Enforcing reference operating state compliance for cloud computing-based compute appliances

A process includes enforcing compliance of a compute appliance to a reference operating state for the compute appliance. The compute appliance is part of a cloud-based computing system. Enforcing compliance with the reference operating state includes, responsive to a startup of the compute appliance, the compute appliance determining an actual compute state of the compute appliance. The actual compute state includes an actual physical topology placement of a hardware component of the compute appliance. Determining the actual compute state includes determining the physical topology placement of the hardware component. Enforcing compliance with the reference operating state includes verifying whether the actual compute state complies with the reference compute state. The verification includes comparing the actual compute state to the reference compute state. Enforcing compliance with the reference operating state includes, responsive to a result of the verification, controlling whether the compute appliance is part of the cloud-based computing system.