Phase 0 lab plan: topology, VM management, experiments E1-E9
docs/PHASE0-PLAN.md: - Lab topology mirroring production 1:1 - two minimum-shape sites (console + 2 cockpits) + hub, hub-and-spoke WireGuard over a host-only "WAN" net with netem as the simulated internet. - Lab IP conventions (strawman seat map; flagged for alignment with real bay numbering before Phase 1). - VM inventory: full 9-VM set and a 5-VM minimum-viable start. - VM management recommendations: VMware Workstation Pro 17 (free personal; host is Win11 Home so no Hyper-V) for the first pass, Proxmox VE on a spare box as the persistent lab / future hub staging; gold images + linked clones, snapshot-per-experiment discipline, config-as-code under lab/, one-knob netem sweep script. - Experiments E1-E9 with pass criteria mapped to the brainstorm's open questions: routed fabric + console RPC over WAN, broadcast locality, FS directed join + port matrix, latency cliff table, WAN-drop behavior, MTU, BT411 cross-subnet egg push, hub host + stream rehearsal, event-day dry run (SiteConfigMerge gate). - Risks: MW4-in-VM rendering (physical-host fallback), vPOD fidelity limits, firewall discipline. Linked from BRAINSTORM Phase 0 and the README contents table. Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
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Claude Fable 5
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ live in the docs below.
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| [docs/PODBAY-ECOSYSTEM.md](docs/PODBAY-ECOSYSTEM.md) | Survey of the existing bay software stack — every component, every protocol/port, with source pointers into the sibling repos. The ground truth SiteLink has to work with. |
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| [docs/BRAINSTORM.md](docs/BRAINSTORM.md) | The design record: goals, the seed proposal analyzed, addressing plan, VPN topology options (routed vs bridged), the event authority-handover model, per-game linking analysis, shared services, security, open questions, and a phased roadmap. |
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| [docs/PHASE0-PLAN.md](docs/PHASE0-PLAN.md) | The lab-proof plan: VM topology simulating two sites + the hub, hypervisor/VM-management recommendations, and experiments E1–E9 with pass criteria that close the brainstorm's open questions — no cockpit hardware, no travel. |
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| [tools/SiteConfigMerge](tools/SiteConfigMerge/README.md) | **Working tool**: decodes TeslaConsole `.siteconfig` files and merges `<siteName>.siteconfig` inputs into one `master.siteconfig` for the central event console, renaming squads `<siteName>-<squad>`. Verified against the real TeslaConsole 4.11.4.1 loader. |
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## Related repositories (gitea.mysticmachines.com/VWE)
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@@ -263,6 +263,8 @@ local paper printing off the PDFs where wanted.
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two subnets with a WireGuard/netem gateway between them. Prove: console→remote-pod
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RPC (53290), a 2-client Firestorm match across subnets, latency sweep, BT411
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cross-subnet egg push. *Everything above that's marked "verify" gets verified here.*
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**→ Full plan with lab topology, VM inventory/management, and experiments E1–E9:
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[PHASE0-PLAN.md](PHASE0-PLAN.md).**
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- **Phase 1 — First real link.** Two sites, gateways, tunnel, renumber to
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`10.0.1.x`/`10.0.2.x`. Fleet VNC + remote Mission-Review spectating. First
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cross-site Firestorm match at ≤16 total players (8v8) on the stock exe.
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# Phase 0 — Lab proof plan
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Drafted 2026-07-10. Goal: prove every load-bearing SiteLink assumption **with zero
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cockpit hardware and zero travel**, using VMs that simulate two sites + the hub.
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Everything marked "verify" in [BRAINSTORM.md](BRAINSTORM.md) gets an experiment here;
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each experiment names its pass criteria and the open question it closes.
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## 1. Objectives / exit criteria
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Phase 0 is done when we can state, with captures/logs in hand:
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1. A TeslaConsole at site A commands a pod (vPOD) at site B over routed WireGuard
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(RPC 53290) — including under realistic WAN latency. *(OQ: console over WAN)*
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2. A Firestorm client at site B joins a session hosted at site A (or the hub) by
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directed IP, across subnets, no broadcast required — and we know the exact
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port set on the wire. *(OQ 1, 2)*
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3. We have a measured latency/jitter/loss **cliff table** for Firestorm, and know
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what a mid-match tunnel drop does. *(OQ 4, 10)*
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4. BT411's console can push an egg to pods on two subnets and the pod mesh forms
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(or we know exactly why not). *(OQ 3)*
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5. The hub concept is rehearsed: camera-ship-as-host confirmed (or refuted, with
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the dedicated-server fallback exercised), output captured and streamed.
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*(OQ 5 + hub/Live Cam design)*
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6. An event-day dry run passes end to end: collect `<site>.siteconfig`s →
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`SiteConfigMerge` exits 0 → central console sees and commands both sites' pods.
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Deferred past Phase 0: TeslaRel410/NetNub cross-subnet testing (OQ 11) — waits for
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the emulator's own networking phase (its PLAN.md Phase 6).
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## 2. Lab topology
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Mirrors the production design 1:1, just smaller: two sites of the *minimum* real bay
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shape (console + 2 cockpits) plus the hub.
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```
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"WAN" (host-only net, 192.168.77.0/24)
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netem applied here = simulated internet
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┌──────────────────┬──────────────────┬─────────────────┐
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│ │ │
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┌────┴────┐ ┌────┴────┐ ┌────┴────┐
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│ gw-a │ │ hub-gw │ │ gw-b │
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│ Linux │◄──WG──►│ Linux │◄──WG──►│ Linux │ WG overlay 10.255.0.0/24
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└────┬────┘ └────┬────┘ └────┬────┘ hub-and-spoke (as production)
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│ │ │
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site A LAN hub LAN 10.0.0.0/24 site B LAN
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10.0.1.0/24 ┌──────────────┐ 10.0.2.0/24
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┌────────────┐ │ hub-fs (Win) │ ┌────────────┐
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│ console-a │ │ FS host / LC │ │ console-b │
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│ pod-a1 │ │ + OBS stream │ │ pod-b1 │
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│ pod-a2 │ └──────────────┘ │ pod-b2 │
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└────────────┘ └────────────┘
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```
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### Lab IP conventions (strawman — align with real bays before Phase 1)
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| Host | Address | Notes |
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|------|---------|-------|
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| Site gateways | `10.0.<site>.254` | Linux, WireGuard + nftables + netem |
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| Cockpits | `10.0.<site>.1–.8`, `.11–.18` | per the historical seat map (`ctcl-game.ini`) |
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| Camera / Live Cam | `10.0.<site>.9` | historical |
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| Mission Review | `10.0.<site>.10` | proposed |
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| Site console | `10.0.<site>.100` | proposed |
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| Hub WG | `10.0.0.1` | hub-gw |
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| Hub FS host / LC / MR | `10.0.0.20` | hub-fs |
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| Hub services (PDF share, later) | `10.0.0.10` | |
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| WG overlay | `10.255.0.0/24` | hub `.1`, gw-a `.2`, gw-b `.3` |
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**Open item for Phase 1:** confirm the canonical last-octet map for console/MR
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against how real bays are actually numbered; the pod seat octets are historical
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fact, the rest above is proposal.
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## 3. VM inventory
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### Full lab (9 VMs)
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| VM | OS | vCPU / RAM / disk | Role |
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|----|----|-------------------|------|
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| gw-a, gw-b, hub-gw | Debian 12 (or Alpine) | 1 / 512 MB / 4 GB | routing, WireGuard, nftables, netem |
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| console-a, console-b | Windows 10 22H2 | 2 / 4 GB / 60 GB | TeslaConsole, SiteConfigMerge, btconsole.py |
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| pod-a1, pod-a2, pod-b1 (+pod-b2 optional) | Windows 10 22H2 | 2 / 4 GB / 60 GB | TeslaLauncher + vPOD; MW4 deploy for match tests |
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| hub-fs | Windows 10 22H2 | 4 / 8 GB / 80 GB, **3D accel ON** | FS host/camera ship, OBS, later MR instance |
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### Minimum viable lab (5 VMs) — start here
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gw-a, gw-b (one of them doubling as hub-gw), console-a, pod-b1, hub-fs. That's
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enough for experiments E1–E3 and E6; grow toward the full set as experiments demand.
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## 4. VM management recommendations
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**Hypervisor.** The dev box runs **Windows 11 Home — Hyper-V is not available**.
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Recommendation:
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- **First pass: VMware Workstation Pro 17** on the dev box — free for personal use
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since 2024, best-in-class old-DirectX 3D acceleration among desktop hypervisors
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(matters for MW4 in a VM), proper snapshot trees, **linked clones** (one Windows
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gold image, thin per-VM deltas), and per-VMnet host-only networks that map exactly
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to the topology above (VMnet2 = site A, VMnet3 = site B, VMnet4 = hub LAN,
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VMnet5 = WAN transit; **DHCP off** on all of them — static IPs per the plan, which
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also mirrors the bays' air-gapped discipline).
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- **Persistent lab (recommended once Phase 0 proves out): Proxmox VE on a spare
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box.** Pod operators tend to have spare hardware; a single Proxmox host gives the
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lab a permanent home with a web UI, scheduled snapshots/backups, Linux bridges
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per site LAN, and it can later graduate into the *real* hub staging machine.
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16 GB RAM hosts the minimum lab; 32 GB hosts the full set comfortably.
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- VirtualBox works as a fallback but its 3D path for 1999-era DirectDraw is the
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weakest of the three — expect to lean harder on the physical-host fallback for
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game VMs.
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**Images and clones.**
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- Build **one Windows 10 gold image** (22H2, VMware Tools, updates frozen, Defender
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real-time off *in the lab only*, Windows Firewall configured per experiment —
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never just disabled, since firewall behavior is part of what Phase 0 tests).
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Clone everything Windows from it (linked clones). Keep one **Linux gold** the
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same way.
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- Windows licensing for the lab: 90-day Enterprise eval ISOs are fine; snapshots
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+ re-arm cover Phase 0's lifetime. Nothing in the lab needs activation.
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- Name VMs exactly as in §3 (`gw-a`, `pod-b1`, …) — captures, logs, and notes all
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key off those names.
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**Snapshots as method.** Take a `baseline` snapshot of every VM the moment its role
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software is installed and verified idle-healthy. **Snapshot before every experiment**
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(`E3-pre`), and roll back rather than un-configuring. The experiment log (§6) records
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which snapshot each result came from. Export the gold images as OVAs to backup
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storage once — everything else is reproducible from them.
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**Config as code, in this repo.** Everything text lands under `lab/`:
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`lab/gw/` (wg configs with lab keys, nftables rules, `wan.sh`), `lab/checklists/`,
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`lab/results/` (experiment logs + pcap summaries; raw pcaps stay out of git, keep
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them on the lab host). Lab WireGuard keys are throwaway and may be committed;
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production keys never (per `.gitignore` policy).
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**netem control.** One knob, on both site gateways' WAN egress (half the RTT each
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side, symmetric):
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```sh
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# lab/gw/wan.sh — usage: wan.sh <delay> <jitter> <loss> e.g. wan.sh 30ms 5ms 0.1%
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tc qdisc replace dev eth0 root netem delay $1 $2 distribution normal loss $3
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```
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Standard sweep points for every latency-sensitive experiment:
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LAN-like (0/0/0) → regional (15ms/2ms/0) → cross-country (40ms/5ms/0.1%) →
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bad day (80ms/15ms/0.5%) → hostile (150ms/30ms/1%) → find the cliff.
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## 5. Experiments
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Each: goal → method → pass criteria. Run in order; later ones reuse earlier setup.
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- **E1 — Routed fabric + console RPC over WAN.** Bring up hub-and-spoke WireGuard,
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static routes, nftables allowlist per the ecosystem port map. From console-a,
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provision nothing (provisioning stays local by design) but command a **vPOD** on
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pod-b1: status, Install Product, launch. Sweep netem.
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*Pass:* RPC 53290 works at every sweep point up to "bad day"; note where timeouts
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start (feeds the WAN-tolerant-timeout to-do).
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- **E2 — Broadcast locality sanity.** Confirm SecureConfig UDP beacons and DirectPlay
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LAN browse do *not* cross the tunnel (expected, by design) and that nothing else
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in the console/pod bring-up secretly depends on broadcast.
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*Pass:* pod provisioned locally works remotely thereafter; no cross-site flow ever
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relied on broadcast (pcap-verified).
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- **E3 — Firestorm directed join across subnets.** MW4 host on console-a (or hub-fs),
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client on pod-b1. Set the `DirectPlayPort` registry value; join by IP
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(`TryToJoinASpecificGame` path via the ConLobby/CTCL flow, not the LAN browser).
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Wireshark both gateways.
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*Pass:* client joins and plays; complete port matrix documented (the firewall
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allowlist becomes fact instead of DX7 documentation); confirms whether the fixed
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port carries all session traffic. **Closes OQ 1 + 2.**
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- **E4 — Firestorm latency cliff.** With E3 running, walk the netem sweep during
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actual play (movement + weapons). Record subjective playability + any desync or
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disconnect per point.
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*Pass:* a written cliff table ("clean ≤ X ms RTT, degraded at Y, breaks at Z").
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**Closes OQ 4 for FS.**
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- **E5 — WAN-drop behavior.** Kill the tunnel mid-match (down the WG interface);
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restore after 10s / 60s / 5min.
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*Pass:* documented behavior per flow (game session, console RPC, vPOD state) and
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confirmation each site's bay-local operation is unaffected. **Closes OQ 10.**
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- **E6 — MTU/fragmentation.** DF-bit probing host-to-host across the tunnel
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(WG MTU 1420); watch E3's DirectPlay UDP for fragmentation; test an MSS clamp on
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the gateways.
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*Pass:* no silent blackholing; a stated MTU/clamp recommendation for production
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gateways.
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- **E7 — BT411 cross-subnet egg push.** `btconsole.py MP.EGG 10.0.1.x:1501
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10.0.2.x:1501` with btl4 instances at both sites. Inspect how the `[pilots]` mesh
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addresses peers (read `L4NET.CPP` alongside the capture). Netem sweep. Also
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observe the console-disconnect quirk over a flaky tunnel.
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*Pass:* mesh forms across subnets (or root cause written up); latency tolerance
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noted. **Closes OQ 3.**
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- **E8 — Hub host + broadcast rehearsal.** On hub-fs: run the FS host in camera-ship
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role (validate camera-ship-as-DirectPlay-host against the CTCL flow); capture
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with OBS → SRT to both consoles as stand-in "Live Cam screens". Build/run check
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of `mw4dedicatedui` as the headless fallback. If VM rendering is unusable, rerun
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on a physical host (see risks).
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*Pass:* one match hosted at the hub with both sites joined, stream watched at
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both consoles. **Closes OQ 5 and validates the hub/Live Cam design.**
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- **E9 — Event-day dry run.** Simulate the full authority-handover ceremony:
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`console-a` and `console-b` each export `<site>.siteconfig` → transfer to hub →
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`SiteConfigMerge merge` (must exit 0) → central console (hub or console-a wearing
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the hat) loads `master.siteconfig` and commands vPODs at **both** sites → restore
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site configs afterward.
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*Pass:* scripted checklist completes without manual surgery; becomes the seed of
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the production event-day runbook.
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## 6. Results discipline
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One markdown file per experiment in `lab/results/` (`E3-fs-directed-join.md`):
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date, snapshot names, netem settings, what happened, pcap filenames (pcaps stay on
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the lab host), verdict against pass criteria. Findings that change the design get
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folded back into BRAINSTORM/ECOSYSTEM in the same commit — the docs stay truthful.
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## 7. Risks / known unknowns
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| Risk | Mitigation |
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|------|------------|
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| MW4 rendering inside VMs (DX7/DirectDraw + `DWM8And16BitMitigation` shim, keyed on exe path) | VMware 3D accel + DDrawCompat if needed; windowed mode; **fallback: run game instances on physical hosts** while gateways/consoles stay virtual — the network fabric under test doesn't care where the game runs |
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| vPOD fidelity limits | vPOD impersonates launcher + Munga control, **not** DirectPlay gameplay — E3/E4/E8 need real MW4 instances; don't over-conclude from vPOD-only runs |
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| Windows Firewall/Defender masking network results | Firewall rules are explicit per experiment, never blanket-off; Defender off only in lab gold image, noted in every result |
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| netem placement asymmetry | Apply on both gateways' egress; sanity-check RTT with ping before each run |
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| CTCL flow surprises (host IP propagation) | E3 exercises the *real* ConLobby/CTCL join, not just raw DirectPlay — that's the point |
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## 8. Sequencing / effort (evenings-and-weekends scale)
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- **Weekend 1:** gold images, minimum lab (5 VMs), E1 + E2.
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- **Week 2:** E3 + E6 (join + ports + MTU), start E4.
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- **Week 3:** E4 + E5 (cliff table, drop behavior).
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- **Week 4:** E7 (BT411) and E8 (hub/stream rehearsal).
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- **Wrap:** E9 dry run, fold results into the docs, go/no-go for Phase 1.
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