# Hyper-V Windows Server Automation - Project Documentation

## Project Overview

This project demonstrates enterprise-grade automation for the complete lifecycle of Windows Server VMs on Hyper-V using Ansible Automation Platform (AAP), implementing GitOps and Infrastructure as Code (IaC) principles.

**Target Audience**: Enterprise IT operations teams, infrastructure engineers, platform engineers

**Deployment Platform**: Ansible Automation Platform 2.x (formerly Ansible Tower)

**Future Roadmap**: Event-Driven Ansible (EDA) integration for reactive automation

## Architecture

### Technology Stack

- **Automation Engine**: Ansible Core 2.15+
- **Platform**: Ansible Automation Platform 2.4+
- **Hypervisor**: Microsoft Hyper-V (Windows Server 2019/2022)
- **Guest OS**: Windows Server 2019/2022
- **CMDB**: ServiceNow ITSM
- **Version Control**: Git (GitOps workflow)
- **Authentication**: Active Directory / Kerberos

### Connectivity Model

```
Ansible Automation Platform
    ↓ (WinRM over HTTPS/Kerberos)
Windows Hyper-V Host(s)
    ↓ (Hyper-V PowerShell)
Windows Server VMs
    ↓ (REST API)
ServiceNow CMDB
```

### Core Use Cases

1. **VM Provisioning**: Automated creation of Windows Server VMs using unattended installation (autounattend.xml)
2. **Patch Management**: Automated Windows Update deployment triggered by git commits
3. **Application Deployment**: Install and configure applications (IIS demonstration)
4. **Configuration Management**: Day-2 operations and drift remediation
5. **CMDB Synchronization**: Bidirectional sync with ServiceNow CMDB

## Project Structure

```
.
├── ansible.cfg                      # Ansible configuration with Windows/WinRM defaults
├── collections/
│   └── requirements.yml             # Required Ansible collections
├── inventory/
│   ├── production/
│   │   └── hosts.yml                # Production inventory
│   └── staging/
│       └── hosts.yml                # Staging inventory (future)
├── group_vars/
│   ├── all.yml                      # Global variables
│   ├── hyperv_hosts.yml             # Hyper-V host configuration
│   ├── windows_servers.yml          # Windows Server defaults
│   └── web_servers.yml              # IIS/web server configuration
├── host_vars/                       # Host-specific variables (future)
├── playbooks/
│   ├── provision-vm.yml             # VM provisioning workflow
│   ├── patch-vms.yml                # Windows Update automation
│   ├── install-iis.yml              # IIS deployment
│   └── sync-cmdb.yml                # ServiceNow CMDB sync
├── roles/                           # Custom roles (future development)
│   ├── windows_baseline/            # Windows hardening & baseline config
│   ├── hyperv_vm/                   # Hyper-V VM management
│   ├── iis_webapp/                  # IIS application deployment
│   └── servicenow_sync/             # ServiceNow integration
├── templates/                       # Jinja2 templates (future)
│   └── autounattend.xml.j2          # Windows unattended install template
└── README.md                        # Quick start guide
```

## Key Design Patterns

### GitOps Workflow

All infrastructure changes flow through Git:
1. Engineer creates feature branch
2. Updates inventory or group_vars to define desired state
3. Commits and creates pull request
4. AAP webhook triggers job template for validation
5. After merge, AAP webhook triggers deployment

### Idempotency

All playbooks must be idempotent - safe to run multiple times without side effects. Use:
- `state: present` vs `state: absent`
- Conditional tasks with `when:`
- Changed/failed handlers
- Check mode support (`--check`)

### Credential Management

- **Never commit secrets to Git**
- Use AAP credential types for:
  - Machine credentials (WinRM)
  - ServiceNow credentials
  - Domain join credentials
- Use Ansible Vault for sensitive variables in development

### Role-Based Organization

Future development should extract common patterns into roles:
- `roles/windows_baseline/`: Base Windows configuration
- `roles/hyperv_vm/`: VM lifecycle management
- `roles/iis_webapp/`: IIS deployment patterns

## Technical Requirements

### Prerequisites

1. **Ansible Automation Platform**
   - AAP 2.4 or later
   - Controller configured with Windows machine credentials
   - Execution environment with Windows collections

2. **Hyper-V Environment**
   - Windows Server 2019/2022 with Hyper-V role
   - WinRM enabled and configured
   - Kerberos authentication configured
   - Sufficient storage for VM images

3. **Network Requirements**
   - WinRM ports (5985/5986) open from AAP to Hyper-V hosts
   - WinRM ports open from AAP to managed Windows VMs
   - DNS resolution for all hosts
   - Active Directory domain membership

4. **ServiceNow**
   - ServiceNow instance with CMDB
   - API user credentials
   - CMDB table structure defined

### Windows Remote Management Setup

On all Windows hosts (Hyper-V and VMs):

```powershell
# Enable WinRM with HTTPS
winrm quickconfig -transport:https
winrm set winrm/config/service/auth '@{Kerberos="true"}'
winrm set winrm/config/service '@{AllowUnencrypted="false"}'
```

## Development Guidelines

### Adding New Playbooks

1. Create playbook in `playbooks/` directory
2. Use descriptive names: `verb-noun.yml` (e.g., `deploy-webapp.yml`)
3. Include proper documentation in header
4. Add tags for selective execution
5. Implement check mode support
6. Test in staging environment first

### Variable Precedence

Follow this hierarchy (least to most specific):
1. `group_vars/all.yml` - Global defaults
2. `group_vars/<group>.yml` - Group-specific
3. `host_vars/<host>.yml` - Host-specific
4. Playbook `vars:` - Playbook overrides
5. Extra vars (`-e`) - Runtime overrides

### Testing Strategy

1. **Syntax Check**: `ansible-playbook --syntax-check playbook.yml`
2. **Check Mode**: `ansible-playbook --check playbook.yml`
3. **Limit Scope**: `--limit` to test on single host first
4. **Verbose Output**: Use `-v`, `-vv`, `-vvv` for debugging
5. **Staging First**: Always test in staging before production

### Windows Module Best Practices

- Use `ansible.windows.*` modules (not deprecated `win_*`)
- Always handle reboots explicitly with `ansible.windows.win_reboot`
- Use `register:` to capture task output
- Check `reboot_required` in results
- Use `failed_when:` for expected error conditions

## AAP Integration

### Job Templates to Create

1. **Provision VM** - `playbooks/provision-vm.yml`
   - Survey for VM name, IP, CPU, RAM
   - Credential: Hyper-V machine credential
   - Webhook enabled for GitOps

2. **Patch VMs** - `playbooks/patch-vms.yml`
   - Limit pattern for selective patching
   - Scheduled for maintenance windows
   - Credential: Windows machine credential

3. **Deploy IIS** - `playbooks/install-iis.yml`
   - Limit to web_servers group
   - Credential: Windows machine credential

4. **Sync CMDB** - `playbooks/sync-cmdb.yml`
   - Scheduled daily
   - Credentials: Windows + ServiceNow

### Workflow Templates (Future)

Create workflows for complex orchestration:
- **Full VM Lifecycle**: Provision → Configure → Deploy App → Update CMDB
- **Patch & Compliance**: Patch → Verify → Update CMDB → Generate Report

### Event-Driven Ansible (Future)

Planned EDA integrations:
- ServiceNow incident triggers remediation playbook
- Windows Event Log monitoring triggers security response
- Hyper-V alerts trigger capacity management
- Git webhook triggers deployment pipeline

## Common Tasks

### Bootstrap a New VM

```bash
# Provision VM
ansible-playbook playbooks/provision-vm.yml \
  -e vm_name=DEMO-WEB01 \
  -e vm_ip_address=192.168.1.101

# Configure baseline
ansible-playbook playbooks/windows-baseline.yml --limit DEMO-WEB01

# Deploy application
ansible-playbook playbooks/install-iis.yml --limit DEMO-WEB01

# Update CMDB
ansible-playbook playbooks/sync-cmdb.yml --limit DEMO-WEB01
```

### Patch All Windows Servers

```bash
ansible-playbook playbooks/patch-vms.yml --limit windows_servers
```

### Update Specific Group

```bash
ansible-playbook playbooks/patch-vms.yml --limit web_servers
```

## Troubleshooting

### WinRM Connection Issues

```bash
# Test WinRM connectivity
ansible hyperv_hosts -m ansible.windows.win_ping

# Check with verbose output
ansible hyperv_hosts -m ansible.windows.win_ping -vvv
```

### Common Issues

1. **Kerberos Authentication Failure**
   - Verify DNS resolution (forward and reverse)
   - Check domain join status
   - Verify time synchronization
   - Check Kerberos ticket: `klist`

2. **Module Not Found**
   - Install collections: `ansible-galaxy collection install -r collections/requirements.yml`
   - Verify in AAP execution environment

3. **Timeout Issues**
   - Increase timeout in `ansible.cfg`
   - Check network connectivity
   - Verify WinRM service running

## Security Considerations

### Credential Storage

- Use AAP credential vault (not Ansible Vault in production)
- Rotate credentials regularly
- Use least-privilege service accounts
- Separate credentials per environment

### Network Security

- Use WinRM over HTTPS (port 5986)
- Enable Kerberos encryption
- Implement network segmentation
- Use jump hosts/bastion for AAP

### Compliance

- Enable audit logging in AAP
- Log all playbook runs
- Track changes in ServiceNow CMDB
- Implement change approval workflow

## Future Enhancements

### Phase 2 - Advanced Features

- [ ] Custom execution environment with all dependencies
- [ ] Ansible Vault integration for secrets
- [ ] Enhanced autounattend.xml templating
- [ ] VM template/image management
- [ ] Backup and DR automation

### Phase 3 - EDA Integration

- [ ] ServiceNow incident-driven remediation
- [ ] Windows Event Log monitoring
- [ ] Hyper-V performance monitoring
- [ ] Self-healing automation

### Phase 4 - Enterprise Scale

- [ ] Multi-region Hyper-V clusters
- [ ] RBAC and delegation model
- [ ] Compliance scanning and remediation
- [ ] Cost tracking and optimization
- [ ] Disaster recovery automation

## Contributing

This is a demonstration project. When extending:

1. Follow existing patterns and structure
2. Test thoroughly in staging
3. Document all variables in group_vars
4. Use semantic versioning for releases
5. Update this CLAUDE.md with architectural changes

## References

- [Ansible Windows Guide](https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/os_guide/windows_usage.html)
- [Ansible Automation Platform Docs](https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-us/red_hat_ansible_automation_platform)
- [ServiceNow ITSM Collection](https://github.com/ansible-collections/servicenow.itsm)
- [Event-Driven Ansible](https://www.ansible.com/products/event-driven-ansible)