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

## v1.0.1 - May 2026

### Optional `dnsServers` override in `-NetworkSettingsJson`
Adds an optional `dnsServers` array to the JSON payload accepted by the `-NetworkSettingsJson` parameter on `Start-AzLocalTemplateDeployment`. When present, it overrides the environment-wide `defaults.dnsServers` from `naming-standards-config.json` for that single deployment, without requiring a config file change. This makes it easier to support multiple sites with different DNS servers from one shared config file (e.g. CI/CD pipelines driving deployments to multiple regions).

- `Get-AzLocalNetworkSettingsFromJson` now parses an optional top-level `dnsServers` array. Each entry is validated as a valid IPv4/IPv6 address via `[System.Net.IPAddress]::Parse`; empty/whitespace entries throw with a clear actionable error. An absent field, `$null`, or an empty `[]` array are all treated as "no override" (config default is used) - this is backwards compatible with all existing JSON payloads.
- `Start-AzLocalTemplateDeployment` now uses a three-tier precedence chain for DNS resolution:
 1. `-DnsServers` parameter (explicit CLI override) - highest priority
 2. `dnsServers` array inside `-NetworkSettingsJson` (per-deployment override) - NEW in v1.0.1
 3. `NamingConfig.defaults.dnsServers` from `naming-standards-config.json` (environment-wide default)
- `Start-AzLocalCsvDeployment` is unchanged - the `DnsServers` column in `cluster-deployments.csv` continues to map to the top-level `-DnsServers` parameter and therefore still wins over anything embedded in the JSON, so existing CSV-driven pipelines are unaffected.
- Added 6 new Pester unit tests under `Describe 'Function: Get-AzLocalNetworkSettingsFromJson'` -> `Context 'Optional dnsServers override (v1.0.1)'` covering: omitted field (back-compat), empty array, single entry, multiple entries, invalid IP, and whitespace-only entry.
- Added a source-text precedence assertion under `Describe 'Module Content'` to guard against regression of the three-tier resolution order.
- Updated README.md: documented the optional field in the Network Settings JSON table, added a "DNS Servers Precedence (v1.0.1)" subsection, and updated the Default Values override column to reflect both override paths.

### Backwards-compatibility notes
- All existing `-NetworkSettingsJson` payloads continue to work unchanged - `dnsServers` is strictly optional.
- The interactive code path (`Get-AzLocalDeploymentNetworkSettings`) does not collect DNS servers; interactive deployments still inherit the config default. Set `-DnsServers` on the cmdlet to override interactively.
- The shape of the object returned by `Get-AzLocalNetworkSettingsFromJson` gained a new `dnsServers` property (value `$null` when not provided); existing consumers that only read the previously-documented fields are unaffected.

## v1.0.0 - April 2026

### New deployment topology: Disaggregated (SAN storage)
Adds first-class support for SAN-backed Azure Local clusters of up to **64 nodes**, modeled on the official quickstart [microsoft.azurestackhci/create-cluster-san](https://github.com/Azure/azure-quickstart-templates/tree/master/quickstarts/microsoft.azurestackhci/create-cluster-san). Disaggregated clusters use external SAN LUNs (e.g. Pure Storage, NetApp, Dell PowerStore) instead of Storage Spaces Direct, and require additional infrastructure + performance LUN identifiers and a dedicated SAN cluster network.

- Added new TypeOfDeployment value: `Disaggregated` (1-64 nodes, SAN storage)
- Added new ARM template: `templates/azure-local-deployment-template-san.json` (uses `Microsoft.AzureStackHCI` API `2026-04-01-preview`, sets `storage.storageType = SAN`, `storage.san.{infraVolLunId,infraPerfLunId}`, replaces `hostNetwork.storageNetworks` with `hostNetwork.sanNetworks` object)
- Added new parameter-file template: `template-parameter-files/disaggregated-parameters-file.json`
- Added new parameters to `Start-AzLocalTemplateDeployment`: `-InfraVolLunId`, `-InfraPerfLunId`, `-SanNetworkAdapterName`, `-SanNetworkVlanId` (0-4095), `-SanNetworkAddressPrefix` (CIDR), `-SanBandwidthPercentageSmb` (1-97, default 50), `-SanJumboPacket` (1514|9014, default 9014)
- `configurationMode` is forced to `InfraOnly` for Disaggregated (the only value supported by the SAN deploymentSettings schema)
- Raised `-NodeCount` ValidateRange to (1, 64) - existing topology checks (SingleNode<=1, StorageSwitched 2-16, StorageSwitchless 2-4, RackAware 2/4/6/8) still apply
- `Start-AzLocalCsvDeployment` now accepts and forwards five new optional CSV columns: `InfraVolLunId`, `InfraPerfLunId`, `SanNetworkAdapterName`, `SanNetworkVlanId`, `SanNetworkAddressPrefix` (required only when TypeOfDeployment = Disaggregated)
- `Get-AzLocalNetworkSettingsFromJson` accepts a new optional `sanSettings` block (infraVolLunId, infraPerfLunId, sanNetworkAdapterName, sanNetworkVlanId, sanNetworkAddressPrefix) for non-interactive Disaggregated deployments
- `Get-AzLocalDeploymentNetworkSettings` prompts interactively for the SAN-specific values when TypeOfDeployment = Disaggregated
- `Import-AzLocalDeploymentCsv` validates the SAN columns (presence, VLAN range 0-4095, CIDR format) when a row is Disaggregated; non-Disaggregated rows can leave those columns blank
- Updated example `automation-pipelines/cluster-deployments.csv` with a Store005 Disaggregated 8-node row
- Per-phase parameter-file regeneration now skips the storageNetworkList override when running against the SAN template (the SAN template has no storageNetworkList; it uses sanNetworkList instead)
- Pre-flight, naming resolution, and KeyVault credential paths are unchanged - Disaggregated reuses all existing helpers

### Backwards-compatibility notes (v1.0.0)
- Existing parameter files, ARM template, and all four prior deployment topologies are unchanged
- `clusterPattern` and `localAvailabilityZones` parameters are emitted only for non-Disaggregated deployments (the SAN template does not declare them)
- The default `-NodeCount` ValidateRange has changed from (2, 16) to (1, 64). Calls passing NodeCount=1 explicitly are now accepted at the parameter-validation layer (still rejected for SingleNode by the topology check, which is unchanged)

## v0.9.81 - April 2026
- Fixed bug in Start-AzLocalTemplateDeployment where $_ was shadowed by a nested catch block, causing ARM deployment error details to be silently lost
- Fixed credential SecureString disposal gap: moved try/finally to wrap all post-credential code so credentials are always disposed even if pre-deployment checks throw
- Fixed Invoke-RestMethod -UseBasicParsing invalid parameter in Get-AzLocalValidationTroubleshootingHints (PS 5.1 does not support this parameter on Invoke-RestMethod) - online TSG search was silently broken
- Fixed [regex]::Unescape() in Format-Json corrupting legitimate escape sequences (UNC paths, literal backslashes) in JSON output
- Added NodeCount validation for StorageSwitchless in Get-AzLocalParameterFilePath and New-AzLocalDeploymentParameterFile - now throws a clear error instead of silently producing an invalid path
- Added NodeCount > 0 validation for multi-node deployment types in Get-AzLocalDeploymentNetworkSettings
- Added consecutive failure counter (limit 10) to Watch-AzLocalDeployment polling loop with error message logging - prevents unbounded silent retry on persistent failures
- Fixed IDisposable resource leak in New-AzLocalJUnitXml: XmlWriter and StringWriter now wrapped in try/finally
- Replaced non-ASCII emoji characters in New-AzLocalDeploymentReport with ASCII-compatible text markers to comply with encoding convention
- Fixed version mismatch between .NOTES and HTML footer in New-AzLocalDeploymentReport

## Earlier versions (v0.9.8 and below)
For full release history of v0.9.8 (user profile config workflow, -NamingConfigPath, Test-AzLocalNamingConfigDefaults), v0.9.7 (Watch-AzLocalDeployment no-timeout default), v0.9.6 (RDMA / inbox driver / RP registration troubleshooting hints), v0.9.5 (GitHub Actions injection fix, Get-AzLocalValidationTroubleshootingHints + -SkipOnlineTSGSearch), v0.9.4 (Write-AzLocalLog + rich exceptions), v0.9.3 (TypeOfDeployment rename: MultiNode->StorageSwitched, Switchless->StorageSwitchless), v0.9.2 (Test-AzLocalAzurePrerequisites: RP + RBAC checks), v0.9.1 (per-node-count switchless templates, -NodeCount parameter), and v0.9.0 (CI/CD CSV-driven multi-cluster deployments + Start-AzLocalCsvDeployment + Get-AzLocalDeploymentStatus), see the GitHub repository: https://github.com/NeilBird/Azure-Local/blob/main/AzLocal.DeploymentAutomation/README.md