1. Proposed title of this feature request
Support for OpenShift Installer-Provisioned Infrastructure (IPI) deployment on Azure Local (Azure Stack HCI)

2. What is the nature and description of the request?
Currently, OpenShift supports IPI deployments on public Azure regions. However, organizations operating in on-premises or disconnected environments leveraging Azure Local (formerly Azure Stack HCI) cannot use IPI workflows.
Supporting IPI deployment on Azure Local would provide the following benefits:

• Consistent experience between public Azure and Azure Local environments
• Simplified cluster installation and lifecycle management using IPI workflows
• Reduced manual configuration compared to User-Provisioned Infrastructure (UPI)
• Improved hybrid cloud integration for customers using Azure Arc, Azure Local, and Red Hat OpenShift

This enhancement would be particularly valuable for:

• Regulated industries (government, defense, finance, pci-dss, etc)
• Edge and on-premises hybrid deployments
• Customers requiring Azure-compatible, disconnected, or sovereign cloud solutions

3. Why does the customer need this? (List the business requirements here)
My customer plans to deploy on Azure local. Without IPI support on Azure Local, customers must rely on UPI deployments, which are:

• Cost addition due to different deployment method
• More complex and error-prone
• Less consistent with cloud-native automation practices
• Slower to deploy and scale
• Lack of automation and resource management provided by Openshift integration with Azure

This limits the adoption of OpenShift in hybrid and edge Azure Local environments.

References:

• Azure Local (formerly Azure Stack HCI)
• OpenShift IPI on Azure documentation

4. List any affected packages or components.
Installer / Platform Integration (Azure)
Cloud controler