Separates what a VM IS (durable intent + identity + deterministic
derived paths — `VMRuntime`) from what is CURRENTLY TRUE about it
(firecracker PID, tap device, loop devices, dm-snapshot target — new
`VMHandles`). The durable state lives in the SQLite `vms` row; the
transient state lives in an in-memory cache on the daemon plus a
per-VM `handles.json` scratch file inside VMDir, rebuilt at startup
from OS inspection. Nothing kernel-level rides the SQLite schema
anymore.
Why:
Persisting ephemeral process handles to SQLite forced reconcile to
treat "running with a stale PID" as a first-class case and mix it
with real state transitions. The schema described what we last
observed, not what the VM is. Every time the observation model
shifted (tap pool, DM naming, pgrep fallback) the reconcile logic
grew a new branch. Splitting lets each layer own what it's good at:
durable records describe intent, in-memory cache + scratch file
describe momentary reality.
Shape:
- `model.VMHandles` = PID, TapDevice, BaseLoop, COWLoop, DMName,
DMDev. Never in SQLite.
- `VMRuntime` keeps: State, GuestIP, APISockPath, VSockPath,
VSockCID, LogPath, MetricsPath, DNSName, VMDir, SystemOverlay,
WorkDiskPath, LastError. All durable or deterministic.
- `handleCache` on `*Daemon` — mutex-guarded map + scratch-file
plumbing (`writeHandlesFile` / `readHandlesFile` /
`rediscoverHandles`). See `internal/daemon/vm_handles.go`.
- `d.vmAlive(vm)` replaces the 20+ inline
`vm.State==Running && ProcessRunning(vm.Runtime.PID, apiSock)`
spreads. Single source of truth for liveness.
- Startup reconcile: per running VM, load the scratch file, pgrep
the api sock, either keep (cache seeded from scratch) or demote
to stopped (scratch handles passed to cleanupRuntime first so DM
/ loops / tap actually get torn down).
Verification:
- `go test ./...` green.
- Live: `banger vm run --name handles-test -- cat /etc/hostname`
starts; `handles.json` appears in VMDir with the expected PID,
tap, loops, DM.
- `kill -9 $(pgrep bangerd)` while the VM is running, re-invoke the
CLI, daemon auto-starts, reconcile recognises the VM as alive,
`banger vm ssh` still connects, `banger vm delete` cleans up.
Tests added:
- vm_handles_test.go: scratch-file roundtrip, missing/corrupt file
behaviour, cache concurrency, rediscoverHandles prefers pgrep
over scratch, returns scratch contents even when process is
dead (so cleanup can tear down kernel state).
- vm_test.go: reconcile test rewritten to exercise the new flow
(write scratch → reconcile reads it → verifies process is gone →
issues dmsetup/losetup teardown).
ARCHITECTURE.md updated; `handles` added to Daemon field docs.
Remove the last shell-owned NAT surface by extracting the iptables logic into a shared Go package and using it from both bangerd and a hidden helper bridge in the CLI.
Route customize.sh and interactive.sh through banger internal nat up/down so the remaining shell helpers reuse the same rule logic, resolve the local banger binary explicitly, and tear NAT back down during cleanup.
Drop nat.sh from the runtime bundle and docs now that NAT is Go-managed everywhere, and keep coverage aligned with the new shared package and helper command.
Validation: go test ./..., bash -n customize.sh interactive.sh verify.sh, make build, and a live ./verify.sh --nat run that installed host rules, reached outbound network access, and cleaned them up successfully.
Fix the Go control plane NAT path now that runtime state lives in the daemon instead of the old repo-local vm.json files.
Add a daemon-native NAT helper that derives uplink, guest IP, and TAP rules directly from VMRecord, applies the existing iptables/sysctl behavior idempotently, and removes the broken nat.sh handoff from vm.go.
Cover uplink parsing and rule generation with unit tests. Validated with go test ./... and make build; a live verify.sh --nat run installed host rules but stopped on the same guest SSH-readiness issue seen in the plain smoke test on this host.
