Documented with `sudo -u ci-runner`, copied from the neighbouring tools that
call the Gitea API. Wrong here: the guard fetches, fetching writes
.git/FETCH_HEAD, and that file belongs to the committing user -- so as
ci-runner it died with "impossibile aprire '.git/FETCH_HEAD': Permesso negato"
before comparing anything.
A guard that cannot run is worse than no guard, since the failure looks like
infrastructure noise rather than an answer. The question it asks is "does what
I have match what is published", so it belongs to whoever holds the working
tree.
act_runner never runs this working copy. Every job re-clones the repository
from the Gitea server at the ref the workflow names, so a fix under .gitea/
is inert until it is pushed -- and nothing here says so. `git log` shows the
fix while CI keeps running the old file.
That gap cost a downstream repo a day: 59 commits sat unpushed while they
debugged a snapshot-name bug we had already fixed and announced as done.
ci-action-published.py compares the working tree against the remote ref,
which catches both committed-but-unpushed and edited-but-uncommitted in one
diff. It fetches first, so it compares against the server rather than a
remote-tracking ref that can itself be stale -- the same failure mode one
level down. Exit 1 on drift, 2 when the check could not run.
- AGENTS.md: LinuxRust2404 reference, plus errors #14-#16 -- deploy --force
against a powered-on VM, the three distinct causes behind the identical
"VMware Tools are not running" message, and the orphan snapshot deltas
--force leaves behind after deleting the .vmsd.
- docs/RUNBOOK.md §16: triage for a Step 7 IP timeout, ordered cheapest check
first, with a Quick Reference entry.
- docs/RUNBOOK-PhaseC.md: deploy-rust/prepare-rust, the ownership and non-login
shell constraints on /opt/rust, --then-prepare, and how to route a label to a
template (a second runner instance, with the verification step).
- TODO.md §2.9: retention run covers only artifacts, logs and IP leases, so it
warned about low disk while freeing 0.0 GB two runs in a row. Mitigated by
hand; the automated policy is still blind to what actually weighs.
- TODO.md §6.5: act_runner v1.0.4 -> v2.x evaluated and deferred, with the
trigger for reopening. v2.1.0 exposes no RUNNER_LABELS either (checked
against the binary), so the two-runner design is not a stopgap.
Build VMs stopped starting after a reboot into a new kernel: vmmon/vmnet
were left unloaded and vmnet1/vmnet8 (DHCP/NAT) never came up, so
vmware-vmx died (status=237/KEYRING) and clones got no IP. Root cause:
the LSB->systemd sysv-generated vmware.service intermittently fails to
generate at early boot ("systemd-sysv-generator: Cannot find unit
vmware.service"), and the existing module-rebuild guard only builds the
modules -- it never loads them or starts vmnet networking.
Add a native vmware-host.service that runs `/etc/init.d/vmware start`
(loads vmmon/vmci + brings up vmnet), ordered after the rebuild guard,
and mask the flaky sysv vmware.service so the native unit is the sole
owner. Provisioned by scripts/install-vmware-host-services.sh and wired
into setup-host-linux.sh (new step 8/9). VMware ships no native unit and
no kernel postinst hook, so this native wrapper around VMware's own
tools is the reliable boot path.
Verified: linked clone boots and gets a vmnet8 DHCP IP.
Add `ci template check-win-iso`: parse the massgrave windows-server-links
markdown source on GitHub for the newest Windows Server 2025 build, file
name and link, and report whether it is already in <CI_ROOT>/iso/. The
download itself stays manual — the massgrave link is behind a Cloudflare
Turnstile file host, not scriptable.
Add `ci template patch-win-iso --in ISO [--out ISO]`: standalone equivalent
of deploy-win Step 4 — inject autounattend.xml + post-install.ps1 and a
no-prompt boot image into a manually downloaded ISO, producing a
ready-to-deploy `.patched.iso`.
winimage/massgrave.py does the parse (no auto-download). RUNBOOK §5
documents the check → download → patch → deploy workflow. Coverage 93.6%.
On a Linux host the UUP converter only produces the RTM install.wim (build
26100.1), so Windows Update had to install the entire cumulative anyway —
the UUP download/convert machinery added a slow ~5 GB step and several host
tools (aria2/wimtools/cabextract/chntpw) for no benefit.
Replace it: deploy-win now takes the install ISO directly via `--iso-url`
(urllib download + cache by file name under <CI_ROOT>/iso/, optional
--iso-sha256) or a local `--win-iso` (exactly one required). Patch + deploy
flow is unchanged. Supply an already-updated ISO (e.g. a massgrave link) to
skip the WU step entirely.
- Remove winimage/uup.py and its tests.
- Trim setup-host-linux.sh deps to p7zip-full + xorriso + genisoimage.
- Update RUNBOOK §5 and the Windows-host port plan. Coverage 93.6%.
Verified the whole §4 chain end-to-end on the live host and fixed every
break:
- Capture the clone VMX from `vm new` stdout into $VMX and the guest IP
via `vmrun getGuestIPAddress` into $IP, then reuse both downstream.
Removes the fragile `Clone_dbg-1_*` globs that broke when more than one
clone shared a job-id ("unexpected extra argument").
- §4.3: `build run` does not inject the Gitea PAT (only `job` does), so the
private burnin-dummy repo can't be cloned in-guest. Use --host-source-dir
against the local copy instead.
- §4.4: collect from /opt/ci/output (where build run stages the artifact),
not the `dist` source dir — the old path failed with "tar: dist: Cannot
open".
- §4.1 now boots with --gui (manual debugging); §4.7 reuses $VMX.
Confirmed green: vm new → wait-ready → build → collect (build-info.txt +
manifest.json) → vm remove, and the §3 `job` pipeline (SUCCESS in 66s).
Mirror the `job` flag on the manual lifecycle: `vm new --start` was
hardcoded headless; add --gui/--nogui (default --nogui) so a clone can be
booted into the Workstation GUI window for interactive debugging. The
start banner reflects the mode.
Also update the runbook: §4.1 shows the --gui variant, and §3 notes that
the burnin-dummy build.sh is a ~30s fake build writing dist/build-info.txt
so the examples exercise the full pipeline.
Switch the §3 and §4.3 examples to Simone/burnin-dummy (the canonical
burn-in test repo): `bash build.sh` (fake ~30s build) producing a `dist/`
artifact, so the examples exercise a real build + artifact collection end
to end.
The Phase-2 VM start was hardcoded to headless. Expose a --gui/--nogui
toggle (default --nogui, preserving current behaviour); --gui starts the
clone with the Workstation GUI window (needs an X display, see §4.7). The
phase banner now reflects the chosen mode.
Replace the non-existent myrepo.git placeholder (which fails with
"repository not found") with this repo's URL and a harmless
`echo build-ok` build command, so §3 and §4.3 run as pasted.
The `job` command enforces --template-path (job.py:447) and defaults
--snapshot-name to BaseClean, which is wrong for Linux. The §3 example
omitted both and failed with "--template-path is required". Add both
flags (BaseClean-Linux) and note them as required.
Replace the terse, abbreviation-heavy style with clean prose and
consistent formatting. Make command blocks copy-paste-ready on this host:
capture the guest IP into a shell variable for `validate guest` / `build
run`, expand globbed VMX paths, and group the `job` flags into readable
lists. Add intra-doc anchor links throughout. Point the pwsh-rollback note
at scripts/archived/. No commands or flags changed.
Document `vmrun getGuestIPAddress` (run as ci-runner) for templates and
clones as the prerequisite for `validate guest`, with the AGENTS.md #1
"Error: on stdout" gotcha. Update the validate-guest Linux example to the
live template IP.
§4.7 now explains the grant is per-session and points to setup Step 8 /
the standalone install-vmware-gui-access.sh, keeping the manual one-off
xhost command as a fallback.
The GUI connects via the X host ACL (xhost), not the inherited XAUTHORITY
cookie (unreadable by ci-runner). On a normal session the grant is already
present and `ci vmgui` works with no --display/xhost dance — sudo forwards
DISPLAY. xhost is only needed if you hit "cannot open X display". Drop the
overstated "--display :0 required" framing from §4.7.
`vmgui` sent the child's stderr to /dev/null, so when the X display was
unreachable (the common case: sudo -u ci-runner loses the desktop user's
XAUTHORITY and xhost wasn't granted) the GUI died with "cannot open display"
and the command still printed success — "nothing opens".
Now it:
- pre-flights the display with xdpyinfo and aborts with the exact
`xhost +SI:localuser:ci-runner` hint instead of spawning a doomed process;
- drops an inherited XAUTHORITY that this user can't read (falls back to
host-based xhost auth);
- logs the GUI's stdio to /tmp/vmgui-*.log and grace-polls 1.5s, surfacing the
log if the GUI exits immediately;
- errors (non-zero) when no DISPLAY is resolvable.
Runbook §4.7 updated with the "if nothing opens" guidance. 13 tests; green ≥90%.
Add top-level `vmgui` to open the VMware Workstation GUI (renamed from the
earlier `vm open`). --vmx is optional: with it the GUI opens that VM, without
it the GUI starts bare. Power-on/fullscreen flags ignored (with a notice) when
no VMX is given. Needs an X display — sudo -u ci-runner strips $DISPLAY, so
--display / xhost; see runbook §4.7. 9 tests; suite green ≥90%.
Rewrite docs/RUNBOOK-PhaseC.md as a full manual-command reference: every
ci_orchestrator command with a working example as the ci-runner user, the `ci`
alias setup, quick-reference table, manual VM lifecycle (incl. vm open GUI
launch with the xhost/--display procedure), templating, maintenance, Phase C
testing, cutover checklist and a troubleshooting map.
- CLAUDE.md: Linux host no longer runs pwsh; PS 5.1 constraints scoped to
Windows guests + Windows runner.
- RUNBOOK: add "Phase C — Python equivalents" table; §6-§13 benchmark records
kept as historical provenance.
- TODO §3.7: close $IsWindows shim bug (resolved-by-replacement — bench run
bypasses the shim).
- plans: mark C1-C8 done + docs C9; flag operational cutover/uninstall pending.
RUNBOOK §15: dual-boot operation — Linux⇄Windows switch procedure, per-OS
CI-stack table (roots/runner/vmrun), current GRUB behaviour (DEFAULT=0,
TIMEOUT=0 hidden → boots straight to Linux), post-boot verification commands
for both OSes, and an optional GRUB tweak (left unapplied — boot-to-Linux is
intentional so the box returns as the Linux CI host after any unattended
reboot).
Checklist: Passo 9 done; fixed the stale global tracking table (Passi 6–9
were still [ ] despite being complete). Phase B is now fully closed (1–9 [x]).
§10: single-job Measure-CIBenchmark on LinuxBuild2404 (DHCP, 10 iter) on the
Linux host — boot total 8.82s avg, near-deterministic even on DHCP (IP-acquire
7.45s, σ≈0.01). Guest-vs-guest table: Linux guest ~63% faster boot total than
the Windows static-IP guest (§8) on the same host.
plans/benchmark-windows-host.md: dual-boot plan to collect the symmetric
Windows-host numbers (§11 Win static, §12 Linux DHCP, §13 concurrent burn-in)
so the host×guest×IP-mode matrix is complete and Linux-vs-Windows is a
column-for-column comparison. Includes Windows paths, Credential Manager
prereqs, and the BaseClean-Linux snapshot caveat.
Concurrent capacity burn-in run on the Linux host as ci-runner with the
static-IP pool: WinBuild2025 40/40 PASS (~78.6s/round) and LinuxBuild2404
40/40 PASS (~70.2s/round) — 80/80 jobs, 20/20 rounds, near-deterministic
(static IP eliminates the DHCP IP-acquire variance of the §6/§7 baselines).
- RUNBOOK §9: concurrent burn-in result + ip-pool reset/recovery note.
- PhaseB-user-checklist Passo 7/8 marked done; fixed two checklist bugs:
run as ci-runner (the simone path needs g+w on the /var/lib/ci root for
ip-pool.tmp, not just the sub-dirs), and the Linux command was missing
-SnapshotName BaseClean-Linux (default BaseClean is Windows-only).
- idea-2-linux-host §8 DoD: Phase B complete (B1–B7 + >2 weeks stability).
- TODO §2.8 [P2]: ip-pool is not reconciled against live clones; a killed
job leaks its lease permanently and exhausts the 4-IP pool. Proposed fix.
Postmortem of the Linux template deploy/prepare 'no IP' investigation:
separates the three distinct causes (apt index stale from --skip-update,
deploy --force snapshot-chain, wedged host vmnet-dhcpd) and documents the
recovery (restart vmware-networks). Changelog entry summarising the
toolchain, xvfb, --force cleanup and cloud-init seal changes.
Add an --xvfb switch to 'build run' and 'job' that wraps the Linux build
command in 'xvfb-run -a sh -c ...', giving GUI toolkits (GTK4/PyGObject)
a headless $DISPLAY. Exported env vars precede xvfb-run so they
propagate into the virtual-display session. No-op (with a notice) for
Windows guests.
The local-ci-build composite action exposes it as the 'xvfb' input
(default false), forwarded as INPUT_XVFB -> --xvfb, mirroring the
use-shared-cache/skip-artifact wiring.
Docs: WORKFLOW-AUTHORING.md parameter table + Linux example note;
LINUX-TEMPLATE-SETUP.md Step 4a (the template ships python3-gi
gir1.2-gtk-4.0 xvfb). Adds build-run unit tests (wrap, plain, Windows
no-op).
Replaces the abandoned PSWSMan approach (New-PSSession hangs on Linux)
with a Python-native implementation using the proven pypsrp WinRmTransport.
- New `template prepare-win` command in commands/template.py: starts VM,
waits for WinRM, uploads and runs Install-CIToolchain-*.ps1, handles
Windows Update 3010 reboot loop (max 10 iterations), installs CI-StaticIp
scheduled task, runs post-setup validation, graceful shutdown, snapshot.
- Helpers: _ps_escape, _wait_tcp, _parse_exit_marker, _wait_winrm.
- 40 new tests in test_commands_template.py covering all major branches.
- Fix test_commands_job.py: patch load_config in _patch_common so tests
don't pick up live /var/lib/ci/config.toml ip_pool and fail on lock.
- Coverage gate: 90.06% (was 88.95% before fix).
4-iteration run on Linux Mint host, WinBuild2025/BaseClean.
Clone/Start/Ready/Destroy within ±20% of Windows baseline.
IP-acquire avg 99.7 s vs 58.2 s Windows — high variance (39–177 s),
attributed to VMware Tools reporting latency, not orchestrator regression.
Data from Measure-CIBenchmark.ps1 × 4 (2026-05-17, commit 5b46bba):
avg boot 60.6s, IP-acquire dominant (20–85s, σ≈26s). Adds ±20% ranges
for B7 comparison and guidance on sample size given IP-phase variance.
Parallel MSBuild fan-out (e.g. ns7zip x86/x64/x86-ansi) over pypsrp
Linux→Win fails with MSBuild MSB6003 / Win32 1816 'Not enough quota'
because two default guest limits are too tight for concurrent native
processes via WinRM:
- Plugin Microsoft.PowerShell MaxMemoryPerShellMB = 150 MB
(pypsrp uses the plugin endpoint, not the Shell endpoint that
Deploy was previously bumping)
- Non-interactive desktop heap SharedSection 3rd field = 768 KB
(Session 0 csrss; CreateProcess fails when 3+ cl.exe spawn)
Pre-migration Win→Win went through Invoke-Command on PSSession with
quotas inherited from the local process, so the limits never bit.
Changes:
- Deploy-WinBuild2025.ps1 / Deploy-WinBuild2022.ps1: also set the
plugin-level MaxMemoryPerShellMB=2048, bump MaxProcessesPerShell
25→100, patch SharedSection 3rd field 768→4096 (reboot needed for
csrss to pick up, applied by post-install shutdown).
- Install-CIToolchain-WinBuild2025/2022.ps1: add Assert-Step for
plugin quota, MaxProcessesPerShell≥100, SharedSection≥4096; fail
hard if any are under threshold.
- docs/WINDOWS-TEMPLATE-SETUP.md: new "WinRM quotas e desktop heap"
section explaining the diagnosis + one-shot patch for legacy
templates; updated Step 3 validation row + troubleshooting entry.
- AGENTS.md: error #13 with symptom, root cause, and pointer to docs.
Workflow now targets Simone/nsis-plugin-ns7zip. Renamed the file and
the workflow `name:`, and updated all references in active docs
(plans/archived and docs/archived left as frozen history).
Reconcile docs with the end-to-end pipeline fixes:
- upload/download-artifact @v4 -> @v3 (Gitea GHES) in WORKFLOW-AUTHORING
and workflow-example.yml; add Common Mistakes rows (v4, action ref
form + DEFAULT_ACTIONS_URL, public action repo).
- BEST-PRACTICES / README / HOST-SETUP: guest credential must live in
the LocalSystem vault with a host-qualified username; document
Set-CIGuestCredential.ps1 / Test-CIGuestWinRM.ps1 and auth=ntlm.
- README / AGENTS / HOST-SETUP: production venv install is NON-editable
(LocalSystem); no CI workflow may install into it.
- HOST-SETUP: add DEFAULT_ACTIONS_URL=github + full-URL uses: + public
repo + @main requirements discovered during validation.
- Correct stale repo name local-ci-system -> local-ci-cd-system.
Update --cov-fail-under in lint workflow + docs (AGENTS, README, ARCHITECTURE). Note: A5 closeout reported 80.10%% so this run will likely fail until additional tests are added.
AGENTS.md: new 'Python development' section (venv paths, install/lint/typecheck/test commands, conventions, full PS->Python sub-command mapping, list of PS scripts that stay PowerShell, link to phase closeouts). README.md: expand 'Python orchestrator' with examples for all 10 sub-commands (wait-ready, vm new/remove/cleanup, build run, artifacts collect, monitor disk/runner, report job, job), local validation gates with 80% coverage gate, link to test_agents_errors.py. docs/ARCHITECTURE.md: new 'Python orchestrator (Phase A)' section with package layout tree, VmBackend Protocol contract, load_backend(config) factory, Phase C ESXi extension recipe, transport selection note, and CI validation gates.
- Updated the final master plan to improve clarity and consistency in the status of various capabilities, including fixes and enhancements made as of 2026-05-12.
- Revised the opus47 analysis to provide a more structured overview of the system's production readiness, including detailed coverage of OWASP Top 10 risks and operational gaps.
- Enhanced the opus47 review of GPT-5.5 by clarifying severity ratings and rationales for various items, while adding new high-severity items that were previously overlooked.
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