# PhotonCloud VM Test Cluster

`nix/test-cluster` is the canonical local validation path for PhotonCloud.
It boots six QEMU VMs, treats them as hardware-like nodes, and validates representative control-plane, worker, and gateway behavior over SSH and service endpoints.
All VM images are built on the host in a single Nix invocation and then booted as prebuilt artifacts. The guests do not compile the stack locally.

## What it validates

- 3-node control-plane formation for `chainfire`, `flaredb`, and `iam`
- control-plane service health for `prismnet`, `flashdns`, `fiberlb`, `plasmavmc`, `lightningstor`, and `k8shost`
- worker-node `plasmavmc` and `lightningstor` startup
- PrismNet port binding for PlasmaVMC guests, including lifecycle cleanup on VM deletion
- nested KVM inside worker VMs by booting an inner guest with `qemu-system-x86_64 -accel kvm`
- gateway-node `apigateway`, `nightlight`, and minimal `creditservice` startup
- host-forwarded access to the API gateway and NightLight HTTP surfaces
- cross-node data replication smoke tests for `chainfire` and `flaredb`

## Validation layers

- image build: build all six VM derivations on the host in one `nix build`
- boot and unit readiness: boot the nodes in dependency order and wait for SSH plus the expected `systemd` units
- protocol surfaces: probe the expected HTTP, TCP, UDP, and metrics endpoints for each role
- replicated state: write and read convergence checks across the 3-node `chainfire` and `flaredb` clusters
- worker virtualization: launch a nested KVM guest inside both worker VMs
- external entrypoints: verify host-forwarded API gateway and NightLight access from outside the guest
- auth-integrated minimal services: confirm `creditservice` stays up and actually connects to IAM

## Requirements

- minimal host requirements:
  - Linux host with `/dev/kvm`
  - nested virtualization enabled on the host hypervisor
  - `nix`
- if you do not use `nix run` or `nix develop`, install:
  - `qemu-system-x86_64`
  - `ssh`
  - `sshpass`
  - `curl`

## Main commands

```bash
nix run ./nix/test-cluster#cluster -- build
nix run ./nix/test-cluster#cluster -- start
nix run ./nix/test-cluster#cluster -- smoke
nix run ./nix/test-cluster#cluster -- fresh-smoke
nix run ./nix/test-cluster#cluster -- matrix
nix run ./nix/test-cluster#cluster -- fresh-matrix
nix run ./nix/test-cluster#cluster -- bench-storage
nix run ./nix/test-cluster#cluster -- fresh-bench-storage
nix run ./nix/test-cluster#cluster -- validate
nix run ./nix/test-cluster#cluster -- status
nix run ./nix/test-cluster#cluster -- ssh node04
nix run ./nix/test-cluster#cluster -- stop
nix run ./nix/test-cluster#cluster -- clean
make cluster-smoke
```

Preferred entrypoint for publishable verification: `nix run ./nix/test-cluster#cluster -- fresh-smoke`

`make cluster-smoke` is a convenience wrapper for the same clean host-build VM validation flow.

`nix run ./nix/test-cluster#cluster -- matrix` reuses the current running cluster to exercise composed service scenarios such as `prismnet + flashdns + fiberlb`, PrismNet-backed VM hosting with `plasmavmc + prismnet + coronafs + lightningstor`, the Kubernetes-style hosting bundle, and API-gateway-mediated `nightlight` / `creditservice` flows.

Preferred entrypoint for publishable matrix verification: `nix run ./nix/test-cluster#cluster -- fresh-matrix`

`nix run ./nix/test-cluster#cluster -- bench-storage` benchmarks CoronaFS controller-export vs node-local-export I/O, worker-side materialization latency, and LightningStor large/small-object S3 throughput, then writes a report to `docs/storage-benchmarks.md`.

Preferred entrypoint for publishable storage numbers: `nix run ./nix/test-cluster#cluster -- fresh-storage-bench`

`nix run ./nix/test-cluster#cluster -- bench-coronafs-local-matrix` runs the local single-process CoronaFS export benchmark across the supported `cache`/`aio` combinations so software-path regressions can be separated from VM-lab network limits.
On the current lab hosts, `cache=none` with `aio=io_uring` is the strongest local-export profile and should be treated as the reference point when CoronaFS remote numbers are being distorted by the nested-QEMU/VDE network path.

## Advanced usage

Use the script entrypoint only for local debugging inside a prepared Nix shell:

```bash
nix develop ./nix/test-cluster -c ./nix/test-cluster/run-cluster.sh smoke
```

For the strongest local check, use:

```bash
nix develop ./nix/test-cluster -c ./nix/test-cluster/run-cluster.sh fresh-smoke
```

## Runtime state

The harness stores build links and VM runtime state under `${PHOTON_VM_DIR:-$HOME/.photoncloud-test-cluster}` for the default profile and uses profile-suffixed siblings such as `${PHOTON_VM_DIR:-$HOME/.photoncloud-test-cluster}-storage` for alternate build profiles.
Logs for each VM are written to `<state-dir>/<node>/vm.log`.

## Scope note

This harness is intentionally VM-first. Older ad hoc launch scripts under `baremetal/vm-cluster` are legacy/manual paths and should not be treated as the primary local validation entrypoint.