diff --git a/playbooks/openstack.yml b/playbooks/openstack.yml
index 871875e302..309f3ebcfa 100644
--- a/playbooks/openstack.yml
+++ b/playbooks/openstack.yml
@@ -126,6 +126,11 @@
       tags:
         - neutron
 
+    - role: ironic
+      when: atmosphere_ironic_enabled | default(false) | bool
+      tags:
+        - ironic
+
     # NOTE(mnaser): This is disabled out of the box until we have a native way
     #               of configuring it with a pre-configured backend out of the
     #               box.
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/add-ironic-lifecycle-monitoring-6e8c435ea28d2087.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/add-ironic-lifecycle-monitoring-6e8c435ea28d2087.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..815a3c1bcd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/add-ironic-lifecycle-monitoring-6e8c435ea28d2087.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+---
+features:
+  - |
+    Ironic API and node lifecycle metrics can now be enabled in the OpenStack
+    exporter with ``openstack_exporter_baremetal_enabled``. The collector,
+    dashboard, recording rules, and alerts require
+    ``atmosphere_ironic_enabled`` and remain disabled by default.
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/add-opt-in-ironic-openstack-role-8ad2a10d2f06bb02.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/add-opt-in-ironic-openstack-role-8ad2a10d2f06bb02.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..19aa00440a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/add-opt-in-ironic-openstack-role-8ad2a10d2f06bb02.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+---
+features:
+  - |
+    The standard OpenStack deployment playbook can now deploy the Ironic role
+    when ``atmosphere_ironic_enabled`` is set to ``true``. The option defaults
+    to ``false`` so existing deployments remain unchanged.
diff --git a/roles/ironic/README.md b/roles/ironic/README.md
index 03dfba09bb..c061228f1a 100644
--- a/roles/ironic/README.md
+++ b/roles/ironic/README.md
@@ -1 +1,14 @@
 # `ironic`
+
+The Ironic role deploys the OpenStack Bare Metal service. It is available from
+the standard `playbooks/openstack.yml` workflow but remains disabled by
+default.
+
+Enable it in inventory variables:
+
+```yaml
+atmosphere_ironic_enabled: true
+```
+
+The playbook condition uses `default(false)`, so inventories that do not define
+the variable retain the existing deployment behavior.
diff --git a/roles/kube_prometheus_stack/files/dashboards/ironic.json b/roles/kube_prometheus_stack/files/dashboards/ironic.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2d1460b5f5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/roles/kube_prometheus_stack/files/dashboards/ironic.json
@@ -0,0 +1,253 @@
+{
+  "annotations": {
+    "list": []
+  },
+  "editable": false,
+  "panels": [
+    {
+      "datasource": {
+        "type": "prometheus",
+        "uid": "${datasource}"
+      },
+      "fieldConfig": {
+        "defaults": {
+          "mappings": [
+            {
+              "options": {
+                "0": {
+                  "color": "red",
+                  "text": "Unavailable"
+                },
+                "1": {
+                  "color": "green",
+                  "text": "Available"
+                }
+              },
+              "type": "value"
+            }
+          ]
+        },
+        "overrides": []
+      },
+      "gridPos": {
+        "h": 5,
+        "w": 6,
+        "x": 0,
+        "y": 0
+      },
+      "id": 1,
+      "options": {
+        "colorMode": "value",
+        "graphMode": "none",
+        "justifyMode": "auto",
+        "orientation": "auto",
+        "reduceOptions": {
+          "calcs": [
+            "lastNotNull"
+          ],
+          "fields": "",
+          "values": false
+        },
+        "textMode": "auto"
+      },
+      "targets": [
+        {
+          "expr": "openstack_ironic_up",
+          "instant": true,
+          "refId": "A"
+        }
+      ],
+      "title": "Ironic API",
+      "type": "stat"
+    },
+    {
+      "datasource": {
+        "type": "prometheus",
+        "uid": "${datasource}"
+      },
+      "gridPos": {
+        "h": 5,
+        "w": 6,
+        "x": 6,
+        "y": 0
+      },
+      "id": 2,
+      "options": {
+        "colorMode": "value",
+        "graphMode": "none",
+        "justifyMode": "auto",
+        "orientation": "auto",
+        "reduceOptions": {
+          "calcs": [
+            "lastNotNull"
+          ],
+          "fields": "",
+          "values": false
+        },
+        "textMode": "auto"
+      },
+      "targets": [
+        {
+          "expr": "openstack:ironic_nodes:count",
+          "instant": true,
+          "refId": "A"
+        }
+      ],
+      "title": "Total nodes",
+      "type": "stat"
+    },
+    {
+      "datasource": {
+        "type": "prometheus",
+        "uid": "${datasource}"
+      },
+      "gridPos": {
+        "h": 5,
+        "w": 6,
+        "x": 12,
+        "y": 0
+      },
+      "id": 3,
+      "options": {
+        "colorMode": "value",
+        "graphMode": "none",
+        "justifyMode": "auto",
+        "orientation": "auto",
+        "reduceOptions": {
+          "calcs": [
+            "lastNotNull"
+          ],
+          "fields": "",
+          "values": false
+        },
+        "textMode": "auto"
+      },
+      "targets": [
+        {
+          "expr": "openstack:ironic_active_nodes:count",
+          "instant": true,
+          "refId": "A"
+        }
+      ],
+      "title": "Active nodes",
+      "type": "stat"
+    },
+    {
+      "datasource": {
+        "type": "prometheus",
+        "uid": "${datasource}"
+      },
+      "gridPos": {
+        "h": 5,
+        "w": 6,
+        "x": 18,
+        "y": 0
+      },
+      "id": 4,
+      "options": {
+        "colorMode": "value",
+        "graphMode": "none",
+        "justifyMode": "auto",
+        "orientation": "auto",
+        "reduceOptions": {
+          "calcs": [
+            "lastNotNull"
+          ],
+          "fields": "",
+          "values": false
+        },
+        "textMode": "auto"
+      },
+      "targets": [
+        {
+          "expr": "openstack:ironic_maintenance_nodes:count",
+          "instant": true,
+          "refId": "A"
+        }
+      ],
+      "title": "Maintenance nodes",
+      "type": "stat"
+    },
+    {
+      "datasource": {
+        "type": "prometheus",
+        "uid": "${datasource}"
+      },
+      "gridPos": {
+        "h": 10,
+        "w": 24,
+        "x": 0,
+        "y": 5
+      },
+      "id": 5,
+      "options": {
+        "cellHeight": "sm",
+        "showHeader": true
+      },
+      "targets": [
+        {
+          "expr": "openstack_ironic_node",
+          "format": "table",
+          "instant": true,
+          "refId": "A"
+        }
+      ],
+      "title": "Node lifecycle state",
+      "transformations": [
+        {
+          "id": "organize",
+          "options": {
+            "excludeByName": {
+              "Time": true,
+              "Value": true,
+              "__name__": true,
+              "job": true,
+              "instance": true
+            },
+            "indexByName": {
+              "name": 0,
+              "id": 1,
+              "provision_state": 2,
+              "power_state": 3,
+              "maintenance": 4,
+              "resource_class": 5,
+              "console_enabled": 6
+            }
+          }
+        }
+      ],
+      "type": "table"
+    }
+  ],
+  "refresh": "30s",
+  "schemaVersion": 39,
+  "tags": [
+    "openstack",
+    "ironic"
+  ],
+  "templating": {
+    "list": [
+      {
+        "current": {},
+        "hide": 0,
+        "includeAll": false,
+        "label": "Datasource",
+        "multi": false,
+        "name": "datasource",
+        "options": [],
+        "query": "prometheus",
+        "refresh": 1,
+        "regex": "",
+        "type": "datasource"
+      }
+    ]
+  },
+  "time": {
+    "from": "now-6h",
+    "to": "now"
+  },
+  "timezone": "browser",
+  "title": "OpenStack Ironic",
+  "uid": "openstack-ironic",
+  "version": 1
+}
diff --git a/roles/kube_prometheus_stack/files/jsonnet/ironic.libsonnet b/roles/kube_prometheus_stack/files/jsonnet/ironic.libsonnet
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c062438f79
--- /dev/null
+++ b/roles/kube_prometheus_stack/files/jsonnet/ironic.libsonnet
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+{
+  prometheusRules+:: {
+    groups: [
+      {
+        name: 'ironic-recording',
+        rules: [
+          {
+            record: 'openstack:ironic_nodes:count',
+            expr: 'sum(openstack_ironic_node)',
+          },
+          {
+            record: 'openstack:ironic_nodes_by_provision_state:count',
+            expr: 'sum by (provision_state) (openstack_ironic_node)',
+          },
+          {
+            record: 'openstack:ironic_active_nodes:count',
+            expr: 'sum(openstack_ironic_node{provision_state="active"})',
+          },
+          {
+            record: 'openstack:ironic_maintenance_nodes:count',
+            expr: 'sum(openstack_ironic_node{maintenance="true"})',
+          },
+        ],
+      },
+    ],
+  },
+  prometheusAlerts+:: {
+    groups: [
+      {
+        name: 'ironic-lifecycle',
+        rules: [
+          {
+            alert: 'IronicAPIUnavailable',
+            expr: '(openstack_ironic_up == 0) or absent(openstack_ironic_up)',
+            'for': '5m',
+            labels: {
+              severity: 'P3',
+            },
+            annotations: {
+              summary: 'Ironic API metrics are unavailable',
+              description: 'The Ironic API collector has been unavailable for more than 5 minutes.',
+            },
+          },
+          {
+            alert: 'IronicNodeProvisioningFailed',
+            expr: 'openstack_ironic_node{provision_state=~"deploy failed|error"} == 1',
+            'for': '5m',
+            labels: {
+              severity: 'P4',
+            },
+            annotations: {
+              summary: 'Ironic node provisioning failed',
+              description: 'Ironic node {{ $labels.name }} ({{ $labels.id }}) is in {{ $labels.provision_state }}.',
+            },
+          },
+          {
+            alert: 'IronicNodeProvisioningStalled',
+            expr: 'openstack_ironic_node{provision_state=~"deploying|wait call-back|deleting"} == 1',
+            'for': '2h',
+            labels: {
+              severity: 'P4',
+            },
+            annotations: {
+              summary: 'Ironic node provisioning is stalled',
+              description: 'Ironic node {{ $labels.name }} ({{ $labels.id }}) has remained in {{ $labels.provision_state }} for more than 2 hours.',
+            },
+          },
+          {
+            alert: 'IronicActiveNodePowerStateUnexpected',
+            expr: 'openstack_ironic_node{provision_state="active",power_state!="power on"} == 1',
+            'for': '15m',
+            labels: {
+              severity: 'P3',
+            },
+            annotations: {
+              summary: 'Active Ironic node has an unexpected power state',
+              description: 'Active Ironic node {{ $labels.name }} ({{ $labels.id }}) has reported {{ $labels.power_state }} for more than 15 minutes.',
+            },
+          },
+        ],
+      },
+    ],
+  },
+}
diff --git a/roles/kube_prometheus_stack/files/jsonnet/mixins.libsonnet b/roles/kube_prometheus_stack/files/jsonnet/mixins.libsonnet
index f617ca6e6e..3673d48704 100644
--- a/roles/kube_prometheus_stack/files/jsonnet/mixins.libsonnet
+++ b/roles/kube_prometheus_stack/files/jsonnet/mixins.libsonnet
@@ -104,6 +104,7 @@ local mixins = {
   },
   coredns: (import 'coredns.libsonnet'),
   geneve: (import 'geneve.libsonnet'),
+  ironic: (import 'ironic.libsonnet'),
   kube: (import 'vendor/github.com/kubernetes-monitoring/kubernetes-mixin/mixin.libsonnet') + {
     _config+:: {
       kubeApiserverSelector: 'job="apiserver"',
diff --git a/roles/kube_prometheus_stack/files/jsonnet/tests.yml b/roles/kube_prometheus_stack/files/jsonnet/tests.yml
index dc9804011d..c8418fb7df 100644
--- a/roles/kube_prometheus_stack/files/jsonnet/tests.yml
+++ b/roles/kube_prometheus_stack/files/jsonnet/tests.yml
@@ -2,6 +2,101 @@
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 
 tests:
+  - interval: 1m
+    input_series:
+      - series: 'openstack_ironic_up'
+        values: '1x10'
+    alert_rule_test:
+      - eval_time: 6m
+        alertname: IronicAPIUnavailable
+        exp_alerts: []
+
+  - interval: 1m
+    alert_rule_test:
+      - eval_time: 6m
+        alertname: IronicAPIUnavailable
+        exp_alerts:
+          - exp_labels:
+              severity: P3
+            exp_annotations:
+              summary: "Ironic API metrics are unavailable"
+              description: "The Ironic API collector has been unavailable for more than 5 minutes."
+
+  - interval: 1m
+    input_series:
+      - series: 'openstack_ironic_node{id="node-enroll",name="enrolling",provision_state="enroll fail",power_state="",maintenance="false"}'
+        values: '1x10'
+    alert_rule_test:
+      - eval_time: 6m
+        alertname: IronicNodeProvisioningFailed
+        exp_alerts: []
+
+  - interval: 1m
+    input_series:
+      - series: 'openstack_ironic_node{id="node-failed",name="failed-node",provision_state="deploy failed",power_state="power off",maintenance="false"}'
+        values: '1x10'
+    alert_rule_test:
+      - eval_time: 6m
+        alertname: IronicNodeProvisioningFailed
+        exp_alerts:
+          - exp_labels:
+              id: node-failed
+              name: failed-node
+              provision_state: deploy failed
+              power_state: power off
+              maintenance: "false"
+              severity: P4
+            exp_annotations:
+              summary: "Ironic node provisioning failed"
+              description: "Ironic node failed-node (node-failed) is in deploy failed."
+
+  - interval: 1m
+    input_series:
+      - series: 'openstack_ironic_node{id="node-stalled",name="stalled-node",provision_state="wait call-back",power_state="power on",maintenance="false"}'
+        values: '1x130'
+    alert_rule_test:
+      - eval_time: 121m
+        alertname: IronicNodeProvisioningStalled
+        exp_alerts:
+          - exp_labels:
+              id: node-stalled
+              name: stalled-node
+              provision_state: wait call-back
+              power_state: power on
+              maintenance: "false"
+              severity: P4
+            exp_annotations:
+              summary: "Ironic node provisioning is stalled"
+              description: "Ironic node stalled-node (node-stalled) has remained in wait call-back for more than 2 hours."
+
+  - interval: 1m
+    input_series:
+      - series: 'openstack_ironic_node{id="node-active",name="active-node",provision_state="active",power_state="power on",maintenance="false"}'
+        values: '1x130'
+    alert_rule_test:
+      - eval_time: 121m
+        alertname: IronicNodeProvisioningStalled
+        exp_alerts: []
+
+  - interval: 1m
+    input_series:
+      - series: 'openstack_ironic_node{id="node-off",name="powered-off-node",provision_state="active",power_state="power off",maintenance="false"}'
+        values: '1x20'
+    alert_rule_test:
+      - eval_time: 16m
+        alertname: IronicActiveNodePowerStateUnexpected
+        exp_alerts:
+          - exp_labels:
+              id: node-off
+              name: powered-off-node
+              provision_state: active
+              power_state: power off
+              maintenance: "false"
+              severity: P3
+            exp_annotations:
+              summary: "Active Ironic node has an unexpected power state"
+              description: "Active Ironic node powered-off-node (node-off) has reported power off for more than 15 minutes."
+
   # NodeNetworkMulticast - should NOT fire for sustained traffic below the
   # capacity-planning threshold.
   - interval: 1m
diff --git a/roles/kube_prometheus_stack/tasks/main.yml b/roles/kube_prometheus_stack/tasks/main.yml
index 4a28621164..32eb981731 100644
--- a/roles/kube_prometheus_stack/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/roles/kube_prometheus_stack/tasks/main.yml
@@ -332,6 +332,14 @@
       state: present
     - name: rbd-details
       state: present
+    - name: ironic
+      state: >-
+        {{
+          'present'
+          if (atmosphere_ironic_enabled | default(false) | bool
+              and openstack_exporter_baremetal_enabled | default(false) | bool)
+          else 'absent'
+        }}
   tags:
     - kube-prometheus-stack-dashboards
 
diff --git a/roles/kube_prometheus_stack/vars/main.yml b/roles/kube_prometheus_stack/vars/main.yml
index 9c3559fca4..5100e1a2e1 100644
--- a/roles/kube_prometheus_stack/vars/main.yml
+++ b/roles/kube_prometheus_stack/vars/main.yml
@@ -1,3 +1,20 @@
+_kube_prometheus_stack_compiled_rules: "{{ lookup('vexxhost.atmosphere.jsonnet', 'jsonnet/rules.jsonnet') }}"
+_kube_prometheus_stack_ironic_lifecycle_enabled: >-
+  {{
+    atmosphere_ironic_enabled | default(false) | bool
+    and openstack_exporter_baremetal_enabled | default(false) | bool
+  }}
+_kube_prometheus_stack_rules: >-
+  {{
+    _kube_prometheus_stack_compiled_rules
+    if _kube_prometheus_stack_ironic_lifecycle_enabled | bool
+    else
+    (_kube_prometheus_stack_compiled_rules
+     | dict2items
+     | rejectattr('key', 'equalto', 'ironic')
+     | items2dict)
+  }}
+
 _kube_prometheus_stack_helm_values:
   defaultRules:
     rules:
@@ -763,7 +780,7 @@ _kube_prometheus_stack_helm_values:
             {{ kube_prometheus_stack_node_exporter_config | to_nice_yaml | indent(4) }}
           certificate-template.yml: |
             {{ kube_prometheus_stack_node_exporter_tls_template | to_nice_yaml | indent(4) }}
-  additionalPrometheusRulesMap: "{{ lookup('vexxhost.atmosphere.jsonnet', 'jsonnet/rules.jsonnet') }}"
+  additionalPrometheusRulesMap: "{{ _kube_prometheus_stack_rules }}"
   extraManifests:
     - apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
       kind: Role
diff --git a/roles/openstack_exporter/README.md b/roles/openstack_exporter/README.md
index b8f63489b3..27a22d8321 100644
--- a/roles/openstack_exporter/README.md
+++ b/roles/openstack_exporter/README.md
@@ -1 +1,15 @@
 # `openstack_exporter`
+
+## Ironic lifecycle metrics
+
+Ironic metrics remain disabled unless both the Ironic service and its exporter
+collector are enabled:
+
+```yaml
+atmosphere_ironic_enabled: true
+openstack_exporter_baremetal_enabled: true
+```
+
+Enabling the collector while Ironic is disabled fails validation. When either
+option is false, the role keeps `--disable-service.baremetal` in the effective
+exporter arguments.
diff --git a/roles/openstack_exporter/defaults/main.yml b/roles/openstack_exporter/defaults/main.yml
index 21e84e185f..f721dd0c9a 100644
--- a/roles/openstack_exporter/defaults/main.yml
+++ b/roles/openstack_exporter/defaults/main.yml
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@
 # under the License.
 
 # Base arguments for the OpenStack exporter.
+openstack_exporter_baremetal_enabled: false
+
 openstack_exporter_args:
   - --endpoint-type
   - internal
diff --git a/roles/openstack_exporter/tasks/main.yml b/roles/openstack_exporter/tasks/main.yml
index f039055be7..a33bf7953a 100644
--- a/roles/openstack_exporter/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/roles/openstack_exporter/tasks/main.yml
@@ -12,6 +12,30 @@
 # License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
 # under the License.
 
+- name: Validate Ironic lifecycle monitoring configuration
+  ansible.builtin.assert:
+    that:
+      - atmosphere_ironic_enabled | default(false) | bool
+    fail_msg: >-
+      openstack_exporter_baremetal_enabled requires
+      atmosphere_ironic_enabled=true.
+  when: openstack_exporter_baremetal_enabled | bool
+
+- name: Build effective OpenStack exporter arguments
+  ansible.builtin.set_fact:
+    _openstack_exporter_effective_args: >-
+      {{
+        (openstack_exporter_args
+         | reject('equalto', '--disable-service.baremetal')
+         | list)
+        if (atmosphere_ironic_enabled | default(false) | bool
+            and openstack_exporter_baremetal_enabled | bool)
+        else
+        (openstack_exporter_args
+         if '--disable-service.baremetal' in openstack_exporter_args
+         else openstack_exporter_args + ['--disable-service.baremetal'])
+      }}
+
 - name: Deploy service
   kubernetes.core.k8s:
     state: present
@@ -67,7 +91,7 @@
                 - name: openstack-exporter
                   image: "{{ atmosphere_images['prometheus_openstack_exporter'] | vexxhost.kubernetes.docker_image('ref') }}"
                   args: >-
-                    {{ openstack_exporter_args +
+                    {{ _openstack_exporter_effective_args +
                        (openstack_exporter_neutron_disabled_metrics
                         if atmosphere_network_backend == 'ovn'
                         else ['--disable-service.network']) }}
diff --git a/roles/openstack_helm_endpoints/tasks/main.yml b/roles/openstack_helm_endpoints/tasks/main.yml
index 9170fd0e8a..0264d4c1e6 100644
--- a/roles/openstack_helm_endpoints/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/roles/openstack_helm_endpoints/tasks/main.yml
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@
   ansible.builtin.set_fact:
     openstack_helm_endpoints: |
       {{ openstack_helm_endpoints | combine(lookup('vars', '_openstack_helm_endpoints_' + service), recursive=True) }}
-  loop: "{{ openstack_helm_endpoints_list }}"
+  loop: "{{ openstack_helm_endpoints_list | default([], true) }}"
   loop_control:
     loop_var: service
 
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_ironic_playbook.py b/tests/unit/test_ironic_playbook.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9d6d0a76e4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/test_ironic_playbook.py
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+# Copyright (c) 2026 VEXXHOST, Inc.
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+from pathlib import Path
+
+import yaml
+
+
+def test_ironic_role_is_opt_in_and_follows_neutron():
+    repository_root = Path(__file__).parents[2]
+    plays = yaml.safe_load(
+        (repository_root / "playbooks" / "openstack.yml").read_text()
+    )
+
+    openstack_play = next(
+        play
+        for play in plays
+        if play.get("hosts") == "controllers[0]"
+        and any(role.get("role") == "neutron" for role in play.get("roles", []))
+    )
+    roles = openstack_play["roles"]
+    role_names = [role["role"] for role in roles]
+    ironic = roles[role_names.index("ironic")]
+
+    assert role_names.index("ironic") > role_names.index("neutron")
+    assert ironic["when"] == ("atmosphere_ironic_enabled | default(false) | bool")
+    assert ironic["tags"] == ["ironic"]
+
+
+def test_disabled_ironic_role_cannot_expand_an_empty_endpoint_loop():
+    repository_root = Path(__file__).parents[2]
+    tasks = yaml.safe_load(
+        (
+            repository_root
+            / "roles"
+            / "openstack_helm_endpoints"
+            / "tasks"
+            / "main.yml"
+        ).read_text()
+    )
+    task = next(
+        task
+        for task in tasks
+        if task.get("name") == "Generate OpenStack-Helm endpoints"
+    )
+
+    assert task["loop"] == ("{{ openstack_helm_endpoints_list | default([], true) }}")