian_chroot ]; then"""
+        ... )
+
+        <_sre.SRE_Match object at 0xb70639c0>
+        >>>
+
+    '''
+    def __build_parts(text):
+        lexer = shlex.shlex(text)
+        lexer.whitespace_split = True
+        lexer.commenters = ''
+        if '\'' in text:
+            lexer.quotes = '"'
+        elif '"' in text:
+            lexer.quotes = '\''
+        return list(lexer)
+
+    regex = r''
+    for line in text.splitlines():
+        parts = [re.escape(s) for s in __build_parts(line)]
+        regex += r'(?:[\s]+)?{0}(?:[\s]+)?'.format(r'(?:[\s]+)?'.join(parts))
+    return r'(?m)^{0}$'.format(regex)
+
+
+def expr_match(line, expr):
+    '''
+    Evaluate a line of text against an expression. First try a full-string
+    match, next try globbing, and then try to match assuming expr is a regular
+    expression. Originally designed to match minion IDs for
+    whitelists/blacklists.
+    '''
+    if line == expr:
+        return True
+    if fnmatch.fnmatch(line, expr):
+        return True
+    try:
+        if re.match(r'\A{0}\Z'.format(expr), line):
+            return True
+    except re.error:
+        pass
+    return False
+
+
+@jinja_filter('check_whitelist_blacklist')
+def check_whitelist_blacklist(value, whitelist=None, blacklist=None):
+    '''
+    Check a whitelist and/or blacklist to see if the value matches it.
+
+    value
+        The item to check the whitelist and/or blacklist against.
+
+    whitelist
+        The list of items that are white-listed. If ``value`` is found
+        in the whitelist, then the function returns ``True``. Otherwise,
+        it returns ``False``.
+
+    blacklist
+        The list of items that are black-listed. If ``value`` is found
+        in the blacklist, then the function returns ``False``. Otherwise,
+        it returns ``True``.
+
+    If both a whitelist and a blacklist are provided, value membership
+    in the blacklist will be examined first. If the value is not found
+    in the blacklist, then the whitelist is checked. If the value isn't
+    found in the whitelist, the function returns ``False``.
+    '''
+    if blacklist is not None:
+        if not hasattr(blacklist, '__iter__'):
+            blacklist = [blacklist]
+        try:
+            for expr in blacklist:
+                if expr_match(value, expr):
+                    return False
+        except TypeError:
+            log.error('Non-iterable blacklist %s', blacklist)
+
+    if whitelist:
+        if not hasattr(whitelist, '__iter__'):
+            whitelist = [whitelist]
+        try:
+            for expr in whitelist:
+                if expr_match(value, expr):
+                    return True
+        except TypeError:
+            log.error('Non-iterable whitelist %s', whitelist)
+    else:
+        return True
+
+    return False
+
+
+def check_include_exclude(path_str, include_pat=None, exclude_pat=None):
+    '''
+    Check for glob or regexp patterns for include_pat and exclude_pat in the
+    'path_str' string and return True/False conditions as follows.
+      - Default: return 'True' if no include_pat or exclude_pat patterns are
+        supplied
+      - If only include_pat or exclude_pat is supplied: return 'True' if string
+        passes the include_pat test or fails exclude_pat test respectively
+      - If both include_pat and exclude_pat are supplied: return 'True' if
+        include_pat matches AND exclude_pat does not match
+    '''
+    ret = True  # -- default true
+    # Before pattern match, check if it is regexp (E@'') or glob(default)
+    if include_pat:
+        if re.match('E@', include_pat):
+            retchk_include = True if re.search(
+                include_pat[2:],
+                path_str
+            ) else False
+        else:
+            retchk_include = True if fnmatch.fnmatch(
+                path_str,
+                include_pat
+            ) else False
+
+    if exclude_pat:
+        if re.match('E@', exclude_pat):
+            retchk_exclude = False if re.search(
+                exclude_pat[2:],
+                path_str
+            ) else True
+        else:
+            retchk_exclude = False if fnmatch.fnmatch(
+                path_str,
+                exclude_pat
+            ) else True
+
+    # Now apply include/exclude conditions
+    if include_pat and not exclude_pat:
+        ret = retchk_include
+    elif exclude_pat and not include_pat:
+        ret = retchk_exclude
+    elif include_pat and exclude_pat:
+        ret = retchk_include and retchk_exclude
+    else:
+        ret = True
+
+    return ret
+
+
+def print_cli(msg, retries=10, step=0.01):
+    '''
+    Wrapper around print() that suppresses tracebacks on broken pipes (i.e.
+    when salt output is piped to less and less is stopped prematurely).
+    '''
+    while retries:
+        try:
+            try:
+                print(msg)
+            except UnicodeEncodeError:
+                print(msg.encode('utf-8'))
+        except IOError as exc:
+            err = "{0}".format(exc)
+            if exc.errno != errno.EPIPE:
+                if (
+                    ("temporarily unavailable" in err or
+                     exc.errno in (errno.EAGAIN,)) and
+                    retries
+                ):
+                    time.sleep(step)
+                    retries -= 1
+                    continue
+                else:
+                    raise
+        break
diff --git a/salt/utils/versions.py b/salt/utils/versions.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e51ae40b75
--- /dev/null
+++ b/salt/utils/versions.py
@@ -0,0 +1,293 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+'''
+    :copyright: Copyright 2017 by the SaltStack Team, see AUTHORS for more details.
+    :license: Apache 2.0, see LICENSE for more details.
+
+
+    salt.utils.versions
+    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+    Version parsing based on distutils.version which works under python 3
+    because on python 3 you can no longer compare strings against integers.
+'''
+
+# Import Python libs
+from __future__ import absolute_import
+import logging
+import numbers
+import sys
+import warnings
+# pylint: disable=blacklisted-module
+from distutils.version import StrictVersion as _StrictVersion
+from distutils.version import LooseVersion as _LooseVersion
+# pylint: enable=blacklisted-module
+
+# Import Salt libs
+import salt.version
+
+# Import 3rd-party libs
+from salt.ext import six
+
+log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+
+class StrictVersion(_StrictVersion):
+    def parse(self, vstring):
+        _StrictVersion.parse(self, vstring)
+
+    def _cmp(self, other):
+        if isinstance(other, six.string_types):
+            other = StrictVersion(other)
+        return _StrictVersion._cmp(self, other)
+
+
+class LooseVersion(_LooseVersion):
+
+    def parse(self, vstring):
+        _LooseVersion.parse(self, vstring)
+
+        if six.PY3:
+            # Convert every part of the version to string in order to be able to compare
+            self._str_version = [
+                str(vp).zfill(8) if isinstance(vp, int) else vp for vp in self.version]
+
+    if six.PY3:
+        def _cmp(self, other):
+            if isinstance(other, six.string_types):
+                other = LooseVersion(other)
+
+            string_in_version = False
+            for part in self.version + other.version:
+                if not isinstance(part, int):
+                    string_in_version = True
+                    break
+
+            if string_in_version is False:
+                return _LooseVersion._cmp(self, other)
+
+            # If we reached this far, it means at least a part of the version contains a string
+            # In python 3, strings and integers are not comparable
+            if self._str_version == other._str_version:
+                return 0
+            if self._str_version < other._str_version:
+                return -1
+            if self._str_version > other._str_version:
+                return 1
+
+
+def warn_until(version,
+               message,
+               category=DeprecationWarning,
+               stacklevel=None,
+               _version_info_=None,
+               _dont_call_warnings=False):
+    '''
+    Helper function to raise a warning, by default, a ``DeprecationWarning``,
+    until the provided ``version``, after which, a ``RuntimeError`` will
+    be raised to remind the developers to remove the warning because the
+    target version has been reached.
+
+    :param version: The version info or name after which the warning becomes a
+                    ``RuntimeError``. For example ``(0, 17)`` or ``Hydrogen``
+                    or an instance of :class:`salt.version.SaltStackVersion`.
+    :param message: The warning message to be displayed.
+    :param category: The warning class to be thrown, by default
+                     ``DeprecationWarning``
+    :param stacklevel: There should be no need to set the value of
+                       ``stacklevel``. Salt should be able to do the right thing.
+    :param _version_info_: In order to reuse this function for other SaltStack
+                           projects, they need to be able to provide the
+                           version info to compare to.
+    :param _dont_call_warnings: This parameter is used just to get the
+                                functionality until the actual error is to be
+                                issued. When we're only after the salt version
+                                checks to raise a ``RuntimeError``.
+    '''
+    if not isinstance(version, (tuple,
+                                six.string_types,
+                                salt.version.SaltStackVersion)):
+        raise RuntimeError(
+            'The \'version\' argument should be passed as a tuple, string or '
+            'an instance of \'salt.version.SaltStackVersion\'.'
+        )
+    elif isinstance(version, tuple):
+        version = salt.version.SaltStackVersion(*version)
+    elif isinstance(version, six.string_types):
+        version = salt.version.SaltStackVersion.from_name(version)
+
+    if stacklevel is None:
+        # Attribute the warning to the calling function, not to warn_until()
+        stacklevel = 2
+
+    if _version_info_ is None:
+        _version_info_ = salt.version.__version_info__
+
+    _version_ = salt.version.SaltStackVersion(*_version_info_)
+
+    if _version_ >= version:
+        import inspect
+        caller = inspect.getframeinfo(sys._getframe(stacklevel - 1))
+        raise RuntimeError(
+            'The warning triggered on filename \'{filename}\', line number '
+            '{lineno}, is supposed to be shown until version '
+            '{until_version} is released. Current version is now '
+            '{salt_version}. Please remove the warning.'.format(
+                filename=caller.filename,
+                lineno=caller.lineno,
+                until_version=version.formatted_version,
+                salt_version=_version_.formatted_version
+            ),
+        )
+
+    if _dont_call_warnings is False:
+        def _formatwarning(message,
+                           category,
+                           filename,
+                           lineno,
+                           line=None):  # pylint: disable=W0613
+            '''
+            Replacement for warnings.formatwarning that disables the echoing of
+            the 'line' parameter.
+            '''
+            return '{0}:{1}: {2}: {3}\n'.format(
+                filename, lineno, category.__name__, message
+            )
+        saved = warnings.formatwarning
+        warnings.formatwarning = _formatwarning
+        warnings.warn(
+            message.format(version=version.formatted_version),
+            category,
+            stacklevel=stacklevel
+        )
+        warnings.formatwarning = saved
+
+
+def kwargs_warn_until(kwargs,
+                      version,
+                      category=DeprecationWarning,
+                      stacklevel=None,
+                      _version_info_=None,
+                      _dont_call_warnings=False):
+    '''
+    Helper function to raise a warning (by default, a ``DeprecationWarning``)
+    when unhandled keyword arguments are passed to function, until the
+    provided ``version_info``, after which, a ``RuntimeError`` will be raised
+    to remind the developers to remove the ``**kwargs`` because the target
+    version has been reached.
+    This function is used to help deprecate unused legacy ``**kwargs`` that
+    were added to function parameters lists to preserve backwards compatibility
+    when removing a parameter. See
+    :ref:`the deprecation development docs <deprecations>`
+    for the modern strategy for deprecating a function parameter.
+
+    :param kwargs: The caller's ``**kwargs`` argument value (a ``dict``).
+    :param version: The version info or name after which the warning becomes a
+                    ``RuntimeError``. For example ``(0, 17)`` or ``Hydrogen``
+                    or an instance of :class:`salt.version.SaltStackVersion`.
+    :param category: The warning class to be thrown, by default
+                     ``DeprecationWarning``
+    :param stacklevel: There should be no need to set the value of
+                       ``stacklevel``. Salt should be able to do the right thing.
+    :param _version_info_: In order to reuse this function for other SaltStack
+                           projects, they need to be able to provide the
+                           version info to compare to.
+    :param _dont_call_warnings: This parameter is used just to get the
+                                functionality until the actual error is to be
+                                issued. When we're only after the salt version
+                                checks to raise a ``RuntimeError``.
+    '''
+    if not isinstance(version, (tuple,
+                                six.string_types,
+                                salt.version.SaltStackVersion)):
+        raise RuntimeError(
+            'The \'version\' argument should be passed as a tuple, string or '
+            'an instance of \'salt.version.SaltStackVersion\'.'
+        )
+    elif isinstance(version, tuple):
+        version = salt.version.SaltStackVersion(*version)
+    elif isinstance(version, six.string_types):
+        version = salt.version.SaltStackVersion.from_name(version)
+
+    if stacklevel is None:
+        # Attribute the warning to the calling function,
+        # not to kwargs_warn_until() or warn_until()
+        stacklevel = 3
+
+    if _version_info_ is None:
+        _version_info_ = salt.version.__version_info__
+
+    _version_ = salt.version.SaltStackVersion(*_version_info_)
+
+    if kwargs or _version_.info >= version.info:
+        arg_names = ', '.join('\'{0}\''.format(key) for key in kwargs)
+        warn_until(
+            version,
+            message='The following parameter(s) have been deprecated and '
+                    'will be removed in \'{0}\': {1}.'.format(version.string,
+                                                              arg_names),
+            category=category,
+            stacklevel=stacklevel,
+            _version_info_=_version_.info,
+            _dont_call_warnings=_dont_call_warnings
+        )
+
+
+def version_cmp(pkg1, pkg2, ignore_epoch=False):
+    '''
+    Compares two version strings using salt.utils.versions.LooseVersion. This
+    is a fallback for providers which don't have a version comparison utility
+    built into them.  Return -1 if version1 < version2, 0 if version1 ==
+    version2, and 1 if version1 > version2. Return None if there was a problem
+    making the comparison.
+    '''
+    normalize = lambda x: str(x).split(':', 1)[-1] if ignore_epoch else str(x)
+    pkg1 = normalize(pkg1)
+    pkg2 = normalize(pkg2)
+
+    try:
+        # pylint: disable=no-member
+        if LooseVersion(pkg1) < LooseVersion(pkg2):
+            return -1
+        elif LooseVersion(pkg1) == LooseVersion(pkg2):
+            return 0
+        elif LooseVersion(pkg1) > LooseVersion(pkg2):
+            return 1
+    except Exception as exc:
+        log.exception(exc)
+    return None
+
+
+def compare(ver1='', oper='==', ver2='', cmp_func=None, ignore_epoch=False):
+    '''
+    Compares two version numbers. Accepts a custom function to perform the
+    cmp-style version comparison, otherwise uses version_cmp().
+    '''
+    cmp_map = {'<': (-1,), '<=': (-1, 0), '==': (0,),
+               '>=': (0, 1), '>': (1,)}
+    if oper not in ('!=',) and oper not in cmp_map:
+        log.error('Invalid operator \'%s\' for version comparison', oper)
+        return False
+
+    if cmp_func is None:
+        cmp_func = version_cmp
+
+    cmp_result = cmp_func(ver1, ver2, ignore_epoch=ignore_epoch)
+    if cmp_result is None:
+        return False
+
+    # Check if integer/long
+    if not isinstance(cmp_result, numbers.Integral):
+        log.error('The version comparison function did not return an '
+                  'integer/long.')
+        return False
+
+    if oper == '!=':
+        return cmp_result not in cmp_map['==']
+    else:
+        # Gracefully handle cmp_result not in (-1, 0, 1).
+        if cmp_result < -1:
+            cmp_result = -1
+        elif cmp_result > 1:
+            cmp_result = 1
+
+        return cmp_result in cmp_map[oper]
diff --git a/salt/utils/yaml.py b/salt/utils/yaml.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7fbfbe6035
--- /dev/null
+++ b/salt/utils/yaml.py
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+'''
+Convenience module that provides our custom loader and dumper in a single module
+'''
+from __future__ import absolute_import, print_function, unicode_literals
+
+# pylint: disable=wildcard-import,unused-wildcard-import,unused-import
+from yaml import YAMLError, parser, scanner
+from salt.utils.yamldumper import *
+from salt.utils.yamlloader import *
diff --git a/salt/utils/yamldumper.py b/salt/utils/yamldumper.py
index 8f8742cf14..ae43154bf2 100644
--- a/salt/utils/yamldumper.py
+++ b/salt/utils/yamldumper.py
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 # pylint: disable=W0232
 #         class has no __init__ method
 
-from __future__ import absolute_import
+from __future__ import absolute_import, print_function, unicode_literals
 try:
     from yaml import CDumper as Dumper
     from yaml import CSafeDumper as SafeDumper
@@ -15,6 +15,9 @@ except ImportError:
     from yaml import Dumper
     from yaml import SafeDumper
 
+import yaml  # pylint: disable=blacklisted-import
+import collections
+
 from salt.utils.odict import OrderedDict
 
 try:
@@ -24,6 +27,20 @@ except ImportError:
     odict = None
     HAS_IOFLO = False
 
+__all__ = ['OrderedDumper', 'SafeOrderedDumper', 'IndentedSafeOrderedDumper',
+           'get_dumper', 'dump', 'safe_dump']
+
+
+class IndentMixin(Dumper):
+    '''
+    Mixin that improves YAML dumped list readability
+    by indenting them by two spaces,
+    instead of being flush with the key they are under.
+    '''
+
+    def increase_indent(self, flow=False, indentless=False):
+        return super(IndentMixin, self).increase_indent(flow, False)
+
 
 class OrderedDumper(Dumper):
     '''
@@ -37,6 +54,14 @@ class SafeOrderedDumper(SafeDumper):
     '''
 
 
+class IndentedSafeOrderedDumper(IndentMixin, SafeOrderedDumper):
+    '''
+    A YAML safe dumper that represents python OrderedDict as simple YAML map,
+    and also indents lists by two spaces.
+    '''
+    pass
+
+
 def represent_ordereddict(dumper, data):
     return dumper.represent_dict(list(data.items()))
 
@@ -44,6 +69,53 @@ def represent_ordereddict(dumper, data):
 OrderedDumper.add_representer(OrderedDict, represent_ordereddict)
 SafeOrderedDumper.add_representer(OrderedDict, represent_ordereddict)
 
+OrderedDumper.add_representer(
+    collections.defaultdict,
+    yaml.representer.SafeRepresenter.represent_dict
+)
+SafeOrderedDumper.add_representer(
+    collections.defaultdict,
+    yaml.representer.SafeRepresenter.represent_dict
+)
+
+OrderedDumper.add_representer(
+    'tag:yaml.org,2002:timestamp',
+    OrderedDumper.represent_scalar)
+SafeOrderedDumper.add_representer(
+    'tag:yaml.org,2002:timestamp',
+    SafeOrderedDumper.represent_scalar)
+
 if HAS_IOFLO:
     OrderedDumper.add_representer(odict, represent_ordereddict)
     SafeOrderedDumper.add_representer(odict, represent_ordereddict)
+
+
+def get_dumper(dumper_name):
+    return {
+        'OrderedDumper': OrderedDumper,
+        'SafeOrderedDumper': SafeOrderedDumper,
+        'IndentedSafeOrderedDumper': IndentedSafeOrderedDumper,
+    }.get(dumper_name)
+
+
+def dump(data, stream=None, **kwargs):
+    '''
+    .. versionadded:: 2018.3.0
+
+    Helper that wraps yaml.dump and ensures that we encode unicode strings
+    unless explicitly told not to.
+    '''
+    if 'allow_unicode' not in kwargs:
+        kwargs['allow_unicode'] = True
+    return yaml.dump(data, stream, **kwargs)
+
+
+def safe_dump(data, stream=None, **kwargs):
+    '''
+    Use a custom dumper to ensure that defaultdict and OrderedDict are
+    represented properly. Ensure that unicode strings are encoded unless
+    explicitly told not to.
+    '''
+    if 'allow_unicode' not in kwargs:
+        kwargs['allow_unicode'] = True
+    return yaml.dump(data, stream, Dumper=SafeOrderedDumper, **kwargs)
diff --git a/salt/utils/yamlloader.py b/salt/utils/yamlloader.py
index a51d1f1f25..16e30d1836 100644
--- a/salt/utils/yamlloader.py
+++ b/salt/utils/yamlloader.py
@@ -1,10 +1,14 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+'''
+Custom YAML loading in Salt
+'''
+
 # Import python libs
-from __future__ import absolute_import
+from __future__ import absolute_import, print_function, unicode_literals
+import re
 import warnings
 
-# Import third party libs
-import yaml
+import yaml  # pylint: disable=blacklisted-import
 from yaml.nodes import MappingNode, SequenceNode
 from yaml.constructor import ConstructorError
 try:
@@ -13,11 +17,9 @@ try:
 except Exception:
     pass
 
-# This function is safe and needs to stay as yaml.load. The load function
-# accepts a custom loader, and every time this function is used in Salt
-# the custom loader defined below is used. This should be altered though to
-# not require the custom loader to be explicitly added.
-load = yaml.load  # pylint: disable=C0103
+import salt.utils.stringutils
+
+__all__ = ['SaltYamlSafeLoader', 'load', 'safe_load']
 
 
 class DuplicateKeyWarning(RuntimeWarning):
@@ -36,18 +38,24 @@ class SaltYamlSafeLoader(yaml.SafeLoader, object):
     to make things like sls file more intuitive.
     '''
     def __init__(self, stream, dictclass=dict):
-        yaml.SafeLoader.__init__(self, stream)
+        super(SaltYamlSafeLoader, self).__init__(stream)
         if dictclass is not dict:
             # then assume ordered dict and use it for both !map and !omap
             self.add_constructor(
-                u'tag:yaml.org,2002:map',
+                'tag:yaml.org,2002:map',
                 type(self).construct_yaml_map)
             self.add_constructor(
-                u'tag:yaml.org,2002:omap',
+                'tag:yaml.org,2002:omap',
                 type(self).construct_yaml_map)
-            self.add_constructor(
-                u'tag:yaml.org,2002:python/unicode',
-                type(self).construct_unicode)
+        self.add_constructor(
+            'tag:yaml.org,2002:str',
+            type(self).construct_yaml_str)
+        self.add_constructor(
+            'tag:yaml.org,2002:python/unicode',
+            type(self).construct_unicode)
+        self.add_constructor(
+            'tag:yaml.org,2002:timestamp',
+            type(self).construct_scalar)
         self.dictclass = dictclass
 
     def construct_yaml_map(self, node):
@@ -72,18 +80,25 @@ class SaltYamlSafeLoader(yaml.SafeLoader, object):
 
         self.flatten_mapping(node)
 
+        context = 'while constructing a mapping'
         mapping = self.dictclass()
         for key_node, value_node in node.value:
             key = self.construct_object(key_node, deep=deep)
             try:
                 hash(key)
             except TypeError:
-                err = ('While constructing a mapping {0} found unacceptable '
-                       'key {1}').format(node.start_mark, key_node.start_mark)
-                raise ConstructorError(err)
+                raise ConstructorError(
+                    context,
+                    node.start_mark,
+                    "found unacceptable key {0}".format(key_node.value),
+                    key_node.start_mark)
             value = self.construct_object(value_node, deep=deep)
             if key in mapping:
-                raise ConstructorError('Conflicting ID \'{0}\''.format(key))
+                raise ConstructorError(
+                    context,
+                    node.start_mark,
+                    "found conflicting ID '{0}'".format(key),
+                    key_node.start_mark)
             mapping[key] = value
         return mapping
 
@@ -101,15 +116,24 @@ class SaltYamlSafeLoader(yaml.SafeLoader, object):
                 # an empty string. Change it to '0'.
                 if node.value == '':
                     node.value = '0'
+        elif node.tag == 'tag:yaml.org,2002:str':
+            # If any string comes in as a quoted unicode literal, eval it into
+            # the proper unicode string type.
+            if re.match(r'^u([\'"]).+\1$', node.value, flags=re.IGNORECASE):
+                node.value = eval(node.value, {}, {})  # pylint: disable=W0123
         return super(SaltYamlSafeLoader, self).construct_scalar(node)
 
+    def construct_yaml_str(self, node):
+        value = self.construct_scalar(node)
+        return salt.utils.stringutils.to_unicode(value)
+
     def flatten_mapping(self, node):
         merge = []
         index = 0
         while index < len(node.value):
             key_node, value_node = node.value[index]
 
-            if key_node.tag == u'tag:yaml.org,2002:merge':
+            if key_node.tag == 'tag:yaml.org,2002:merge':
                 del node.value[index]
                 if isinstance(value_node, MappingNode):
                     self.flatten_mapping(value_node)
@@ -132,8 +156,8 @@ class SaltYamlSafeLoader(yaml.SafeLoader, object):
                                            node.start_mark,
                                            "expected a mapping or list of mappings for merging, but found {0}".format(value_node.id),
                                            value_node.start_mark)
-            elif key_node.tag == u'tag:yaml.org,2002:value':
-                key_node.tag = u'tag:yaml.org,2002:str'
+            elif key_node.tag == 'tag:yaml.org,2002:value':
+                key_node.tag = 'tag:yaml.org,2002:str'
                 index += 1
             else:
                 index += 1
@@ -143,3 +167,16 @@ class SaltYamlSafeLoader(yaml.SafeLoader, object):
             mergeable_items = [x for x in merge if x[0].value not in existing_nodes]
 
             node.value = mergeable_items + node.value
+
+
+def load(stream, Loader=SaltYamlSafeLoader):
+    return yaml.load(stream, Loader=Loader)
+
+
+def safe_load(stream, Loader=SaltYamlSafeLoader):
+    '''
+    .. versionadded:: 2018.3.0
+
+    Helper function which automagically uses our custom loader.
+    '''
+    return yaml.load(stream, Loader=Loader)
-- 
2.13.6


