Multi Install ISO

Plan, validate, and eventually provision fresh vSphere virtual machines from installation media without depending on templates or golden images.

Current status: DEVELOPMENT / NO-GO FOR PROVISIONING

Planning is the only approved workflow. Do not use the current repository to create VMs until the apply gates in the implementation plan are complete and verified in non-production.

Current capability

Capability	Status	Evidence or limitation
PowerShell parsing	Working	All current PowerShell files parse successfully.
JSON planning	Working	Build-Cluster.ps1 -PlanOnly produces a reviewable plan.
YAML planning	Working	Supports powershell-yaml hashtables and the built-in simple reader.
C# prototype build	Working	The current WinForms prototype builds on .NET 8. It is not the target operator app.
ISO acquisition	Not ready	The existing helper resolves a URL but does not complete and verify the ISO download.
Unattended media attachment	Not ready	Answer-file generation is not yet attached to a vSphere VM.
VM provisioning	Locked	Apply remains out of service until immutable plans, confirmations, receipts, and non-production proof exist.
Published operator app	Not ready	No self-contained release or published smoke proof exists yet.

Safe quick start

Requirements:

• PowerShell 7: pwsh.exe
• powershell-yaml for full YAML support
• Git for repository operations
• .NET 8 SDK for the current C# prototype

Create a plan without contacting vCenter:

pwsh -NoProfile -File .\Build-Cluster.ps1 `
  -DefinitionPath .\cluster-vms.yaml `
  -PlanOnly

The command writes a plan under:

artifacts\<timestamp>\build-plan.json

Review the VM names, guest IDs, datastores, networks, ISO paths, sizing, roles, and reported issues. PlanOnly does not prove those objects exist in vCenter.

Intended operator workflow

flowchart LR
    A["Definition file"] --> B["Parse and validate"]
    B --> C["Write immutable plan"]
    C --> D["Read-only vCenter preflight"]
    D --> E["Exact apply confirmation"]
    E --> F["Provision one VM at a time"]
    F --> G["Write per-VM receipt and final summary"]

Loading

The implementation is being built in gated phases. See docs/IMPLEMENTATION_PLAN.md for scope, acceptance criteria, and the current work item.

Definition format

The preferred YAML shape is:

vms:
  - vmname: "iis-web-01"
    iso: '\\storage\isos\en_windows_server_2022_x64.iso'
    os: "windows2019Server64Guest"
    cpu: 4
    ramGB: 8
    diskGB: 60
    datastore: "datastore1"
    network: "VM Network"

Supported planning inputs:

• YAML: cluster-vms.yaml
• JSON: templates/powercli-vms.json
• CSV: templates/powercli-vms.csv
• Terraform tfvars: templates/terraform.tfvars.json
• Kubernetes pod definitions: templates/kubernetes-pods.json

See docs/DEFINITION_AUTHORING.md for field-level guidance.

Repository map

Path	Purpose
Build-Cluster.ps1	Current plan and provisioning entry point
cluster-vms.yaml	Four-node planning sample
tests/	Offline regression tests; no vCenter writes
src/MultiInstallIso.Orchestrator/	Existing .NET 8 WinForms prototype
schemas/	JSON schemas for supported definition types
templates/	Starter definition files
docs/RUNBOOK.md	Current operator procedure
docs/IMPLEMENTATION_PLAN.md	Gated rebuild plan and acceptance criteria
docs/AUDIT.md	Historical audit notes; not current runtime proof

Security boundaries

• Do not store passwords, PATs, product keys, or domain-join credentials in definition files.
• Do not pass secrets through free-form command arguments or copy them into logs.
• Generated answer files must be treated as sensitive, access-controlled artifacts with a defined cleanup lifecycle.
• Downloaded scripts, ISOs, modules, and providers must be pinned and verified before execution.
• PlanOnly, parser success, and a successful C# build do not authorize infrastructure writes.

Current prototype

Build the existing WinForms prototype for inspection:

dotnet build .\src\MultiInstallIso.Orchestrator\MultiInstallIso.Orchestrator.csproj `
  --configuration Release

This proves compilation only. The target application will be a WPF/WebView2 operator shell with typed bridge messages, dependency and credential status, immutable plan review, guarded apply, redacted diagnostics, and a self-contained win-x64 release.

Documentation

• Implementation plan
• Operator runbook
• Prerequisites
• Definition authoring
• Existing UI mockup
• Historical audit notes