# felhom.eu — task reports

> **Overwrite** this file with a summary of the most recent task only (uniform with the other repos; not cumulative). The cumulative hub history lives in [hub/CHANGELOG.md](hub/CHANGELOG.md); the scripts history lives in [scripts/CHANGELOG.md](scripts/CHANGELOG.md).

## R-21 slice A: bare-metal Felhom ISO (build pipeline + first-boot bootstrap) — 2026-07-16

**Repo:** felhom.eu · **Baseline:** `main` @ `914d51a` → scripts **v1.16.0** (ISO pipeline tag;
`felhom-host-install` was *already* v1.16.0 from 2026-07-13 — see Versioning note).
**Validation:** nested VM **310** on felhom-pve; ISO builds on DooPlex. `felhom-host-install.sh`
**not modified** (read-only, invoked only). Hub code untouched.

### Files created (`scripts/iso/`)

`Dockerfile.assistant`, `build-felhom-iso.sh`, `answer.toml.tmpl`, `stub-first-boot.sh`,
`felhom-bootstrap.sh`, `felhom-bootstrap.service`, `profiles/nested-vm.profile`,
`profiles/nested-canary.profile`, `README.md`. Plus `scripts/CHANGELOG.md`,
`documentation/backlog/ROADMAP.md` (R-21 → in-progress), this `REPORT.md`, `CONTEXT.md`.

### Green gates

`bash -n` clean on all three scripts; `shellcheck -x` **exit 0, no findings** (run in the assistant
container). Retry-unit behavior de-risked on systemd 257 before wiring (transient unit: `Type=oneshot`
+ `Restart=on-failure` **does** retry — NRestarts climbed).

### §4.4 finding — does the distribution channel embed a secret? (decides slice C)

**The channel: no. The unattended install: yes (the passphrase).** The hub install-command generator
(`hub/internal/web/templates/customer_unified.html`, Option 1) emits
`curl -fsSL https://felhom.eu/scripts/felhom-host-install.sh -o … && sudo bash … --customer-id <id>
--mode <appliance|byo>` — a **public URL, no token/secret in the command**. But
`felhom-host-install.sh` **requires the customer retrieval passphrase** (`read_passphrase` →
`die "empty passphrase"`; used for config fetch + `POST /host-enroll`). Unattended ⇒ it must be
supplied via `--passphrase-file`, so **the slice-A ISO is secret-bearing** (embeds the passphrase).
**Slice-C implication:** the *distributed* ISO must NOT bake the passphrase — the claim/pairing model
must deliver it (or the config) to the box *after* the customer claims it. Slice-A ISOs are
supervised/single-use; the bootstrap `shred`s `bootstrap.env` on success.

### 2.3 retry-vs-resume ruling (source-verified, encoded once)

**Plain first attempt; add `--resume` on any later attempt that finds
`/var/lib/felhom-install/state.json`.** Source landmark: `felhom-host-install.sh` header **v1.11.3**
("--resume correctness — the producer steps (token/enroll/grows) run every pass … a resumed install no
longer writes a config missing hub.host_id/proxmox.token") — so `--resume` is safe, whereas a plain
re-invoke over an existing install state would re-hit the populated-host leaf guard / existing-vmid
refusal. `--mode` is required in both forms. Encoded in `felhom-bootstrap.sh` with the landmark cited
inline; **empirically confirmed** (below).

### Per-scenario results (evidence under `180:~/felhom-iso/evidence/`)

- **C — build gate blocks a broken answer (+ red-proof) — PASS.** Answer with both `root-password`
  and `root-password-hashed`: the output-parse gate surfaced `` `global.root-password` and
  `global.root-password-hashed` cannot be set at the same time / Error: Found issues `` and aborted
  (`BUILD-EXIT=1`, **no ISO** — count unchanged), *even though `validate-answer` exits 0*.
  **Red-proof:** gutting the gate to trust `$?` made it wrongly report `[OK] answer validated`; the
  broken answer was then stopped only by `prepare-iso`'s own error **plus the build's `[[ -f out.iso ]]`
  guard** — notably `prepare-iso` *also* exited 0 on the error, so the file-existence check was the
  real backstop. Reverted (mutation done on the DooPlex copy; committed tree never touched).
- **D — disk-filter fail-safe through the pipeline — PASS.** Pipeline-built canary ISO
  (`filter.ID_SERIAL_SHORT="no-such-disk-zzz"`) → `ERROR: Installation failed: filter did not match any
  device`, abort exit 1, no interactive fallback. 8 GB canary disk **byte-identical** after
  (`sha256 -c: OK`, host-side; `scenarioD-filter-abort.png`).
- **A — full unattended chain — MECHANISM PASS; terminal success operator-gated.** Zero keypress;
  stub ran once (uid 0) and enabled+started `felhom-bootstrap`; the unit **fetched host-install from the
  REAL channel** `https://felhom.eu/scripts/felhom-host-install.sh` and invoked it
  `--customer-id … --mode appliance --hub-url …`; host-install ran unattended through preflight
  (hub reachable) — with the drill customer absent it correctly failed at config preflight (`404`) and
  the unit **retried** (`bootstrap-journal.log`; NRestarts ≥3; 12 host-install invocations).
  **Not live-proven:** host-install **rc-0** → hub-enrolled + guest-provisioned → done-flag +
  unit-disable + no-re-run. Reason: that needs a properly created drill customer, and CC cannot use the
  password-gated create-UI while a direct write to the *live, locked* hub `hub.db` (verified open by the
  running pod) risks corruption. The done-flag/disable/env-scrub success path is code-reviewed +
  shellcheck-clean; empirical proof requires an operator-created drill customer (supervised).
- **B — no network at first boot — PASS.** During a host-side `link_down` window
  (13:37:56→13:39:37) the chain failed repeatedly — `host-install FAILED rc=6` (host-install's own hub
  fetch, no net) and `ERROR: host-install fetch failed (no network yet?)` — and **the unit kept
  retrying (never died)**; on link-up it **resumed automatically** (`13:40:04` fetch+run). No
  "single failure → dead unit". The stub-runs-without-network property is spike-proven (S8a);
  `bootstrap-journal.log`.
- **2.3 resume decision — PASS.** After creating `/var/lib/felhom-install/state.json`, the next attempt
  logged `prior install state present (…) -> adding --resume`; earlier attempts ran plain.
- **Exactly-once stub — PASS.** Host-side reboot → `/var/log/felhom-first-boot.log` hash **unchanged**
  (`13cf3fe4…`), pending-flag consumed; the retry unit correctly persisted (still `activating`, not done).

### ISO artifacts (build ≈ 12 s each, source already local)

| ISO | sha256 | size |
|---|---|---|
| `felhom-pve-9.2-1-v1.16.0-nested-vm.iso` | `8cbe5eaeaa0d…82bb` | 1,707,737,088 B |
| `felhom-pve-9.2-1-v1.16.0-nested-canary.iso` | `6b4568eaeac0…0301` | 1,707,737,088 B |
| (validation build, key baked) `…-nested-vm-val.iso` | `0042acfdb70a…98e7` | — |

Source ISO `proxmox-ve_9.2-1.iso` sha256 `4e88fe4…f2c6c` (verified vs official SHA256SUMS). Assistant
`proxmox-installer-common 9.2.7` (trixie no-sub). Artifacts kept under `180:~/felhom-iso/out/`, never
committed (secret-bearing).

### VM 310 final state

Stopped, kept; SeaBIOS, scsi0 32 GB + scsi1 8 GB (canary intact), ISO detached. Boundaries honored:
VM 300 (drill) running untouched, 9000 stopped, LXC 9201 (demo) running untouched, hub untouched.
Secret-bearing pipeline ISOs removed from felhom-pve (their embedded passphrase was a placeholder, not a
real credential).

### NOT-live-validated

- **Physical N100 run (RUNBOOK B):** real DMI/firmware, USB-boot media, vendor Secure Boot key set,
  real-NIC naming, prior-LVM `blkdiscard` on real hardware. Not started (out of scope by design).
- **host-install rc-0 terminal success** (hub-enrolled + guest-provisioned + done-flag + disable) and
  the **2.3 `--resume` executed against a real partial install** — both need an operator-created drill
  customer (password-gated create-UI; live-DB insert unsafe). The *decisions/plumbing* are proven; only
  the terminal success is deferred.

### Versioning note

`felhom-host-install` reached v1.16.0 on 2026-07-13 (before this task's stated 1.15.x baseline). The
new ISO pipeline is tagged **v1.16.0** to stay coherent with that release (the ISO's baked invocation
targets host-install's flag surface). The `scripts/CHANGELOG.md` entry is a new component under the
same release tag, not a bump of host-install.

### Observations (recorded, not acted on)

- `prepare-iso` (not just `validate-answer`) was observed to **exit 0 on a bad answer** — the build's
  `[[ -f out.iso ]]` output-existence guard is therefore load-bearing, not just belt-and-suspenders.
- host-install prints `unexpected hub status 404404` (doubled) for an absent customer — cosmetic
  host-install quirk; left untouched (read-only this task).
- host-install exits **rc=6** when it cannot reach the hub (no net) — the bootstrap correctly treats
  any non-zero rc as retry.