diff --git a/infra/ansible/playbooks/haproxy.yml b/infra/ansible/playbooks/haproxy.yml
index 7d7c9f648..f9f62c2c9 100644
--- a/infra/ansible/playbooks/haproxy.yml
+++ b/infra/ansible/playbooks/haproxy.yml
@@ -18,14 +18,28 @@
   become: true
   gather_facts: true
   tasks:
-    - name: Launch veza-haproxy container if absent
+    - name: Launch / repair veza-haproxy container
+      # Idempotent : RUNNING → no-op ; STOPPED/half-baked → recreate ;
+      # absent → fresh launch. Catches broken state from previous
+      # runs that died after `incus launch` created the record but
+      # before it reached RUNNING.
       ansible.builtin.shell:
         cmd: |
           set -e
-          if incus info veza-haproxy >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-            echo "veza-haproxy already exists"
-            exit 0
-          fi
+          STATE=$(incus list veza-haproxy -f csv -c s 2>/dev/null | head -1 || true)
+          case "$STATE" in
+            RUNNING)
+              echo "veza-haproxy RUNNING already"
+              exit 0
+              ;;
+            "")
+              # No record — fresh launch.
+              ;;
+            *)
+              echo "veza-haproxy in state '$STATE' — recreating"
+              incus delete --force veza-haproxy
+              ;;
+          esac
           incus launch "{{ veza_app_base_image | default('images:debian/13') }}" veza-haproxy --profile veza-app --network "{{ veza_incus_network | default('net-veza') }}"
           for _ in $(seq 1 30); do
             if incus exec veza-haproxy -- /bin/true 2>/dev/null; then
@@ -35,21 +49,21 @@
           done
           incus exec veza-haproxy -- apt-get update
           incus exec veza-haproxy -- apt-get install -y python3 python3-apt
+          echo "veza-haproxy LAUNCHED"
         executable: /bin/bash
       register: provision_result
-      changed_when: "'incus launch' in provision_result.stdout"
+      changed_when: "'LAUNCHED' in provision_result.stdout or 'recreating' in provision_result.stdout"
       tags: [haproxy, provision]
 
     - name: Refresh inventory so veza-haproxy is reachable
       ansible.builtin.meta: refresh_inventory
 
-- name: Apply common baseline (SSH hardening, fail2ban, node_exporter)
-  hosts: haproxy
-  become: true
-  gather_facts: true
-  roles:
-    - common
-
+# Common role intentionally NOT applied to the haproxy container :
+# it's reached via `incus exec` (no SSH inside), and the role's
+# SSH-hardening / fail2ban / node_exporter setup assumes a full
+# host (sshd present, auth.log to monitor, exposed metrics port).
+# Containers don't need that surface — their hardening is the
+# Incus boundary itself + the systemd unit's ProtectSystem etc.
 - name: Install + configure HAProxy + dehydrated/Let's Encrypt
   hosts: haproxy
   become: true
diff --git a/infra/ansible/roles/common/tasks/ssh.yml b/infra/ansible/roles/common/tasks/ssh.yml
index 8988836d2..a3ae048f4 100644
--- a/infra/ansible/roles/common/tasks/ssh.yml
+++ b/infra/ansible/roles/common/tasks/ssh.yml
@@ -2,7 +2,25 @@
 # whitelist of users. The role refuses to lock the operator out: it
 # verifies the AllowUsers list is non-empty and contains at least
 # the connecting user before reloading sshd.
+#
+# Skipped entirely when sshd is not installed on the target — useful
+# for Incus containers reached via `incus exec`, which don't need
+# SSH at all (overlay set common_apply_ssh_hardening=false to skip
+# explicitly even when sshd happens to be present).
 ---
+- name: Detect whether sshd is present on the target
+  ansible.builtin.stat:
+    path: /etc/ssh/sshd_config
+  register: sshd_present
+  tags: [common, ssh]
+
+- name: Skip SSH hardening when sshd is absent or disabled
+  ansible.builtin.debug:
+    msg: "sshd not installed on this host — SSH hardening skipped"
+  when:
+    - not sshd_present.stat.exists or not (common_apply_ssh_hardening | default(true))
+  tags: [common, ssh]
+
 - name: Sanity check — ssh_allow_users must be non-empty
   ansible.builtin.assert:
     that:
@@ -12,6 +30,9 @@
       ssh_allow_users is empty. Refusing to apply sshd_config which
       would lock everyone out. Set ssh_allow_users in
       group_vars/all.yml (or override per environment).
+  when:
+    - sshd_present.stat.exists
+    - common_apply_ssh_hardening | default(true)
 
 - name: Render sshd_config drop-in (50-veza-hardening.conf)
   ansible.builtin.template:
@@ -22,9 +43,15 @@
     mode: "0644"
     validate: /usr/sbin/sshd -t -f %s
   notify: Reload sshd
+  when:
+    - sshd_present.stat.exists
+    - common_apply_ssh_hardening | default(true)
 
 - name: Ensure sshd is enabled + running
   ansible.builtin.service:
     name: ssh
     state: started
     enabled: true
+  when:
+    - sshd_present.stat.exists
+    - common_apply_ssh_hardening | default(true)