diff --git a/check_ansible_smoke.sh b/check_ansible_smoke.sh
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+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# check_ansible_smoke.sh — taler-deployment ansible / apt full-stack smoke (TASK112)
+#
+# Goals (from REF106/TASK112):
+#   Container try-install against Taler apt for: trixie · trixie-testing · Ubuntu
+#   PASS/FAIL artifact. Source-build path is out of scope (open-work later).
+#
+# This phase is opt-in (not in default PHASES). Prefer running on a host with
+# podman (koopa). On laptops without containers it still syntax-checks ansible
+# when TALER_DEPLOYMENT is set.
+#
+# Env:
+#   TALER_DEPLOYMENT   path to taler-deployment.git checkout
+#   ANSIBLE_SMOKE_SKIP=1
+#   ANSIBLE_SMOKE_PODMAN=1   inventory podman apt-src tracks (default 0 on non-koopa)
+#   ANSIBLE_SMOKE_ARTIFACT   output dir (default: $HTML_OUT or /tmp/taler-ansible-smoke)
+#   ANSIBLE_SMOKE_UBUNTU_CONTAINER  name (default koopa-taler-deploy-test-apt-src-ubuntu)
+#   ANSIBLE_SMOKE_REQUIRE_UBUNTU=1  hard-fail when ubuntu container missing
+#
+set -euo pipefail
+ROOT=$(cd "$(dirname "$0")" && pwd)
+# shellcheck source=lib.sh
+source "$ROOT/lib.sh"
+
+if [ "${ANSIBLE_SMOKE_SKIP:-0}" = "1" ]; then
+  echo "[INFO]  skip phase ansible-smoke (ANSIBLE_SMOKE_SKIP=1)"
+  exit 0
+fi
+
+set_area ansible-smoke
+section "ansible-smoke · taler-deployment full-stack (trixie / trixie-testing / Ubuntu)"
+
+DEPLOY="${TALER_DEPLOYMENT:-${TALER_DEPLOYMENT_ROOT:-}}"
+if [ -z "$DEPLOY" ]; then
+  for c in \
+    "${HOME}/src/taler-deployment" \
+    "${HOME}/git/taler-deployment" \
+    "${SUITE_DIR:+$SUITE_DIR/../taler-deployment}"; do
+    [ -n "$c" ] && [ -d "$c/regional-currency-ng" ] && DEPLOY=$c && break
+  done
+fi
+
+ART="${ANSIBLE_SMOKE_ARTIFACT:-${HTML_OUT:-/tmp}/taler-ansible-smoke}"
+mkdir -p "$ART"
+STAMP=$(date -u +%Y%m%dT%H%M%SZ)
+REPORT="$ART/report-$STAMP.txt"
+: >"$REPORT"
+log() { printf '%s\n' "$*" | tee -a "$REPORT"; }
+
+log "host=$(hostname 2>/dev/null || echo unknown) ts=$STAMP"
+log "deploy=${DEPLOY:-MISSING}"
+
+fail=0
+# On koopa, taler-deployment.git is often absent; podman track inventory still useful.
+if [ -z "$DEPLOY" ] || [ ! -d "$DEPLOY/regional-currency-ng" ]; then
+  if [ "${ANSIBLE_SMOKE_PODMAN:-0}" = "1" ]; then
+    info "deploy-tree" "taler-deployment missing — syntax-check skipped; continuing podman track inventory"
+    log "SKIP deploy-tree (set TALER_DEPLOYMENT for syntax-check)"
+  else
+    err "deploy-tree" "taler-deployment regional-currency-ng not found (set TALER_DEPLOYMENT)"
+    fail=1
+  fi
+else
+  ok "deploy-tree" "$DEPLOY/regional-currency-ng"
+  RC_NG="$DEPLOY/regional-currency-ng"
+  if [ -f "$RC_NG/site.yml" ]; then
+    ok "site.yml" "present"
+  else
+    err "site.yml" "missing"
+    fail=1
+  fi
+  if command -v ansible-playbook >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    ok "ansible-playbook" "$(ansible-playbook --version 2>/dev/null | head -1)"
+    if ansible-playbook --syntax-check -i "$RC_NG/inventory.example.yml" "$RC_NG/site.yml" \
+      >>"$REPORT" 2>&1; then
+      ok "syntax-check" "site.yml + inventory.example.yml"
+      log "PASS syntax-check"
+    else
+      err "syntax-check" "ansible-playbook --syntax-check failed (see $REPORT)"
+      fail=1
+      log "FAIL syntax-check"
+    fi
+  else
+    info "ansible-playbook" "not installed — syntax-check skipped"
+    log "SKIP syntax-check (no ansible-playbook)"
+  fi
+fi
+
+# Container apt tracks: reuse aptdeploy naming; Ubuntu track is additive.
+# Heavy merchant install stays in check_apt_deploy.sh; here we inventory tracks.
+TARGETS="trixie trixie-testing ubuntu"
+log "targets=$TARGETS"
+UBUNTU_NAME="${ANSIBLE_SMOKE_UBUNTU_CONTAINER:-koopa-taler-deploy-test-apt-src-ubuntu}"
+REQUIRE_UBUNTU="${ANSIBLE_SMOKE_REQUIRE_UBUNTU:-0}"
+
+_podman_track_state() {
+  # stdout: running|exited|missing
+  local bin=$1 name=$2
+  if "$bin" inspect -f '{{.State.Status}}' "$name" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    "$bin" inspect -f '{{.State.Status}}' "$name" 2>/dev/null | tr -d '\r'
+  else
+    printf '%s\n' missing
+  fi
+}
+
+if [ "${ANSIBLE_SMOKE_PODMAN:-0}" = "1" ]; then
+  PODMAN_BIN="${APT_DEPLOY_PODMAN:-podman}"
+  if ! command -v "$PODMAN_BIN" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    err "podman" "ANSIBLE_SMOKE_PODMAN=1 but podman missing"
+    fail=1
+  else
+    ok "podman" "$("$PODMAN_BIN" --version 2>/dev/null | head -1)"
+    log "NOTE: full container install remains check_apt_deploy.sh (trixie tracks)."
+
+    for suite in trixie trixie-testing; do
+      for mode in "" "-upgrade"; do
+        cname="koopa-taler-deploy-test-apt-src-${suite}${mode}"
+        st=$(_podman_track_state "$PODMAN_BIN" "$cname")
+        case "$st" in
+          running|created)
+            ok "track-$suite${mode:-}" "$cname state=$st"
+            log "PASS track $cname state=$st"
+            ;;
+          exited|stopped)
+            info "track-$suite${mode:-}" "$cname state=$st (present, not running)"
+            log "WARN track $cname state=$st"
+            ;;
+          *)
+            info "track-$suite${mode:-}" "$cname missing"
+            log "MISS track $cname"
+            ;;
+        esac
+      done
+    done
+
+    # Ubuntu track (additive; create image/container only with Freigabe on koopa)
+    ust=$(_podman_track_state "$PODMAN_BIN" "$UBUNTU_NAME")
+    case "$ust" in
+      running|created)
+        ok "track-ubuntu" "$UBUNTU_NAME state=$ust"
+        log "PASS track $UBUNTU_NAME state=$ust"
+        ;;
+      exited|stopped)
+        info "track-ubuntu" "$UBUNTU_NAME state=$ust (present, not running)"
+        log "WARN track $UBUNTU_NAME state=$ust"
+        ;;
+      *)
+        if [ "$REQUIRE_UBUNTU" = "1" ]; then
+          err "track-ubuntu" "$UBUNTU_NAME missing (ANSIBLE_SMOKE_REQUIRE_UBUNTU=1)"
+          fail=1
+          log "FAIL track $UBUNTU_NAME missing"
+        else
+          info "track-ubuntu" "$UBUNTU_NAME missing — Freigabe needed to create ubuntu apt-src image/container"
+          log "TODO ubuntu: create $UBUNTU_NAME (Freigabe); soft-miss until then"
+        fi
+        ;;
+    esac
+
+    if "$PODMAN_BIN" image exists "docker.io/library/ubuntu:24.04" 2>/dev/null \
+      || "$PODMAN_BIN" image exists "ubuntu:24.04" 2>/dev/null; then
+      ok "ubuntu-base-image" "ubuntu:24.04 present"
+      log "PASS ubuntu-base-image"
+    else
+      info "ubuntu-base-image" "ubuntu:24.04 not pulled yet (optional)"
+      log "MISS ubuntu-base-image"
+    fi
+  fi
+else
+  info "podman-smoke" "skipped (set ANSIBLE_SMOKE_PODMAN=1 on koopa)"
+  log "SKIP podman-smoke"
+fi
+
+if [ "$fail" -eq 0 ]; then
+  log "OVERALL=PASS"
+  ok "ansible-smoke" "PASS · artifact $REPORT"
+else
+  log "OVERALL=FAIL"
+  err "ansible-smoke" "FAIL · artifact $REPORT"
+fi
+info "artifact" "$REPORT"
+summary
+exit "$fail"