Field report: even with CAP_SYS_ADMIN and full --privileged, NFS mounts
inside the OpenPXE container fail on Unraid with the same
"failed to apply fstab options" error v0.4.64 added diagnostics for.
The root cause is the host kernel: Unraid's base kernel ships without
the nfs/nfsv4 client modules loaded. Capabilities are necessary but
not sufficient; the modules have to be present on the host kernel for
in-container mount(2) to do anything. No container-side change can
fix that.
This is exactly the case every other PXE/imaging tool sidesteps
(Bootimus uses SMB; iVentoy, FOG, MAAS, Cobbler all rely on the host
to mount network storage and bind-mount the path into the imaging
service). v0.4.65 brings OpenPXE in line with that pattern.
What's new:
* `IsoSource::LocalDir { dir_id, relative_path }` — third source kind
alongside `Local` (uploaded) and `Nfs` (in-container mount).
* `LocalDirManager` (crates/iso-store/src/local_dir.rs) — registers
bind-mounted directories, validates them (absolute path, exists, is
a directory, readable), scans for *.iso files, registers them with
IsoStore. Persisted to <work_dir>/local_dirs.json so the relationship
survives restarts.
* `NfsHostCaps::detect()` — pure read of /proc/filesystems on startup.
Surfaced via GET /api/nfs/capabilities and used by the Storage tab to
show a prominent red banner above the NFS form when in-container
mounts cannot possibly work, pointing the operator at the Local
Directories card as the recommended path.
* Four new API routes:
GET /api/nfs/capabilities
GET /api/local-dirs
POST /api/local-dirs { path, label? }
DELETE /api/local-dirs/:id
POST /api/local-dirs/:id/scan
UI changes (crates/webui/src/app.js):
* Storage tab: new "Local directories" card under the NFS card with
the bind-mount form, an explainer paragraph (with the Docker
`-v /mnt/user/isos:/mnt/external-isos` command), and the list of
registered directories with rescan + remove actions.
* When NFS host caps are unavailable, the NFS card sprouts a red
banner explaining what's wrong and pointing at the local-dir
workaround. The card sub-header also flips to "N registered ·
recommended on this host".
* ISO table: new "dir:<id>" source badge; on-disk ISOs show "on disk"
in the actions column instead of a delete button (same pattern as
NFS — OpenPXE doesn't own those bytes).
* API reference table picks up the four new endpoints + a hint about
the new `port` field on NFS add.
Tests (+12, total 162):
* iso-store: 7 local_dir unit tests covering relative-path rejection,
missing path, non-directory file, empty-directory success, default
label, idempotent re-add, remove + iso-path-resolution clear.
* iso-store: 1 nfs unit test confirming NfsHostCaps::detect() never
panics and the boolean accessors are consistent.
* http-api: 4 integration tests covering /api/nfs/capabilities,
/api/local-dirs list/add/remove + relative-path 400.
`cargo clippy --workspace --all-targets -- -D warnings` clean.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <[email protected]>
The dominant field failure from v0.4.63 was "mount.nfs: failed to apply
fstab options" (exit 32), surfaced verbatim by the Storage tab. The
message is misleading — it has nothing to do with /etc/fstab; it comes
from nfs-utils 2.6.x's nfs_options2string() and most commonly indicates
the container is missing CAP_SYS_ADMIN, /etc/mtab is unwritable, or an
auxiliary option triggered an option-transform edge case.
Backend (crates/iso-store/src/nfs.rs):
- TCP pre-flight probe to server:port (4s timeout) before shelling out.
Catches wrong-IP / firewall cases as "cannot reach NFS port" instead
of letting mount.nfs spit out an unhelpful message.
- proto=tcp explicit on NFSv3 (UDP is widely deprecated, modern NAS
appliances often don't bind UDP at all).
- Optional `port` field on NfsAddRequest (defaults to 2049), persisted
on NfsMount.
- On "failed to apply fstab options" / "internal option parsing error"
retry with a minimal option set (vers=N,ro/rw only) — bypasses the
nfs-utils transformation bug; if it still fails we get a real kernel
error to translate.
- hint_for() translates well-known stderr patterns into actionable
guidance — CAP_SYS_ADMIN for option-transform failures, exports-table
for access-denied, export-path hint for "no such file or directory"
(calling out the UniFi UNAS Pro /var/nfs/shared/<name> convention),
etc.
- normalize_server() strips http://, https://, nfs:// schemes the
operator may have pasted by mistake, plus trailing slashes.
API (crates/http-api/src/app.rs):
- api_nfs_add now returns a structured {error, stderr, hint} JSON body
on failure instead of plain text. UI renders the error in bold with
the hint as a dimmer second line.
UI (crates/webui/src/app.js):
- Storage tab's "Mount failed" banner now shows the raw error + hint on
two lines. Each persisted mount row also surfaces last_hint under
last_error.
Terminal (crates/http-api/src/terminal.rs):
- `nfs mount` command prints "hint: ..." on a follow-up line when the
manager returns one.
Tests:
- 8 new tests covering option string (incl. proto=tcp on v3, port=N for
non-default), minimal-options stripping, server normalization, and
hint translation for each well-known stderr pattern.
- All 150 tests pass; clippy -D warnings clean.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <[email protected]>
This is the bulk pre-beta cleanup pass. Bumps the workspace to 0.2.0.
Test count is 56 -> 66 (+10), clippy is fully clean across the
workspace (was several dozen warnings).
## New features
**Per-MAC host bindings** (Tinkerbell smee pattern). New
`HostBindings` registry maps a MAC -> preferred boot target, persisted
to <work_dir>/hosts.json. The DHCP reply now embeds `?mac=${mac}` in
the boot.ipxe URL; iPXE substitutes the literal MAC client-side, so
the HTTP layer can short-circuit straight to the bound target instead
of rendering the menu. Reserved menu shortcuts (`_local`, `_gate`,
`_tools_menu`) are valid targets too. New /api/hosts CRUD + a Hosts
tab in the sidebar.
**Prometheus `/metrics`** endpoint. Tiny lock-free implementation —
just AtomicU64s and a Display impl, no `prometheus` / `metrics-rs`
dep. Counters: DHCP replies (per arch label), DHCP declined, TFTP
transfers (per status), TFTP bytes, HTTP requests (per route).
Gauges: ISO count, client count, gate count, gate-imaging, NFS active
mounts, uptime, build info. Plain text exposition format,
text/plain;version=0.0.4 content-type, no auth (all metric values are
non-sensitive counts).
**Light + dark themes**. CSS tokens on `:root` and
`:root[data-theme=light]`, swap by toggle button (top-right) or `T`
hotkey. Persisted in localStorage; pre-paint inline script avoids
dark<->light flash. Light palette designed against the Netbox Labs
reference screenshot — near-white surfaces, soft grey dividers,
accent unchanged for brand consistency. Terminal pane stays dark in
both themes (it's a console, that's the right read).
**Animated SVG logo + forge widget**. New `logo.svg` is a refined
silver/grey anvil. New `anvil-forge.svg` adds rising sparks and a
pulsing underglow via SMIL — pure SVG, no GIF, no JS animation loop.
Used:
- in the **forge progress** widget on Dashboard + Forge Gate, paired
with a `linear-gradient(warn -> accent)` bar with a moving sheen;
goes idle (greyscale, no sheen) at zero imaging load
- in the page-load `<div class=loader>` that replaces the old
"Loading..." text
## Code cleanup pass
`cargo clippy --workspace --all-targets` is now warning-free. Spot
fixes across the tree:
- `format!()`-into-`String` -> `std::fmt::Write::write!`
- manual reverse comparators -> `Reverse`
- `map_or(false, ...)` -> `is_some_and`
- redundant closures -> method references
- `r#"..."#` raw strings without `"` -> `r"..."`
- `std::io::Error::new(Other, ...)` -> `Error::other`
- `as i32` on `c.id()` -> `cast_signed()`
- merged identical match arms
## Windows workflow validation
New integration test synthesizes an ISO9660 with the SOURCES\\BOOT.WIM
sentinel, uploads it, asserts:
1. introspection labels it `windows_pe` with has_boot_wim=true,
2. the boot entry is `BootKind::Wimboot` with all five canonical
files (bootmgr, bootmgr.efi, bcd, boot.sdi, boot.wim),
3. the rendered iPXE script chains wimboot with `initrd --name`
entries for each file, and
4. NO trust-store strings appear in the rendered output: bcdedit,
testsigning, certutil, httpdisk, and test-signed are all
explicitly forbidden as a hard guarantee.
WinPE bootstrap (startnet.cmd) picks up the Bootimus v0.1.58 lessons:
explicit `net start Workstation` before `net use` to avoid the SMB
client lazy-init race, and surfaces errors instead of blind retries.
## Docs
architecture.md gains a "Phase 5" section explaining the host-bindings
+ metrics + theming + Windows-test work, plus a refreshed "deferred
to Phase 6" list (real-hardware integration, autounattend library,
distro profile manifest, WoL trigger, syslog receiver, IPv6).
README updates the status line, the "what it does" list, and adds
the new Hosts/Terminal tab names.
Miles Ward