Automation Guide

DOCUMENT CATEGORY: Runbook SCOPE: Infrastructure-as-Code, CI/CD platform setup, and automation tooling PURPOSE: Organize Azure Local automation guidance into a reader-friendly structure aligned to the implementation guide MASTER REFERENCE: Microsoft Learn - Azure Local

Status: Active

This guide centralizes the automation assets used to deliver Azure Local in a repeatable way. It is structured to mirror the implementation guide: start with orientation, move into CI/CD platform setup, then choose the pipeline platform and tooling that match your operating model.

Start Here

Step	Purpose	Link
1	Understand the guide's boundaries and intended reader	Purpose and Scope
2	Learn how to navigate between automation and implementation docs	How to Use This Guide
3	Build the CI/CD foundation	Part 1: CI/CD Infrastructure
4	Choose a delivery platform	Part 2: CI/CD Pipelines
5	Use the tool-specific guides	Part 3: Automation Guides

Deployment Paths

Path	Azure Resources	On-Premises / Guest Configuration	Best For
Terraform + PowerShell	Terraform	PowerShell scripts	Teams with existing PowerShell operational workflows
Terraform + Ansible	Terraform	Ansible playbooks	Teams preferring declarative configuration management
Ansible Only	azure.azcollection	Ansible playbooks	Teams standardizing on Ansible across cloud and on-premises

Why the Guide Is Split into Sections

• CI/CD Infrastructure covers the platform you must build first: source control project, environments, variables, and runners.
• CI/CD Pipelines covers the delivery engine you choose to run on that platform: GitLab, GitHub Actions, or Azure DevOps.
• Automation Guides covers the technical assets those pipelines call: Terraform, Ansible, Bicep, and PowerShell.

This separation keeps platform setup, delivery orchestration, and tool implementation from being mixed together on the same level of the sidebar.

Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                        variables.yml                                │
│              (Single Source of Truth — 970+ variables)               │
└────────────┬───────────────────┬──────────────────┬─────────────────┘
             │                   │                  │
     Export-TerraformTfvars  Export-AnsibleVars  Export-BicepParams
             │                   │                  │
             ▼                   ▼                  ▼
      terraform.tfvars    group_vars/all.yml   *.bicepparam
             │                   │
             ▼                   ▼
      ┌─────────────┐   ┌───────────────┐
      │  Terraform  │   │    Ansible    │
      │  Modules    │   │    Roles      │
      ├─────────────┤   ├───────────────┤
      │ landing-zone│   │ ad-preparation│
      │ networking  │   │ os-config     │
      │ identity    │   │ arc-register  │
      │ monitoring  │   │ monitoring    │
      │ security    │   │ domain-ctrl   │
      │ compute     │   │ wac-server    │
      └──────┬──────┘   │ syslog        │
             │           └───────┬───────┘
             ▼                   ▼
      Azure Resources      On-Prem Config

Section Overview

Section	What You Get
Purpose and Scope	Reader expectations, deployment paths, scope boundaries
How to Use This Guide	Reading order and how to combine this guide with the implementation guide
Part 1: CI/CD Infrastructure	Runner deployment, project setup, environments, and variables
Part 2: CI/CD Pipelines	Platform-specific delivery pipeline models
Part 3: Automation Guides	Tool-specific guidance for Terraform, Ansible, Bicep, and PowerShell

Variable System

All automation consumes the central config/variables/variables.yml file. Export functions transform YAML into tool-specific formats:

. scripts/common/utilities/helpers/config-loader.ps1
$config = Get-Config -ConfigPath "config/variables/variables.yml"

Export-TerraformTfvars -Config $config -OutputPath "src/terraform/environments/azure-local/terraform.tfvars"
Export-AnsibleVars -Config $config -OutputPath "src/ansible/inventory/group_vars/all.yml"

Repository

All automation code lives in the azurelocal-toolkit repository:

Directory	Contents
src/terraform/	Terraform modules and root environment
src/ansible/	Ansible roles, playbooks, and inventory
pipelines/	CI/CD pipeline definitions
scripts/deploy/	PowerShell deployment scripts
config/variables/	Central variable system