felhom.eu/STATUS.md

STATUS — what works, what's broken, what's next

Updated 2026-09-27 evening. Both demo boxes run controller 0.276.0 and host agent 0.137.0. Hub 0.125.0.

Decisions I took on my own (you may reverse each):

1. paperless-ngx goes to PostgreSQL 18, tandoor to 17. Each follows what its own makers ship. paperless's makers use 18. tandoor's use 16, and 17 is the newest its framework supports.
2. The file browser reads nextcloud's kept folder by joining its group. Nothing on your disk changes. The folder stays read-only in the view.

What I did, and it worked.

• A backup now always says truthfully which version its data belongs to. Before, the label changed to "new version" minutes after an update, while the data inside stayed old. A restore in that window broke docmost: its database would not start. Now the backup keeps the old version's settings next to the old data. I tested it on the scratch box: docmost came back whole at the old version, and the normal update brought it forward again.
• The box tested this by itself in the night. It updated docmost's database at 02:15. Two minutes later the backup kept the matching old settings. The restore the next morning worked.
• Two more apps move to a new database version: paperless-ngx and tandoor. Each was tested twice: on a throwaway test machine and on the scratch box through the normal update. Every account came back.
• adventurelog moves to its new version. It keeps its world-map download. If that file was cut off, the box sets it aside and downloads it again. Tested both ways.
• The HP box's restore test now tests real backups of guests that exist, not the golden template file and not an old backup of a deleted guest (two more small agent releases, each found when I checked the box).
• Small fixes: the file browser no longer re-creates an empty kept folder; the "Kept data" name follows the box's language; after a load, the app page no longer shows a password that does not work.

Evening follow-up (controller 0.276.0).

• Fixed: moving an app to another drive made the box forget which version the app must run. The app then took the newest version at its next start, and skipped the tested steps. Found by reading the code, not on a box. Tested in code only: no test box has two drives.
• Fixed: after a restore, the box forgot the old database copy, so it stayed on disk forever. A restore now keeps that note, and also keeps whether you had the app switched on.
• Seen in the night: the scratch box deleted paperless's old database copy by itself, after a backup made by the new database version. This is correct.
• Found in the night: the HP box's full-guest restore test can never run. It now picks the right backup, but the disk has 21 GiB free and the test needs 31 GiB. It refuses safely every 6 hours. Filed, with three options; nothing decided.
• Not built: "Use my kept data" from the off-site copy. It would be a new way to put data back, and no test box has an off-site copy to prove it on.

What broke, or is not done.

• Found and fixed today: an app installed minutes ago could be updated with no backup of its database. The update trusted a backup that held only the app's settings. Now it backs up first.
• "Use my kept data" still cannot load from the off-site copy. Filed.
• The file-browser group fix is tested in code only. No nextcloud kept folder existed on the scratch box.
• A backup stores the name of each app version, not the app itself. If a maker deletes an old version, a restore of it cannot start. Today all 42 versions the catalog names still exist. Filed with options; nothing decided.

Rows. 3 opened, 6 closed. The list went from 339 to 336. Evening and night: 2 opened, 1 closed; now 337.

Decision for you — D4: when the only backup holds data of an older app version, what does a restore bring back?

• A — the older version with its own data; then the normal update climbs, one tested step at a time (I recommend this, and it is built). Cost: after the restore the app runs an older version for a night or until someone presses Update. The page says so.
• B — restore into a temporary copy, update it there, then move the data in. Cost: a new mechanism on customer data, and double the disk space during the restore. Same end state as A.
• If you do nothing: A stays in force. Nobody is blocked.

What needs you.

1. D4 above.
2. The weekly golden bake is due (last one a week ago, 21 controller releases behind). The brief said no golden, so I renewed the waiver for 7 days only (to 4 October). If you do nothing, the checks go red again on 4 October and nothing can be pushed to felhom.eu until a bake or a new waiver.
3. Vouch agent 0.137.0 for new installs (hub → Configs → Day-0 artifacts). If you do nothing, new boxes install 0.134.0 and get the newer one only by a signed update.
4. The image-copy question (a maker deletes an old version): keep as is, or copy installed versions into our registry. If you do nothing, nothing changes.
5. From before: Peti's box in the Claude project text; Cloudflare leftovers of Peti's domain; the old Storage Box PBS-storage-1. If you do nothing, they stay as they are.