BuildLab stack

Windows dev/build VMs on desktop-01 — for testing the Fallout .NET build framework across multiple Visual Studio MSBuild toolchains (2019 / 2022 / 2026, IDE + Build Tools).

A Homelab.Stacks.* submodule (mounts at stacks/BuildLab). Plan: docs/plans/buildlab-windows-vm.md.

The VM shell is IaC (provisioned greenfield by the engine via the ProxmoxSharp VM write path); the guest OS + Visual Studio installs are fully unattended:

flowchart LR
  ISO["📀 build-iso.ps1<br/>Win11 + virtio + autounattend"] --> CREATE
  CREATE["🖥️ engine converge<br/>create VM 1100 (greenfield)"] --> WIN["🪟 Win11 unattended install<br/>(OOBE bypass · RDP · virtio)"]
  WIN --> VS["🧰 provision-vs.ps1<br/>VS 2019 / 2022 / 2026<br/>IDE + Build Tools + .NET SDK"]
  VS --> READY["✅ headless build box"]
  classDef done fill:#dcfce7,stroke:#16a34a;
  class READY done;

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Members

VMID block 1100–1199 (declared in stack.yaml; members inherit its defaults).

VMID	Member	Image	Status
1100	buildvm	Windows 11 + VS 2019/2022/2026 (IDE + Build Tools)	greenfield — created fresh via the unattended pipeline

buildvm is greenfield (the engine creates the VM + its volumes from scratch), unlike the Gaming stack's adopted VMs. No GPU passthrough — it is a headless build box and keeps the emulated display so the Proxmox console + RDP work.

Hardware reality (desktop-01)

• Ryzen 5 3600 (6c/12t), 16 GB RAM, the strongest CPU in the cluster and the node that already runs the proven Win11 recipe (gaming VM 1002).
• 16 GB is tight: the VM runs on-demand at 12 GB (onboot: false) so it borrows RAM only while testing. The gaming VMs are also on-demand → effectively mutually exclusive on RAM with this box (accepted). Raise the 12 GB once desktop-01 sheds LXCs.
• Disk is 150 GB thin on local-lvm (Win11 + 6 lean .NET-build VS installs + .NET SDKs + build artifacts). Far smaller than a C++/full-IDE box because the workloads are minimal MSBuild/.NET. Confirm the thin pool has room before applying.

Deploying

kind: VM shapes for the homelab/v1 contract, provisioned by the ProxmoxSharp VM write path via the homelab-infra engine — not the LXC Deploy-Shape.ps1 path.

# from the Homelab checkout — source secrets once:
set -a && . ./secrets.env && set +a

# 0. Build + upload the custom unattended install ISO (one-time prerequisite —
#    the engine has no ISO fetch/build logic). Supply the base Win11 ISO:
pwsh stacks/BuildLab/scripts/build-iso.ps1 -Win11Iso <path-to-Win11.iso>

# 1. Dry-run the stack (read-only) — inspect the fresh disk/efidisk/tpmstate plan:
./build.sh Preview --stack BuildLab

# 2. Apply (creates VM 1100):
./build.sh Deploy --stack BuildLab

# 3. Start it — Windows installs unattended, then first logon runs the VS installer:
proxmoxsharp vm start desktop-01 1100

Re-converge after first boot should plan as Skip (idempotent). Detach the install ISO once Windows is up (remove the cdrom: block from buildvm.vm.yaml and re-converge).

Unattended pipeline

The VM shell is IaC; the guest OS + VS installs are scripted (net-new — no prior unattended tooling existed in the repo):

• unattend/autounattend.xml — silent Win11 install: GPT/UEFI partitioning, skip product key (runs unactivated — throwaway dev box), local admin, OOBE bypass (no Microsoft account), RDP enabled, virtio-scsi driver injection (<DriverPaths>), and a first-logon hook that launches the VS installer.
• scripts/build-iso.ps1 / scripts/build-iso.sh — bake Win11 + virtio-win drivers + autounattend.xml + the provisioner into buildlab-win11-unattended.iso and upload it to desktop-01's local storage.
• unattend/provision-vs.ps1 — silently installs VS Community (IDE) + Build Tools for 2019/2022/2026 via the Microsoft bootstrappers, each driven by a unattend/*.vsconfig workload file.

Tuning the toolchains

Workloads live in two shared files applied across all three VS versions: unattend/ide.vsconfig (the Community IDE) and unattend/buildtools.vsconfig (the standalone Build Tools). Default = minimal MSBuild / .NET: IDE shell + MSBuild + Roslyn + .NET SDK

• .NET Framework 4.8 SDK (IDE), and the MSBuild + managed-build workloads + .NET SDK (Build Tools). No native/C++. Edit these to narrow/widen — they are the single tuning point (component IDs are stable across VS 16/17/18; copy to <year>.*.vsconfig if a version needs a tweak). provision-vs.ps1 also installs the standalone .NET SDK (channel 10.0) so modern targets build regardless of VS version.

Re-deployability

The VM shell (config, fresh disks) and the guest install are both reproducible: rebuild the ISO + re-run the pipeline to get a fresh box "state of the art". Running unactivated + VS Community by decision — no license keys to manage.

Parking lot

Build agents / CI runners and other dev-test VMs can join this stack later — the name is generic on purpose. New members take the next free VMID in 1100–1199.