AzLocal.DeploymentAutomation

Author(s)

• Neil Bird MSFT

Tags

Azure AzureLocal AzureStackHCI Deployment ARM Template

Functions

Start-AzLocalTemplateDeployment Watch-AzLocalDeployment Start-AzLocalCsvDeployment Get-AzLocalDeploymentStatus

Dependencies

• • Az.Accounts (>= 2.0.0)
  • Az.Resources (>= 6.0.0)

Release Notes

## v0.9.5 - March 2026
- Fixed GitHub Actions script injection vulnerability in all workflow examples (deploy-clusters, validate-deployments, deployment-monitor, deployment-status-report)
- Replaced direct ${{ github.event.inputs.* }} interpolation in run: blocks with env: variable indirection to prevent arbitrary code execution via crafted workflow_dispatch inputs
- Azure DevOps pipeline examples were not affected (compile-time parameter expansion)
- Added automatic troubleshooting hints for common deployment and validation failures
- New internal function: Get-AzLocalValidationTroubleshootingHints — analyses ARM error codes/messages against known failure patterns and provides targeted remediation guidance
- Known patterns include: NIC adapter mismatches, management intent naming (vManagement double-wrap), GPO inheritance block requirements, duplicate RBAC role assignments, physical disk / S2D validation, deployment settings timeout
- Added -SkipOnlineTSGSearch switch to Start-AzLocalTemplateDeployment and Watch-AzLocalDeployment — online TSG search is enabled by default; use this switch to disable it in air-gapped environments
- Online search extracts keywords from error text and matches against TSG filenames; fails gracefully when offline
- Troubleshooting hints are displayed automatically on deployment/validation failure in both standalone and monitoring workflows
- Reference: https://github.com/Azure/AzureLocal-Supportability/blob/main/TSG/Deployment/README.md

## v0.9.4 - March 2026
- Added enhanced error handling and logging for improved troubleshooting and CI/CD visibility
- Deployment errors now include detailed context such as parameter values, deployment phase, and direct links to relevant documentation and troubleshooting guides
- Added Write-AzLocalLog internal helper function for standardized, timestamped, color-coded console output with severity levels (Info, Warning, Error, Success, Debug, Verbose)
- All console output now uses Write-AzLocalLog for consistent formatting and enhanced visibility; log messages include contextual information to aid troubleshooting
- Deployment functions now throw rich exceptions with detailed error information instead of returning "Error" strings, enabling proper PowerShell error handling and CI/CD test result integration
- Updated README with new error handling and logging features, including examples of enhanced error messages and guidance

## v0.9.3 - March 2026
- Renamed -TypeOfDeployment values for clarity: MultiNode → StorageSwitched, Switchless → StorageSwitchless
- "Multi-Node" was ambiguous since switchless deployments are also multi-node; new names clarify the storage networking topology
- Renamed template parameter files: multi-node-switched → storage-switched, switchless-Xnode → storage-switchless-Xnode
- Added Deployment Times section to README with real-world timing data from a 2-node StorageSwitchless deployment (~6 hours total)
- Updated all code, tests, pipelines, CSV, and documentation for the new deployment type names
- ARM template parameter names (storageConnectivitySwitchless, switchlessMultiServerDeployment) are unchanged — these are Microsoft-defined API values

## v0.9.2 - March 2026
- Added Azure prerequisite checks: automatic resource provider registration and RBAC role assignment validation
- New internal function: Test-AzLocalAzurePrerequisites — checks 12 required resource providers (auto-registers missing ones) and 6 required RBAC roles (advisory)
- Integrated prerequisite checks into both Start-AzLocalTemplateDeployment (standalone) and Test-AzLocalClusterPreFlight (CSV batch) paths
- RBAC checks are advisory (warnings) — missing roles are reported but do not block deployment
- Resource provider registration failures are hard failures — deployment cannot proceed without required providers
- Reference: https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/azure-local/deploy/deployment-arc-register-server-permissions
- Updated Pester tests with prerequisite check coverage

## v0.9.1 - March 2026
- Split switchless template into per-node-count files: switchless-2node, switchless-3node, switchless-4node (dual-link mesh: 2×(N-1) storage networks)
- Added -NodeCount parameter to Get-AzLocalParameterFilePath and New-AzLocalDeploymentParameterFile for switchless file selection
- Added environment section to .config/naming-standards-config.json for tenantId and hciResourceProviderObjectID
- HCI Resource Provider lookup now falls back to config value when Get-AzADServicePrincipal is unavailable
- Replaced real Azure GUIDs in example-single-node-parameters-file.json with placeholder values
- Fixed switchless networkingType from switchedMultiServerDeployment to switchlessMultiServerDeployment
- Fixed <caculated> typo to <calculated> in switchless template customLocation field
- Updated README with environment configuration steps, deployment type storage network details, and per-node-count file structure
- Updated Pester tests for new switchless file names and node-count selection (402 tests)

## v0.9.0 - February 2026
- Added CI/CD automation pipeline support for CSV-driven multi-cluster deployments
- New exported function: Start-AzLocalCsvDeployment — reads deployment CSV and submits ARM Validate/Deploy for eligible clusters
- New exported function: Get-AzLocalDeploymentStatus — monitors deployment progress across all clusters defined in CSV
- New internal functions: Import-AzLocalDeploymentCsv, Test-AzLocalClusterPreFlight, New-AzLocalJUnitXml
- Pre-flight checks: resource naming validation, resource group existence, Arc node registration, existing deployment detection
- JUnit XML output for CI/CD test result visibility (GitHub Actions dorny/test-reporter, Azure DevOps PublishTestResults)
- Example GitHub Actions workflows: validate-deployments.yml, deploy-clusters.yml, deployment-monitor.yml
- Example Azure DevOps pipelines: validate-deployments.yml, deploy-clusters.yml, deployment-monitor.yml
- Example cluster-deployments.csv with SingleNode, StorageSwitched, StorageSwitchless, and RackAware deployment types
- Authentication: OIDC (recommended), Managed Identity, Service Principal + Secret (legacy)
- automation-pipelines/README.md with full setup guide

For full release history for versions prior to v0.9.0, see:
https://github.com/NeilBird/Azure-Local/blob/main/AzLocal.DeploymentAutomation/README.md