New Guide: Automated Windows Disk Provisioning with Salt
New Guide: Automated Windows Disk Provisioning with Salt¶
A new guide is now available covering how to automate Windows disk provisioning using Salt during Aria Automation VM deployments.
This approach eliminates the manual disk preparation steps that are normally required after a Windows VM is provisioned with additional disks attached.
The guide covers:
- Structuring a data-driven storage state that reads disk layout from Salt pillar
- Writing PowerShell helper scripts for disk initialisation and capacity validation
- Configuring role-based storage layouts so disks are configured automatically based on the machine role
- Supporting host-specific overrides via
storage/map.yaml - Integrating the storage state into the
bringupentry point used by Aria Automation
The result is a VM that exits deployment with all disks already initialised, formatted, and mounted — no Day-2 manual steps required.
This guide builds on the separation of concerns described in the Salt State and Pillar Architecture.