parking_solution/wiki/decisions/fleet-deployment-komodo.md

---
type: decision
tags: [parking, deployment, fleet, komodo, netbird, offline-first, threat-model]
sources: []
updated: 2026-06-29
status: settled
---

# Fleet deployment — Komodo Periphery over a NetBird mesh

How the parking appliance is deployed and managed **at fleet scale**, superseding the
single-box, SSH-and-`booth.sh` model. The image build/tag/registry pipeline
([[container-deployment]]) is unchanged — this decides only the *control plane* that drives
those same compose files onto many booths. Settled 2026-06-27.

## The problem `booth.sh` couldn't solve

[[container-deployment|`scripts/booth.sh`]] is a thin wrapper over `docker compose -f base -f
prod --env-file .env`. It works for **one** appliance you can get a shell on, but as the fleet
grows (the stated direction is **many/growing** sites) it gives us none of:

- **Remote, no-SSH operation** — an update means someone gets a root shell on the booth.
- **A fleet view** — which booth runs which `dev-<sha>`, which is healthy/offline.
- **A deploy audit trail** — who deployed what, when.
- **One-click rollback** to a previous immutable `dev-<sha>`.

These are exactly the gaps a deployment controller fills. We already run every prerequisite
(a **Komodo Core**, a **NetBird** zero-trust mesh, the **Gitea registry**), so the marginal
cost is low.

## Decision

Adopt **Komodo Periphery** on each appliance, driven by the existing **Komodo Core** over the
**NetBird** mesh. Keep the compose files and the [[container-deployment|image pipeline]]
verbatim — Komodo consumes them as a *Stack*; it does not replace them. `booth.sh` is demoted
to a **break-glass local fallback** for when the mesh/Core is unreachable.

```
Gitea push ─▶ build-images.yml ─▶ registry (parking-server:dev-<sha>, parking-vision:dev-<sha>)
                                          │
Komodo Core (off-site) ──── NetBird mesh ─┼─▶ Periphery @ booth-A  ─▶ docker compose up (pinned sha)
   • fleet table / history / rollback     ├─▶ Periphery @ booth-B
   • per-booth secret injection           └─▶ Periphery @ booth-C …
   • NO deploy webhook (manual + pinned)
```

### The three load-bearing choices (settled with the user 2026-06-27)

1. **Fleet size: many/growing.** Komodo is treated as load-bearing infrastructure, not a
   convenience. This is what tips the decision away from "SSH-over-NetBird + a playbook".
2. **Deploy trigger: always manual + pinned.** **No deploy webhook on a booth Stack.** A human
   deploys a specific immutable `TAG=<branch>-<sha>` from Core. This preserves the determinism we
   chose when pinning the booth tag (a moving tag auto-redeploying a booth is the surprise we
   explicitly rejected). This holds for **every** booth — including the **staging** booth: it tracks
   the `stage` *branch* but still runs a **pinned `stage-<sha>`** (an earlier sketch floated a moving
   `:dev` + webhook for staging; rejected in favour of pinned-everywhere). See "Promotion tiers".
3. **Secrets: Komodo-managed (per-booth, unique).** Core's secret store injects `JWT_SECRET`,
   `EVENT_SIGNING_KEY` and `BACKUP_KEY` into the Stack at deploy. This scales (no SSH-to-N-booths to
   rotate a key) — but see the threat-model tension below; the keys MUST be **distinct per booth**.

## Promotion tiers — dev → stage → main (settled 2026-06-29)

Three git branches map to three image tags and three booth roles:

| Branch | Image tag | Role | Deploy |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `dev` | `:dev` / `:dev-<sha>` | working branch | no booth runs it |
| `stage` | `:stage` / `:stage-<sha>` | **staging booth (`park-buzi`)** — real-world test | **manual + pinned** `stage-<sha>` |
| `main` | `:main` / `:main-<sha>` | **production** booths | manual + pinned `main-<sha>` |

- **Promotion is a merge, not a build trigger.** When `dev` is confident-ready, **merge `dev → stage`**;
  CI (`build-images.yml`, which now triggers on `dev`/`stage`/`main`) builds `:stage` + `:stage-<sha>`;
  then **bump `TAG=stage-<sha>`** in `komodo/resources.toml` and deploy from Core. `main` only ever
  receives what survived staging.
- **`stage` was branched from `dev`** (2026-06-29) so the first real-world test carries the full current
  app, not a `main` that predates this work. `park-buzi`'s Stack `branch` + `TAG` both point at `stage`.
- **DB migrations run at boot** (`migrate-runtime.mjs`), so a promotion auto-migrates the staging booth's
  SQLite ledger — staging is exactly where a bad migration is caught before production.
- **Per-booth secrets must pre-exist** in Core for `park-buzi`: `[[park_buzi_jwt_secret]]`,
  `[[park_buzi_event_signing_key]]`, `[[park_buzi_backup_key]]` — distinct, never shared. Once the booth
  signs real entries under its `EVENT_SIGNING_KEY`, that key is load-bearing for its ledger forever
  (escrow it; see [[backup-recovery]]).

## Why this is safe (against the project's two forces)

### Offline-first ([[offline-first]]) — Core is orchestration, never a runtime dependency

The booth must run **fully when the mesh is down**. Komodo's agent model satisfies this:
Periphery + the local containers keep operating if Core is unreachable; we lose *remote
management* until the mesh returns, **not operation**. There must be **no runtime path** from
booth operation to Core — Core only deploys. (Periphery's own liveness is irrelevant to entry/
exit; the Fastify server and SQLite ledger run independently of it.)

### Threat model — the adversary is the booth operator ([[threat-model]])

This is the sharp edge, and the reason this page is explicit rather than a footnote.

- **Periphery is a root-capable remote-exec agent on the appliance.** If the operator
  compromises the box, the agent is a lever. Mitigations: bind Periphery **only to the NetBird
  interface** (never `0.0.0.0`), enforce its **passkey + TLS**, and fold the agent into the
  [[disk-os-hardening]] surface. It is part of the trusted computing base now.
- **`EVENT_SIGNING_KEY` is the anti-fraud root.** It signs the [[append-only-event-chain|
  append-only ledger]] — the control between us and a booth operator forging entry/exit events.
  Holding it in Core means **a Core compromise can forge any booth's ledger that shares a key**.
  Two mitigations make central management acceptable:
  - **Per-booth, unique keys.** Never reuse a signing key across sites, so a single leak taints
    one booth, not the fleet.
  - **The [[atecc608|ATECC608]] is the real long-term signer.** The
    `EVENT_SIGNING_KEY` HMAC is the *interim* mechanism; once the secure element signs the
    chain, the key in Core stops being the fraud root. Tracked in [[open-questions]].
- **Core becomes a Tier-0 asset.** It now holds login + ledger keys for the whole fleet, so it
  must be hardened to the booths' bar: Komodo API bound to the NetBird mesh only, never a public
  interface; access-controlled; backed up.

### Licensing — Komodo is GPL-3.0, and that's fine here

The hard MIT/Apache/BSD constraint ([[technology-stack]]) is about **shipped app dependencies**
(code we distribute/link). Komodo is **external ops tooling we self-host and don't distribute**,
so its GPL-3.0 does not taint the product — exactly like the [[vision-service|AGPL ANPR
exception]] reasoning (a separate process / external boundary, not a linked dependency). Noted
here so it isn't re-litigated.

## What lives where

| Concern | Where | Notes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Image build + tags | Gitea CI ([[container-deployment]]) | unchanged: `:dev` moving + `:dev-<sha>` immutable |
| Compose files | the repo + on the booth | unchanged base + `docker-compose.prod.yml` |
| Stack / deploy definition | **Komodo Core** | git-synced from `komodo/` (infra-as-code) |
| Which sha is deployed | **Komodo Core**, manual | `TAG=dev-<sha>`, pinned, no webhook |
| `JWT_SECRET`, `EVENT_SIGNING_KEY` | **Komodo Core** secret store | **per-booth, unique** |
| `COOKIE_SECURE=0`, `TAG`, `REGISTRY` | Komodo Stack env | per-environment |
| Registry pull creds | **Komodo Core** | so Periphery can pull from Gitea |
| Local break-glass | `booth.sh` + a local `.env` | mesh-down fallback only |

## Setup outline

**On each appliance** (after [[appliance-provisioning]]):
1. Install **Komodo Periphery** (binary or container), bound **only** to the NetBird interface;
   set its passkey/TLS.
2. Point its compose/stack dir at `/opt/parking_systems/` (the existing files).
3. Keep `booth.sh` + a minimal local `.env` (no real secrets) as break-glass.

**In Komodo Core:**
1. Add the booth as a **Server**, address = its **NetBird IP** (mesh, not LAN/WAN).
2. Define the **Stack** = base + `docker-compose.prod.yml`, env from Core's secret store, secrets
   **per booth**.
3. **No deploy webhook** on the booth Stack — deploys are manual; set `TAG=dev-<sha>` explicitly.
4. Add Gitea registry creds so Periphery can pull.
5. Sync the Stack/Server definitions from the repo's `komodo/` directory (infra-as-code:
   `komodo/resources.toml` + README) so the control plane is itself reviewable +
   version-controlled.

## Open / not yet done

- **Per-booth secret generation + rotation flow** — how a new site's unique `EVENT_SIGNING_KEY`
  is generated and registered in Core (vs. on-site `openssl rand`). Tie-in: [[open-questions]]
  JWT-key item.
- **ATECC608 as the signer** supersedes `EVENT_SIGNING_KEY`-in-Core as the fraud root — until
  then central secrets carry the blast-radius noted above.
- **Periphery hardening checklist** folded into [[disk-os-hardening]] (interface binding, passkey,
  TLS, agent as TCB).
- **Staging vs production booth split** — ✅ MODELLED 2026-06-29 (see "Promotion tiers" below).
  `park-buzi` is the first **staging** booth, tracking the `stage` branch / `:stage` image, deployed
  **manual + pinned** (`TAG=stage-<sha>`, no webhook — we hold the no-moving-tag-on-a-booth line even
  on staging, *not* the webhook-on-staging option the earlier sketch floated). `komodo/resources.toml`
  + `komodo/README.md` updated.
- **Core backup / DR** — Core is now Tier-0; its loss = no fleet management (operation
  unaffected, per offline-first). Backup story TBD.

## Supersedes / relates

- **Supersedes** the "SSH + `booth.sh` is the deploy mechanism" assumption in
  [[container-deployment]] (that page's *build/tag/registry* content stands; its `booth.sh`-as-
  primary-deploy framing is now the fallback). Cross-linked there.
- Companion: the `komodo/` infra-as-code sketch (in the repo, not the wiki),
  [[appliance-provisioning]] (what runs *before* Periphery), [[disk-os-hardening]] (the
  appliance's hardening surface).