Add recreate-vms-created-before option to recreate and deploy commands

cmd/deploy.go

@@ -101,16 +101,21 @@ func (c DeployCmd) Run(opts DeployOpts) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
+	if opts.RecreateVMsCreatedBefore.IsSet() {
+		opts.Recreate = true
+	}
+
 	updateOpts := boshdir.UpdateOpts{
-		RecreatePersistentDisks: opts.RecreatePersistentDisks,
-		Recreate:                opts.Recreate,
-		Fix:                     opts.Fix,
-		SkipDrain:               opts.SkipDrain,
-		DryRun:                  opts.DryRun,
-		Canaries:                opts.Canaries,
-		MaxInFlight:             opts.MaxInFlight,
-		Diff:                    deploymentDiff,
-		ForceLatestVariables:    opts.ForceLatestVariables,
+		RecreatePersistentDisks:  opts.RecreatePersistentDisks,
+		Recreate:                 opts.Recreate,
+		RecreateVMsCreatedBefore: opts.RecreateVMsCreatedBefore.Time,
+		Fix:                      opts.Fix,
+		SkipDrain:                opts.SkipDrain,
+		DryRun:                   opts.DryRun,
+		Canaries:                 opts.Canaries,
+		MaxInFlight:              opts.MaxInFlight,
+		Diff:                     deploymentDiff,
+		ForceLatestVariables:     opts.ForceLatestVariables,
 	}
 
 	return c.deployment.Update(bytes, updateOpts)

cmd/deploy_test.go

@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package cmd_test
 
 import (
 	"errors"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/cppforlife/go-patch/patch"
 	. "github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2"
@@ -87,6 +88,39 @@ var _ = Describe("DeployCmd", func() {
 			}))
 		})
 
+		It("deploys manifest allowing to recreate VMs created before a timestamp and automatically sets recreate", func() {
+			deployOpts.RecreateVMsCreatedBefore = opts.TimeArg{Time: time.Date(2026, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC)}
+
+			err := act()
+			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+
+			Expect(deployment.UpdateCallCount()).To(Equal(1))
+
+			bytes, updateOpts := deployment.UpdateArgsForCall(0)
+			Expect(bytes).To(Equal([]byte("name: dep\n")))
+			Expect(updateOpts).To(Equal(boshdir.UpdateOpts{
+				Recreate:                 true,
+				RecreateVMsCreatedBefore: time.Date(2026, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC),
+			}))
+		})
+
+		It("deploys manifest with both recreate and recreate-vms-created-before set explicitly", func() {
+			deployOpts.Recreate = true
+			deployOpts.RecreateVMsCreatedBefore = opts.TimeArg{Time: time.Date(2026, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC)}
+
+			err := act()
+			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+
+			Expect(deployment.UpdateCallCount()).To(Equal(1))
+
+			bytes, updateOpts := deployment.UpdateArgsForCall(0)
+			Expect(bytes).To(Equal([]byte("name: dep\n")))
+			Expect(updateOpts).To(Equal(boshdir.UpdateOpts{
+				Recreate:                 true,
+				RecreateVMsCreatedBefore: time.Date(2026, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC),
+			}))
+		})
+
 		It("deploys manifest allowing to dry_run", func() {
 			deployOpts.DryRun = true
 

cmd/opts/opts.go

@@ -503,12 +503,13 @@ type DeployOpts struct {
 
 	NoRedact bool `long:"no-redact" description:"Show non-redacted manifest diff"`
 
-	Recreate                bool                `long:"recreate"                                description:"Recreate all VMs in deployment"`
-	RecreatePersistentDisks bool                `long:"recreate-persistent-disks"               description:"Recreate all persistent disks in deployment"`
-	Fix                     bool                `long:"fix"                                     description:"Recreate an instance with an unresponsive agent instead of erroring"`
-	FixReleases             bool                `long:"fix-releases"                            description:"Reupload releases in manifest and replace corrupt or missing jobs/packages"`
-	SkipDrain               []boshdir.SkipDrain `long:"skip-drain" value-name:"[INSTANCE-GROUP[/INSTANCE-ID]]"  description:"Skip running drain and pre-stop scripts for specific instance groups" optional:"true" optional-value:"*"`
-	SkipUploadReleases      bool                `long:"skip-upload-releases"                  description:"Skips the upload procedure for releases"`
+	Recreate                 bool                `long:"recreate"                                description:"Recreate all VMs in deployment"`
+	RecreatePersistentDisks  bool                `long:"recreate-persistent-disks"               description:"Recreate all persistent disks in deployment"`
+	RecreateVMsCreatedBefore TimeArg             `long:"recreate-vms-created-before"             description:"Only recreate VMs created before the given RFC 3339 timestamp"`
+	Fix                      bool                `long:"fix"                                     description:"Recreate an instance with an unresponsive agent instead of erroring"`
+	FixReleases              bool                `long:"fix-releases"                            description:"Reupload releases in manifest and replace corrupt or missing jobs/packages"`
+	SkipDrain                []boshdir.SkipDrain `long:"skip-drain" value-name:"[INSTANCE-GROUP[/INSTANCE-ID]]"  description:"Skip running drain and pre-stop scripts for specific instance groups" optional:"true" optional-value:"*"`
+	SkipUploadReleases       bool                `long:"skip-upload-releases"                  description:"Skips the upload procedure for releases"`
 
 	Canaries    string `long:"canaries" description:"Override manifest values for canaries"`
 	MaxInFlight string `long:"max-in-flight" description:"Override manifest values for max_in_flight"`
@@ -941,8 +942,9 @@ type RestartOpts struct {
 type RecreateOpts struct {
 	Args AllOrInstanceGroupOrInstanceSlugArgs `positional-args:"true"`
 
-	SkipDrain bool `long:"skip-drain" description:"Skip running drain and pre-stop scripts"`
-	Fix       bool `long:"fix"        description:"Recreate an instance with an unresponsive agent instead of erroring"`
+	SkipDrain        bool    `long:"skip-drain" description:"Skip running drain and pre-stop scripts"`
+	Fix              bool    `long:"fix"        description:"Recreate an instance with an unresponsive agent instead of erroring"`
+	VMsCreatedBefore TimeArg `long:"vms-created-before" description:"Only recreate VMs created before the given RFC 3339 timestamp"`
 
 	Canaries    string `long:"canaries" description:"Override manifest values for canaries"`
 	MaxInFlight string `long:"max-in-flight" description:"Override manifest values for max_in_flight"`

cmd/opts/time_arg.go

@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+package opts
+
+import (
+	"time"
+
+	bosherr "github.com/cloudfoundry/bosh-utils/errors"
+)
+
+type TimeArg struct {
+	time.Time
+}
+
+func (a *TimeArg) UnmarshalFlag(data string) error {
+	// Try RFC3339 first (with timezone)
+	t, err := time.Parse(time.RFC3339, data)
+	if err != nil {
+		// Try RFC3339 without timezone suffix, assume UTC
+		// Format: "2006-01-02T15:04:05"
+		t, err = time.Parse("2006-01-02T15:04:05", data)
+		if err != nil {
+			return bosherr.Errorf("Invalid timestamp '%s': expected RFC 3339 format (e.g., 2006-01-02T15:04:05Z or 2006-01-02T15:04:05)", data)
+		}
+		// Treat as UTC since no timezone was specified
+		t = t.UTC()
+	}
+	// Always store as UTC internally
+	a.Time = t.UTC()
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (a TimeArg) IsSet() bool {
+	return !a.IsZero()
+}
+
+func (a TimeArg) AsString() string {
+	if a.IsSet() {
+		// Always output in UTC with Z suffix for consistency
+		return a.UTC().Format(time.RFC3339)
+	}
+	return ""
+}

cmd/opts/time_arg_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,108 @@
+package opts_test
+
+import (
+	"time"
+
+	. "github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2"
+	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
+
+	. "github.com/cloudfoundry/bosh-cli/v7/cmd/opts"
+)
+
+var _ = Describe("TimeArg", func() {
+	Describe("UnmarshalFlag", func() {
+		It("parses valid RFC 3339 timestamps with Z suffix", func() {
+			var arg TimeArg
+			err := arg.UnmarshalFlag("2026-01-01T00:00:00Z")
+			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+			Expect(arg.Time).To(Equal(time.Date(2026, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC)))
+		})
+
+		It("parses RFC 3339 timestamps with timezone offset and converts to UTC", func() {
+			var arg TimeArg
+			err := arg.UnmarshalFlag("2026-06-15T14:30:00-07:00")
+			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+			Expect(arg.Time).To(Equal(time.Date(2026, 6, 15, 21, 30, 0, 0, time.UTC)))
+		})
+
+		It("parses RFC 3339 timestamps with +00:00 offset and converts to UTC", func() {
+			var arg TimeArg
+			err := arg.UnmarshalFlag("2026-01-15T10:30:00+00:00")
+			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+			Expect(arg.Time).To(Equal(time.Date(2026, 1, 15, 10, 30, 0, 0, time.UTC)))
+		})
+
+		It("parses timestamps without timezone suffix and treats as UTC", func() {
+			var arg TimeArg
+			err := arg.UnmarshalFlag("2026-01-01T00:00:00")
+			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+			Expect(arg.Time).To(Equal(time.Date(2026, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC)))
+		})
+
+		It("parses timestamps without timezone with specific time and treats as UTC", func() {
+			var arg TimeArg
+			err := arg.UnmarshalFlag("2026-06-15T14:30:45")
+			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+			Expect(arg.Time).To(Equal(time.Date(2026, 6, 15, 14, 30, 45, 0, time.UTC)))
+		})
+
+		It("returns error for invalid timestamps", func() {
+			var arg TimeArg
+			err := arg.UnmarshalFlag("not-a-timestamp")
+			Expect(err).To(HaveOccurred())
+			Expect(err.Error()).To(ContainSubstring("Invalid timestamp"))
+		})
+
+		It("returns error for date-only formats (no time component)", func() {
+			var arg TimeArg
+			err := arg.UnmarshalFlag("2026-01-01")
+			Expect(err).To(HaveOccurred())
+			Expect(err.Error()).To(ContainSubstring("Invalid timestamp"))
+		})
+	})
+
+	Describe("IsSet", func() {
+		It("returns false for zero time", func() {
+			var arg TimeArg
+			Expect(arg.IsSet()).To(BeFalse())
+		})
+
+		It("returns true for non-zero time", func() {
+			arg := TimeArg{Time: time.Date(2026, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC)}
+			Expect(arg.IsSet()).To(BeTrue())
+		})
+	})
+
+	Describe("AsString", func() {
+		It("returns empty string for zero time", func() {
+			var arg TimeArg
+			Expect(arg.AsString()).To(Equal(""))
+		})
+
+		It("returns RFC 3339 formatted string in UTC for non-zero time", func() {
+			arg := TimeArg{Time: time.Date(2026, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC)}
+			Expect(arg.AsString()).To(Equal("2026-01-01T00:00:00Z"))
+		})
+
+		It("returns UTC formatted string even when time was parsed with offset", func() {
+			var arg TimeArg
+			// Parse with -07:00 offset (14:30 PST = 21:30 UTC)
+			err := arg.UnmarshalFlag("2026-06-15T14:30:00-07:00")
+			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+			Expect(arg.AsString()).To(Equal("2026-06-15T21:30:00Z"))
+		})
+
+		It("returns UTC formatted string for timestamp parsed without timezone", func() {
+			var arg TimeArg
+			err := arg.UnmarshalFlag("2026-06-15T14:30:00")
+			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+			Expect(arg.AsString()).To(Equal("2026-06-15T14:30:00Z"))
+		})
+
+		It("returns UTC Z suffix even when TimeArg is constructed programmatically with a non-UTC location", func() {
+			loc := time.FixedZone("IST", 5*60*60+30*60) // UTC+05:30
+			arg := TimeArg{Time: time.Date(2026, 6, 15, 20, 0, 0, 0, loc)}
+			Expect(arg.AsString()).To(Equal("2026-06-15T14:30:00Z"))
+		})
+	})
+})

cmd/recreate.go

@@ -33,12 +33,13 @@ func (c RecreateCmd) Run(opts RecreateOpts) error {
 func newRecreateOpts(opts RecreateOpts) (boshdir.RecreateOpts, error) {
 	if !opts.NoConverge { // converge is default, no-converge is opt-in
 		recreateOpts := boshdir.RecreateOpts{
-			SkipDrain:   opts.SkipDrain,
-			Fix:         opts.Fix,
-			DryRun:      opts.DryRun,
-			Canaries:    opts.Canaries,
-			MaxInFlight: opts.MaxInFlight,
-			Converge:    true,
+			SkipDrain:        opts.SkipDrain,
+			Fix:              opts.Fix,
+			DryRun:           opts.DryRun,
+			Canaries:         opts.Canaries,
+			MaxInFlight:      opts.MaxInFlight,
+			Converge:         true,
+			VMsCreatedBefore: opts.VMsCreatedBefore.Time,
 		}
 		return recreateOpts, nil
 	}
@@ -64,8 +65,9 @@ func newRecreateOpts(opts RecreateOpts) (boshdir.RecreateOpts, error) {
 	}
 
 	return boshdir.RecreateOpts{
-		Converge:  false,
-		SkipDrain: opts.SkipDrain,
-		Fix:       opts.Fix,
+		Converge:         false,
+		SkipDrain:        opts.SkipDrain,
+		Fix:              opts.Fix,
+		VMsCreatedBefore: opts.VMsCreatedBefore.Time,
 	}, nil
 }

cmd/recreate_test.go

@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package cmd_test
 
 import (
 	"errors"
+	"time"
 
 	. "github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2"
 	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
@@ -115,6 +116,18 @@ var _ = Describe("RecreateCmd", func() {
 			Expect(recreateOpts.Fix).To(BeTrue())
 		})
 
+		It("can set vms_created_before", func() {
+			recreateOpts.VMsCreatedBefore = opts.TimeArg{Time: time.Date(2026, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC)}
+
+			err := act()
+			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+
+			Expect(deployment.RecreateCallCount()).To(Equal(1))
+
+			_, recreateOpts := deployment.RecreateArgsForCall(0)
+			Expect(recreateOpts.VMsCreatedBefore).To(Equal(time.Date(2026, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC)))
+		})
+
 		It("does not recreate if confirmation is rejected", func() {
 			ui.AskedConfirmationErr = errors.New("stop")
 
@@ -204,6 +217,19 @@ var _ = Describe("RecreateCmd", func() {
 				Expect(deployment.RecreateCallCount()).To(Equal(0))
 			})
 
+			It("allows vms-created-before flag with no-converge", func() {
+				recreateOpts.NoConverge = true
+				recreateOpts.VMsCreatedBefore = opts.TimeArg{Time: time.Date(2026, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC)}
+				err := act()
+				Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+
+				Expect(deployment.RecreateCallCount()).To(Equal(1))
+
+				_, directorOpts := deployment.RecreateArgsForCall(0)
+				Expect(directorOpts.Converge).To(BeFalse())
+				Expect(directorOpts.VMsCreatedBefore).To(Equal(time.Date(2026, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC)))
+			})
+
 			Context("with invalid slugs for no-converge on a deployment", func() {
 
 				BeforeEach(func() {