diff --git a/roles/healthcheck/defaults/main.yml b/roles/healthcheck/defaults/main.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ea194cc
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+++ b/roles/healthcheck/defaults/main.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+# Post-update health check (quality gate) defaults.
+# The role verifies that every Docker container is running after an OS update
+# and records the result in the same update log used by the os-updates role.
+
+healthcheck_logging_enabled: "{{ os_update_logging_enabled | default(true) }}"
+healthcheck_log_dir: "{{ os_update_log_dir | default('/ansible/logs') }}"
+healthcheck_log_inventory: "{{ inventory_file | basename | splitext | first }}"
+healthcheck_log_file: "{{ healthcheck_log_dir }}/{{ healthcheck_log_inventory }}/{{ ansible_facts['hostname'] }}/update.log"
+
+# When true, the role fails the playbook if any container is not running.
+healthcheck_fail_on_unhealthy: false
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diff --git a/roles/healthcheck/tasks/main.yml b/roles/healthcheck/tasks/main.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3dd0693
--- /dev/null
+++ b/roles/healthcheck/tasks/main.yml
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+# Post-update health check (quality gate).
+# Detects whether Docker is installed and, if so, verifies that every
+# container is in the running state. Results are appended to the update
+# log as a "quality_gate" section, tied to the current update run via the
+# os-updates preflight start timestamp.
+
+- name: Healthcheck - Detect Docker binary
+  ansible.builtin.command: which docker
+  register: healthcheck_docker_bin
+  changed_when: false
+  failed_when: false
+
+- name: Healthcheck - Record Docker presence
+  ansible.builtin.set_fact:
+    healthcheck_docker_installed: "{{ healthcheck_docker_bin.rc == 0 }}"
+
+- name: Healthcheck - List all container names
+  ansible.builtin.command: "docker ps -a --format {{ '{{' }}.Names{{ '}}' }}"
+  register: healthcheck_all_containers
+  changed_when: false
+  when: healthcheck_docker_installed | bool
+
+- name: Healthcheck - List running container names
+  ansible.builtin.command: "docker ps --filter status=running --format {{ '{{' }}.Names{{ '}}' }}"
+  register: healthcheck_running_containers
+  changed_when: false
+  when: healthcheck_docker_installed | bool
+
+- name: Healthcheck - Evaluate container health
+  ansible.builtin.set_fact:
+    healthcheck_total_containers: "{{ healthcheck_all_containers.stdout_lines | length }}"
+    healthcheck_running_count: "{{ healthcheck_running_containers.stdout_lines | length }}"
+    healthcheck_non_running_containers: "{{ (healthcheck_all_containers.stdout_lines | difference(healthcheck_running_containers.stdout_lines)) | list }}"
+  when: healthcheck_docker_installed | bool
+
+- name: Healthcheck - Determine overall result
+  ansible.builtin.set_fact:
+    healthcheck_all_running: "{{ (healthcheck_non_running_containers | length) == 0 }}"
+    healthcheck_passed: "{{ (healthcheck_non_running_containers | length) == 0 }}"
+  when: healthcheck_docker_installed | bool
+
+- name: Healthcheck - Default result when Docker is not installed
+  ansible.builtin.set_fact:
+    healthcheck_total_containers: 0
+    healthcheck_running_count: 0
+    healthcheck_non_running_containers: []
+    healthcheck_all_running: true
+    healthcheck_passed: true
+  when: not (healthcheck_docker_installed | bool)
+
+- name: Healthcheck - Ensure log directory exists
+  ansible.builtin.file:
+    path: "{{ healthcheck_log_file | dirname }}"
+    state: directory
+  delegate_to: localhost
+  when: healthcheck_logging_enabled | bool
+
+- name: Healthcheck - Write quality gate section to update log
+  ansible.builtin.blockinfile:
+    path: "{{ healthcheck_log_file }}"
+    create: yes
+    marker: "# {mark} ANSIBLE-HEALTHCHECK"
+    block: |
+      quality_gate:
+        docker_installed: {{ healthcheck_docker_installed }}
+        total_containers: {{ healthcheck_total_containers }}
+        running_containers: {{ healthcheck_running_count }}
+        all_running: {{ healthcheck_all_running }}
+        non_running_containers:
+      {% for c in healthcheck_non_running_containers %}
+        - {{ c }}
+      {% endfor %}
+        healthcheck_passed: {{ healthcheck_passed }}
+  delegate_to: localhost
+  when: healthcheck_logging_enabled | bool
+
+- name: Healthcheck - Fail when containers are unhealthy (quality gate)
+  ansible.builtin.fail:
+    msg: >-
+      Quality gate failed: the following containers are not running:
+      {{ healthcheck_non_running_containers | join(', ') }}
+  when:
+    - healthcheck_fail_on_unhealthy | bool
+    - healthcheck_docker_installed | bool
+    - not (healthcheck_all_running | bool)
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