gistfile1.txt

[ash1] root@v-salt-001-prod:/srv# ls -al *
base:
total 12
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root 4096 Jul 10 00:17 .
drwxr-xr-x. 6 root root 4096 Jul 10 00:17 ..
-rw-r--r--  1 root root   30 Jul 10 00:16 top.sls

kubernetes-saltstack:
total 28
drwxr-xr-x  5 jt users 4096 Jul 10 00:12 .
drwxr-xr-x. 6 root           root  4096 Jul 10 00:17 ..
drwxr-xr-x  8 jt users 4096 Jul 10 00:12 .git
-rw-r--r--  1 jt users   19 Jul 10 00:12 .gitignore
drwxr-xr-x  2 jt users 4096 Jul 10 00:12 pillar
-rw-r--r--  1 jt users 1274 Jul 10 00:12 README.md
drwxr-xr-x  6 jt users 4096 Jul 10 00:12 salt

pillar:
total 12
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root 4096 Jul 10 00:17 .
drwxr-xr-x. 6 root root 4096 Jul 10 00:17 ..
-rw-r--r--  1 root root  401 Jul 10 00:15 kube_data.sls

salt:
total 12
drwxr-xr-x  3 root root 4096 Jul 10 00:10 .
drwxr-xr-x. 6 root root 4096 Jul 10 00:17 ..
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root 4096 Jul 10 00:10 kubebinaries
[ash1] root@v-salt-001-prod:/srv# salt '*' state.highstate
s0e019ash1018.mgmt.mydomain.net:
----------
          ID: states
    Function: no.None
      Result: False
     Comment: No Top file or external nodes data matches found
     Started:
    Duration:
     Changes:

Summary
------------
Succeeded: 0
Failed:    1
------------
Total states run:     1

from irc:

(02:56:36) ingslovak: ayee: the default file root is /srv/salt/ , as mentioned in http://docs.saltstack.com/en/latest/ref/configuration/master.html#std:conf_master-file_roots
(02:56:58) ingslovak: ayee: so try moving the top.sls file there