diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 612ddab..4b19554 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -9,8 +9,8 @@ cd bolt
 bolt plan run ubuntu::create_vm \
   target_host=vortex \
   vm_name=moeny-bank01 \
-  hostname=moeny-bank01
-  ip_with_cidr=100.40.223.189/24 \
+  hostname=moeny-bank01 \
+  ip_with_cidr=100.40.223.189/24 -v
 ```
 
 ## Alpine VMs
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ bolt plan run alpine::create_vm \
   hostname=moeny-service \
   ip_with_cidr=100.40.223.189/24 \
   add_a_record_bool=true \
-  dns_hostname=service
+  dns_hostname=service -v
 ```
 
 Note that `add_a_record_bool` must be set to `true` if you would like an A record for the VM to be added to the DNS server zone file, as it is `false` by default. If using this functionality, `dns_hostname` should also be provided and optionally `dns_ttl` if you do not want the default of `3600`. The ability to interact with the DNS server depends on having set up a TSIG key on your DNS server for dynamic updates and storing a copy of your `tsig.key` file in a directory called `keys` at the root of the bolt project, alongside `bolt-project.yaml`. If either of these conditions have not been met, do not attempt to use this functionality. For more information on setting up dynamic DNS with a TSIG key, see our [bind9](https://gitea.moeny.ai/moeny/bind9) repo.
diff --git a/vm_automation/alpine/plans/create_vm.yaml b/vm_automation/alpine/plans/create_vm.yaml
index 307f97c..2dbc1bd 100644
--- a/vm_automation/alpine/plans/create_vm.yaml
+++ b/vm_automation/alpine/plans/create_vm.yaml
@@ -101,6 +101,30 @@ parameters:
     default: "1.1.1.1"
 
 steps:
+  - name: validate_parameters
+    description: Validate all input parameters before proceeding
+    task: alpine::validate_vm_parameters
+    targets: localhost
+    parameters:
+      target_host: $target_host
+      vm_name: $vm_name
+      hostname: $hostname
+      network: $network
+      ip_with_cidr: $ip_with_cidr
+      gateway_ip: $gateway_ip
+      iso_path: $iso_path
+      staging_ip: $staging_ip
+      dns_hostname: $dns_hostname
+      dns_ttl: $dns_ttl
+      ram: $ram
+      vcpus: $vcpus
+      disk_size: $disk_size
+      disk_path: $disk_path
+      os_variant: $os_variant
+      nameserver1: $nameserver1
+      nameserver2: $nameserver2
+      nameserver3: $nameserver3
+
   - name: check_ip_availability
     description: Check if the target IP is already in use
     task: common::check_ip_availability
diff --git a/vm_automation/alpine/tasks/validate_vm_parameters.json b/vm_automation/alpine/tasks/validate_vm_parameters.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..91a2dec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/vm_automation/alpine/tasks/validate_vm_parameters.json
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+{
+  "description": "Validates all parameters for Alpine VM creation",
+  "input_method": "environment",
+  "parameters": {
+    "target_host": {
+      "description": "Target host to create the VM on (must be vortex or astrocore)",
+      "type": "String"
+    },
+    "vm_name": {
+      "description": "Name of the VM (alphanumeric and hyphens only)",
+      "type": "String"
+    },
+    "hostname": {
+      "description": "Hostname of the VM (alphanumeric and hyphens only)",
+      "type": "String"
+    },
+    "network": {
+      "description": "Network to connect the VM to (wan-verizon or moeny-internal)",
+      "type": "String"
+    },
+    "ip_with_cidr": {
+      "description": "IP address with CIDR notation (e.g. 192.168.1.1/24)",
+      "type": "String"
+    },
+    "gateway_ip": {
+      "description": "Gateway IP address",
+      "type": "String"
+    },
+    "iso_path": {
+      "description": "Absolute path to the ISO file (must end in .iso)",
+      "type": "String"
+    },
+    "staging_ip": {
+      "description": "IP address for staging",
+      "type": "String"
+    },
+    "dns_hostname": {
+      "description": "Hostname for the DNS A record (alphanumeric and hyphens only)",
+      "type": "String"
+    },
+    "dns_ttl": {
+      "description": "TTL for the DNS A record (positive integer)",
+      "type": "Integer"
+    },
+    "ram": {
+      "description": "Amount of RAM in MB (positive integer)",
+      "type": "Integer"
+    },
+    "vcpus": {
+      "description": "Number of virtual CPUs (positive integer)",
+      "type": "Integer"
+    },
+    "disk_size": {
+      "description": "Size of the disk in GB (positive integer)",
+      "type": "Integer"
+    },
+    "disk_path": {
+      "description": "Base path for disk images (must be absolute path)",
+      "type": "String"
+    },
+    "os_variant": {
+      "description": "OS variant for the VM (must be in format alpinelinuxX.XX)",
+      "type": "String"
+    },
+    "nameserver1": {
+      "description": "Primary nameserver IP address",
+      "type": "String"
+    },
+    "nameserver2": {
+      "description": "Secondary nameserver IP address",
+      "type": "String"
+    },
+    "nameserver3": {
+      "description": "Tertiary nameserver IP address",
+      "type": "String"
+    }
+  }
+} 
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/vm_automation/alpine/tasks/validate_vm_parameters.sh b/vm_automation/alpine/tasks/validate_vm_parameters.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..19681ce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/vm_automation/alpine/tasks/validate_vm_parameters.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,224 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Task to validate VM parameters (alpine::validate_vm_parameters)
+
+# Array to store warnings
+WARNINGS=()
+
+# Function to output status messages in JSON format
+output_status() {
+    local status=$1
+    local message=$2
+    local warnings_json=""
+    
+    if [ ${#WARNINGS[@]} -gt 0 ]; then
+        warnings_json=", \"warnings\": ["
+        for i in "${!WARNINGS[@]}"; do
+            if [ $i -gt 0 ]; then
+                warnings_json="${warnings_json}, "
+            fi
+            warnings_json="${warnings_json}\"${WARNINGS[$i]}\""
+        done
+        warnings_json="${warnings_json}]"
+    fi
+    
+    echo "{ \"status\": \"$status\", \"message\": \"$message\"${warnings_json} }"
+    if [ "$status" = "error" ]; then
+        exit 1
+    fi
+}
+
+# Function to output warning messages
+output_warning() {
+    local message=$1
+    WARNINGS+=("$message")
+}
+
+# Function to get network portion of IP
+get_network_from_ip() {
+    local ip=$1
+    echo "$ip" | cut -d'.' -f1-3
+}
+
+# Function to validate network relationships
+validate_network_relationships() {
+    local network=$1
+    local ip_with_cidr=$2
+    local gateway_ip=$3
+    local staging_ip=$4
+
+    # Extract IP from CIDR notation
+    local ip=$(echo "$ip_with_cidr" | cut -d'/' -f1)
+    local cidr=$(echo "$ip_with_cidr" | cut -d'/' -f2)
+    
+    # Get network portions
+    local ip_network=$(get_network_from_ip "$ip")
+    local gateway_network=$(get_network_from_ip "$gateway_ip")
+    local staging_network=$(get_network_from_ip "$staging_ip")
+
+    # Check CIDR is /24
+    if [[ "$cidr" != "24" ]]; then
+        output_warning "Network mask /24 is typical, found /$cidr"
+    fi
+
+    # Check gateway ends in .1
+    if [[ ! "$gateway_ip" =~ \.1$ ]]; then
+        output_warning "Gateway typically ends in .1, found $gateway_ip"
+    fi
+
+    # Validate network relationships
+    if [[ "$ip_network" != "$gateway_network" ]]; then
+        output_status "error" "IP ($ip) and gateway ($gateway_ip) must be in the same network"
+    fi
+
+    if [[ "$ip_network" != "$staging_network" ]]; then
+        output_warning "staging IP ($staging_ip) is in a different network than primary IP ($ip)"
+    fi
+
+    # Network-specific validations
+    if [[ "$network" == "wan-verizon" ]]; then
+        if [[ ! "$ip_network" =~ ^100\.40\.223$ ]]; then
+            output_warning "wan-verizon network typically uses 100.40.223.0/24 range, but got ${ip_network}.0/${cidr}"
+        fi
+        if [[ "$gateway_ip" != "100.40.223.1" ]]; then
+            output_warning "wan-verizon network typically uses 100.40.223.1 as gateway, but got ${gateway_ip}"
+        fi
+    elif [[ "$network" == "moeny-internal" ]]; then
+        if [[ ! "$ip_network" =~ ^10\.44\.0$ ]]; then
+            output_warning "moeny-internal network typically uses 10.44.0.0/24 range, but got ${ip_network}.0/${cidr}"
+        fi
+        if [[ "$gateway_ip" != "10.44.0.1" ]]; then
+            output_warning "moeny-internal network typically uses 10.44.0.1 as gateway, but got ${gateway_ip}"
+        fi
+    fi
+}
+
+# Function to validate target host
+validate_target_host() {
+    local host=$1
+    if [[ "$host" != "vortex" && "$host" != "astrocore" ]]; then
+        output_status "error" "Invalid target_host '$host'. Must be either vortex or astrocore"
+    fi
+}
+
+# Function to validate hostname format
+validate_hostname() {
+    local hostname=$1
+    local param_name=$2
+    if ! echo "$hostname" | grep -qE '^[a-zA-Z0-9-]+$'; then
+        output_status "error" "Invalid $param_name '$hostname'. Must contain only alphanumeric characters and hyphens."
+    fi
+}
+
+# Function to validate network
+validate_network() {
+    local network=$1
+    if [[ "$network" != "wan-verizon" && "$network" != "moeny-internal" ]]; then
+        output_status "error" "Invalid network '$network'. Must be either wan-verizon or moeny-internal"
+    fi
+}
+
+# Function to validate IP with CIDR
+validate_ip_with_cidr() {
+    local ip_cidr=$1
+    local ip=$(echo "$ip_cidr" | cut -d'/' -f1)
+    local cidr=$(echo "$ip_cidr" | cut -d'/' -f2)
+    
+    # Validate IP
+    if ! echo "$ip" | grep -qE '^((25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|[01]?[0-9][0-9]?)\.){3}(25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|[01]?[0-9][0-9]?)$'; then
+        output_status "error" "Invalid IP address format in ip_with_cidr '$ip_cidr'"
+    fi
+    
+    # Validate CIDR
+    if ! [[ "$cidr" =~ ^[0-9]+$ ]] || [ "$cidr" -lt 0 ] || [ "$cidr" -gt 32 ]; then
+        output_status "error" "Invalid CIDR prefix in ip_with_cidr '$ip_cidr'. Must be between 0 and 32."
+    fi
+}
+
+# Function to validate IP address
+validate_ip() {
+    local ip=$1
+    local param_name=$2
+    if ! echo "$ip" | grep -qE '^((25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|[01]?[0-9][0-9]?)\.){3}(25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|[01]?[0-9][0-9]?)$'; then
+        output_status "error" "Invalid $param_name IP address: '$ip'"
+    fi
+}
+
+# Function to validate ISO path
+validate_iso_path() {
+    local path=$1
+    if [[ ! "$path" =~ ^/.+\.iso$ ]]; then
+        output_status "error" "Invalid iso_path '$path'. Must be absolute path ending in .iso"
+    fi
+
+    # Extract just the filename from the path
+    local filename=$(basename "$path")
+    if [[ ! "$filename" =~ ^alpine ]]; then
+        output_warning "ISO filename ('${filename}') should typically begin with 'alpine'"
+    fi
+}
+
+# Function to validate positive integer
+validate_positive_integer() {
+    local value=$1
+    local name=$2
+    if ! [[ "$value" =~ ^[0-9]+$ ]] || [ "$value" -le 0 ]; then
+        output_status "error" "Invalid $name '$value'. Must be a positive integer."
+    fi
+}
+
+# Function to validate disk path
+validate_disk_path() {
+    local path=$1
+    if [[ ! "$path" =~ ^/ ]]; then
+        output_status "error" "Invalid disk_path '$path'. Must be an absolute path."
+    fi
+}
+
+# Function to validate OS variant
+validate_os_variant() {
+    local variant=$1
+    if ! echo "$variant" | grep -qE '^alpinelinux[0-9]+\.[0-9]+$'; then
+        output_status "error" "Invalid os_variant '$variant'. Must be in format 'alpinelinuxX.XX' (e.g. alpinelinux3.20)"
+    fi
+}
+
+# Function to validate name relationships
+validate_name_relationships() {
+    local vm_name=$1
+    local hostname=$2
+    
+    if [[ "$vm_name" != "$hostname" ]]; then
+        output_warning "vm_name ('${vm_name}') typically matches hostname ('${hostname}')"
+    fi
+}
+
+# Parse JSON input from PT_* environment variables
+validate_target_host "$PT_target_host"
+validate_hostname "$PT_vm_name" "vm_name"
+validate_hostname "$PT_hostname" "hostname"
+
+# Validate name relationships
+validate_name_relationships "$PT_vm_name" "$PT_hostname"
+
+validate_network "$PT_network"
+validate_ip_with_cidr "$PT_ip_with_cidr"
+validate_ip "$PT_gateway_ip" "gateway_ip"
+validate_iso_path "$PT_iso_path"
+validate_ip "$PT_staging_ip" "staging_ip"
+
+# Validate network relationships after individual validations pass
+validate_network_relationships "$PT_network" "$PT_ip_with_cidr" "$PT_gateway_ip" "$PT_staging_ip"
+
+validate_hostname "$PT_dns_hostname" "dns_hostname"
+validate_positive_integer "$PT_dns_ttl" "dns_ttl"
+validate_positive_integer "$PT_ram" "RAM"
+validate_positive_integer "$PT_vcpus" "vCPUs"
+validate_positive_integer "$PT_disk_size" "disk_size"
+validate_disk_path "$PT_disk_path"
+validate_os_variant "$PT_os_variant"
+validate_ip "$PT_nameserver1" "primary nameserver"
+validate_ip "$PT_nameserver2" "secondary nameserver"
+validate_ip "$PT_nameserver3" "tertiary nameserver"
+
+# If we get here, all validations passed
+output_status "success" "All parameters validated successfully" 
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/vm_automation/ubuntu/plans/create_vm.yaml b/vm_automation/ubuntu/plans/create_vm.yaml
index 4aa041b..e5ef2c9 100644
--- a/vm_automation/ubuntu/plans/create_vm.yaml
+++ b/vm_automation/ubuntu/plans/create_vm.yaml
@@ -101,6 +101,30 @@ parameters:
     default: "1.1.1.1"
 
 steps:
+  - name: validate_parameters
+    description: Validate all input parameters before proceeding
+    task: ubuntu::validate_vm_parameters
+    targets: localhost
+    parameters:
+      target_host: $target_host
+      vm_name: $vm_name
+      hostname: $hostname
+      network: $network
+      ip_with_cidr: $ip_with_cidr
+      gateway_ip: $gateway_ip
+      iso_path: $iso_path
+      staging_ip: $staging_ip
+      dns_hostname: $dns_hostname
+      dns_ttl: $dns_ttl
+      ram: $ram
+      vcpus: $vcpus
+      disk_size: $disk_size
+      disk_path: $disk_path
+      os_variant: $os_variant
+      nameserver1: $nameserver1
+      nameserver2: $nameserver2
+      nameserver3: $nameserver3
+
   - name: check_ip_availability
     description: Check if the target IP is already in use
     task: common::check_ip_availability
diff --git a/vm_automation/ubuntu/tasks/validate_vm_parameters.json b/vm_automation/ubuntu/tasks/validate_vm_parameters.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b04d177
--- /dev/null
+++ b/vm_automation/ubuntu/tasks/validate_vm_parameters.json
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+{
+  "description": "Validates all parameters for VM creation",
+  "input_method": "environment",
+  "parameters": {
+    "target_host": {
+      "description": "Target host to create the VM on (must be vortex or astrocore)",
+      "type": "String"
+    },
+    "vm_name": {
+      "description": "Name of the VM (alphanumeric and hyphens only)",
+      "type": "String"
+    },
+    "hostname": {
+      "description": "Hostname of the VM (alphanumeric and hyphens only)",
+      "type": "String"
+    },
+    "network": {
+      "description": "Network to connect the VM to (wan-verizon or moeny-internal)",
+      "type": "String"
+    },
+    "ip_with_cidr": {
+      "description": "IP address with CIDR notation (e.g. 192.168.1.1/24)",
+      "type": "String"
+    },
+    "gateway_ip": {
+      "description": "Gateway IP address",
+      "type": "String"
+    },
+    "iso_path": {
+      "description": "Absolute path to the ISO file (must end in .iso)",
+      "type": "String"
+    },
+    "staging_ip": {
+      "description": "Target VM for post-installation tasks (public or internal)",
+      "type": "String"
+    },
+    "dns_hostname": {
+      "description": "Hostname for the DNS A record (alphanumeric and hyphens only)",
+      "type": "String"
+    },
+    "dns_ttl": {
+      "description": "TTL for the DNS A record (positive integer)",
+      "type": "Integer"
+    },
+    "ram": {
+      "description": "Amount of RAM in MB (positive integer)",
+      "type": "Integer"
+    },
+    "vcpus": {
+      "description": "Number of virtual CPUs (positive integer)",
+      "type": "Integer"
+    },
+    "disk_size": {
+      "description": "Size of the disk in GB (positive integer)",
+      "type": "Integer"
+    },
+    "disk_path": {
+      "description": "Base path for disk images (must be absolute path)",
+      "type": "String"
+    },
+    "os_variant": {
+      "description": "OS variant for the VM (must be in format ubuntuXX.XX)",
+      "type": "String"
+    },
+    "nameserver1": {
+      "description": "Primary nameserver IP address",
+      "type": "String"
+    },
+    "nameserver2": {
+      "description": "Secondary nameserver IP address",
+      "type": "String"
+    },
+    "nameserver3": {
+      "description": "Tertiary nameserver IP address",
+      "type": "String"
+    }
+  }
+} 
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/vm_automation/ubuntu/tasks/validate_vm_parameters.sh b/vm_automation/ubuntu/tasks/validate_vm_parameters.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..0bdeaf0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/vm_automation/ubuntu/tasks/validate_vm_parameters.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,232 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Task to validate VM parameters (ubuntu::validate_vm_parameters)
+
+# Array to store warnings
+WARNINGS=()
+
+# Function to output status messages in JSON format
+output_status() {
+    local status=$1
+    local message=$2
+    local warnings_json=""
+    
+    if [ ${#WARNINGS[@]} -gt 0 ]; then
+        warnings_json=", \"warnings\": ["
+        for i in "${!WARNINGS[@]}"; do
+            if [ $i -gt 0 ]; then
+                warnings_json="${warnings_json}, "
+            fi
+            warnings_json="${warnings_json}\"${WARNINGS[$i]}\""
+        done
+        warnings_json="${warnings_json}]"
+    fi
+    
+    echo "{ \"status\": \"$status\", \"message\": \"$message\"${warnings_json} }"
+    if [ "$status" = "error" ]; then
+        exit 1
+    fi
+}
+
+# Function to output warning messages
+output_warning() {
+    local message=$1
+    WARNINGS+=("$message")
+}
+
+# Function to get network portion of IP
+get_network_from_ip() {
+    local ip=$1
+    echo "$ip" | cut -d'.' -f1-3
+}
+
+# Function to validate network relationships
+validate_network_relationships() {
+    local network=$1
+    local ip_with_cidr=$2
+    local gateway_ip=$3
+    local staging_ip=$4
+
+    # Extract IP from CIDR notation
+    local ip=$(echo "$ip_with_cidr" | cut -d'/' -f1)
+    local cidr=$(echo "$ip_with_cidr" | cut -d'/' -f2)
+    
+    # Get network portions
+    local ip_network=$(get_network_from_ip "$ip")
+    local gateway_network=$(get_network_from_ip "$gateway_ip")
+
+    # Check CIDR is /24
+    if [[ "$cidr" != "24" ]]; then
+        output_warning "Network mask /24 is typical, found /$cidr"
+    fi
+
+    # Check gateway ends in .1
+    if [[ ! "$gateway_ip" =~ \.1$ ]]; then
+        output_warning "Gateway typically ends in .1, found $gateway_ip"
+    fi
+
+    # Validate network relationships
+    if [[ "$ip_network" != "$gateway_network" ]]; then
+        output_status "error" "IP ($ip) and gateway ($gateway_ip) must be in the same network"
+    fi
+
+    # Network-specific validations
+    if [[ "$network" == "wan-verizon" ]]; then
+        if [[ ! "$ip_network" =~ ^100\.40\.223$ ]]; then
+            output_warning "wan-verizon network typically uses 100.40.223.0/24 range, but got ${ip_network}.0/${cidr}"
+        fi
+        if [[ "$gateway_ip" != "100.40.223.1" ]]; then
+            output_warning "wan-verizon network typically uses 100.40.223.1 as gateway, but got ${gateway_ip}"
+        fi
+        if [[ "$staging_ip" != "public" ]]; then
+            output_warning "wan-verizon network typically uses 'public' for staging_ip, but got '${staging_ip}'"
+        fi
+    elif [[ "$network" == "moeny-internal" ]]; then
+        if [[ ! "$ip_network" =~ ^10\.44\.0$ ]]; then
+            output_warning "moeny-internal network typically uses 10.44.0.0/24 range, but got ${ip_network}.0/${cidr}"
+        fi
+        if [[ "$gateway_ip" != "10.44.0.1" ]]; then
+            output_warning "moeny-internal network typically uses 10.44.0.1 as gateway, but got ${gateway_ip}"
+        fi
+        if [[ "$staging_ip" != "internal" ]]; then
+            output_warning "moeny-internal network typically uses 'internal' for staging_ip, but got '${staging_ip}'"
+        fi
+    fi
+}
+
+# Function to validate target host
+validate_target_host() {
+    local host=$1
+    if [[ "$host" != "vortex" && "$host" != "astrocore" ]]; then
+        output_status "error" "Invalid target_host '$host'. Must be either vortex or astrocore"
+    fi
+}
+
+# Function to validate hostname format
+validate_hostname() {
+    local hostname=$1
+    local param_name=$2
+    if ! echo "$hostname" | grep -qE '^[a-zA-Z0-9-]+$'; then
+        output_status "error" "Invalid $param_name '$hostname'. Must contain only alphanumeric characters and hyphens."
+    fi
+}
+
+# Function to validate network
+validate_network() {
+    local network=$1
+    if [[ "$network" != "wan-verizon" && "$network" != "moeny-internal" ]]; then
+        output_status "error" "Invalid network '$network'. Must be either wan-verizon or moeny-internal"
+    fi
+}
+
+# Function to validate IP with CIDR
+validate_ip_with_cidr() {
+    local ip_cidr=$1
+    local ip=$(echo "$ip_cidr" | cut -d'/' -f1)
+    local cidr=$(echo "$ip_cidr" | cut -d'/' -f2)
+    
+    # Validate IP
+    if ! echo "$ip" | grep -qE '^((25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|[01]?[0-9][0-9]?)\.){3}(25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|[01]?[0-9][0-9]?)$'; then
+        output_status "error" "Invalid IP address format in ip_with_cidr '$ip_cidr'"
+    fi
+    
+    # Validate CIDR
+    if ! [[ "$cidr" =~ ^[0-9]+$ ]] || [ "$cidr" -lt 0 ] || [ "$cidr" -gt 32 ]; then
+        output_status "error" "Invalid CIDR prefix in ip_with_cidr '$ip_cidr'. Must be between 0 and 32."
+    fi
+}
+
+# Function to validate IP address
+validate_ip() {
+    local ip=$1
+    local param_name=$2
+    if ! echo "$ip" | grep -qE '^((25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|[01]?[0-9][0-9]?)\.){3}(25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|[01]?[0-9][0-9]?)$'; then
+        output_status "error" "Invalid $param_name IP address: '$ip'"
+    fi
+}
+
+# Function to validate ISO path
+validate_iso_path() {
+    local path=$1
+    if [[ ! "$path" =~ ^/.+\.iso$ ]]; then
+        output_status "error" "Invalid iso_path '$path'. Must be absolute path ending in .iso"
+    fi
+
+    # Extract just the filename from the path
+    local filename=$(basename "$path")
+    if [[ ! "$filename" =~ ^ubuntu ]]; then
+        output_warning "ISO filename ('${filename}') should typically begin with 'ubuntu'"
+    fi
+}
+
+# Function to validate staging IP
+validate_staging_ip() {
+    local staging_ip=$1
+    if [[ "$staging_ip" != "public" && "$staging_ip" != "internal" ]]; then
+        output_status "error" "Invalid staging_ip '$staging_ip'. Must be either public or internal"
+    fi
+}
+
+# Function to validate positive integer
+validate_positive_integer() {
+    local value=$1
+    local name=$2
+    if ! [[ "$value" =~ ^[0-9]+$ ]] || [ "$value" -le 0 ]; then
+        output_status "error" "Invalid $name '$value'. Must be a positive integer."
+    fi
+}
+
+# Function to validate disk path
+validate_disk_path() {
+    local path=$1
+    if [[ ! "$path" =~ ^/ ]]; then
+        output_status "error" "Invalid disk_path '$path'. Must be an absolute path."
+    fi
+}
+
+# Function to validate OS variant
+validate_os_variant() {
+    local variant=$1
+    if ! echo "$variant" | grep -qE '^ubuntu[0-9]{2}\.[0-9]{2}$'; then
+        output_status "error" "Invalid os_variant '$variant'. Must be in format 'ubuntuXX.XX' (e.g. ubuntu22.04)"
+    fi
+}
+
+# Function to validate name relationships
+validate_name_relationships() {
+    local vm_name=$1
+    local hostname=$2
+    
+    if [[ "$vm_name" != "$hostname" ]]; then
+        output_warning "vm_name ('${vm_name}') typically matches hostname ('${hostname}')"
+    fi
+}
+
+# Parse JSON input from PT_* environment variables
+validate_target_host "$PT_target_host"
+validate_hostname "$PT_vm_name" "vm_name"
+validate_hostname "$PT_hostname" "hostname"
+
+# Validate name relationships
+validate_name_relationships "$PT_vm_name" "$PT_hostname"
+
+validate_network "$PT_network"
+validate_ip_with_cidr "$PT_ip_with_cidr"
+validate_ip "$PT_gateway_ip" "gateway_ip"
+validate_iso_path "$PT_iso_path"
+validate_staging_ip "$PT_staging_ip"
+validate_hostname "$PT_dns_hostname" "dns_hostname"
+validate_positive_integer "$PT_dns_ttl" "dns_ttl"
+validate_positive_integer "$PT_ram" "RAM"
+validate_positive_integer "$PT_vcpus" "vCPUs"
+validate_positive_integer "$PT_disk_size" "disk_size"
+validate_disk_path "$PT_disk_path"
+validate_os_variant "$PT_os_variant"
+validate_ip "$PT_nameserver1" "primary nameserver"
+validate_ip "$PT_nameserver2" "secondary nameserver"
+validate_ip "$PT_nameserver3" "tertiary nameserver"
+
+# Validate network relationships after individual validations pass
+validate_network_relationships "$PT_network" "$PT_ip_with_cidr" "$PT_gateway_ip" "$PT_staging_ip"
+
+# If we get here, all validations passed
+output_status "success" "All parameters validated successfully" 
\ No newline at end of file