The operator's UOS bring-up becomes one field. apps/vms/unifi/unifi-uos-installer.sops.yaml
(SOPS/age, with a .example sibling per the crafty/headlamp convention) carries `installer-url`
and `console-password`. KubeVirt mounts it as a read-only iso9660 disk labelled UOSDATA and an
in-guest `uos-install.service` reads it on EVERY boot, so a later URL change needs only a commit
and a VM restart.
Mechanism verified against the DEPLOYED KubeVirt v1.9.0, not from memory:
* inline userData cap is exactly 2048 bytes — server-side dry-run apply accepted 2048 and
rejected 2049; the payload here is 1454.
* `cloudInitNoCloud.secretRef` and `secret.volumeLabel` both exist in the live CRD; the secret
disk + third disk were accepted by a server-side dry-run of the real manifest.
* the NoCloud seed's instance-id IS spec.template.spec.domain.firmware.uuid (read out of
noCloud.iso inside virt-launcher), stamped on the VM OBJECT, so it survives restarts. Editing
userData alone therefore changes NOTHING — cloud-init restores its cached datasource and skips
write_files/runcmd. The UUID is now pinned in git and bumped once so the new payload lands.
secretRef was deliberately NOT used for the whole cloud-config: it would put the shell in
ciphertext, out of reach of the L0 dollar-collapse guard, while Flux's envsubst still runs over
decrypted resources — the 2026-09-13 nextcloud-db shape. Script in plaintext, operator values in
SOPS. apps-vms had no `decryption` stanza (first encrypted content under apps/vms/), so one was
added to both overlays.
CORRECTION, and it is the headline: UNIFI OS SERVER IS ALREADY INSTALLED on the live guest. The
serial console log starts uosserver.service and uosserver-updater.service, and / is 6.3 GB of
40 GB used. The controller is unreachable because THE GUEST HAS NO IP: .status.interfaces shows
enp1s0 up with no address, and `ip neigh` in virt-launcher reports 10.0.2.2 FAILED. 11443/8443/
8080 and 22 all RST, from the pod IP and from 10.0.2.2 directly, so the VIP and the CNP are
exonerated. install-uos therefore bails out the moment systemd knows a uosserver.service —
without that guard this change would have reinstalled over a working controller.
There was also no way into the guest at all: no key, no password, and 22 is not a declared
masquerade port so SSH cannot work by construction. Hence console-password.
README corrections (it doubles as the rebuild runbook and was misdirecting):
* VIP 192.168.1.54 -> 192.168.2.21; pool 192.168.1.53-.60/.53 -> 192.168.2.20-.30 with the
Gateway on .20; device subnet 192.168.1.0/24 -> 192.168.2.0/24; node k3s-dev-1 -> k3s-prod-1.
All re-read live (pool blocks, cluster-vars, the Service EXTERNAL-IPs, LAN_CIDR).
* "UOS is NOT installed" -> it is; the real fault is the lost IP, with the evidence table.
* "apps-vms must NOT use postBuild.substituteFrom" -> it has since 2026-08-31 and the escape
contract is in force.
* "install-uos is no longer baked into the guest" -> it was baked in, and it was broken twice
over (an unverified firmware API, and no `install` subcommand).
* "SSH in, cloud-init installs the operator's key" -> it installs none, and 22 is not forwarded.
* externalTrafficPolicy Local -> Cluster (the 8-day outage fix already in 50-service-l4.yaml).
* 60 GB -> 40Gi (the DataVolume and the Bound PVC); "10 GB minimum" -> ~25 GB.
* userDataSecretRef -> the YAML key is `secretRef`.
* 90-httproute-optional.yaml referenced as if it existed; it was dropped.
Unattended install, honestly: Ubiquiti documents no silent flag, no answer file, no env vars.
`yes y | <installer> install` is the convergent community practice and is what ships here, with a
bare-invocation fallback. It has NOT been run end-to-end on our guest. The installer URL also
does not look signed or time-limited — it is account-derived and per-release; it is in SOPS
anyway, but nothing should depend on expiry.
The running VM was not touched: no restart, no migration, no re-import. Every cluster call was a
read or an explicit --dry-run=server; the live VM still carries firmware uuid ...c07 and the
34h-old virt-launcher pod is untouched. The change takes effect on the operator's next VM restart.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <[email protected]>
jakman85andClaude Opus 5
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