Core 3.3.0rc3 integration review

This is a source-based review of the user-supplied Core archive, not a native Windows Update qualification. AIM Core remains separately deployed and unmodified.

Source basis

Authoritative Core topics: ADDON_AGENTS.md, AGENTS.md, scripts/docs/RELEASE_NOTES.md, RELEASE_HANDOFF.md, ADDON_SUPPORT.md, ADDON_API.md, OPERATION_RESULTS.md, PLAYBOOKS.md, VALIDATION.md, SANITY.md, scripts/docs/INSTALLATION.md, and deploy/README.md.

The supplied Core ZIP contains 200 files under aim-core-3.3.0rc3/. Its sidecar and ZIP integrity were checked before extraction. Archive hashes and unchanged-source comparison are in this release's verification record.

Compared with the supplied Core 3.3.0rc1 (the actual previous WebGUI integration), there are three added files: two Windows patch-cycle tasks and the Core installation guide. No files were removed in that comparison. The source-version/metadata, patch runbook/filter/catalog/schema and documentation changed. The semantic catalog difference is confined to maintenance_patch_os; eight other reporting schemas are byte-identical. Core's runtime, credentials, service transport, target-outcome, hierarchy and staging implementations are unchanged in this comparison. This is not an assertion that the new patch runbook was executed successfully here.

Existing public boundaries retained

Service/wire/event API remains 1.0. Reports still use aim_output_v1 publication and aim_operation_result_v1 final results, with result_contract captured at review. Reports arrive at finalization, not as raw debug/stdout. Detailed progress remains play_task_host_v1; native target outcomes and the two-home staging preflight remain. No new execute-request field, credential channel, service or filesystem access is needed.

New rc2/rc3 patch metadata consumed

Core's catalog provides reboot delay (minutes, 0..1440), reboot message and the Windows-only os_patching_rescan_after_reboot boolean. Its catalog hint is false. The WebGUI obtains these options and constraints from public discovery, not a parallel defaults table. Unchanged controls are omitted to preserve inventory/role precedence; a catalog hint is not a resolved effective inventory setting.

Windows now discovers a deterministic queue, installs one discovered update per native invocation and stops a wave at a reboot boundary. With continuation disabled, an AIM-performed reboot can end a successful run with continuation_required: true and remaining_updates_known: false. An explicitly reviewed true continuation value allows Core to rediscover after reboot, bounded to 12 cycles. This is within one Core operation, not permission for the add-on to create more jobs.

A wave finishing without reboot can perform a final read-only search; this does not extend the approved installation queue. When remaining_updates_known is true, pending is the recorded final discovery only. When false, the WebGUI must not show a pre-reboot queue or zero-length list as the established next-wave state.

The patch report adds pre/post reboot observations, delay, deferred state and a stop reason (introduced in Core rc2). Windows adds optional continuation, cycle and remaining-update-knowledge fields in rc3. Individual failed updates carry Core's unsigned/hex HRESULT, reason and bounded safe message. install_not_allowed is not proof of a pending reboot; preexisting_reboot_required is an independent Core preflight observation. The UI displays provided codes; it does not parse fatal text, Windows logs or native error messages.

Consumer changes made

Qualify exact Core 3.3.0rc3 in adapter/executor/CLI/deployment metadata, while keeping live capability negotiation and version rejection intact.
Surface all catalog-driven patch controls and platform hints, with a review note separating reboot from continuation and preserving explicit true/false vs inherited.
Add a report presentation model for continuation, deferred reboot, pre-existing reboot and bounded-cycle stop conditions. This never changes the job/Core verdict.
Present remaining updates according to the new knowledge flag; keep raw structured report JSON available separately, not unrestricted process output.
Preserve historical schemas and data. The same patch_summary_v1 identifier has a larger closed shape now: newly added reboot fields and failure message/hex fields are required where declared. Old jobs render with their recorded schema, never revalidated against today's catalog or backfilled with invented false values.
Retain journal, reports, modal, owner/admin visibility and existing retention limits.

Qualification boundary

Core's current VALIDATION.md records static/filter/schema and disposable deployment checks, not native Ansible 2.19.11/Windows Update/service-sandbox acceptance of rc3. WebGUI test outcomes are recorded independently in VERIFICATION.md. Source tests and synthetic report fixtures do not certify Windows servicing ordering, reboots, pending update state, Server 2012 R2, or every delegated service environment.

5.0 KiB Raw Blame History