en-US/about_AzureLocalRanger.help.txt
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TOPIC about_AzureLocalRanger SHORT DESCRIPTION AzureLocalRanger is a PowerShell module that performs automated, read-only discovery and reporting against Azure Local (formerly Azure Stack HCI) clusters. LONG DESCRIPTION AzureLocalRanger collects cluster topology, storage and networking health, VM workload inventory, security posture, and Azure Arc / registration state from a target Azure Local environment. Results are written to a dated report package containing HTML, Markdown, JSON, and SVG diagram outputs. The module is designed to run from any Windows machine that has: * PowerShell 7 or later * WinRM / network access to the cluster nodes * An Azure context (Connect-AzAccount) or service-principal credentials * RSAT ActiveDirectory PowerShell module (for identity / domain collection) GETTING STARTED 1. Import the module from a local clone today, or install from PSGallery once publication is complete: Import-Module .\AzureLocalRanger.psd1 -Force Or later: Install-Module AzureLocalRanger Or verify prerequisites on an existing install: Test-AzureLocalRangerPrerequisites -InstallPrerequisites 2. Generate a starter configuration file: New-AzureLocalRangerConfig -Path C:\ranger\ranger.yml Open the file and replace all values marked [REQUIRED] with your environment's actual values (cluster FQDN, node names, subscription ID, etc.). 3. Run the assessment: Invoke-AzureLocalRanger -ConfigPath C:\ranger\ranger.yml Reports are written to C:\AzureLocalRanger\<date-stamp>\ by default. QUICK START (NO CONFIG FILE) You can pass the most common settings directly as parameters — no config file needed: Invoke-AzureLocalRanger ` -ClusterFqdn azlocal-prod.contoso.com ` -ClusterNodes azl-n01.contoso.com, azl-n02.contoso.com ` -ClusterCredential (Get-Credential) ` -SubscriptionId '<your-subscription-id>' ` -ResourceGroup rg-azlocal-prod COMMANDS Invoke-AzureLocalRanger Runs the full discovery and reporting pipeline. New-AzureLocalRangerConfig Generates a self-documenting YAML or JSON configuration file. Export-AzureLocalRangerReport Re-renders reports from an existing run manifest without re-collecting data. Test-AzureLocalRangerPrerequisites Validates all requirements; optionally installs missing components. CONFIGURATION FILE The YAML config file controls every aspect of Ranger's behaviour. Key sections: environment — friendly name and description used in report filenames targets — cluster FQDN, node list, and Azure subscription details credentials — WinRM, AD, BMC, and Azure authentication settings domains — include/exclude lists for domain-scoped collection output — report formats, output directory, and diagram format behavior — retries, timeouts, logging level, and rendering flags Values marked [REQUIRED] must be set before the first run. All other fields have working defaults. Use New-AzureLocalRangerConfig to get a pre-annotated copy of the default configuration. OUTPUT PACKAGE Each Invoke-AzureLocalRanger run creates a directory under output.rootPath: C:\AzureLocalRanger\ <environment-name>-<date>-<time>\ ranger-manifest.json — raw run manifest with all collected data ranger.log — plain-text run log report.html — HTML report (if html format requested) report.md — Markdown report topology.svg — architecture diagram report.json — machine-readable structured report CREDENTIALS AND SECURITY Ranger performs read-only operations. It never modifies cluster state. Credentials are never written to disk. The minimum required permissions are: * WinRM read access (typically domain user with local admin on cluster nodes) * Azure Reader on the subscription or resource group * Active Directory read access (for identity domain collection) For non-interactive / pipeline use, store credentials in Azure Key Vault and reference them in the config via passwordRef: keyvault://<vault>/<secret-name>. LINKS Project documentation: https://azurelocal.github.io/azurelocal-ranger GitHub repository: https://github.com/azure-local/azurelocal-ranger Report issues: https://github.com/azure-local/azurelocal-ranger/issues |