diff --git a/pillar.example b/pillar.example
index 6ed3d62f0e2e84361d519cfa3af119ed9954b260..a4a366b50393dcf9f0f1c6e821f812b2efbe2397 100644
--- a/pillar.example
+++ b/pillar.example
@@ -19,6 +19,14 @@ salt:
     file_roots:
       base:
         - /srv/salt
+
+    # for salt-api with tornado rest interface
+    rest_tornado:
+      port: 8000
+      ssl_crt: /etc/pki/api/certs/server.crt
+      ssl_key: /etc/pki/api/certs/server.key
+      debug: False
+      disable_ssl: False
  
   # salt minion config:
   minion:
diff --git a/salt/files/master.d/_defaults.conf b/salt/files/master.d/_defaults.conf
index 0f9e29750e014e9428b08f27e3f7c57c1e10a4b4..4b5a28001dffa9d9421cd5c72a8e9dc3438b47d0 100644
--- a/salt/files/master.d/_defaults.conf
+++ b/salt/files/master.d/_defaults.conf
@@ -947,6 +947,15 @@ rest_cherrypy:
   {%- endfor %}
 {%- endif %}
 
+{% if 'rest_tornado' in cfg_master %}
+#####         rest_tornado            #####
+###########################################
+rest_tornado:
+  {% for name, value in cfg_master['rest_tornado'].items() %}
+  {{ name }}: {{ value }}
+  {%- endfor %}
+{%- endif %}
+
 {% if 'presence_events' in cfg_master %}
 #####        presence events         #####
 ##########################################