# Testing

PhotonCloud treats VM-first validation as the canonical local proof path.

## Canonical Validation

```bash
nix run ./nix/test-cluster#cluster -- fresh-smoke
```

This flow:

- builds all six VM images on the host
- boots the cluster in dependency order
- validates control-plane, worker, gateway, storage, and fault-injection behavior
- proves that `deployer` seeds scheduler-managed native services directly from declarative Nix cluster state

## Publishable Checks

```bash
nix run ./nix/test-cluster#cluster -- fresh-smoke
nix run ./nix/test-cluster#cluster -- fresh-matrix
nix run ./nix/test-cluster#cluster -- fresh-bench-storage
nix build .#checks.x86_64-linux.deployer-vm-smoke
```

Use these three commands as the release-facing local proof set:

- `fresh-smoke`: whole-cluster readiness, core behavior, and fault injection
- `fresh-matrix`: composed service scenarios such as `prismnet + flashdns + fiberlb` and PrismNet-backed VM hosting bundles with `plasmavmc + coronafs + lightningstor`
- `fresh-bench-storage`: CoronaFS local-vs-shared-volume throughput, cross-worker volume visibility, and LightningStor large/small-object throughput capture
- `deployer-vm-smoke`: prebuilt NixOS system closure handoff into `nix-agent`, proving host rollout can activate a host-built target without guest-side compilation

## Operational Commands

```bash
nix run ./nix/test-cluster#cluster -- status
nix run ./nix/test-cluster#cluster -- logs node01
nix run ./nix/test-cluster#cluster -- ssh node04
nix run ./nix/test-cluster#cluster -- matrix
nix run ./nix/test-cluster#cluster -- bench-storage
nix run ./nix/test-cluster#cluster -- fresh-matrix
nix run ./nix/test-cluster#cluster -- fresh-bench-storage
nix run ./nix/test-cluster#cluster -- stop
nix run ./nix/test-cluster#cluster -- clean
```

## Validation Philosophy

- package unit tests are useful but not sufficient
- host-built VM clusters are the main integration signal
- distributed storage and virtualization paths must be checked under failure, not only at steady state

## Legacy Note

Older manual launch scripts under `baremetal/vm-cluster` are archived only for historical reference. They are not the release-validation path.