[Bug]: Multiple error messages about loading modules in salt-api 3006.27

What happened?

After updating salt-api to version 3006.27 there are a lot of messages in the logs like this:

2026-08-11 17:08:47,381 [salt.loader.lazy :1291][ERROR   ][1694158] Exception raised when processing __virtual__ function for salt.loaded.int.module.zonecfg. Module will not be loaded: 'kernel'
2026-08-11 17:08:47,381 [salt.loader.lazy :1303][WARNING ][1694158] salt.loaded.int.module.zonecfg.__virtual__() is wrongly returning `None`. It should either return `True`, `False` or a new name. If you're the developer of the module 'zonecfg', please fix this.

The list of the modules in the error messages:

salt.loaded.int.module.aix_group.
salt.loaded.int.module.aix_shadow.
salt.loaded.int.module.aixpkg.
salt.loaded.int.module.apache.
salt.loaded.int.module.bridge.
salt.loaded.int.module.chroot.
salt.loaded.int.module.deb_apache.
salt.loaded.int.module.debconfmod.
salt.loaded.int.module.debian_ip.
salt.loaded.int.module.debian_service.
salt.loaded.int.module.dpkg_lowpkg.
salt.loaded.int.module.eix.
salt.loaded.int.module.eselect.
salt.loaded.int.module.freebsd_sysctl.
salt.loaded.int.module.freebsd_update.
salt.loaded.int.module.freebsdjail.
salt.loaded.int.module.freebsdkmod.
salt.loaded.int.module.freebsdpkg.
salt.loaded.int.module.freebsdports.
salt.loaded.int.module.freebsdservice.
salt.loaded.int.module.gentoo_service.
salt.loaded.int.module.gentoolkitmod.
salt.loaded.int.module.groupadd.
salt.loaded.int.module.grub_legacy.
salt.loaded.int.module.idem.
salt.loaded.int.module.ifttt.
salt.loaded.int.module.kmod.
salt.loaded.int.module.layman.
salt.loaded.int.module.linux_ip.
salt.loaded.int.module.linux_service.
salt.loaded.int.module.linux_sysctl.
salt.loaded.int.module.logadm.
salt.loaded.int.module.mac_brew_pkg.
salt.loaded.int.module.mac_sysctl.
salt.loaded.int.module.mac_xattr.
salt.loaded.int.module.makeconf.
salt.loaded.int.module.mdadm_raid.
salt.loaded.int.module.netbsd_sysctl.
salt.loaded.int.module.netbsdservice.
salt.loaded.int.module.nilrt_ip.
salt.loaded.int.module.nspawn.
salt.loaded.int.module.openbsd_sysctl.
salt.loaded.int.module.openbsdpkg.
salt.loaded.int.module.openbsdrcctl_service.
salt.loaded.int.module.openbsdservice.
salt.loaded.int.module.pacmanpkg.
salt.loaded.int.module.pf.
salt.loaded.int.module.pkgin.
salt.loaded.int.module.pkgng.
salt.loaded.int.module.pkgutil.
salt.loaded.int.module.postgres.
salt.loaded.int.module.poudriere.
salt.loaded.int.module.pushbullet.
salt.loaded.int.module.pw_group.
salt.loaded.int.module.pw_user.
salt.loaded.int.module.rbac_solaris.
salt.loaded.int.module.rebootmgr.
salt.loaded.int.module.rh_ip.
salt.loaded.int.module.rh_service.
salt.loaded.int.module.slackware_service.
salt.loaded.int.module.smf_service.
salt.loaded.int.module.solaris_group.
salt.loaded.int.module.solaris_user.
salt.loaded.int.module.solarisipspkg.
salt.loaded.int.module.solarispkg.
salt.loaded.int.module.suse_ip.
salt.loaded.int.module.transactional_update.
salt.loaded.int.module.useradd.
salt.loaded.int.module.victorops.
salt.loaded.int.module.vmctl.
salt.loaded.int.module.win_timezone.
salt.loaded.int.module.xapi_virt.
salt.loaded.int.module.xbpspkg.
salt.loaded.int.module.zoneadm.
salt.loaded.int.module.zonecfg.

And a lot of error messages like this:

2026-08-11 17:08:46,820 [salt.loader.lazy :912 ][ERROR   ][1694158] Failed to import utils vmware, this is due most likely to a syntax error:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/opt/saltstack/salt/lib/python3.11/site-packages/salt/loader/lazy.py", line 891, in _load_module
    mod = self.run(spec.loader.load_module)
          ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/opt/saltstack/salt/lib/python3.11/site-packages/salt/loader/lazy.py", line 1379, in run
    return self._last_context.run(self._run_as, _func_or_method, *args, **kwargs)
           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/opt/saltstack/salt/lib/python3.11/site-packages/salt/loader/lazy.py", line 1394, in _run_as
    ret = _func_or_method(*args, **kwargs)
          ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap_external>", line 605, in _check_name_wrapper
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap_external>", line 1120, in load_module
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap_external>", line 945, in load_module
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 290, in _load_module_shim
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 721, in _load
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 701, in _load_unlocked

The list of the modules in the error messages:

module acme
module aix_group
module aix_shadow
module aixpkg
module aliases
module alternatives
module ansiblegate
module apache
module apcups
module apf
module apkpkg
module aptly
module aptpkg
module archive
module arista_pyeapi
module artifactory
module at
module at_solaris
module augeas_cfg
module aws_sqs
module azurearm_compute
module azurearm_dns
module azurearm_network
module azurearm_resource
module bamboohr
module baredoc
module bcache
module beacons
module bigip
module bluez_bluetooth
module boto3_elasticache
module boto3_elasticsearch
module boto3_route53
module boto3_sns
module boto_apigateway
module boto_asg
module boto_cfn
module boto_cloudfront
module boto_cloudtrail
module boto_cloudwatch
module boto_cloudwatch_event
module boto_cognitoidentity
module boto_datapipeline
module boto_dynamodb
module boto_ec2
module boto_efs
module boto_elasticache
module boto_elasticsearch_domain
module boto_elb
module boto_elbv2
module boto_iam
module boto_iot
module boto_kinesis
module boto_kms
module boto_lambda
module boto_rds
module boto_route53
module boto_s3
module boto_s3_bucket
module boto_secgroup
module boto_sns
module boto_sqs
module boto_ssm
module boto_vpc
module bower
module bridge
module bsd_shadow
module btrfs
module cabal
module capirca_acl
module cassandra_cql
module celery
module ceph
module chassis
module chef
module chocolatey
module chronos
module chroot
module cimc
module ciscoconfparse_mod
module cisconso
module cloud
module cmdmod
module composer
module config
module consul
module container_resource
module cp
module cpan
module cron
module cryptdev
module csf
module cyg
module daemontools
module data
module datadog_api
module ddns
module deb_apache
module deb_postgres
module debconfmod
module debian_ip
module debian_service
module debuild_pkgbuild
module defaults
module devinfo
module devmap
module dig
module disk
module djangomod
module dnsmasq
module dnsutil
module dockercompose
module dockermod
module dpkg_lowpkg
module drac
module dracr
module drbd
module dummyproxy_pkg
module dummyproxy_service
module ebuildpkg
module eix
module elasticsearch
module environ
module eselect
module esxcluster
module esxdatacenter
module esxi
module esxvm
module etcd_mod
module ethtool
module event
module extfs
module file
module firewalld
module freebsd_sysctl
module freebsd_update
module freebsdjail
module freebsdkmod
module freebsdpkg
module freebsdports
module freebsdservice
module freezer
module gcp_addon
module gem
module genesis
module gentoo_service
module gentoolkitmod
module git
module github
module glanceng
module glassfish
module glusterfs
module gnomedesktop
module google_chat
module gpg
module grafana4
module grains
module groupadd
module grub_legacy
module guestfs
module hadoop
module haproxyconn
module hashutil
module heat
module helm
module hg
module highstate_doc
module hosts
module http
module icinga2
module idem
module ifttt
module ilo
module incron
module influxdb08mod
module influxdbmod
module infoblox
module ini_manage
module inspectlib
module inspector
module introspect
module iosconfig
module ipmi
module ipset
module iptables
module iwtools
module jboss7
module jboss7_cli
module jenkinsmod
module jinja
module jira_mod
module junos
module k8s
module kapacitor
module kerberos
module kernelpkg_linux_apt
module kernelpkg_linux_yum
module key
module keyboard
module keystone
module keystoneng
module keystore
module kmod
module kubeadm
module kubernetesmod
module launchctl_service
module layman
module ldap3
module ldapmod
module libcloud_compute
module libcloud_dns
module libcloud_loadbalancer
module libcloud_storage
module linux_acl
module linux_ip
module linux_lvm
module linux_service
module linux_shadow
module linux_sysctl
module localemod
module locate
module logadm
module logmod
module logrotate
module lvs
module lxc
module lxd
module mac_assistive
module mac_brew_pkg
module mac_desktop
module mac_group
module mac_keychain
module mac_pkgutil
module mac_portspkg
module mac_power
module mac_service
module mac_shadow
module mac_softwareupdate
module mac_sysctl
module mac_system
module mac_timezone
module mac_user
module mac_xattr
module macdefaults
module macpackage
module makeconf
module mandrill
module marathon
module match
module mattermost
module mdadm_raid
module mdata
module memcached
module mine
module minion
module mod_random
module modjk
module mongodb
module monit
module moosefs
module mount
module mssql
module msteams
module munin
module mysql
module nacl
module nagios
module nagios_rpc
module namecheap_domains
module namecheap_domains_dns
module namecheap_domains_ns
module namecheap_ssl
module namecheap_users
module napalm_bgp
module napalm_formula
module napalm_mod
module napalm_netacl
module napalm_network
module napalm_ntp
module napalm_probes
module napalm_route
module napalm_snmp
module napalm_users
module napalm_yang_mod
module netaddress
module netbox
module netbsd_sysctl
module netbsdservice
module netmiko_mod
module netscaler
module network
module neutron
module neutronng
module nexus
module nfs3
module nftables
module nginx
module nilrt_ip
module nix
module nova
module npm
module nspawn
module nxos
module nxos_api
module nxos_upgrade
module omapi
module openbsd_sysctl
module openbsdpkg
module openbsdrcctl_service
module openbsdservice
module openscap
module openstack_config
module openstack_mng
module openvswitch
module opkg
module opsgenie
module oracle
module osquery
module out
module pacmanpkg
module pagerduty
module pagerduty_util
module pam
module panos
module parallels
module parted_partition
module pcs
module pdbedit
module pecl
module peeringdb
module pf
module philips_hue
module pillar
module pip
module pkg_resource
module pkgin
module pkgng
module pkgutil
module portage_config
module postfix
module postgres
module poudriere
module powerpath
module proxy
module ps
module publish
module puppet
module purefa
module purefb
module pushbullet
module pushover_notify
module pw_group
module pw_user
module pyenv
module qemu_img
module qemu_nbd
module quota
module rabbitmq
module rallydev
module random_org
module rbac_solaris
module rbenv
module rdp
module rebootmgr
module redismod
module reg
module rest_pkg
module rest_sample_utils
module rest_service
module restartcheck
module restconf
module ret
module rh_ip
module rh_service
module riak
module rpm_lowpkg
module rpmbuild_pkgbuild
module rsync
module runit
module rvm
module s3
module s6
module salt_proxy
module salt_version
module saltcheck
module saltcloudmod
module saltutil
module schedule
module scp_mod
module scsi
module sdb
module seed
module selinux
module sensehat
module sensors
module serverdensity_device
module servicenow
module slack_notify
module slackware_service
module slsutil
module smartos_imgadm
module smartos_nictagadm
module smartos_virt
module smartos_vmadm
module smbios
module smf_service
module smtp
module snapper
module solaris_fmadm
module solaris_group
module solaris_shadow
module solaris_system
module solaris_user
module solarisipspkg
module solarispkg
module solr
module solrcloud
module splunk
module splunk_search
module sqlite3
module ssh
module ssh_pkg
module ssh_service
module state
module status
module statuspage
module supervisord
module suse_apache
module suse_ip
module svn
module swarm
module swift
module sysbench
module sysfs
module syslog_ng
module sysmod
module sysrc
module system
module system_profiler
module systemd_service
module telegram
module telemetry
module temp
module test
module test_virtual
module testinframod
module textfsm_mod
module timezone
module tls
module tomcat
module trafficserver
module transactional_update
module travisci
module tuned
module twilio_notify
module udev
module upstart_service
module uptime
module useradd
module uwsgi
module vagrant
module varnish
module vault
module vbox_guest
module vboxmanage
module vcenter
module victorops
module virt
module virtualenv_mod
module vmctl
module vsphere
module webutil
module win_auditpol
module win_autoruns
module win_certutil
module win_dacl
module win_disk
module win_dism
module win_dns_client
module win_dsc
module win_event
module win_file
module win_firewall
module win_groupadd
module win_iis
module win_ip
module win_lgpo
module win_lgpo_reg
module win_license
module win_network
module win_ntp
module win_path
module win_pkg
module win_pki
module win_powercfg
module win_psget
module win_servermanager
module win_service
module win_shadow
module win_shortcut
module win_smtp_server
module win_snmp
module win_status
module win_system
module win_task
module win_timezone
module win_useradd
module win_wua
module win_wusa
module winrepo
module wordpress
module x509
module x509_v2
module xapi_virt
module xbpspkg
module xfs
module xml
module xmpp
module yaml
module yumpkg
module zabbix
module zcbuildout
module zenoss
module zfs
module zk_concurrency
module znc
module zoneadm
module zonecfg
module zookeeper
module zpool
module zypperpkg
returner appoptics_return
returner carbon_return
returner cassandra_cql_return
returner couchbase_return
returner couchdb_return
returner elasticsearch_return
returner etcd_return
returner highstate_return
returner influxdb_return
returner kafka_return
returner librato_return
returner local
returner local_cache
returner mattermost_returner
returner memcache_return
returner mongo_future_return
returner mongo_return
returner multi_returner
returner mysql
returner nagios_nrdp_return
returner odbc
returner pgjsonb
returner postgres
returner postgres_local_cache
returner pushover_returner
returner rawfile_json
returner redis_return
returner sentry_return
returner slack_returner
returner slack_webhook_return
returner sms_return
returner smtp_return
returner speedy_mongo_return
returner splunk
returner sqlite3_return
returner syslog_return
returner telegram_return
returner xmpp_return
returner zabbix_return
utils aggregation
utils ansible
utils args
utils asynchronous
utils atomicfile
utils aws
utils azurearm
utils beacons
utils boto3mod
utils boto_elb_tag
utils botomod
utils cache
utils channel
utils cloud
utils color
utils compat
utils configcomparer
utils configparser
utils context
utils crypt
utils ctx
utils data
utils datastructures
utils dateutils
utils debug
utils decorators
utils dictdiffer
utils dicttrim
utils dictupdate
utils dns
utils doc
utils dockermod
utils entrypoints
utils environment
utils error
utils etcd_util
utils event
utils extend
utils extmods
utils filebuffer
utils files
utils find
utils fsutils
utils functools
utils gitfs
utils github
utils gzip_util
utils hashutils
utils http
utils iam
utils icinga2
utils idem
utils immutabletypes
utils itertools
utils jid
utils jinja
utils job
utils json
utils kickstart
utils kinds
utils lazy
utils listdiffer
utils locales
utils mac_utils
utils mako
utils master
utils mattermost
utils memcached
utils migrations
utils mine
utils minion
utils minions
utils mount
utils msazure
utils msgpack
utils nacl
utils namecheap
utils napalm
utils nb_popen
utils network
utils nxos
utils nxos_api
utils odict
utils openstack
utils oset
utils pagerduty
utils parsers
utils path
utils pbm
utils pkg
utils platform
utils powershell
utils preseed
utils process
utils profile
utils proxy
utils pushover
utils pycrypto
utils pydsl
utils pyobjects
utils reactor
utils reclass
utils roster_matcher
utils rsax931
utils s3
utils saltclass
utils sanitizers
utils schedule
utils schema
utils sdb
utils slack
utils smb
utils smtp
utils ssdp
utils ssh
utils state
utils stringio
utils stringutils
utils systemd
utils templates
utils textformat
utils thin
utils timed_subprocess
utils timeout
utils timeutil
utils url
utils user
utils validate
utils value
utils vault
utils verify
utils versions
utils virt
utils virtualbox
utils vmware
utils vsan
utils vt
utils vt_helper
utils win_chcp
utils win_dacl
utils win_dotnet
utils win_functions
utils win_lgpo_auditpol
utils win_lgpo_netsh
utils win_lgpo_reg
utils win_network
utils win_osinfo
utils win_pdh
utils win_pwsh
utils win_reg
utils win_runas
utils win_service
utils win_system
utils win_update
utils winapi
utils x509
utils xdg
utils xmlutil
utils yaml
utils yamldumper
utils yamlencoding
utils yamllint
utils yamlloader
utils yamlloader_old
utils yast
utils zeromq
utils zfs

Tried to reinstall salt completely with deleting /opt/saltstack directory but nothing changed.

Type of salt install

Official deb

Major version

3006.x

What supported OS are you seeing the problem on? Can select multiple. (If bug appears on an unsupported OS, please open a GitHub Discussion instead)

ubuntu-22.04

salt --versions-report output

Salt Version:
          Salt: 3006.27
 
Python Version:
        Python: 3.11.15 (main, Jun 29 2026, 22:21:49) [GCC 11.2.0]
 
Dependency Versions:
          cffi: 2.0.0
      cherrypy: 18.10.0
  cryptography: 47.0.0
      dateutil: 2.9.0.post0
     docker-py: Not Installed
         gitdb: 4.0.12
     gitpython: 3.1.50
        Jinja2: 3.1.6
       libgit2: Not Installed
  looseversion: 1.3.0
      M2Crypto: Not Installed
          Mako: Not Installed
       msgpack: 1.1.2
  msgpack-pure: Not Installed
  mysql-python: Not Installed
     packaging: 24.0
     pycparser: 3.00
      pycrypto: Not Installed
  pycryptodome: 3.23.0
        pygit2: Not Installed
  python-gnupg: 0.5.6
        PyYAML: 6.0.3
         PyZMQ: 27.1.0
        relenv: 0.22.16
         smmap: 5.0.2
       timelib: 0.3.0
       Tornado: 6.5.5
           ZMQ: 4.3.5
 
System Versions:
          dist: ubuntu 22.04.5 jammy
        locale: utf-8
       machine: x86_64
       release: 6.8.0-124-generic
        system: Linux
       version: Ubuntu 22.04.5 jammy

Start with salt/loader/lazy.py, especially the loading paths shown in the traceback, and reproduce the module-loading messages using salt-api 3006.27. Trace why the listed modules return None or fail to import; done means the reported loading errors and warnings no longer appear without breaking module discovery.