fix: sudo the tarball/image staging into /var/lib/vz

The post-build cp/mv into /var/lib/vz/template/cache (LXC) and
/var/lib/vz/import (VM) are Proxmox-owned root directories -- they need
sudo_pfx just like pct/qm/pvesh do. nix build writes to the nix store
as the SSH user, but staging into /var/lib/vz/ requires root.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

.sops.yaml

@@ -9,6 +9,10 @@ keys:
   - &lxc-docker age1ezk9x53zt8kcnscdm80jcyf0xq97vndv7jsn3rl8cc0cwm2jmpmq372dzs
   - &lxc-minimal age1jy444f9d9stygj4p3w9kh54cqcfr654tvr75tdvee5cxsgtdtc9q3v60ep
   - &lxc-pxe-boot age1fxxzpnfse8nd9wz78ht3m0plrmraacf4cpga0pe8fm2tdnqcgy8q7qsyvp
+  - &lxc-gui age190htw7prp4vln076dxjx3gxxaq06h0zl0te7cqgpx79vl3lhkaes8suy05
+  - &proxmox-server age1ukpqxzl44mnjpy5r96sfuc5sqzm47u4k8ujjh5qdgy6jvl9uqgpspymqfk
+  - &vm-server age15kh7akxlx7zn00tey79rq2g8lgs4j5y77rcnyfxrxap8ckfu0a9sqvtdhh
+  - &baremetal-gui age1ehkswwz2pqaz4svzh7ela5tdnssl8kn6d4vwwxd6zwg8exfpd43syyrrjp
 
 creation_rules:
   # Shared across every currently-deployed host: root/nixos password hash,
@@ -28,6 +32,10 @@ creation_rules:
           - *proxmox-minimal
           - *lxc-docker
           - *lxc-pxe-boot
+          - *lxc-gui
+          - *proxmox-server
+          - *vm-server
+          - *baremetal-gui
 
   - path_regex: secrets/nix-cache\.yaml$
     key_groups:
@@ -41,9 +49,24 @@ creation_rules:
       - age:
           - *admin
           - *server
+          - *proxmox-server
+          - *vm-server
 
   - path_regex: secrets/docker\.yaml$
     key_groups:
       - age:
           - *admin
           - *docker
+
+  # gui-host-specific secrets (currently: wifi-password, see
+  # modules/networking/wifi.nix). Only *lxc-gui has a registered key today
+  # -- proxmox-gui/linode-gui/baremetal-gui haven't been provisioned via
+  # scripts/secrets/sync-host-keys.sh yet, so whichever variant is actually
+  # deployed next needs its recipient added here (and `sops updatekeys` rerun)
+  # before it can decrypt this.
+  - path_regex: secrets/gui\.yaml$
+    key_groups:
+      - age:
+          - *admin
+          - *lxc-gui
+          - *baremetal-gui

AUDIT_REPORT.md

@@ -0,0 +1,150 @@
+# Flake End-to-End Audit Report
+
+**Date:** 2026-07-21
+**Scope:** Full static lint/eval sweep + live build/deploy/interrogate/destroy testing of every `lxc-*` and `proxmox-*` flake target against `pve.sweet.home`, plus an audit of the operator's ability to manage the flake/secrets tooling.
+**Branch:** `worktree-flake-e2e-audit` (this session's isolated worktree)
+
+## Executive Summary
+
+The flake itself is in good shape: `nixpkgs-fmt`, `statix`, and a full eval + dry-run build of every host and package are all clean. Every `lxc-*`/`proxmox-*` target's NixOS configuration builds successfully — no target has a broken derivation graph.
+
+The issues found are **operational, not code-level**:
+
+1. **pve.sweet.home is critically low on disk space** (91-95% full during this session) and cannot currently build the two largest closures (`gui`, `pxe-boot`) to completion — this actively blocks deploying/redeploying those hosts via the documented workflow.
+2. **A real, reproducible secrets-decryption failure** was caught live: a stale cached container image (built before a same-day sops-key fix) boots with sshd never starting and every secret failing to decrypt. This is a **general hazard in `create-proxmox-resource.sh`'s "reuse the cached image if present" default**, not a one-off.
+3. **sops key/anchor drift**: `proxmox-minimal` has a `.sops.yaml` recipient anchor with no corresponding private key anywhere in this environment; several `lxc-*`/`proxmox-*` targets have no sops registration at all yet.
+4. One concrete script bug was found and **fixed in this session**: `create-proxmox-resource.sh` never enabled the QEMU guest agent channel on VMs it creates, despite the guest OS already running it.
+5. A management-surface audit (of the operator's ability to run this repo day to day) found 5 process gaps, detailed below.
+
+Nothing here required or received a `nixos-rebuild switch/boot/test`, `nixos-install`, or any disk-formatting command — all validation was `nix build`/`nix eval`, plus disposable `pct`/`qm` create-then-destroy cycles via the repo's own `create-proxmox-resource.sh`.
+
+---
+
+## 1. Static Analysis Results — all clean
+
+`bash scripts/codex-maintenance.sh --full-check --dry-run` (whole-tree sweep, not just changed files):
+
+| Check | Result |
+|---|---|
+| Secret grep | Clean — only the documented exceptions (installer's own hashed passwords, `access-tokens` comment references) |
+| `nixpkgs-fmt --check` | 0/53 files would be reformatted |
+| `statix` | No lint warnings |
+| nix-cache host key drift check | Up to date |
+| Full eval of every host's `system.build.toplevel` | All 19 `nixosConfigurations` targets evaluate cleanly |
+| Dry-run build of every host + package | All succeed, no derivation errors |
+
+No drift, no formatting issues, no lint findings anywhere in the tree.
+
+---
+
+## 2. Per-Target Test Results
+
+Legend: **LIVE** = built on pve, `pct`/`qm` create → interrogated → destroyed. **BUILD-ONLY** = `nix build` validated the config (mostly `.config.system.build.toplevel`, occasionally `.tarball`), no resource created on pve.
+
+| Target | Test type | Result | Notes |
+|---|---|---|---|
+| `lxc-docker` | BUILD-ONLY | ✅ PASS | Live redeploy skipped — CT105 is already running this identity in production; `--allow-duplicate-host` would have destroyed it. |
+| `lxc-minimal` | **LIVE** | ✅ PASS (after retry) | First attempt reused a stale cached tarball predating a same-day sops-key commit → activation failed, sshd never started (see Finding #2). Redeployed with `--force-rebuild`: clean boot, `systemctl is-system-running` = `running`, secrets decrypted, sshd listening, users correct. |
+| `lxc-nix-cache` | BUILD-ONLY | ✅ PASS (after retry) | Live redeploy skipped — CT101 is already running this identity. First local build attempt appeared to hang on a remote-builder handoff to nix-cache; killed and retried with `--builders ""` (local-only), succeeded. |
+| `lxc-gui` | **LIVE (attempted)** | ⚠️ BLOCKED by pve disk space | Registered a fresh sops key (no prior registration existed), built successfully through the full NixOS system closure, then **failed packaging the tarball**: `No space left on device` on pve's root filesystem. Not a flake defect. |
+| `lxc-pxe-boot` | **LIVE (attempted)** | ⚠️ BLOCKED by pve disk space | Same failure as `lxc-gui` — this target additionally builds a full nested installer/netboot image (`stage-installer-artifacts.nix`), making it similarly large. Failed with the same `No space left on device` error, immediately after the gui attempt had already consumed pve's remaining headroom. |
+| `lxc-server` | BUILD-ONLY | ✅ PASS | No sops key registered yet; live deploy also would have hit `boot.zfs.extraPools` trying to import a real ZFS pool that doesn't exist in an isolated test container — an expected limitation of testing this build type outside its real hardware, not a bug. |
+| `lxc-tailscale-exit-node` | BUILD-ONLY | ✅ PASS | No sops key registered yet. |
+| `lxc-tor-relay` | BUILD-ONLY | ✅ PASS | Live redeploy skipped — CT106 already holds this identity in production. |
+| `proxmox-docker` | BUILD-ONLY | ✅ PASS (after retry) | Live redeploy skipped — both CT105 *and* VM103 already hold `docker` identities. Combined `toplevel` + `diskoImagesScript` build crashed with a **Nix-internal assertion failure** (`worker.cc:360`) under this session's memory pressure (see Finding #6) — not a flake bug. Retried with `toplevel` alone: clean. |
+| `proxmox-minimal` | **LIVE (attempted)** | ⚠️ BLOCKED by key drift → BUILD-ONLY | `.sops.yaml` has a registered `&proxmox-minimal` anchor but **no corresponding private key exists anywhere in this environment** — the script correctly refused to generate a mismatched replacement. Fell back to `toplevel` build: ✅ PASS. |
+| `proxmox-nix-cache` | BUILD-ONLY | ✅ PASS | No sops key registered yet. |
+| `proxmox-gui` | BUILD-ONLY | ⚠️ Killed after ~40min (resource-limited) | This session's local build machine has only 2GB RAM; swap filled completely (2.0/2.0GB) and the build stalled, so it was killed rather than risk destabilizing the session further. **Not a flake defect** — the equivalent `gui` NixOS configuration already proved fully buildable during the `lxc-gui` live attempt above (it built the entire system closure successfully and only failed at the pve-side tarball-packaging step due to disk space, not the config). |
+| `proxmox-pxe-boot` | BUILD-ONLY | ⚠️ Killed after ~35min (resource-limited) | Was deep into building the nested installer's kernel initrd (this build type bundles a full netboot installer image via `stage-installer-artifacts.nix`) when killed to keep the audit moving. **Not a flake defect** — this target's own module logic was already effectively validated via the earlier *live* pve deploy attempt (`lxc-pxe-boot` above), which built the complete image and only failed at the final tarball-packaging step due to pve's disk space (Finding 1). |
+| `proxmox-server` | BUILD-ONLY | ✅ PASS | No sops key registered yet; same ZFS-pool caveat as `lxc-server` would apply to a live deploy. |
+| `proxmox-tailscale-exit-node` | BUILD-ONLY | ✅ PASS | No sops key registered yet. |
+
+**Not tested at all:** `linode-*` targets (not deployable to Proxmox) and `installer` (not a normal host) — both were still covered by the static eval/dry-run-build sweep above.
+
+---
+
+## 3. Findings, Ranked by Severity
+
+### Finding 1 — pve.sweet.home is critically low on disk space (blocks real deployments)
+
+At session start: `/dev/mapper/pve-root` was **95% full, 5.3GB free** (of 94GB). After two failed large builds it recovered slightly to **91% full, 8.2GB free** (nix cleans up its own failed-build scratch space). `/nix/store` alone is 26GB; `nix-store --gc --print-dead` reports **zero** reclaimable garbage — everything currently in the store is a live GC root, so `nix-collect-garbage` won't help without first removing old roots.
+
+**Why it matters:** `create-proxmox-resource.sh` builds every VM/CT image **directly on pve**, not on a build machine and transferred over. With <10GB headroom, any closure approaching a few GB (the `gui` build type: full Cinnamon desktop + Firefox + LibreOffice + GIMP + VS Code + xrdp; the `pxe-boot` build type: nginx/atftpd *plus* an entire nested installer/netboot image) cannot currently be built there at all. Both `lxc-gui` and `lxc-pxe-boot` failed live with `No space left on device` during this audit.
+
+**Recommended action:** Expand `pve-root`'s LV, or free space by pruning old container templates in `/var/lib/vz/template/cache` (1.5GB) / old backups in `/var/lib/vz/dump` (306MB) / auditing what's pinning 26GB of `/nix/store` as live GC roots (likely `result-*` symlinks — see below). This is real production disk state; **not something this session touched or fixed** — it needs the operator's judgment on what's safe to remove.
+
+**Secondary, smaller finding:** every `create-proxmox-resource.sh` run leaves a `result-<target>` symlink in the node's repo checkout as a permanent GC root (`ls /root/nixos/result-*` on pve showed 3 from this session alone: `lxc-docker`, `lxc-minimal`, `lxc-nix-cache`). These accumulate forever and pin their entire closures in the store. Consider having the script clean up its own `result-*` link after staging the built artifact (or use a temp `--out-link` under `/tmp`), so `nix-collect-garbage` can actually reclaim old build outputs.
+
+### Finding 2 — Stale cached images can silently ship broken secrets (reproduced live)
+
+`create-proxmox-resource.sh`'s default behavior is: if the node already has `<target>.tar.xz`/`.raw` staged, **reuse it** — only `--force-rebuild` forces a fresh build. This session hit exactly the failure mode `docs/auto-installer.md` already warns about: `lxc-minimal`'s cached tarball (built 2026-07-20T15:57Z) predated a same-day sops-key fix commit (2026-07-20T17:49Z, "clean up in ailse 3"). The deployed container booted with:
+
+```
+sops-install-secrets: failed to decrypt '.../common.yaml': Error getting data key: 0 successful groups required, got 0
+Activation script snippet 'setupSecrets' failed (1)
+```
+
+— every secret permanently failed to decrypt, `sshd` never started (though the container otherwise looked "running"). This was **not a code bug**: the currently-committed `secrets/common.yaml` decrypts fine for that host's key when checked independently; the *cached artifact on pve* simply reflected an older commit's ciphertext. Redeploying with `--force-rebuild` fixed it immediately.
+
+**Why it matters:** this is silent and easy to trigger by accident — any operator who redeploys a host without remembering `--force-rebuild` after a secrets change gets a container that looks like it started (`pct start` succeeds, `pct status` = running) but is completely inaccessible.
+
+**Recommended action:** Have `create-proxmox-resource.sh` compare the cached image's build timestamp (or embed the source commit hash in the staged filename) against current HEAD, and warn (or refuse without `--force-rebuild`) if they differ — rather than silently trusting presence alone.
+
+### Finding 3 — sops key/anchor drift
+
+Two concrete instances hit live during this session:
+
+- **`proxmox-minimal`**: `.sops.yaml` already has a registered `&proxmox-minimal` age recipient, but this environment's `host-keys/` directory has no corresponding private key file. `sync-host-keys.sh` correctly refused to generate a replacement (it would silently mismatch whatever's already registered/deployed) — but this means **no environment currently has this host's private key**, unless it exists on some other machine that was never backed up here.
+- **`lxc-gui`**, and by the same logic `lxc-server`/`lxc-tailscale-exit-node`/most `proxmox-*` targets, have **no sops registration at all yet** — expected for undeployed hosts per `docs/auto-installer.md`, but this session's live-testing needed to register `lxc-gui`'s key on the fly, which immediately hit **Finding 3b**: registering a key locally does nothing for pve's build until it's pushed to `origin/main` (pve builds via `git pull`, not from this uncommitted worktree). This is exactly gap #4 the management-surface audit (below) already flagged in the abstract — this session hit it concretely.
+
+**Recommended action:** for `proxmox-minimal`, decide whether to regenerate its key (destroying old-key decrypt access, if anything still holds it) or track down wherever the original private key lives and back it up here. For the general pattern, see the management-surface audit's recommendation to pre-flight-check key registration before building.
+
+### Finding 4 — QEMU guest agent never wired up (found and fixed this session)
+
+`modules/common/configuration.nix:44` sets `services.qemuGuest.enable = true` on every host — the guest-side agent daemon is correctly enabled everywhere. But `scripts/proxmox/create-proxmox-resource.sh`'s `qm create` call never passed `--agent 1`, so **Proxmox never created the virtio-serial channel** the agent needs. Every `proxmox-*` VM this script ever created was silently missing `qm guest exec`/IP-address reporting in the Proxmox UI, despite the guest daemon actually running.
+
+**Status: fixed in this session's worktree** (`scripts/proxmox/create-proxmox-resource.sh`, `qm create` now includes `--agent enabled=1`) — see the diff, included in the PR from this session.
+
+### Finding 5 — Orphaned container on pve (CT102)
+
+`pve.sweet.home` has a stopped LXC container, **VMID 102**, with an essentially empty config (`lock: create` and nothing else — no hostname, no rootfs, no network) — the leftover of a `pct create` that started and never finished. It predates this session (not created by any of this audit's activity) and wasn't touched. **Recommend the operator confirm it's abandoned and remove it** (`pct destroy 102 --purge 1`) — left as-is it may be someone's genuine in-progress work, so it wasn't assumed safe to delete autonomously.
+
+### Finding 6 — Nix-internal crash under memory pressure (tooling, not flake)
+
+Building `proxmox-docker`'s `toplevel` and `diskoImagesScript` together crashed with a Nix-internal assertion failure (`Assertion '!awake.empty()' failed ... worker.cc:360`, a known class of bug in Nix's multi-goal build scheduler) while this session's 2GB-RAM build container was under heavy swap pressure (1.8-2.0/2GB swap in use) from a separate concurrent build. Retrying the same target alone (no concurrency) succeeded cleanly. **Not a flake defect** — purely an artifact of this session's constrained build environment; noted for completeness since it looked alarming in isolation.
+
+### Finding 7 — Management-surface audit: 5 operability gaps
+
+A focused audit of "can the operator actually run this repo day to day" (flake, home-manager, sops, related scripts) found:
+
+1. **No documented recovery path if the `&admin` sops age key is lost without a backup.** `scripts/secrets/backup-admin-key.sh` exists and works but is referenced nowhere in `README.md`/`docs/` — no forcing function ensures a backup was ever taken. `rotate-admin-key.sh` requires the *old* key to re-key; there's no bootstrap-from-nothing path documented (the real fallback — deriving an age identity from any still-live host's own SSH key — isn't written down anywhere).
+2. **home-manager has no standalone iteration path.** It's wired only inside `nixosConfigurations` (`flake.nix`) — no `homeConfigurations` output. The fastest real shortcut (`nix build .#nixosConfigurations.<target>.config.home-manager.users.nixos.home.activationPackage`) isn't documented anywhere, so the practical workflow is a full host rebuild to test one HM tweak.
+3. **Gitea's flake-lock-update workflow pushes straight to `main` with no pre-merge validation.** `.gitea/workflows/update-flake-lock.yml` commits and pushes `nix flake update`'s result directly; `codex-maintenance.sh` only runs *after*, on the resulting push — a genuinely broken lockfile bump lands on `main` before anything catches it. (The GitHub-side workflow is safer — PR-based — but has the opposite gap: nothing alerts if the PR sits unmerged.)
+4. **No pre-flight check that a build target has a registered sops key before building it.** `docs/auto-installer.md` documents the failure mode (silent, total secrets-decrypt failure) but nothing in `create-proxmox-resource.sh` refuses to proceed when it's about to build a target with no `.sops.yaml` anchor — it's on the operator to remember. This session's `lxc-gui` test hit close to this exact gap (needed the key added on the fly, mid-session).
+5. **`vars.remoteBuilderAuthorizedKeys` has the same drift risk as `vars.nixCacheHostKey`, but no checker script.** `sync-nix-cache-host-key.sh --check` guards the latter; the former (and `vars.pxeServerIp`/`vars.pbsIp`) has no equivalent — a rotated/revoked client key just silently stops working with no diagnostic pointing back here.
+
+---
+
+## 4. Action Plan (priority order)
+
+1. **Free up disk space on pve.sweet.home** (or expand `pve-root`). Blocking: `lxc-gui`, `proxmox-gui`, `lxc-pxe-boot`, `proxmox-pxe-boot` cannot currently be built/redeployed on this node at all.
+2. **Decide on `proxmox-minimal`'s orphaned sops key**: locate the original private key and back it up here, or accept regenerating it (breaks decrypt access for whoever/whatever currently holds the old one).
+3. **Merge this session's PR** (see below) to get the `--agent 1` fix and `lxc-gui`'s new sops registration onto `main` — required before `lxc-gui` can be live-redeployed with working secrets.
+4. **Add a staleness guard to `create-proxmox-resource.sh`'s cache-reuse path** (Finding 2) — highest-leverage fix, since it silently produces a broken-but-"running" host.
+5. **Add a pre-flight sops-anchor check to `create-proxmox-resource.sh`** (management-surface gap #4) — same root cause class as #4 above, catch it before building instead of at first boot.
+6. Investigate/clean up **CT102** on pve (Finding 5) — confirm abandoned, then remove.
+7. Document `backup-admin-key.sh` in `README.md`'s Security Notes and add the live-host-key bootstrap-recovery procedure to `docs/` (management-surface gap #1).
+8. Add pre-push validation to the Gitea flake-lock-update workflow (management-surface gap #3).
+9. Lower-priority: document the home-manager `activationPackage` shortcut (gap #2); extend `sync-nix-cache-host-key.sh`'s drift-check pattern to `remoteBuilderAuthorizedKeys` (gap #5).
+10. Follow-up session: finish build-validating `proxmox-gui` and `proxmox-pxe-boot` (both killed here after 35-40min on this session's 2GB-RAM machine — not failures, just unfinished) once pve has headroom (item 1) — ideally from a machine with more RAM. `proxmox-server` and `proxmox-tailscale-exit-node` already passed build-only validation in this session, no follow-up needed.
+
+---
+
+## 5. Uncommitted Changes From This Session
+
+This worktree (`worktree-flake-e2e-audit`) currently has:
+
+- `scripts/proxmox/create-proxmox-resource.sh` — the `--agent enabled=1` fix (Finding 4).
+- `.sops.yaml` / `secrets/common.yaml` — `lxc-gui`'s new age key registered as a recipient (generated live during this session's testing).
+
+Per this session's standard workflow, these will be committed, pushed, and opened as a draft PR rather than pushed to `main` directly — merging it is the operator's call, and is also **prerequisite to live-redeploying `lxc-gui` successfully** (its build will keep hitting the sops-staleness failure from Finding 2 on pve until this registration is on `origin/main`).

CLAUDE.md

@@ -31,6 +31,74 @@ machines when deployed.
   the auto-installer (see `docs/auto-installer.md`). Never commit its
   contents; if `git status` ever shows it as trackable, something is wrong.
 
+### Two Proxmox nodes: `pve1.sweet.home` (production) and `pve-test.sweet.home` (sandbox)
+
+There are two SSH-reachable Proxmox nodes on the LAN, both defined in
+`scripts/env.sh` (`PVE1_HOST` / `PVE_TEST_HOST`), individually targetable
+via `scripts/proxmox/create-proxmox-resource.sh --node <host>` or by
+overriding `PROXMOX_HOST`. `PROXMOX_HOST` itself still defaults to
+`PVE1_HOST` (production) — that default, and every other script behavior,
+is unchanged from before `pve-test` existed; the only thing new is that
+`pve-test` can now be reached at all. They are **not interchangeable** —
+one is real production infrastructure, the other exists specifically so
+there's somewhere safe to test. The restriction below is a policy for
+Claude specifically, not a change to the tooling's own default or
+anything the operator needs to opt into.
+
+#### `pve1.sweet.home` (production — off-limits to Claude)
+
+A real, live Proxmox node hosting production VMs/containers — not a
+sandbox, and not Claude's to touch by default.
+
+- **Off-limits at all times unless the operator has given explicit,
+  same-session instructions to act on this specific host.** That
+  authorization is scoped to the task it was given for — don't carry it
+  forward to unrelated later work in the same conversation, and never
+  assume it from a previous session.
+- **Read-only for existing state is always fine, authorization or not.**
+  You may SSH in (or use `pvesm`, `qm list`, `pct list`, `qm config`, `pct
+  config`, the Proxmox API, etc.) to inspect the node's config, storage,
+  and any existing VM/container — including ones this repo didn't create.
+- **Never** modify, stop, restart, delete, reconfigure, or create anything
+  on this node (`qm set`, `pct set`, `qm destroy`, `pct destroy`, `qm
+  stop`, `pct stop`, `qm create`, `pct create`, snapshot operations,
+  storage changes, etc.) — including scratch/test resources — without
+  that explicit go-ahead. Use `pve-test.sweet.home` for anything
+  exploratory instead; it exists precisely so `pve1` never has to be the
+  answer to "where do I test this."
+- **This is a Claude-specific policy, not something the scripts enforce.**
+  `scripts/env.sh`/`create-proxmox-resource.sh` default to `pve1` exactly
+  as they did before `pve-test` existed, with no extra flag or prompt
+  required — that's deliberate, so the operator's own existing workflows
+  don't change. Claude, however, must never rely on that default: every
+  Proxmox action Claude takes on its own initiative — not explicitly
+  pointed at `pve1` by the operator this session — targets `pve-test`
+  instead (e.g. `--node "$PVE_TEST_HOST"`, or `PROXMOX_HOST=$PVE_TEST_HOST`).
+  Claude's own default is `pve-test`, full stop, regardless of what the
+  tooling's own unqualified default happens to be.
+
+#### `pve-test.sweet.home` (sandbox — Claude's default target)
+
+A separate Proxmox node set aside for testing. The *tooling's* default is
+still production (`PROXMOX_HOST` → `PVE1_HOST`, see above) — but
+**Claude's own default is this node**: absent an explicit, same-session
+instruction to use `pve1`, every Proxmox action Claude initiates targets
+`pve-test`. Once targeted, it's safe to create, interrogate, and destroy
+resources on without asking first.
+
+- **Test VMs/containers are allowed, but must be torn down.** Create a
+  scratch VM or container here (e.g. via
+  `scripts/proxmox/create-proxmox-resource.sh` or raw `qm`/`pct create`)
+  to validate something. Anything created this way must be destroyed
+  again in the same session, before ending the task — never leave a test
+  resource running. Use a VMID/name that's obviously scratch (and doesn't
+  collide with a real flake target) so it's unambiguous what's safe to
+  remove.
+- **Node-level config is still not yours to change.** Creating/destroying
+  your own scratch guests is fine; Proxmox host config, storage pools, and
+  networking on `pve-test` itself are still the operator's call to make
+  manually, same as on `pve1`.
+
 ## Commands
 
 ```bash
@@ -96,13 +164,39 @@ before committing.
 
 Beyond `codex-setup.sh`/`codex-maintenance.sh` above, `scripts/` is
 organized by purpose: `scripts/secrets/` (sops/age + SSH host-key
-management), `scripts/proxmox/` (Proxmox deployment), `scripts/lib/`
-(shared helpers, sourced by the scripts below — not run directly), and a
-handful of repo-wide scripts left at the top level (`env.sh`,
-`bump-nixpkgs-release.sh`, plus `codex-setup.sh`/`codex-maintenance.sh`
-above). When adding a new script, put it in the matching subfolder rather
-than the top level, and if it duplicates logic another script already has,
-lift the shared part into `scripts/lib/` instead of copying it.
+management), `scripts/proxmox/` (Proxmox deployment), `scripts/installer/`
+(the auto-installer's own shell script, templated into the image — see
+below), `scripts/lib/` (shared helpers, sourced by the scripts below — not
+run directly), and a handful of repo-wide scripts left at the top level
+(`env.sh`, `bump-nixpkgs-release.sh`, plus `codex-setup.sh`/
+`codex-maintenance.sh` above). When adding a new script, put it in the
+matching subfolder rather than the top level, and if it duplicates logic
+another script already has, lift the shared part into `scripts/lib/`
+instead of copying it.
+
+### `scripts/installer/`
+
+- `scripts/installer/auto-install.sh` — the interactive install script
+  baked into the auto-installer image (see `docs/auto-installer.md`), kept
+  as a real, version-controlled shell file rather than inline in
+  `modules/installer/common.nix`'s Nix. It sources `scripts/env.sh` itself
+  for `LAN_DOMAIN` (`export LAN_DOMAIN`/`: "${LAN_DOMAIN:=...}"`, matching
+  `variables.nix`'s `lanDomain` — manually kept in sync, same pattern as
+  `NIX_CACHE_HOST` mirroring `nixCacheHost`), rather than Nix-level string
+  substitution — that's what makes it work identically whether run
+  straight from a git checkout or from inside the built installer image.
+  `common.nix` bakes `scripts/env.sh` in alongside it at a matching
+  relative path (`/etc/nixos-installer/env.sh` next to
+  `/etc/nixos-installer/installer/auto-install.sh`) so the script's own
+  `source "$(dirname ...)/../env.sh"` line resolves the same way in both
+  contexts — this is also why it's invoked from
+  `/etc/nixos-installer/installer/auto-install.sh` rather than a flat
+  `/etc/auto-install.sh`. `#!/usr/bin/env bash`, not
+  `#!/run/current-system/sw/bin/bash`: the latter only resolves on an
+  already-activated NixOS system, breaking the checked-out-file case
+  entirely (confirmed live: "cannot execute: required file not found" on
+  a non-NixOS box); `/usr/bin/env` is reliably present on both NixOS
+  (`environment.usrbinenv`'s own default) and any normal Linux distro.
 
 ### `scripts/secrets/`
 
@@ -214,8 +308,9 @@ Sourced by the scripts above, never run directly:
 ### Top level
 
 - `scripts/env.sh` — shared config (`PROXMOX_HOST`, storage pool, bridge,
-  default cores/memory) sourced by `create-proxmox-resource.sh`. Add new
-  cross-script config here instead of duplicating it per-script.
+  default cores/memory, `NIX_CACHE_HOST`, `LAN_DOMAIN`) sourced by
+  `create-proxmox-resource.sh` and `scripts/installer/auto-install.sh`. Add
+  new cross-script config here instead of duplicating it per-script.
 - `scripts/bump-nixpkgs-release.sh` — bumps `flake.nix`'s `nixpkgs.url`/
   `home-manager.url` in place. Exists because flake input URLs can't
   reference `variables.nix` (confirmed empirically — `nix flake metadata`
@@ -253,11 +348,14 @@ nixosSystem {
 }
 ```
 
-Platforms: `linode`, `proxmox`, `lxc`. Build types: `minimal`, `nix-cache`,
-`server`, `docker`, `gui`, `pxe-boot`, `tailscale-exit-node`, `tor-relay`. Not
-every combination is built — e.g. `pxe-boot` has no `linode` variant
-(PXE/DHCP/TFTP need LAN L2 adjacency a Linode VPS doesn't have), and
-`tor-relay` currently only exists as `lxc-tor-relay`. Treat `flake.nix`'s
+Platforms: `linode`, `proxmox`, `lxc`, `baremetal`. Build types: `minimal`,
+`nix-cache`, `server`, `docker`, `gui`, `pxe-boot`, `tailscale-exit-node`,
+`tor-relay`. Not every combination is built — e.g. `pxe-boot` has no `linode`
+variant (PXE/DHCP/TFTP need LAN L2 adjacency a Linode VPS doesn't have),
+`tor-relay` currently only exists as `lxc-tor-relay`, and `baremetal`
+currently only exists as `baremetal-gui` (the real gui-host hardware —
+see `hosts/nixos/host.nix` and `modules/platforms/baremetal.nix`). Treat
+`flake.nix`'s
 `generatedTargets` as the source
 of truth for which hosts exist — `README.md`, `AGENTS.md`,
 `docs/flake-lock-automation.md`, and the CI eval workflows
@@ -273,12 +371,16 @@ removing a host.
   of their own beyond narrow parameterized helpers (see
   `modules/beszel/host-token.nix` below) — all shared behavior comes from the
   platform/build-type modules composed in `flake.nix`, not from the host file.
-- `modules/platforms/{linode,proxmox,lxc}.nix` — platform-specific config:
-  boot method, guest tooling, and (for linode/proxmox) the hypervisor-specific
-  hardware config, imported directly by the platform module itself
-  (`../hardware-configuration/vm/{proxmox,linode}.nix`) — **not** wired in
-  from `flake.nix`. `lxc.nix` has no hardware-configuration counterpart since
-  containers share the host kernel; instead it imports nixpkgs' own
+- `modules/platforms/{linode,proxmox,lxc,baremetal}.nix` — platform-specific
+  config: boot method, guest tooling, and the hardware config, imported
+  directly by the platform module itself — **not** wired in from
+  `flake.nix`. VM platforms use `../hardware-configuration/vm/{proxmox,linode}.nix`;
+  `baremetal.nix` uses `../hardware-configuration/baremetal.nix` (adapted
+  from a real `nixos-generate-config` run on the actual hardware, not a
+  vm/ file, since it isn't a VM) plus `hardware.enableRedistributableFirmware
+  = true` for real wifi/GPU/microcode firmware that VMs never needed.
+  `lxc.nix` has no hardware-configuration counterpart since containers
+  share the host kernel; instead it imports nixpkgs' own
   `virtualisation/proxmox-lxc.nix`, which gives every `lxc-*` host a
   `config.system.build.tarball` output — a plain rootfs tarball, used as a
   `pct create ... vztmpl` CT template (**not** `pct restore`, which expects
@@ -302,6 +404,16 @@ removing a host.
   boots, so this declares them with `destroy = false` (disko never wipes
   them) and a bare `filesystem`/`swap` content type instead of a partition
   table — idempotent against an already-provisioned disk, never destructive.
+- `modules/disko/baremetal.nix` — `baremetal-gui`'s disko config: a ZFS
+  RAID0 (striped, no redundancy — disko's zpool `mode` defaults to `""`,
+  which is a plain stripe rather than `"mirror"`/`"raidz"`) root pool
+  across two disks, ESP + systemd-boot on the first. Device paths
+  (`vars.guiRootDisk1`/`guiRootDisk2`) are placeholders — fill in stable
+  `/dev/disk/by-id/...` paths before running disko for real.
+  `modules/platforms/baremetal.nix` also imports
+  `modules/services/zfs/enable-service.nix` for this (the `zfs_unstable`
+  package, autoScrub/autoSnapshot/trim) — the only other importer today is
+  `server`'s NFS data pool, an unrelated non-root ZFS use.
 - `modules/boot/efi.nix` — systemd-boot + EFI vars, paired with the disko module.
 - `modules/installer/` — the auto-installer environment (ISO, also served as
   PXE netboot): `common.nix` (shared config + the generated

README.md

@@ -8,13 +8,15 @@ workstation.
 Targets are named `<platform>-<buildtype>`, generated from two orthogonal
 pieces composed in `flake.nix`:
 
-- **Platforms** (what it runs on): `linode`, `proxmox`, `lxc`
+- **Platforms** (what it runs on): `linode`, `proxmox`, `lxc`, `baremetal`
 - **Build types** (what it's for): `minimal`, `nix-cache`, `server`, `docker`,
   `gui`, `pxe-boot`, `tailscale-exit-node`, `tor-relay`
 
 Not every combination exists — `pxe-boot` has no `linode` variant, since
-PXE/DHCP/TFTP need LAN L2 adjacency that a Linode VPS doesn't have, and
-`tor-relay` currently only exists as `lxc-tor-relay`. The full list:
+PXE/DHCP/TFTP need LAN L2 adjacency that a Linode VPS doesn't have,
+`tor-relay` currently only exists as `lxc-tor-relay`, and `baremetal`
+currently only exists as `baremetal-gui` (the real gui-host hardware). The
+full list:
 
 | Target | Purpose |
 | --- | --- |
@@ -25,6 +27,7 @@ PXE/DHCP/TFTP need LAN L2 adjacency that a Linode VPS doesn't have, and
 | `linode-server` / `proxmox-server` / `lxc-server` | Storage, NFS, backup, and monitoring exporter host — previously the flat `server` target |
 | `linode-docker` / `proxmox-docker` / `lxc-docker` | Docker host for the main container stack — previously the flat `docker` target |
 | `linode-gui` / `proxmox-gui` / `lxc-gui` | Cinnamon desktop workstation — previously the flat `nixos` target |
+| `baremetal-gui` | Same Cinnamon desktop workstation, on the real gui-host hardware — ZFS RAID0 root, systemd-boot |
 | `proxmox-pxe-boot` / `lxc-pxe-boot` | HTTP/iPXE boot asset host — previously the flat `pxe-boot` target |
 | `linode-tailscale-exit-node` / `proxmox-tailscale-exit-node` / `lxc-tailscale-exit-node` | Tailscale exit node |
 | `lxc-tor-relay` | Tor middle relay |
@@ -36,6 +39,11 @@ Check the Proxmox node itself, or `/etc/flake-target` on a running host (see
 below), if you need to know what's really out there right now.
 `scripts/proxmox/create-proxmox-resource.sh`'s duplicate-host guard works the same
 way: it checks the Proxmox node directly rather than any file here.
+Real, production deployments live on `pve1.sweet.home`; there's a second
+node, `pve-test.sweet.home`, set aside purely for scratch/test resources —
+see `scripts/env.sh` (`PVE1_HOST` / `PVE_TEST_HOST`, and the
+`--node`/`PROXMOX_HOST` targeting they feed into) and CLAUDE.md's Proxmox
+section for which is which.
 
 Each buildtype's `hosts/<name>/host.nix` carries the per-machine identity
 (hostname, hostId, per-machine secrets, `system.stateVersion`) that must stay
@@ -59,7 +67,7 @@ nix eval --json .#nixosConfigurations --apply builtins.attrNames | jq -r '.[]'
 | `variables.nix` | Single source of truth for shared values (LAN domain/CIDR, hostnames, timezone, primary username, storage root, NFS share subpaths/mountpoints, service ports, ...) — passed to every module and Home Manager config as the `vars` argument via `specialArgs`/`extraSpecialArgs` |
 | `hosts/<name>/host.nix` | Per-machine identity: hostname, hostId, per-machine secrets, `system.stateVersion` |
 | `hosts/nixos/home.nix` | Workstation-specific Home Manager config (used by the `gui` build type) |
-| `modules/platforms/` | Platform-specific config: virtualisation guest tools, boot method, hardware config (`linode.nix`, `proxmox.nix`, `lxc.nix`) |
+| `modules/platforms/` | Platform-specific config: virtualisation guest tools, boot method, hardware config (`linode.nix`, `proxmox.nix`, `lxc.nix`, `baremetal.nix`) |
 | `modules/build-types/` | Build-type-specific config: what makes a system minimal/server/docker/gui/pxe-boot/nix-cache |
 | `modules/common/` | Shared NixOS config, Home Manager, aliases imported by every host |
 | `modules/nix-cache/` | Binary cache and remote builder client/server modules |

docs/auto-installer.md

@@ -8,10 +8,13 @@ lives here.
 The installer provides a small NixOS install environment (ISO, or the same
 image netbooted via PXE) with SSH access, Git support, and an interactive
 installation script.
-Logging in as any user (root or `nixos`) runs `/etc/auto-install.sh`,
-discovers available hosts from this same flake, lets the operator choose a
-target, applies that host's Disko storage configuration, installs NixOS, and
-reboots.
+Logging in as any user (root or `nixos`) runs
+`/etc/nixos-installer/installer/auto-install.sh` (the same file as
+`scripts/installer/auto-install.sh` in this repo — see "Installer process"
+below for why it's baked in at that path rather than a flat
+`/etc/auto-install.sh`), discovers available hosts from this same flake,
+lets the operator choose a target, applies that host's Disko storage
+configuration, installs NixOS, and reboots.
 
 **This applies to every `nixosConfigurations` target except `lxc-*` hosts —
 see "LXC hosts" immediately below for why those are different.**
@@ -150,7 +153,11 @@ use case.
 
 The `pxe` variant is also built automatically as part of the `pxe-boot` host
 itself (`modules/pxe-boot/stage-installer-artifacts.nix`) and served over
-iPXE — see `docs/pxe-boot.md`.
+iPXE as the menu's "NixOS Auto-Installer" entry — see `docs/pxe-boot.md`.
+That same host also builds and serves `packages.x86_64-linux.pxe-minimal`,
+a vanilla NixOS minimal netboot image with none of this auto-installer's
+wiring, as a separate "NixOS Minimal" menu entry — also documented in
+`docs/pxe-boot.md`, not covered further here since it's not this installer.
 
 ## Host keys
 
@@ -188,6 +195,10 @@ default.
 `auto-install.sh` still supports the older manual path as a fallback: if a
 host's key isn't baked in (`/etc/host-keys`), it checks `/root/host-keys`
 next, where you can `scp` a key in after boot, same as before this migration.
+If neither has it and the script is running interactively (an actual
+operator at the other end of stdin, not an unattended run), it prompts for
+an arbitrary directory to check (a mounted USB stick, another filesystem,
+etc.) and copies the key pair into `/root/host-keys` from there if found.
 
 ## Storage
 
@@ -213,7 +224,21 @@ entirely (see "LXC hosts" above), so it never reaches this code path.
 
 ## Installer process
 
-`/etc/auto-install.sh`:
+`scripts/installer/auto-install.sh` is a real, version-controlled shell
+script — not an inline Nix string. It sources `scripts/env.sh` for
+`LAN_DOMAIN` itself (same as every other script in `scripts/`), so it
+behaves identically whether it's run straight from a git checkout (e.g.
+manually, from a stock NixOS ISO that isn't this repo's own installer
+image) or from inside the built installer image. That's also why it's
+baked in at `/etc/nixos-installer/installer/auto-install.sh` rather than a
+flat `/etc/auto-install.sh` — `modules/installer/common.nix` bakes
+`scripts/env.sh` in alongside it at `/etc/nixos-installer/env.sh`,
+preserving the same relative layout (`installer/auto-install.sh` ->
+`../env.sh`) the checked-out repo has, so the script's own
+`source ".../env.sh"` line resolves correctly in both places without any
+Nix-level templating.
+
+Once running, it:
 
 1. Queries `nixosConfigurations` from this flake over the network (`git+https://<lanDomain>/beatzaplenty/nixos.git`) — this happens at *install* time, not build time, so a generic installer image always sees whatever hosts are currently committed, without needing a rebuild.
 2. Presents them as a menu; confirms the choice.

docs/pxe-boot.md

@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
 # pxe-boot
 
-The `pxe-boot` host serves HTTP boot assets for iPXE clients — including a
-self-staged copy of this flake's own auto-installer netboot image, see
-`docs/auto-installer.md` for what that image actually is and does once
-booted.
+The `pxe-boot` host serves HTTP boot assets for iPXE clients — including
+self-staged copies of both this flake's own auto-installer netboot image
+(see `docs/auto-installer.md` for what that image actually is and does once
+booted) and a vanilla, unmodified NixOS minimal netboot image for plain
+rescue/inspection use.
 
 ## Host Role
 
@@ -28,7 +29,8 @@ The host creates these directories with systemd tmpfiles:
 /srv/pxe
 /srv/pxe/http
 /srv/pxe/http/images
-/srv/pxe/http/nixos
+/srv/pxe/http/auto-installer
+/srv/pxe/http/nixos-minimal
 /srv/pxe/http/systemrescue
 /srv/pxe/http/ubuntu
 /srv/pxe/http/rescue
@@ -37,7 +39,7 @@ The host creates these directories with systemd tmpfiles:
 
 Mount shared image storage under `/srv/pxe/http`, preferably
 `/srv/pxe/http/images` unless a menu entry expects files in a specific
-directory such as `/srv/pxe/http/nixos`.
+directory such as `/srv/pxe/http/auto-installer`.
 
 The HTTP iPXE chain is:
 
@@ -50,20 +52,37 @@ undionly.kpxe or ipxe.efi
 
 The generated menu currently exposes entries for:
 
-- NixOS installer
+- NixOS Auto-Installer
+- NixOS Minimal
 - SystemRescue environment
 - iPXE shell
 - Reboot
 
-The NixOS installer entry chain-loads `/srv/pxe/http/nixos/netboot.ipxe`,
-which is nixpkgs' own generated netboot iPXE script (correct `init=`/`initrd=`
-kernel parameters included) rather than a hand-rolled boot line — that script
-in turn expects its kernel/initrd siblings in the same directory. All three
-files (`bzImage`, `initrd`, `netboot.ipxe`) are built from this flake's own
-`modules/installer/iso.nix` netboot image (the same one `nix build .#pxe`
-produces) and staged automatically by
-`modules/pxe-boot/stage-installer-artifacts.nix` via `systemd.tmpfiles.rules`
-— no manual operator step required.
+Both NixOS entries chain-load a `netboot.ipxe` staged into their own
+directory (`/srv/pxe/http/auto-installer/netboot.ipxe` and
+`/srv/pxe/http/nixos-minimal/netboot.ipxe`), each nixpkgs' own generated
+netboot iPXE script (correct `init=`/`initrd=` kernel parameters included)
+rather than a hand-rolled boot line — that script in turn expects its
+kernel/initrd siblings in the same directory. Each directory's three files
+(`bzImage`, `initrd`, `netboot.ipxe`) are built from source and staged
+automatically by `modules/pxe-boot/stage-installer-artifacts.nix` via
+`systemd.tmpfiles.rules` — no manual operator step required:
+
+- `auto-installer` is this flake's own `netbootSystem` (`flake.nix`) — the
+  same auto-installer image `nix build .#pxe` produces. See
+  `docs/auto-installer.md`.
+- `nixos-minimal` is `netbootMinimalSystem` (`flake.nix`) — nixpkgs'
+  `netboot-minimal.nix` composed on its own, with none of this flake's
+  auto-installer wiring (no `common.nix`, no `auto-install.sh`, no baked
+  host keys or custom users). Same `nix build .#pxe-minimal` mechanism as
+  the auto-installer image, just a different module composition. Useful
+  as a plain rescue/inspection shell that doesn't assume anything about
+  this flake.
+
+Both images set `networking.hostName` to match their menu entry/staged
+directory name (`auto-installer` / `nixos-minimal`), so each one's
+generated system name (`nixos-system-<name>-*`) is self-describing rather
+than the nixpkgs default of `nixos-system-nixos-*` for both.
 
 The SystemRescue entry expects the source ISO at:
 

flake.lock

@@ -95,11 +95,11 @@
         ]
       },
       "locked": {
-        "lastModified": 1783740085,
-        "narHash": "sha256-qajyHfZY29G2oEQk+uHxmsJcRoBUBXP9maTpFlwP/dI=",
+        "lastModified": 1784350909,
+        "narHash": "sha256-ZWyzLbS1yKUTeFJLmdVuWNnHttL333/ldJbEE+KzCrM=",
         "owner": "nix-community",
         "repo": "home-manager",
-        "rev": "3cd22efe6471dc7365c822bd9ad73a21e55f38fb",
+        "rev": "4ce190229c73d44536caa7072f6308fb2d8feeb3",
         "type": "github"
       },
       "original": {
@@ -147,11 +147,11 @@
     },
     "nixpkgs_2": {
       "locked": {
-        "lastModified": 1784011430,
-        "narHash": "sha256-lDebytrYdd47IBLwvNOD+6AGeoqZ78CIKlp70hzW280=",
+        "lastModified": 1784432872,
+        "narHash": "sha256-n3gKTBIV4ZA5VQpUakffBe3KGu4+mhPoA34rrqS0GkA=",
         "owner": "NixOS",
         "repo": "nixpkgs",
-        "rev": "8eeec934ae0dbeca3d7868c059568a65c08b2fc3",
+        "rev": "fd1462031fdee08f65fd0b4c6b64e22239a77870",
         "type": "github"
       },
       "original": {

flake.nix

@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@
           # file without a same-option circular dependency (a module
           # contributing to environment.etc can't read the merged
           # environment.etc it's itself contributing to).
-          specialArgs = { inherit inputs vars netbootSystem flakeTarget; };
+          specialArgs = { inherit inputs vars netbootSystem netbootMinimalSystem flakeTarget; };
         };
 
       # Generated platform x build-type matrix. pxe-boot has no linode
@@ -91,6 +91,7 @@
         linode-gui = mkTarget { platform = "linode"; buildType = "gui"; hostPath = ./hosts/nixos/host.nix; homeFile = ./hosts/nixos/home.nix; };
         proxmox-gui = mkTarget { platform = "proxmox"; buildType = "gui"; hostPath = ./hosts/nixos/host.nix; homeFile = ./hosts/nixos/home.nix; };
         lxc-gui = mkTarget { platform = "lxc"; buildType = "gui"; hostPath = ./hosts/nixos/host.nix; homeFile = ./hosts/nixos/home.nix; };
+        baremetal-gui = mkTarget { platform = "baremetal"; buildType = "gui"; hostPath = ./hosts/nixos/host.nix; homeFile = ./hosts/nixos/home.nix; };
 
         proxmox-pxe-boot = mkTarget { platform = "proxmox"; buildType = "pxe-boot"; hostPath = ./hosts/pxe-boot/host.nix; };
         lxc-pxe-boot = mkTarget { platform = "lxc"; buildType = "pxe-boot"; hostPath = ./hosts/pxe-boot/host.nix; };
@@ -119,19 +120,61 @@
 
       # Same installer environment, built as netboot (kernel + initrd +
       # iPXE script) instead of an ISO — this is what packages.pxe bundles.
+      #
+      # Deliberately imports common.nix directly, NOT ./modules/installer/iso.nix
+      # (which pulls in nixpkgs' installation-cd-minimal.nix) -- confirmed live
+      # that composing the ISO module together with netboot-minimal.nix hangs
+      # every boot waiting for a device that can never exist on a netboot
+      # client ("A start job is running for /dev/disk/by-label/nixos-minimal-...").
+      # Both installation-cd-base.nix and netboot.nix set fileSystems."/" via
+      # the identical lib.mkImageMediaOverride (mkOverride 60) priority --
+      # genuinely conflicting root-filesystem strategies (ISO-by-label vs.
+      # netboot-tmpfs) at the same priority, and the ISO one was winning.
+      # netboot-minimal.nix's own chain (netboot-base.nix) already imports
+      # profiles/installation-device.nix independently, so common.nix's
+      # initialHashedPassword override (which assumes that profile is
+      # present) still applies correctly without iso.nix in the mix.
+      #
+      # networking.hostName is set explicitly (rather than left at nixpkgs'
+      # own "nixos" default) so this image's generated system name
+      # (nixos-system-auto-installer-*) matches its iPXE menu entry —
+      # see modules/build-types/pxe-boot.nix's :auto-installer item — and
+      # its staged directory, /srv/pxe/http/auto-installer.
       netbootSystem = nixpkgs.lib.nixosSystem {
         inherit system;
         modules = [
-          ./modules/installer/iso.nix
+          ./modules/installer/common.nix
           ({ modulesPath, ... }: {
             imports = [
               (modulesPath + "/installer/netboot/netboot-minimal.nix")
             ];
           })
+          { networking.hostName = "auto-installer"; }
         ];
         specialArgs = { inherit vars; };
       };
 
+      # A genuinely vanilla NixOS minimal netboot image: nixpkgs'
+      # netboot-minimal.nix on its own, with none of this flake's
+      # auto-installer wiring (no common.nix — no auto-install.sh, no
+      # baked host keys, no custom users/passwords). Built from source via
+      # the same nixosSystem + netboot-minimal.nix path as netbootSystem
+      # above, so both go through an identical build mechanism; the only
+      # difference is what's composed in. hostName again matches this
+      # image's iPXE menu entry (:nixos-minimal) and staged directory
+      # (/srv/pxe/http/nixos-minimal).
+      netbootMinimalSystem = nixpkgs.lib.nixosSystem {
+        inherit system;
+        modules = [
+          ({ modulesPath, ... }: {
+            imports = [
+              (modulesPath + "/installer/netboot/netboot-minimal.nix")
+            ];
+          })
+          { networking.hostName = "nixos-minimal"; }
+        ];
+      };
+
     in
     {
 
@@ -153,6 +196,15 @@
           { name = "initrd"; path = netbootSystem.config.system.build.netbootRamdisk; }
           { name = "kernel"; path = netbootSystem.config.system.build.kernel; }
         ];
+
+        # Vanilla NixOS minimal netboot bundle — see netbootMinimalSystem
+        # above. Staged onto the pxe-boot host alongside packages.pxe by
+        # modules/pxe-boot/stage-installer-artifacts.nix.
+        pxe-minimal = pkgs.linkFarm "pxe-minimal" [
+          { name = "netboot.ipxe"; path = netbootMinimalSystem.config.system.build.netbootIpxeScript; }
+          { name = "initrd"; path = netbootMinimalSystem.config.system.build.netbootRamdisk; }
+          { name = "kernel"; path = netbootMinimalSystem.config.system.build.kernel; }
+        ];
       };
     };
 }

hosts/nixos/home.nix

@@ -19,11 +19,13 @@
       nextcloud-client
       #    vscode
       chromium
+      claude-code
     ];
 
     # Optional: set environment vars
     sessionVariables = {
       EDITOR = "vim";
+      SOPS_AGE_KEY_FILE = "/home/nixos/Nextcloud/Filing Cabinet/keys/nixos-sops-age-key-txt";
     };
 
     file = {

hosts/nixos/host.nix

@@ -1,8 +1,17 @@
 _:
 
 {
+  imports = [
+    ../../modules/networking/wifi.nix
+  ];
+
   networking.hostName = "nixos";
 
+  # Only needed now that baremetal-gui exists (ZFS root) -- harmless on the
+  # ext4-rooted linode/proxmox/lxc-gui variants, so set unconditionally
+  # rather than only on the baremetal platform.
+  networking.hostId = "de6a9ffc";
+
   # Preserved from the pre-refactor `nixos` target — stateVersion must never
   # be bumped on an already-installed machine.
   system.stateVersion = "25.05";

modules/build-types/gui.nix

@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
   ];
 
   boot.loader.grub.useOSProber = true;
-
+programs.direnv.enable = true;
   services = {
     xserver = {
       enable = true;

modules/build-types/pxe-boot.nix

@@ -68,15 +68,19 @@ let
     set base ${pxeBaseUrl}
 
     menu PXE Boot Menu
-    item nixos NixOS Installer
+    item auto-installer NixOS Auto-Installer
+    item nixos-minimal NixOS Minimal
     item rescue Rescue Environment
     item shell iPXE Shell
     item reboot Reboot
 
     choose target && goto ''${target}
 
-    :nixos
-    chain ''${base}/nixos/netboot.ipxe
+    :auto-installer
+    chain ''${base}/auto-installer/netboot.ipxe
+
+    :nixos-minimal
+    chain ''${base}/nixos-minimal/netboot.ipxe
 
     :rescue
     chain ''${base}/systemrescue.ipxe
@@ -129,7 +133,8 @@ in
     "d ${pxeRoot} 0755 root root -"
     "d ${httpRoot} 0755 root root -"
     "d ${httpRoot}/images 0755 root root -"
-    "d ${httpRoot}/nixos 0755 root root -"
+    "d ${httpRoot}/auto-installer 0755 root root -"
+    "d ${httpRoot}/nixos-minimal 0755 root root -"
     "d ${httpRoot}/systemrescue 0755 root root -"
     "d ${httpRoot}/ubuntu 0755 root root -"
     "d ${httpRoot}/rescue 0755 root root -"

modules/common/configuration.nix

@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@
     btop
     git
     gcr
+    jq
   ];
 
   # Secrets shared by every host, decrypted at activation via each host's

modules/disko/baremetal.nix

@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+{ vars, ... }:
+
+{
+  # ZFS RAID0 (striped, no redundancy) root pool for the bare-metal gui
+  # host — two disks, each contributing its own top-level vdev. disko's
+  # zpool `mode` defaults to "" (plain stripe) when left unset, which is
+  # what gives RAID0 semantics here rather than mirror/raidz.
+  #
+  # Device paths are placeholders until the real hardware profile lands —
+  # fill in vars.guiRootDisk1/guiRootDisk2 (stable /dev/disk/by-id/...
+  # paths, not /dev/sdX) before running disko against real hardware. Swap
+  # is deliberately left out for now — sizing that sensibly needs the
+  # box's actual RAM size, which comes with the hardware profile too.
+  #
+  # Not yet imported anywhere: this awaits the new bare-metal platform
+  # module (alongside modules/boot/efi.nix for systemd-boot, matching
+  # modules/platforms/proxmox.nix's pattern) once the hardware config is
+  # in hand.
+  disko.devices = {
+    disk = {
+      disk1 = {
+        type = "disk";
+        device = vars.guiRootDisk1;
+
+        content = {
+          type = "gpt";
+
+          partitions = {
+            esp = {
+              priority = 1;
+              name = "ESP";
+              size = "512M";
+              type = "EF00";
+
+              content = {
+                type = "filesystem";
+                format = "vfat";
+                mountpoint = "/boot";
+                mountOptions = [ "umask=0077" ];
+              };
+            };
+
+            zfs = {
+              size = "100%";
+
+              content = {
+                type = "zfs";
+                pool = "rpool";
+              };
+            };
+          };
+        };
+      };
+
+      disk2 = {
+        type = "disk";
+        device = vars.guiRootDisk2;
+
+        content = {
+          type = "gpt";
+
+          partitions = {
+            zfs = {
+              size = "100%";
+
+              content = {
+                type = "zfs";
+                pool = "rpool";
+              };
+            };
+          };
+        };
+      };
+    };
+
+    zpool.rpool = {
+      type = "zpool";
+
+      rootFsOptions = {
+        compression = "zstd";
+        "com.sun:auto-snapshot" = "false";
+      };
+      mountpoint = "/";
+      options.ashift = "12";
+    };
+  };
+}

modules/hardware-configuration/baremetal.nix

@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+# Adapted from the output of `nixos-generate-config`, run from a live GUI
+# ISO boot on the actual gui-host hardware (AMD CPU). fileSystems and
+# swapDevices are deliberately omitted -- the live ISO had no formatted
+# disks to detect, and disko (modules/disko/baremetal.nix) generates both
+# from the declarative zpool layout anyway.
+{ config, lib, pkgs, modulesPath, ... }:
+
+{
+  imports =
+    [
+      (modulesPath + "/installer/scan/not-detected.nix")
+    ];
+
+  boot = {
+    initrd.availableKernelModules = [ "xhci_pci" "ahci" "usbhid" "usb_storage" "sd_mod" ];
+    initrd.kernelModules = [ ];
+    kernelModules = [ "kvm-amd" ];
+    extraModulePackages = [ ];
+  };
+
+  nixpkgs.hostPlatform = lib.mkDefault "x86_64-linux";
+  hardware.cpu.amd.updateMicrocode = lib.mkDefault config.hardware.enableRedistributableFirmware;
+}

modules/installer/common.nix

@@ -45,142 +45,23 @@
       disko
     ];
 
-    # Write auto-install script to /root
-    etc."auto-install.sh" = {
-      text = ''
-            #!/run/current-system/sw/bin/bash
-            set -eux
-
-            set -euo pipefail
-
-        export FLAKE_BASE_URL="git+https://${vars.lanDomain}/beatzaplenty/nixos.git"
-
-        echo "Fetching available NixOS hosts from flake..."
-        # Two categories deliberately excluded from the menu:
-        #   lxc-*     — these build a config.system.build.tarball meant for
-        #               `pct restore` on Proxmox directly, not an install.
-        #               Running nixos-install against one here would
-        #               bind-mount / onto /mnt and then refuse to touch the
-        #               filesystem it's currently running on — see
-        #               docs/auto-installer.md.
-        #   installer — this *is* the installer image's own flake target,
-        #               not a deployable host; "installing" it means
-        #               nixos-install-ing a copy of the installer into
-        #               itself.
-        mapfile -t options < <(
-          nix eval --json --no-use-registries --no-accept-flake-config --extra-experimental-features "flakes nix-command" \
-            "''${FLAKE_BASE_URL}#nixosConfigurations" \
-            --apply builtins.attrNames \
-          | jq -r '.[]
-              | select(startswith("lxc-") | not)
-              | select(. != "installer")'
-        )
-
-        if [[ ''${#options[@]} -eq 0 ]]; then
-          echo "ERROR: No NixOS hosts found in ''${FLAKE_BASE_URL}#nixosConfigurations" >&2
-          exit 1
-        fi
-
-        echo "Note: lxc-* targets aren't installed this way — build them with"
-        echo "  nix build .#nixosConfigurations.<name>.config.system.build.tarball"
-        echo "and 'pct restore' the result on Proxmox directly. See docs/auto-installer.md."
-
-        echo "Choose the flake profile to install:"
-        select choice in "''${options[@]}"; do
-          if [[ -n "$choice" ]]; then
-            echo "You selected: $choice"
-            break
-          else
-            echo "Invalid selection. Try again."
-          fi
-        done
-
-        echo "Starting install with flake: ''${FLAKE_BASE_URL}#''${choice}"
-
-        # Optional: confirm before proceeding
-        read -rp "Proceed with installation? (y/N): " confirm
-        if [[ ! "$confirm" =~ ^[Yy]$ ]]; then
-          echo "Aborted."
-          exit 1
-        fi
-
-        # A nix-cache host is *the* substituter/remote-builder for every other
-        # host once installed (its own config explicitly excludes itself from
-        # using either — see buildType != "nix-cache" in the nixos flake.nix).
-        # Installing one shouldn't depend on a nix-cache substituter either,
-        # for the same reason — plus in practice "nix-cache" only resolves over
-        # Tailscale, which a fresh installer environment was never connected to
-        # anyway, so it's dead weight even for non-nix-cache installs until
-        # that's sorted out. Override it away here specifically for nix-cache
-        # targets to keep install-time behaviour consistent with run-time.
-        nix_extra_opts=()
-        if [[ "''${choice}" == *-nix-cache ]]; then
-            echo "Installing a nix-cache host — skipping the nix-cache substituter."
-            nix_extra_opts+=(--option substituters "https://cache.nixos.org/")
-        fi
-
-        # Every host reachable through this menu has a Disko config (lxc-*
-        # is filtered out above, and is the only category that doesn't —
-        # see docs/auto-installer.md), so this can run unconditionally: no
-        # need to probe the flake first and branch on whether Disko applies.
-        disko --mode destroy,format,mount \
-            --flake "''${FLAKE_BASE_URL}#''${choice}" "''${nix_extra_opts[@]}" --yes-wipe-all-disks
-
-        # sops-nix derives this host's decryption key from its own SSH host key
-        # at *activation* time, which runs before systemd would otherwise
-        # generate one on first boot. Without pre-seeding it here, secrets
-        # (including the login password) fail to decrypt on first boot.
-        # Generate the key with scripts/secrets/prepare-host-key.sh first.
-        #
-        # Two places a key can come from, checked in order:
-        #   /etc/host-keys  — baked into this image at build time (see
-        #                      modules/installer/host-keys.nix; only present
-        #                      if built with NIXOS_HOST_KEYS_DIR set)
-        #   /root/host-keys — scp'd in manually after boot (older fallback,
-        #                      still supported for images built without keys)
-        mkdir -p /root/host-keys
-        if [[ -f "/etc/host-keys/''${choice}_ssh_host_ed25519_key" ]]; then
-            echo "Found baked-in SSH host key for ''${choice}, installing to target..."
-            install -D -m 0600 "/etc/host-keys/''${choice}_ssh_host_ed25519_key" /mnt/etc/ssh/ssh_host_ed25519_key
-            install -D -m 0644 "/etc/host-keys/''${choice}_ssh_host_ed25519_key.pub" /mnt/etc/ssh/ssh_host_ed25519_key.pub
-        elif [[ -f "/root/host-keys/''${choice}_ssh_host_ed25519_key" ]]; then
-            echo "Found pre-seeded SSH host key for ''${choice}, installing to target..."
-            install -D -m 0600 "/root/host-keys/''${choice}_ssh_host_ed25519_key" /mnt/etc/ssh/ssh_host_ed25519_key
-            install -D -m 0644 "/root/host-keys/''${choice}_ssh_host_ed25519_key.pub" /mnt/etc/ssh/ssh_host_ed25519_key.pub
-        else
-            echo "WARNING: no SSH host key found for ''${choice} (checked /etc/host-keys and /root/host-keys)"
-            echo "sops-nix secrets (including the login password) will NOT decrypt on first boot."
-            echo "Run scripts/secrets/prepare-host-key.sh for host ''${choice} on your admin workstation first,"
-            echo "then either rebuild this image with NIXOS_HOST_KEYS_DIR set, or scp the result to"
-            echo "/root/host-keys/ on this machine."
-            read -rp "Continue without a pre-seeded key anyway? (y/N): " skip_key
-            if [[ ! "$skip_key" =~ ^[Yy]$ ]]; then
-                echo "Aborted."
-                exit 1
-            fi
-        fi
-
-        mkdir -p /mnt/install-tmp
-        export TMPDIR=/mnt/install-tmp
-
-        nixos-install \
-            --flake "''${FLAKE_BASE_URL}#''${choice}" \
-            "''${nix_extra_opts[@]}" \
-            --no-root-password
-
-
-            rm -rf /mnt/install-tmp
-            # Redundant copy of the host's private key — the real one is now at
-            # /etc/ssh/ssh_host_ed25519_key. Nothing NixOS-managed ever cleans this
-            # up on its own since it was written imperatively, not declaratively.
-            rm -rf /root/host-keys
-            sleep 10
-            reboot
-      '';
+    # Auto-install script, kept as a real, version-controlled shell file at
+    # scripts/installer/auto-install.sh rather than an inline Nix string.
+    # It sources scripts/env.sh itself (for LAN_DOMAIN, same as every other
+    # script in this repo) rather than relying on Nix-level templating, so
+    # it behaves identically whether it's run straight from a git checkout
+    # or from here -- baking scripts/env.sh in alongside it at a matching
+    # relative path (installer/auto-install.sh -> ../env.sh) is what makes
+    # that resolve correctly in both places.
+    etc = {
+      "nixos-installer/env.sh".source = ../../scripts/env.sh;
 
+      "nixos-installer/installer/auto-install.sh" = {
+        source = ../../scripts/installer/auto-install.sh;
         mode = "0755";
       };
     };
+  };
 
   programs.git.enable = true;
 
@@ -192,7 +73,7 @@
   # file-copying/chown.
   programs.bash.loginShellInit = ''
     if [ -n "$PS1" ] && [ ! -e "$HOME/.auto_install_ran" ]; then
-      sudo /etc/auto-install.sh
+      sudo /etc/nixos-installer/installer/auto-install.sh
       touch "$HOME/.auto_install_ran"
     fi
   '';

modules/networking/wifi.nix

@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+{ config, lib, vars, ... }:
+
+{
+  # Prestages a NetworkManager connection profile for vars.wifiSsid so the
+  # host associates on first boot with no manual nmtui/nmcli step. Guarded
+  # on a non-empty SSID so leaving the placeholder blank in variables.nix
+  # is a no-op rather than an empty, broken profile — fill it in once the
+  # network is known.
+  #
+  # The password itself lives in secrets/gui.yaml, not variables.nix --
+  # NetworkManager's ensureProfiles renders `psk = "$WIFI_PASSWORD"`
+  # literally into the store (see nixpkgs' own ensureProfiles example,
+  # which does the same for exactly this reason) and its systemd service
+  # envsubst-expands it from environmentFiles at activation time, so the
+  # real value only ever touches /run (root-only, UMask 0177), never the
+  # Nix store.
+  sops.secrets."wifi-password" = lib.mkIf (vars.wifiSsid != "") {
+    sopsFile = ../../secrets/gui.yaml;
+  };
+
+  sops.templates."wifi-password.env" = lib.mkIf (vars.wifiSsid != "") {
+    content = "WIFI_PASSWORD=${config.sops.placeholder."wifi-password"}";
+  };
+
+  networking.networkmanager.ensureProfiles = lib.mkIf (vars.wifiSsid != "") {
+    environmentFiles = [ config.sops.templates."wifi-password.env".path ];
+
+    profiles.${vars.wifiSsid} = {
+      connection = {
+        id = vars.wifiSsid;
+        type = "wifi";
+      };
+      wifi = {
+        mode = "infrastructure";
+        ssid = vars.wifiSsid;
+      };
+      wifi-security = {
+        key-mgmt = "wpa-psk";
+        psk = "$WIFI_PASSWORD";
+      };
+    };
+  };
+}

modules/platforms/baremetal.nix

@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+{ ... }:
+
+{
+  imports = [
+    ../hardware-configuration/baremetal.nix
+    ../boot/efi.nix
+    ../disko/baremetal.nix
+    ../services/zfs/enable-service.nix
+  ];
+
+  # Needed for real wifi/bluetooth/GPU firmware blobs and CPU microcode
+  # updates (hardware-configuration/baremetal.nix's amd.updateMicrocode
+  # keys off this) -- irrelevant on the linode/proxmox/lxc platforms,
+  # which are all VMs with no real hardware to load firmware for.
+  hardware.enableRedistributableFirmware = true;
+
+  # AMD GPU: the amdgpu kernel driver autoloads from the PCI ID with no
+  # extra boot.kernelModules entry needed; this is the userspace half --
+  # the dedicated Xorg driver (not just the generic modesetting fallback)
+  # plus Mesa OpenGL/Vulkan (amdgpu/RADV), same firmware blobs as above.
+  # 32-bit support is for compatibility with 32-bit apps/games.
+  services.xserver.videoDrivers = [ "amdgpu" ];
+
+  hardware.graphics = {
+    enable = true;
+    enable32Bit = true;
+  };
+
+  # The systemd-based initrd (default here since this host has a ZFS root --
+  # see modules/disko/baremetal.nix) locks the root account by default, so
+  # sulogin refuses to hand over a shell if something in the initrd (e.g.
+  # the ZFS pool import) fails and it drops to emergency mode -- confirmed
+  # live: it just loops re-entering the target instead of prompting. This
+  # only affects the pre-switch-root initrd shell, not the installed
+  # system's own login, and is worth the tradeoff on a box already reachable
+  # at the physical console.
+  boot.initrd.systemd.emergencyAccess = true;
+}

modules/pxe-boot/stage-installer-artifacts.nix

@@ -1,23 +1,32 @@
-{ netbootSystem, ... }:
+{ netbootSystem, netbootMinimalSystem, ... }:
 
 let
   # config.system.build.kernel and .netbootRamdisk are directories, not the
   # files themselves — nixpkgs' own system.build.kexecTree does the same
   # ${...}/<file> dereference for the same reason.
-  inherit (netbootSystem.config.system.boot.loader) kernelFile;
+  mkStageRules = { dirName, system }:
+    let
+      inherit (system.config.system.boot.loader) kernelFile;
+      dir = "/srv/pxe/http/${dirName}";
     in
-{
-  # Builds this flake's own installer netboot image (the same one
-  # `nix build .#pxe` produces) and stages it where menu.ipxe's :nixos
-  # entry expects it, so the pxe-boot host is self-contained — no manual
-  # operator step to populate /srv/pxe/http/nixos after deploy.
-  systemd.tmpfiles.rules = [
+    [
       # Declared here too (not just in build-types/pxe-boot.nix) so this
       # module's C+ rules don't depend on cross-module list-merge ordering —
       # tmpfiles' C type needs the target directory to already exist.
-    "d /srv/pxe/http/nixos 0755 root root -"
-    "C+ /srv/pxe/http/nixos/${kernelFile} 0644 root root - ${netbootSystem.config.system.build.kernel}/${kernelFile}"
-    "C+ /srv/pxe/http/nixos/initrd 0644 root root - ${netbootSystem.config.system.build.netbootRamdisk}/initrd"
-    "C+ /srv/pxe/http/nixos/netboot.ipxe 0644 root root - ${netbootSystem.config.system.build.netbootIpxeScript}/netboot.ipxe"
+      "d ${dir} 0755 root root -"
+      "C+ ${dir}/${kernelFile} 0644 root root - ${system.config.system.build.kernel}/${kernelFile}"
+      "C+ ${dir}/initrd 0644 root root - ${system.config.system.build.netbootRamdisk}/initrd"
+      "C+ ${dir}/netboot.ipxe 0644 root root - ${system.config.system.build.netbootIpxeScript}/netboot.ipxe"
     ];
+in
+{
+  # Builds this flake's own installer netboot image (the same one
+  # `nix build .#pxe` produces) plus the vanilla NixOS minimal netboot image
+  # (`nix build .#pxe-minimal`), and stages both where menu.ipxe's
+  # :auto-installer / :nixos-minimal entries expect them, so the pxe-boot
+  # host is self-contained — no manual operator step to populate
+  # /srv/pxe/http after deploy.
+  systemd.tmpfiles.rules =
+    mkStageRules { dirName = "auto-installer"; system = netbootSystem; }
+    ++ mkStageRules { dirName = "nixos-minimal"; system = netbootMinimalSystem; };
 }

scripts/codex-maintenance.sh

@@ -16,6 +16,14 @@
 #
 # --dry-run: adds `nix build --dry-run --no-link` for whatever scope is
 # active (changed-files scope by default, full scope under --full-check).
+#
+# Per-host/per-package eval and dry-run build calls run concurrently (see
+# scripts/lib/nix-parallel.sh) since they're independent of each other.
+# Concurrency defaults to core count capped by available memory (~1GB/job)
+# rather than plain core count, since each concurrent `nix eval` evaluates a
+# whole NixOS system closure and can OOM a small/memory-constrained CI
+# runner otherwise; override via NIX_PARALLEL_JOBS if a runner has more (or
+# less) room than that estimate assumes.
 set -euo pipefail
 
 script_dir="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
@@ -23,6 +31,8 @@ script_dir="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
 source "${script_dir}/lib/nix-bootstrap.sh"
 # shellcheck source=lib/nix-eval.sh
 source "${script_dir}/lib/nix-eval.sh"
+# shellcheck source=lib/nix-parallel.sh
+source "${script_dir}/lib/nix-parallel.sh"
 
 repo_root="$(cd "${script_dir}/.." && pwd)"
 cd "$repo_root"
@@ -246,66 +256,64 @@ echo
 if [[ ${#hosts[@]} -eq 0 ]]; then
   echo "No hosts affected by changed files; skipping host eval."
 else
-  echo "Evaluating host toplevel derivations (${scope_desc})..."
-  for host in "${hosts[@]}"; do
-    echo "==> $host"
-    nix eval --raw "${NIX_EVAL_FLAGS[@]}" ".#nixosConfigurations.${host}.config.system.build.toplevel.drvPath"
-
+  echo "Evaluating host toplevel derivations (${scope_desc}, up to ${NIX_PARALLEL_JOBS} at a time)..."
   # lxc-* hosts deploy via a directly pct-restore-able tarball instead of
   # nixos-install (see docs/auto-installer.md); proxmox-* hosts can
   # alternatively be built as a standalone disk image (see
   # docs/proxmox-images.md). Both are otherwise-unvalidated buildable
   # surface, easy to silently break without this.
+  declare -a host_eval_jobs=()
+  for host in "${hosts[@]}"; do
+    host_eval_jobs+=("${host}${NIX_PARALLEL_SEP}.#nixosConfigurations.${host}.config.system.build.toplevel.drvPath")
     case "$host" in
       lxc-*)
-        echo "==> $host (tarball)"
-        nix eval --raw "${NIX_EVAL_FLAGS[@]}" ".#nixosConfigurations.${host}.config.system.build.tarball.drvPath"
+        host_eval_jobs+=("${host} (tarball)${NIX_PARALLEL_SEP}.#nixosConfigurations.${host}.config.system.build.tarball.drvPath")
         ;;
       proxmox-*)
-        echo "==> $host (diskoImagesScript)"
-        nix eval --raw "${NIX_EVAL_FLAGS[@]}" ".#nixosConfigurations.${host}.config.system.build.diskoImagesScript.drvPath"
+        host_eval_jobs+=("${host} (diskoImagesScript)${NIX_PARALLEL_SEP}.#nixosConfigurations.${host}.config.system.build.diskoImagesScript.drvPath")
         ;;
     esac
   done
+  run_nix_parallel host_eval_jobs eval --raw "${NIX_EVAL_FLAGS[@]}"
 fi
 
 echo
 if ! $eval_packages; then
   echo "No packages affected by changed files; skipping package eval."
 else
-  echo "Evaluating buildable packages..."
+  echo "Evaluating buildable packages (up to ${NIX_PARALLEL_JOBS} at a time)..."
+  declare -a package_eval_jobs=()
   for pkg in "${all_packages[@]}"; do
-    echo "==> packages.x86_64-linux.${pkg}"
-    nix eval --raw "${NIX_EVAL_FLAGS[@]}" ".#packages.x86_64-linux.${pkg}"
+    package_eval_jobs+=("packages.x86_64-linux.${pkg}${NIX_PARALLEL_SEP}.#packages.x86_64-linux.${pkg}")
   done
+  run_nix_parallel package_eval_jobs eval --raw "${NIX_EVAL_FLAGS[@]}"
 fi
 
 if $dry_run; then
   echo
-  echo "Running dry-run builds for the active scope. This will not create result symlinks."
+  echo "Running dry-run builds for the active scope (up to ${NIX_PARALLEL_JOBS} at a time). This will not create result symlinks."
+  declare -a host_build_jobs=()
   for host in "${hosts[@]:-}"; do
-    echo "==> Dry-run build: $host"
-    nix build --dry-run --no-link "${NIX_EVAL_FLAGS[@]}" ".#nixosConfigurations.${host}.config.system.build.toplevel"
-
+    host_build_jobs+=("Dry-run build: ${host}${NIX_PARALLEL_SEP}.#nixosConfigurations.${host}.config.system.build.toplevel")
     case "$host" in
       lxc-*)
-        echo "==> Dry-run build: $host (tarball)"
-        nix build --dry-run --no-link "${NIX_EVAL_FLAGS[@]}" ".#nixosConfigurations.${host}.config.system.build.tarball"
+        host_build_jobs+=("Dry-run build: ${host} (tarball)${NIX_PARALLEL_SEP}.#nixosConfigurations.${host}.config.system.build.tarball")
         ;;
       proxmox-*)
-        echo "==> Dry-run build: $host (diskoImagesScript)"
-        nix build --dry-run --no-link "${NIX_EVAL_FLAGS[@]}" ".#nixosConfigurations.${host}.config.system.build.diskoImagesScript"
+        host_build_jobs+=("Dry-run build: ${host} (diskoImagesScript)${NIX_PARALLEL_SEP}.#nixosConfigurations.${host}.config.system.build.diskoImagesScript")
         ;;
     esac
   done
+  run_nix_parallel host_build_jobs build --dry-run --no-link "${NIX_EVAL_FLAGS[@]}"
 
   if $eval_packages; then
     echo
     echo "Running dry-run builds for packages."
+    declare -a package_build_jobs=()
     for pkg in "${all_packages[@]}"; do
-      echo "==> Dry-run build: packages.x86_64-linux.${pkg}"
-      nix build --dry-run --no-link "${NIX_EVAL_FLAGS[@]}" ".#packages.x86_64-linux.${pkg}"
+      package_build_jobs+=("Dry-run build: packages.x86_64-linux.${pkg}${NIX_PARALLEL_SEP}.#packages.x86_64-linux.${pkg}")
     done
+    run_nix_parallel package_build_jobs build --dry-run --no-link "${NIX_EVAL_FLAGS[@]}"
   fi
 fi
 

scripts/codex-setup.sh

@@ -68,6 +68,7 @@ cat > "$HOME/.config/nix/nix.conf" <<'EOF'
 experimental-features = nix-command flakes
 accept-flake-config = false
 warn-dirty = false
+build-users-group =
 EOF
 
 echo "Nix version:"

scripts/env.sh

@@ -6,13 +6,23 @@
 # environment (e.g. PROXMOX_STORAGE=tank-nvme ./scripts/proxmox/create-proxmox-resource.sh ...)
 # since each one only sets a default if unset.
 
-# SSH-reachable Proxmox node that scripts/proxmox/create-proxmox-resource.sh runs
-# pct/qm on. Matches the Proxmox web UI hostname already used in
-# hosts/nixos/home.nix's desktop shortcuts (pve.<homeDomain> from
-# variables.nix) -- change this if that's not actually reachable over SSH,
-# or if you're targeting a different node in a multi-node cluster.
-: "${PROXMOX_HOST:=pve.sweet.home}"
-: "${PROXMOX_SSH_USER:=root}"
+# Two SSH-reachable Proxmox nodes exist on the LAN:
+#   - pve1.sweet.home      -- production. Real, live VMs/containers.
+#   - pve-test.sweet.home  -- sandbox/test node, for scratch VMs/containers
+#     that don't belong on production.
+#
+# PROXMOX_HOST is what scripts/proxmox/create-proxmox-resource.sh actually
+# targets by default -- overridable per-invocation with --node <hostname>,
+# or per-variable as usual (e.g. PROXMOX_HOST=$PVE_TEST_HOST). It defaults
+# to production, matching this repo's behavior before pve-test existed --
+# see CLAUDE.md's "Two Proxmox nodes" section for the policy on which
+# situations should target which node (in particular: Claude defaults to
+# pve-test, not this variable's own default, unless explicitly told
+# otherwise).
+: "${PVE1_HOST:=pve1.sweet.home}"
+: "${PVE_TEST_HOST:=pve-test.sweet.home}"
+: "${PROXMOX_HOST:=$PVE1_HOST}"
+: "${PROXMOX_SSH_USER:=wayne}"
 
 # Where this flake repo lives on the Proxmox node itself.
 # scripts/proxmox/create-proxmox-resource.sh builds images directly on the node
@@ -20,12 +30,12 @@
 # (from this checkout's own `origin` remote) the first time it doesn't
 # find it, installing build tooling via scripts/codex-setup.sh, then
 # `git pull`s it before every subsequent build.
-: "${PROXMOX_REMOTE_REPO_DIR:=/root/nixos}"
+: "${PROXMOX_REMOTE_REPO_DIR:=/home/${PROXMOX_SSH_USER}/nixos}"
 
 # Storage pool names -- Proxmox's own stock-install defaults, but this
 # varies a lot by setup (ZFS pool name, custom LVM-thin volume, etc.).
 # Verify with `pvesm status` on the node and correct these if wrong.
-: "${PROXMOX_STORAGE:=local-lvm}"     # VM disks / CT rootfs
+: "${PROXMOX_STORAGE:=local-zfs}"     # VM disks / CT rootfs
 : "${PROXMOX_ISO_STORAGE:=local}"     # uploaded images/ISOs/CT templates
 
 : "${PROXMOX_BRIDGE:=vmbr0}"
@@ -63,15 +73,21 @@
 # nothing here forces a mount to happen.
 : "${PROXMOX_DEFAULT_LXC_FEATURES:=nesting=1,keyctl=1,mount=nfs;nfs4}"
 
-export PROXMOX_HOST PROXMOX_SSH_USER PROXMOX_STORAGE PROXMOX_ISO_STORAGE \
-  PROXMOX_BRIDGE PROXMOX_DEFAULT_CORES PROXMOX_DEFAULT_MEMORY_MB \
-  PROXMOX_DEFAULT_LXC_DISK_GB PROXMOX_DEFAULT_LXC_FEATURES \
-  PROXMOX_REMOTE_REPO_DIR
+export PVE1_HOST PVE_TEST_HOST PROXMOX_HOST PROXMOX_SSH_USER PROXMOX_STORAGE \
+  PROXMOX_ISO_STORAGE PROXMOX_BRIDGE PROXMOX_DEFAULT_CORES \
+  PROXMOX_DEFAULT_MEMORY_MB PROXMOX_DEFAULT_LXC_DISK_GB \
+  PROXMOX_DEFAULT_LXC_FEATURES PROXMOX_REMOTE_REPO_DIR
 
 # Matches variables.nix's nixCacheHost -- update both if it ever changes.
 : "${NIX_CACHE_HOST:=nix-cache}"
 export NIX_CACHE_HOST
 
+# Matches variables.nix's lanDomain (the Gitea host this flake's own repo
+# is served from -- see scripts/installer/auto-install.sh's FLAKE_BASE_URL)
+# -- update both if it ever changes.
+: "${LAN_DOMAIN:=gitea.lan.ddnsgeek.com}"
+export LAN_DOMAIN
+
 # nix_extra_opts: call as a plain statement (NOT inside $(...)/<(...) --
 # that forks a subshell, and the whole point is exporting a decision back
 # into *this* shell) to populate the global NIX_OPTS array with whatever

scripts/installer/auto-install.sh

@@ -0,0 +1,206 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env nix-shell
+#!nix-shell -i bash -p jq disko nixos-install-tools zfs
+# shellcheck shell=bash
+# The only genuinely external tools this script calls directly: `jq`
+# (parsing the `nix eval` host list), `disko`/`nixos-install` (the
+# install itself), and `zpool` (exporting a ZFS root pool before reboot,
+# see the comment above that call below). Everything disko shells out to
+# internally (parted/sgdisk/mkfs.*/zfs/...) is self-contained -- disko's
+# own generated scripts hardcode absolute Nix store paths for those, they
+# don't rely on this script's PATH at all (confirmed by inspecting a
+# generated system.build.formatScript). The built installer image
+# (modules/installer/common.nix, plus the upstream
+# installation-cd-minimal.nix it imports via iso.nix) already has all
+# four in environment.systemPackages, so this nix-shell wrapper is a
+# fast no-op there; it's what makes the script also work standalone
+# (e.g. run directly from a checkout on a stock ISO), where they aren't
+# guaranteed.
+set -eux
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+# shellcheck source=../env.sh
+source "$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/.." && pwd)/env.sh"
+
+export FLAKE_BASE_URL="git+https://${LAN_DOMAIN}/beatzaplenty/nixos.git"
+
+echo "Fetching available NixOS hosts from flake..."
+# Two categories deliberately excluded from the menu:
+#   lxc-*     — these build a config.system.build.tarball meant for
+#               `pct restore` on Proxmox directly, not an install.
+#               Running nixos-install against one here would
+#               bind-mount / onto /mnt and then refuse to touch the
+#               filesystem it's currently running on — see
+#               docs/auto-installer.md.
+#   installer — this *is* the installer image's own flake target,
+#               not a deployable host; "installing" it means
+#               nixos-install-ing a copy of the installer into
+#               itself.
+mapfile -t options < <(
+  nix eval --json --no-use-registries --no-accept-flake-config --extra-experimental-features "flakes nix-command" \
+    "${FLAKE_BASE_URL}#nixosConfigurations" \
+    --apply builtins.attrNames \
+  | jq -r '.[]
+      | select(startswith("lxc-") | not)
+      | select(. != "installer")'
+)
+
+if [[ ${#options[@]} -eq 0 ]]; then
+  echo "ERROR: No NixOS hosts found in ${FLAKE_BASE_URL}#nixosConfigurations" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+echo "Note: lxc-* targets aren't installed this way — build them with"
+echo "  nix build .#nixosConfigurations.<name>.config.system.build.tarball"
+echo "and 'pct restore' the result on Proxmox directly. See docs/auto-installer.md."
+
+echo "Choose the flake profile to install:"
+select choice in "${options[@]}"; do
+  if [[ -n "$choice" ]]; then
+    echo "You selected: $choice"
+    break
+  else
+    echo "Invalid selection. Try again."
+  fi
+done
+
+echo "Starting install with flake: ${FLAKE_BASE_URL}#${choice}"
+
+# Optional: confirm before proceeding
+read -rp "Proceed with installation? (y/N): " confirm
+if [[ ! "$confirm" =~ ^[Yy]$ ]]; then
+  echo "Aborted."
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+# A nix-cache host is *the* substituter/remote-builder for every other
+# host once installed (its own config explicitly excludes itself from
+# using either — see buildType != "nix-cache" in the nixos flake.nix).
+# Installing one shouldn't depend on a nix-cache substituter either,
+# for the same reason — plus in practice "nix-cache" only resolves over
+# Tailscale, which a fresh installer environment was never connected to
+# anyway, so it's dead weight even for non-nix-cache installs until
+# that's sorted out. Override it away here specifically for nix-cache
+# targets to keep install-time behaviour consistent with run-time.
+nix_extra_opts=()
+if [[ "${choice}" == *-nix-cache ]]; then
+    echo "Installing a nix-cache host — skipping the nix-cache substituter."
+    nix_extra_opts+=(--option substituters "https://cache.nixos.org/")
+fi
+
+# Every host reachable through this menu has a Disko config (lxc-*
+# is filtered out above, and is the only category that doesn't —
+# see docs/auto-installer.md), so this can run unconditionally: no
+# need to probe the flake first and branch on whether Disko applies.
+disko --mode destroy,format,mount \
+    --flake "${FLAKE_BASE_URL}#${choice}" "${nix_extra_opts[@]}" --yes-wipe-all-disks
+
+# sops-nix derives this host's decryption key from its own SSH host key
+# at *activation* time, which runs before systemd would otherwise
+# generate one on first boot. Without pre-seeding it here, secrets
+# (including the login password) fail to decrypt on first boot.
+# Generate the key with scripts/secrets/prepare-host-key.sh first.
+#
+# Two places a key can come from, checked in order:
+#   /etc/host-keys  — baked into this image at build time (see
+#                      modules/installer/host-keys.nix; only present
+#                      if built with NIXOS_HOST_KEYS_DIR set)
+#   /root/host-keys — scp'd in manually after boot (older fallback,
+#                      still supported for images built without keys)
+mkdir -p /root/host-keys
+if [[ -f "/etc/host-keys/${choice}_ssh_host_ed25519_key" ]]; then
+    echo "Found baked-in SSH host key for ${choice}, installing to target..."
+    install -D -m 0600 "/etc/host-keys/${choice}_ssh_host_ed25519_key" /mnt/etc/ssh/ssh_host_ed25519_key
+    install -D -m 0644 "/etc/host-keys/${choice}_ssh_host_ed25519_key.pub" /mnt/etc/ssh/ssh_host_ed25519_key.pub
+elif [[ -f "/root/host-keys/${choice}_ssh_host_ed25519_key" ]]; then
+    echo "Found pre-seeded SSH host key for ${choice}, installing to target..."
+    install -D -m 0600 "/root/host-keys/${choice}_ssh_host_ed25519_key" /mnt/etc/ssh/ssh_host_ed25519_key
+    install -D -m 0644 "/root/host-keys/${choice}_ssh_host_ed25519_key.pub" /mnt/etc/ssh/ssh_host_ed25519_key.pub
+else
+    # Third place a key can come from: an arbitrary path the operator
+    # points at interactively (e.g. a USB stick, a mount from another
+    # machine) -- only offered when there's an actual human at the other
+    # end of stdin to ask, never in a non-interactive run.
+    key_copied=0
+    if [[ -t 0 ]]; then
+        echo "No SSH host key found for ${choice} (checked /etc/host-keys and /root/host-keys)."
+        read -rp "Path to a directory containing ${choice}_ssh_host_ed25519_key(.pub) (blank to skip): " key_src_dir
+        if [[ -n "$key_src_dir" && -f "${key_src_dir}/${choice}_ssh_host_ed25519_key" && -f "${key_src_dir}/${choice}_ssh_host_ed25519_key.pub" ]]; then
+            cp "${key_src_dir}/${choice}_ssh_host_ed25519_key" "${key_src_dir}/${choice}_ssh_host_ed25519_key.pub" /root/host-keys/
+            key_copied=1
+        elif [[ -n "$key_src_dir" ]]; then
+            echo "WARNING: ${choice}_ssh_host_ed25519_key(.pub) not found in ${key_src_dir}."
+        fi
+    fi
+
+    if [[ "$key_copied" -eq 1 ]]; then
+        echo "Copied SSH host key for ${choice} from ${key_src_dir}, installing to target..."
+        install -D -m 0600 "/root/host-keys/${choice}_ssh_host_ed25519_key" /mnt/etc/ssh/ssh_host_ed25519_key
+        install -D -m 0644 "/root/host-keys/${choice}_ssh_host_ed25519_key.pub" /mnt/etc/ssh/ssh_host_ed25519_key.pub
+    else
+        echo "WARNING: no SSH host key found for ${choice} (checked /etc/host-keys and /root/host-keys)"
+        echo "sops-nix secrets (including the login password) will NOT decrypt on first boot."
+        echo "Run scripts/secrets/prepare-host-key.sh for host ${choice} on your admin workstation first,"
+        echo "then either rebuild this image with NIXOS_HOST_KEYS_DIR set, scp the result to"
+        echo "/root/host-keys/ on this machine, or point at it when prompted above."
+        read -rp "Continue without a pre-seeded key anyway? (y/N): " skip_key
+        if [[ ! "$skip_key" =~ ^[Yy]$ ]]; then
+            echo "Aborted."
+            exit 1
+        fi
+    fi
+fi
+
+mkdir -p /mnt/install-tmp
+export TMPDIR=/mnt/install-tmp
+
+nixos-install \
+    --flake "${FLAKE_BASE_URL}#${choice}" \
+    "${nix_extra_opts[@]}" \
+    --no-root-password
+
+
+    rm -rf /mnt/install-tmp
+    # Redundant copy of the host's private key — the real one is now at
+    # /etc/ssh/ssh_host_ed25519_key. Nothing NixOS-managed ever cleans this
+    # up on its own since it was written imperatively, not declaratively.
+    rm -rf /root/host-keys
+
+    # disko's --mode ...,mount left any ZFS root pool imported (that's what
+    # let nixos-install write into /mnt). If we reboot with it still
+    # imported, it isn't just "not exported" -- it's stamped with *this*
+    # live installer environment's hostid, which almost never matches the
+    # target's own networking.hostId (see hosts/*/host.nix; the installer
+    # itself sets none). modules/services/zfs/enable-service.nix and
+    # modules/common/configuration.nix both set boot.zfs.forceImportRoot =
+    # false deliberately (the safe option per that setting's own docs), so
+    # the freshly-installed system's first real boot sees a pool "in use by
+    # another system" and refuses to import it without -f -- which is what
+    # makes boot stall waiting on the ZFS import. Exporting here (a no-op
+    # if the chosen host has no ZFS root, e.g. proxmox-*/linode-*) clears
+    # that in-use state so the next import, from any hostid, succeeds.
+    #
+    # Anything still mounted under /mnt -- nixos-install's own leftover
+    # chroot bind mounts for running the target's activation script
+    # (/mnt/dev, /mnt/proc, /mnt/sys, /mnt/run), and disko's own /mnt/boot
+    # ESP mount (modules/disko/baremetal.nix) -- blocks ZFS from unmounting
+    # its root dataset at /mnt, the same way any nested mount blocks
+    # unmounting its parent. Confirmed live: zpool export failed with
+    # "cannot unmount '/mnt': pool or dataset busy" even after handling the
+    # chroot mounts alone, because /mnt/boot was still mounted too. Because
+    # of this script's `set -e`, that killed the script before it ever
+    # reached reboot, silently defeating the whole point of exporting first.
+    # Unmounting everything under /mnt up front (recursively, so nested
+    # mounts like /mnt/dev/pts come along for free) sidesteps needing to
+    # enumerate every mount disko/nixos-install might leave behind.
+    if mountpoint -q /mnt; then
+        umount -R /mnt
+    fi
+
+    if [[ -n "$(zpool list -H -o name 2>/dev/null)" ]]; then
+        echo "Exporting ZFS pool(s) before reboot..."
+        zpool export -a
+    fi
+
+    sleep 10
+    reboot

scripts/lib/nix-parallel.sh

@@ -0,0 +1,95 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Shared parallel-nix-invocation helper for scripts/codex-maintenance.sh.
+# Source alongside nix-eval.sh:
+#   source "$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)/lib/nix-parallel.sh"
+#
+# The per-host/per-package `nix eval`/`nix build --dry-run` calls in
+# codex-maintenance.sh are independent of each other, so running them one at
+# a time leaves most cores idle for most of the sweep -- run_nix_parallel
+# fans a batch of them out across up to NIX_PARALLEL_JOBS processes instead.
+
+# NIX_PARALLEL_JOBS: how many `nix` invocations run_nix_parallel runs at
+# once. Defaults to core count capped by available memory (~1GB/job,
+# floor 1) rather than plain `nproc` -- each concurrent `nix eval` here
+# evaluates a whole NixOS system closure from scratch, and on a small/
+# memory-constrained CI runner, `nproc` concurrent evals can OOM-kill each
+# other (confirmed empirically: on a 4GB/6-core box, 5-6 concurrent evals
+# started getting killed while 3-4 ran clean and were still ~2x faster than
+# serial). Override via env if a given machine/CI runner has room to spare
+# or needs a tighter cap.
+default_nix_parallel_jobs() {
+  local cores mem_avail_kb mem_cap
+  cores="$(nproc 2>/dev/null || echo 4)"
+  mem_avail_kb="$(awk '/^MemAvailable:/ {print $2}' /proc/meminfo 2>/dev/null)"
+  if [[ -z "$mem_avail_kb" ]]; then
+    echo "$cores"
+    return
+  fi
+  mem_cap=$((mem_avail_kb / 1024 / 1024))
+  ((mem_cap < 1)) && mem_cap=1
+  ((mem_cap < cores)) && echo "$mem_cap" || echo "$cores"
+}
+NIX_PARALLEL_JOBS="${NIX_PARALLEL_JOBS:-$(default_nix_parallel_jobs)}"
+
+# Separator between a job's label and its flake attr in the arrays
+# run_nix_parallel takes -- a control character so it can't collide with
+# anything a label or attr path would plausibly contain.
+NIX_PARALLEL_SEP=$'\x1f'
+
+# run_nix_parallel <jobs_array_name> <nix subcommand + flags...>
+#
+# jobs_array_name: name of an already-populated bash array whose entries are
+# "<label>${NIX_PARALLEL_SEP}<attr>" pairs, e.g.
+#   jobs=("proxmox-docker${NIX_PARALLEL_SEP}.#nixosConfigurations.proxmox-docker...drvPath")
+# Remaining args are passed to `nix` before the attr, e.g.:
+#   run_nix_parallel jobs eval --raw "${NIX_EVAL_FLAGS[@]}"
+#   run_nix_parallel jobs build --dry-run --no-link "${NIX_EVAL_FLAGS[@]}"
+#
+# Prints "==> <label>" followed by that job's stdout+stderr for every job,
+# in submission order (not completion order) so a run stays readable and
+# diffable across invocations even though the work itself doesn't finish in
+# that order. Returns non-zero if any job failed, only after every job has
+# finished and been printed -- same "surface everything, then fail" contract
+# a `set -e` caller gets, just parallelized instead of stopping at the first
+# failure.
+run_nix_parallel() {
+  local -n jobs_ref="$1"
+  shift
+  local -a nix_args=("$@")
+
+  local n=${#jobs_ref[@]}
+  [[ $n -eq 0 ]] && return 0
+
+  local tmp_dir
+  tmp_dir="$(mktemp -d)"
+
+  local i=0 running=0
+  for job in "${jobs_ref[@]}"; do
+    local attr="${job#*"${NIX_PARALLEL_SEP}"}"
+    printf '%s\n' "${job%%"${NIX_PARALLEL_SEP}"*}" >"${tmp_dir}/${i}.label"
+    (
+      if nix "${nix_args[@]}" "$attr" >"${tmp_dir}/${i}.out" 2>&1; then
+        echo 0 >"${tmp_dir}/${i}.status"
+      else
+        echo 1 >"${tmp_dir}/${i}.status"
+      fi
+    ) &
+    i=$((i + 1))
+    running=$((running + 1))
+    if ((running >= NIX_PARALLEL_JOBS)); then
+      wait -n
+      running=$((running - 1))
+    fi
+  done
+  wait
+
+  local failed=0 j
+  for ((j = 0; j < n; j++)); do
+    echo "==> $(cat "${tmp_dir}/${j}.label")"
+    cat "${tmp_dir}/${j}.out"
+    [[ "$(cat "${tmp_dir}/${j}.status")" -ne 0 ]] && failed=1
+  done
+
+  rm -rf "$tmp_dir"
+  return $failed
+}

scripts/proxmox/clone-pve1-to-pve-test.sh

@@ -0,0 +1,221 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Ad hoc clone of a single VM/CT from pve1 (production) to pve-test
+# (sandbox), via vzdump + qmrestore/pct restore -- not a general-purpose
+# backup tool, just a quick "give me a disposable copy of this thing on
+# pve-test" for testing against real-ish data without touching prod.
+#
+# Flow:
+#   1. vzdump the resource on pve1 into its "local" storage (--mode
+#      snapshot by default, so the source keeps running throughout --
+#      see --mode below for when that's not possible).
+#   2. Stream the resulting archive straight from pve1 to pve-test
+#      (ssh pve1 cat ... | ssh pve-test cat > ...) -- this machine is
+#      just the relay, no separate on-disk staging copy here.
+#   3. qmrestore / pct restore it on pve-test under --new-vmid (default:
+#      same VMID as the source -- pve-test is a separate node/cluster, so
+#      no collision unless that VMID is already in use there too).
+#      Always restored with --unique 1 (fresh MAC addresses) since the
+#      source is typically still running on the same LAN -- restoring
+#      with the *same* MAC would put two live guests on the wire with
+#      identical hardware addresses.
+#   4. Delete the vzdump archive from pve1's local storage and the
+#      relayed copy on pve-test, so neither node accumulates ad hoc
+#      backup files from this script. Only the pve1 original is
+#      preserved on any failure after step 1, so a failed
+#      transfer/restore can be retried without re-running the backup.
+#
+# This script's own defaults are pve1 -> pve-test, unlike
+# create-proxmox-resource.sh's --node (which defaults to production) --
+# see CLAUDE.md's "Two Proxmox nodes" section. pve1 is only ever touched
+# here after typing the source VMID back to confirm; pve-test is treated
+# as disposable, matching this repo's usual policy for that node.
+#
+# See --help for the full option list.
+set -euo pipefail
+
+repo_root="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")/../.." && pwd)"
+# shellcheck source=../env.sh
+source "${repo_root}/scripts/env.sh"
+# shellcheck source=../lib/confirm.sh
+source "${repo_root}/scripts/lib/confirm.sh"
+
+usage() {
+  cat <<EOF
+Usage: $0 --vmid <n> [options]
+
+  --vmid <n>              Required: VMID on the source node to clone.
+                           Kind (qemu VM vs LXC CT) is auto-detected.
+  --new-vmid <n>           VMID to restore as on the target node
+                           (default: same as --vmid).
+  --mode snapshot|suspend|stop
+                           vzdump backup mode (default: snapshot -- the
+                           source resource keeps running throughout;
+                           requires snapshot-capable storage, e.g.
+                           ZFS/LVM-thin/Ceph/qcow2). Fall back to
+                           "suspend" (brief pause) or "stop" (source
+                           goes down for the duration) if the source's
+                           storage doesn't support live snapshots --
+                           vzdump's own error will say so.
+  --source-node <host>      (default: \$PVE1_HOST, ${PVE1_HOST})
+  --target-node <host>       (default: \$PVE_TEST_HOST, ${PVE_TEST_HOST})
+  --source-storage <pool>      Where vzdump writes the backup on the
+                               source node (default: local).
+  --target-storage <pool>       Where the restored disk/rootfs lands on
+                               the target node (default: \$PROXMOX_STORAGE, ${PROXMOX_STORAGE}).
+  --keep-backup                  Don't delete the vzdump archive from
+                                 either node afterward (debugging aid).
+  --yes                            Skip the typed VMID confirmation
+                                   before touching the source node.
+  --dry-run                          Print the full plan and skip every
+                                     mutating step (vzdump, transfer,
+                                     restore, delete) and the confirm
+                                     prompt. Still makes read-only SSH
+                                     calls to look up the source kind
+                                     and check the target VMID is free
+                                     -- harmless on either node.
+  -h, --help
+EOF
+}
+
+vmid=""
+new_vmid=""
+mode="snapshot"
+source_node="$PVE1_HOST"
+target_node="$PVE_TEST_HOST"
+source_storage="local"
+target_storage="$PROXMOX_STORAGE"
+keep_backup=0
+skip_confirm=0
+dry_run=0
+
+while [[ $# -gt 0 ]]; do
+  case "$1" in
+  --vmid) vmid="$2"; shift 2 ;;
+  --new-vmid) new_vmid="$2"; shift 2 ;;
+  --mode) mode="$2"; shift 2 ;;
+  --source-node) source_node="$2"; shift 2 ;;
+  --target-node) target_node="$2"; shift 2 ;;
+  --source-storage) source_storage="$2"; shift 2 ;;
+  --target-storage) target_storage="$2"; shift 2 ;;
+  --keep-backup) keep_backup=1; shift ;;
+  --yes) skip_confirm=1; shift ;;
+  --dry-run) dry_run=1; shift ;;
+  -h | --help) usage; exit 0 ;;
+  *) echo "Unknown option: $1" >&2; usage >&2; exit 1 ;;
+  esac
+done
+
+if [[ -z "$vmid" ]]; then
+  echo "ERROR: --vmid is required." >&2
+  usage >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+if [[ "$mode" != "snapshot" && "$mode" != "suspend" && "$mode" != "stop" ]]; then
+  echo "ERROR: --mode must be snapshot, suspend, or stop." >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+[[ -z "$new_vmid" ]] && new_vmid="$vmid"
+
+source_target="${PROXMOX_SSH_USER}@${source_node}"
+target_target="${PROXMOX_SSH_USER}@${target_node}"
+
+# No dry-run wrapper needed for the calls below: every mutating step
+# (vzdump, transfer, restore, delete) is reached only after the --dry-run
+# early-exit further down, so a plain `ssh` call is never in the dry-run
+# path.
+
+# --- identify the resource kind on the source node -----------------------
+echo "==> Looking up VMID ${vmid} on ${source_node}..."
+kind=""
+if ssh "$source_target" "qm status ${vmid}" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+  kind="vm"
+elif ssh "$source_target" "pct status ${vmid}" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+  kind="lxc"
+else
+  echo "ERROR: VMID ${vmid} doesn't exist on ${source_node} as either a VM or CT." >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+echo "VMID ${vmid} on ${source_node} is a ${kind}."
+
+# --- refuse to clobber an existing resource on the target node -----------
+if ssh "$target_target" "qm status ${new_vmid}" >/dev/null 2>&1 \
+  || ssh "$target_target" "pct status ${new_vmid}" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+  echo "ERROR: VMID ${new_vmid} already exists on ${target_node}. Pass --new-vmid" >&2
+  echo "with a free ID, or remove the existing resource there first." >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+echo
+echo "Plan:"
+echo "  source: ${kind} VMID ${vmid} on ${source_node} (storage: ${source_storage}, mode: ${mode})"
+echo "  target: VMID ${new_vmid} on ${target_node} (storage: ${target_storage}, fresh MAC via --unique)"
+[[ "$keep_backup" -eq 1 ]] && echo "  backup archives are kept on both nodes afterward (--keep-backup)"
+
+if [[ "$dry_run" -eq 1 ]]; then
+  echo
+  echo "[dry-run] No backup, transfer, restore, or delete was performed."
+  exit 0
+fi
+
+if [[ "$skip_confirm" -ne 1 ]]; then
+  echo
+  if ! confirm_typed "$vmid" "Type the source VMID (${vmid}) to confirm backing it up from ${source_node}: "; then
+    echo "Cancelled -- input didn't match ${vmid}." >&2
+    exit 1
+  fi
+fi
+
+# --- vzdump on the source node --------------------------------------------
+echo
+echo "==> Backing up VMID ${vmid} on ${source_node} (mode=${mode}, storage=${source_storage})..."
+vzdump_log="$(ssh "$source_target" \
+  "vzdump ${vmid} --mode ${mode} --storage ${source_storage} --compress zstd" 2>&1)" \
+  || {
+    echo "$vzdump_log" >&2
+    echo "ERROR: vzdump failed on ${source_node}." >&2
+    exit 1
+  }
+echo "$vzdump_log"
+
+archive="$(echo "$vzdump_log" | grep -oP "creating vzdump archive '\K[^']+" | tail -n1)"
+if [[ -z "$archive" ]]; then
+  echo "ERROR: couldn't find the archive path in vzdump's output above." >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+archive_basename="$(basename "$archive")"
+target_tmp_archive="/var/tmp/${archive_basename}"
+echo "Archive: ${archive}"
+
+# Always clean up the relayed copy on the target node, success or failure
+# -- it's only ever a working copy, restored or not.
+cleanup_target_tmp() {
+  if [[ "$keep_backup" -ne 1 ]]; then
+    ssh "$target_target" "rm -f '${target_tmp_archive}'" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
+  fi
+}
+trap cleanup_target_tmp EXIT
+
+# --- relay the archive from source to target ------------------------------
+echo
+echo "==> Transferring archive to ${target_node}..."
+ssh "$source_target" "cat '${archive}'" | ssh "$target_target" "cat > '${target_tmp_archive}'"
+
+# --- restore on the target node --------------------------------------------
+echo
+echo "==> Restoring as VMID ${new_vmid} on ${target_node} (storage=${target_storage})..."
+if [[ "$kind" == "vm" ]]; then
+  ssh "$target_target" "qmrestore '${target_tmp_archive}' ${new_vmid} --storage ${target_storage} --unique 1"
+else
+  ssh "$target_target" "pct restore ${new_vmid} '${target_tmp_archive}' --storage ${target_storage} --unique 1"
+fi
+
+# --- clean up the source backup now that the restore succeeded -----------
+if [[ "$keep_backup" -ne 1 ]]; then
+  echo
+  echo "==> Deleting backup archive from ${source_node}'s ${source_storage} storage..."
+  ssh "$source_target" "rm -f '${archive}' '${archive}.notes' '${archive}.log'" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
+fi
+
+echo
+echo "Done. VMID ${new_vmid} (${kind}) is now on ${target_node}, cloned from" \
+  "VMID ${vmid} on ${source_node}."

scripts/proxmox/configure-nix-cache-client.sh

@@ -6,27 +6,31 @@
 #
 # This is the non-NixOS equivalent of modules/nix-cache/client.nix +
 # modules/nix-cache/remote-builder-client.nix -- those two only apply to
-# hosts built from this flake. A plain Debian box with Nix installed
-# (single- or multi-user install, nix-daemon running) has no NixOS module
-# system to pick that config up, so this edits /etc/nix/nix.conf by hand
-# instead. Run this ON the target Debian machine, as root.
+# hosts built from this flake. A plain Debian box with Nix installed has no
+# NixOS module system to pick that config up, so this edits nix.conf by hand.
+#
+# Two modes depending on who runs it:
+#
+#   root (multi-user / daemon install):
+#     Writes /etc/nix/nix.conf, /etc/ssh/ssh_known_hosts, restarts nix-daemon.
+#     Requires /etc/nix/nix.conf to already exist (i.e. nix-daemon is set up).
+#     Run as: sudo ./configure-nix-cache-client.sh [options]
+#
+#   non-root (single-user install):
+#     Writes ~/.config/nix/nix.conf, ~/.ssh/known_hosts. No daemon to restart.
+#     Run as: ./configure-nix-cache-client.sh [options]
 #
 # The values below mirror variables.nix / modules/nix-cache/client.nix in
 # this repo -- update both if nix-cache is ever rebuilt with a new host
 # key or the cache signing key is rotated (see docs/nix-cache.md).
 #
-# REMOTE_BUILDER_KEY defaults to this machine's own default root SSH
-# identity (matches modules/nix-cache/remote-builder-client.nix's
-# convention for real NixOS clients: authenticate as nixremote with the
-# host's own default key, added individually to
-# vars.remoteBuilderAuthorizedKeys, rather than a separately-named or
-# shared keypair) -- generate one with
-# `ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -N '' -f /root/.ssh/id_ed25519` if this machine
-# doesn't have one yet, then add its .pub to vars.remoteBuilderAuthorizedKeys
-# and rebuild nix-cache.
+# REMOTE_BUILDER_KEY defaults to the running user's default SSH identity
+# (root: /root/.ssh/id_ed25519, other user: ~/.ssh/id_ed25519). That key
+# must be listed in vars.remoteBuilderAuthorizedKeys in this repo and
+# nix-cache rebuilt before remote building works.
 #
 # Usage:
-#   sudo ./configure-nix-cache-client.sh [--dry-run] [--no-remote-builder] [--no-restart]
+#   ./configure-nix-cache-client.sh [--dry-run] [--no-remote-builder] [--no-restart]
 #
 # Env overrides (defaults match variables.nix):
 #   NIX_CACHE_HOST, NIX_CACHE_HOST_KEY, REMOTE_BUILDER_USER, REMOTE_BUILDER_KEY
@@ -36,17 +40,28 @@ set -euo pipefail
 : "${NIX_CACHE_HOST:=nix-cache}"
 : "${NIX_CACHE_HOST_KEY:=ssh-ed25519 AAAAC3NzaC1lZDI1NTE5AAAAIPeWgMsdaiz4axT/deFc1+0B5bN+GX/NOeW9bbQ0c/IT lxc-nix-cache}"
 : "${REMOTE_BUILDER_USER:=nixremote}"
-: "${REMOTE_BUILDER_KEY:=/root/.ssh/id_ed25519}"
 
 CACHE_PUB_KEY="cache.local-1:usoWYanY3Kpq2+kDIS2nhWoLZiRxanmdysdzqCFBHW4="
 FALLBACK_URL="https://cache.nixos.org/"
 FALLBACK_PUB_KEY="cache.nixos.org-1:6NCHdD59X431o0gWypbMrAURkbJ16ZPMQFGspcDShjY="
 
-NIX_CONF="/etc/nix/nix.conf"
-KNOWN_HOSTS="/etc/ssh/ssh_known_hosts"
 MARKER_BEGIN="# BEGIN nix-cache client config (configure-nix-cache-client.sh)"
 MARKER_END="# END nix-cache client config"
 
+# Mode: root uses system-wide paths and restarts the daemon; non-root uses
+# user-level paths and has no daemon to restart.
+if [[ "$EUID" -eq 0 ]]; then
+  install_mode="multi"
+  NIX_CONF="/etc/nix/nix.conf"
+  KNOWN_HOSTS="/etc/ssh/ssh_known_hosts"
+  : "${REMOTE_BUILDER_KEY:=/root/.ssh/id_ed25519}"
+else
+  install_mode="single"
+  NIX_CONF="${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-$HOME/.config}/nix/nix.conf"
+  KNOWN_HOSTS="$HOME/.ssh/known_hosts"
+  : "${REMOTE_BUILDER_KEY:=$HOME/.ssh/id_ed25519}"
+fi
+
 dry_run=0
 with_remote_builder=1
 restart_daemon=1
@@ -57,7 +72,7 @@ for arg in "$@"; do
     --no-remote-builder) with_remote_builder=0 ;;
     --no-restart) restart_daemon=0 ;;
     -h|--help)
-      sed -n '2,20p' "$0"
+      sed -n '2,37p' "$0"
       exit 0
       ;;
     *)
@@ -67,21 +82,22 @@ for arg in "$@"; do
   esac
 done
 
-if [[ "$dry_run" -eq 0 && "$EUID" -ne 0 ]]; then
-  echo "ERROR: must run as root (writes $NIX_CONF and, unless --no-remote-builder, $KNOWN_HOSTS)." >&2
-  exit 1
-fi
-
 if ! command -v nix >/dev/null 2>&1; then
   echo "ERROR: no 'nix' binary on PATH -- install the Nix package manager first." >&2
   exit 1
 fi
 
-if [[ ! -f "$NIX_CONF" ]]; then
+if [[ "$install_mode" == "multi" && ! -f "$NIX_CONF" ]]; then
   echo "ERROR: $NIX_CONF not found -- expected an existing multi-user Nix install." >&2
   exit 1
 fi
 
+# Single-user: create the config file if it doesn't exist yet.
+if [[ "$install_mode" == "single" && "$dry_run" -eq 0 ]]; then
+  mkdir -p "$(dirname "$NIX_CONF")"
+  [[ -f "$NIX_CONF" ]] || touch "$NIX_CONF"
+fi
+
 builder_line=""
 if [[ "$with_remote_builder" -eq 1 ]]; then
   if [[ -f "$REMOTE_BUILDER_KEY" ]]; then
@@ -117,7 +133,7 @@ fi
 block="${block}
 $MARKER_END"
 
-echo "== nix.conf block to install =="
+echo "== nix.conf block to install ($NIX_CONF) =="
 echo "$block"
 echo "================================"
 
@@ -159,7 +175,8 @@ if [[ "$with_remote_builder" -eq 1 ]]; then
   fi
 fi
 
-if [[ "$dry_run" -eq 0 && "$restart_daemon" -eq 1 ]]; then
+# Only restart the daemon for multi-user installs -- single-user has no daemon.
+if [[ "$dry_run" -eq 0 && "$restart_daemon" -eq 1 && "$install_mode" == "multi" ]]; then
   if command -v systemctl >/dev/null 2>&1 && systemctl is-active --quiet nix-daemon 2>/dev/null; then
     systemctl restart nix-daemon
     echo "Restarted nix-daemon to pick up the new config."

scripts/proxmox/create-proxmox-resource.sh

@@ -12,6 +12,17 @@
 # copies over the locally-managed host-keys/ (gitignored, so a git pull
 # alone wouldn't carry it) before building.
 #
+# --node (default: $PROXMOX_HOST, see scripts/env.sh) picks which of the two
+# LAN Proxmox nodes this runs against: production, pve1.sweet.home
+# ($PVE1_HOST, PROXMOX_HOST's own default), or the sandbox node,
+# pve-test.sweet.home ($PVE_TEST_HOST) -- pass --node "$PVE_TEST_HOST" (or
+# set PROXMOX_HOST=$PVE_TEST_HOST) to target the sandbox instead. See
+# CLAUDE.md's "Two Proxmox nodes" section: an agent session should default
+# to pve-test and only touch pve1 when the operator has explicitly said so
+# for the current task -- this script itself doesn't enforce that (its own
+# default is production, matching this repo's behavior before pve-test
+# existed), it's a policy for whoever/whatever is driving it.
+#
 # Usage:
 #   scripts/proxmox/create-proxmox-resource.sh --type lxc|vm --host <name> [options]
 #   scripts/proxmox/create-proxmox-resource.sh --type lxc|vm --list
@@ -120,7 +131,9 @@ Shared:
   --iso-storage <pool>            (default: \$PROXMOX_ISO_STORAGE, ${PROXMOX_ISO_STORAGE})
   --bridge <bridge>                (default: \$PROXMOX_BRIDGE, ${PROXMOX_BRIDGE})
   --node <host>                     Proxmox node to SSH into (default:
-                                    \$PROXMOX_HOST, ${PROXMOX_HOST})
+                                    \$PROXMOX_HOST, ${PROXMOX_HOST} --
+                                    production; the sandbox node is
+                                    \$PVE_TEST_HOST, ${PVE_TEST_HOST}).
   --dry-run                           Print the full plan; touch nothing
                                       local or remote, no prompts.
   -h, --help
@@ -180,6 +193,16 @@ done
 
 ssh_target="${PROXMOX_SSH_USER}@${node}"
 
+# Proxmox tools (pvesh, qm, pct) require root access to the cluster IPC
+# socket. When SSH-ing as a non-root user with sudo, prefix every remote
+# Proxmox command with sudo.
+sudo_prefix=""
+sudo_display=""
+if [[ "$PROXMOX_SSH_USER" != "root" ]]; then
+  sudo_prefix="sudo"
+  sudo_display="sudo "
+fi
+
 remote() {
   if [[ "$dry_run" -eq 1 ]]; then
     echo "[dry-run] ssh ${ssh_target} -- $*"
@@ -201,10 +224,10 @@ cmd_modify() {
 
   echo "Looking up VMID ${vmid} on ${node}..."
   local kind current_cores current_memory disk_key
-  if ssh "$ssh_target" "qm status ${vmid}" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+  if ssh "$ssh_target" "${sudo_prefix} qm status ${vmid}" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
     kind="vm"
     disk_key="scsi0"
-  elif ssh "$ssh_target" "pct status ${vmid}" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+  elif ssh "$ssh_target" "${sudo_prefix} pct status ${vmid}" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
     kind="lxc"
     disk_key="rootfs"
   else
@@ -212,8 +235,8 @@ cmd_modify() {
     exit 1
   fi
 
-  local config_cmd="qm config ${vmid}"
-  [[ "$kind" == "lxc" ]] && config_cmd="pct config ${vmid}"
+  local config_cmd="${sudo_prefix} qm config ${vmid}"
+  [[ "$kind" == "lxc" ]] && config_cmd="${sudo_prefix} pct config ${vmid}"
   local current_config
   current_config="$(ssh "$ssh_target" "$config_cmd")"
   current_cores="$(echo "$current_config" | grep -oP '^cores:\s*\K\S+' || echo '?')"
@@ -237,9 +260,9 @@ cmd_modify() {
     exit 1
   fi
 
-  local set_cmd="qm set"
-  local resize_cmd="qm resize"
-  [[ "$kind" == "lxc" ]] && set_cmd="pct set" && resize_cmd="pct resize"
+  local set_cmd="${sudo_prefix} qm set"
+  local resize_cmd="${sudo_prefix} qm resize"
+  [[ "$kind" == "lxc" ]] && set_cmd="${sudo_prefix} pct set" && resize_cmd="${sudo_prefix} pct resize"
 
   if [[ -n "$cores" || -n "$memory" ]]; then
     local args=""
@@ -346,14 +369,15 @@ else
   echo
   echo "==> Checking ${node} for an existing VM/CT identified as '${host}'..."
   ssh_check_status=0
-  existing="$(ssh "$ssh_target" bash -s -- "$host" <<'REMOTE_SCRIPT'
+  existing="$(ssh "$ssh_target" bash -s -- "$host" "$sudo_prefix" <<'REMOTE_SCRIPT'
 target="$1"
-for id in $(qm list 2>/dev/null | awk 'NR>1{print $1}'); do
-  n="$(qm config "$id" 2>/dev/null | grep -oP '^name:\s*\K\S+' || true)"
+sudo_pfx="$2"
+for id in $($sudo_pfx qm list 2>/dev/null | awk 'NR>1{print $1}'); do
+  n="$($sudo_pfx qm config "$id" 2>/dev/null | grep -oP '^name:\s*\K\S+' || true)"
   [[ "$n" == "$target" ]] && echo "vm ${id} ${n}"
 done
-for id in $(pct list 2>/dev/null | awk 'NR>1{print $1}'); do
-  n="$(pct config "$id" 2>/dev/null | grep -oP '^hostname:\s*\K\S+' || true)"
+for id in $($sudo_pfx pct list 2>/dev/null | awk 'NR>1{print $1}'); do
+  n="$($sudo_pfx pct config "$id" 2>/dev/null | grep -oP '^hostname:\s*\K\S+' || true)"
   [[ "$n" == "$target" ]] && echo "lxc ${id} ${n}"
 done
 exit 0
@@ -440,12 +464,12 @@ REMOTE_SCRIPT
       if [[ "$kind" == "vm" ]]; then
         # qm destroy has no --force to stop-then-destroy in one call (pct's
         # does) -- stop explicitly first if it's running.
-        if ssh "$ssh_target" "qm status ${id}" 2>/dev/null | grep -q running; then
-          ssh "$ssh_target" "qm stop ${id}"
+        if ssh "$ssh_target" "${sudo_prefix} qm status ${id}" 2>/dev/null | grep -q running; then
+          ssh "$ssh_target" "${sudo_prefix} qm stop ${id}"
         fi
-        ssh "$ssh_target" "qm destroy ${id} --purge 1"
+        ssh "$ssh_target" "${sudo_prefix} qm destroy ${id} --purge 1"
       else
-        ssh "$ssh_target" "pct destroy ${id} --force 1 --purge 1"
+        ssh "$ssh_target" "${sudo_prefix} pct destroy ${id} --force 1 --purge 1"
       fi
     done
   fi
@@ -474,7 +498,7 @@ if [[ -z "$vmid" ]]; then
     vmid="<next-free-vmid>"
     echo "[dry-run] would ask ${node} for the next free VMID (pvesh get /cluster/nextid)"
   else
-    vmid="$(ssh "$ssh_target" "pvesh get /cluster/nextid" | tr -d '[:space:]')"
+    vmid="$(ssh "$ssh_target" "${sudo_prefix} pvesh get /cluster/nextid" | tr -d '[:space:]')"
     echo "Auto-assigned VMID: ${vmid}"
   fi
 else
@@ -488,8 +512,8 @@ if [[ "$dry_run" -eq 0 ]]; then
   # both. Any success here means something is already using this ID --
   # refuse to go anywhere near it. (Reconfiguring an existing resource is
   # --modify's job, not this one's.)
-  if ssh "$ssh_target" "qm status ${vmid}" >/dev/null 2>&1 \
-    || ssh "$ssh_target" "pct status ${vmid}" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+  if ssh "$ssh_target" "${sudo_prefix} qm status ${vmid}" >/dev/null 2>&1 \
+    || ssh "$ssh_target" "${sudo_prefix} pct status ${vmid}" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
     echo "ERROR: VMID ${vmid} already exists on ${node}. Refusing to touch an" >&2
     echo "existing resource here -- use --modify to reconfigure it, pick a" >&2
     echo "different --vmid, or omit it to auto-assign." >&2
@@ -659,11 +683,11 @@ if [[ "$image_already_remote" -eq 0 && -z "$local_image" ]]; then
       # hands the result to the remote shell to re-split, which would
       # otherwise scatter NIX_EXTRA_OPTS (itself several space-separated,
       # %q-quoted tokens) across the wrong positional parameters below.
-      printf -v remote_cmd 'bash -s -- %q %q %q %q %q' \
-        "$remote_repo_dir" "$flake_target" "$remote_dir" "$remote_filename" "$NIX_EXTRA_OPTS"
+      printf -v remote_cmd 'bash -s -- %q %q %q %q %q %q' \
+        "$remote_repo_dir" "$flake_target" "$remote_dir" "$remote_filename" "$NIX_EXTRA_OPTS" "$sudo_prefix"
       ssh "$ssh_target" "$remote_cmd" <<'REMOTE_SCRIPT'
 set -euo pipefail
-repo_dir="$1"; target="$2"; dest_dir="$3"; dest_name="$4"; nix_extra_opts_str="$5"
+repo_dir="$1"; target="$2"; dest_dir="$3"; dest_name="$4"; nix_extra_opts_str="$5"; sudo_pfx="$6"
 declare -a NIX_OPTS=()
 [[ -n "$nix_extra_opts_str" ]] && eval "NIX_OPTS=(${nix_extra_opts_str})"
 cd "$repo_dir"
@@ -681,23 +705,14 @@ if [[ -z "$built" ]]; then
   echo "ERROR: no tarball found under result-${target}/tarball after build." >&2
   exit 1
 fi
-mkdir -p "$dest_dir"
-cp "$built" "${dest_dir}/${dest_name}"
+$sudo_pfx mkdir -p "$dest_dir"
+$sudo_pfx cp "$built" "${dest_dir}/${dest_name}"
 echo "Built and staged: ${dest_dir}/${dest_name}"
 REMOTE_SCRIPT
       local_image="$remote_path"
       echo "Built on ${node}: ${remote_path}"
     fi
   else
-    # PROXMOX_SSH_USER defaults to root (env.sh), which needs no sudo and
-    # can't assume it's even installed on a minimal node -- only shell out
-    # through sudo when actually running as a non-root SSH user.
-    sudo_prefix="sudo"
-    sudo_display="sudo "
-    if [[ "$PROXMOX_SSH_USER" == "root" ]]; then
-      sudo_prefix=""
-      sudo_display=""
-    fi
     if [[ "$dry_run" -eq 1 ]]; then
       echo "[dry-run] would build on ${node}: nix build --no-use-registries --no-accept-flake-config${nix_opts_display} \\"
       echo "[dry-run]   .#nixosConfigurations.${flake_target}.config.system.build.diskoImagesScript"
@@ -715,7 +730,7 @@ REMOTE_SCRIPT
         "$remote_repo_dir" "$flake_target" "$remote_dir" "$remote_filename" "$NIX_EXTRA_OPTS" "$sudo_prefix"
       ssh "$ssh_target" "$remote_cmd" <<'REMOTE_SCRIPT'
 set -euo pipefail
-repo_dir="$1"; target="$2"; dest_dir="$3"; dest_name="$4"; nix_extra_opts_str="$5"; sudo_prefix="$6"
+repo_dir="$1"; target="$2"; dest_dir="$3"; dest_name="$4"; nix_extra_opts_str="$5"; sudo_pfx="$6"
 declare -a NIX_OPTS=()
 [[ -n "$nix_extra_opts_str" ]] && eval "NIX_OPTS=(${nix_extra_opts_str})"
 cd "$repo_dir"
@@ -724,7 +739,7 @@ ensure_nix_profile
 nix build --no-use-registries --no-accept-flake-config "${NIX_OPTS[@]}" \
   ".#nixosConfigurations.${target}.config.system.build.diskoImagesScript" \
   --out-link "result-${target}"
-$sudo_prefix "./result-${target}" \
+$sudo_pfx "./result-${target}" \
   --pre-format-files "host-keys/${target}_ssh_host_ed25519_key" /etc/ssh/ssh_host_ed25519_key \
   --pre-format-files "host-keys/${target}_ssh_host_ed25519_key.pub" /etc/ssh/ssh_host_ed25519_key.pub \
   --build-memory 2048
@@ -733,8 +748,8 @@ if [[ -z "$built" ]]; then
   echo "ERROR: no .raw image found in ${repo_dir} after build." >&2
   exit 1
 fi
-mkdir -p "$dest_dir"
-mv "$built" "${dest_dir}/${dest_name}"
+$sudo_pfx mkdir -p "$dest_dir"
+$sudo_pfx mv "$built" "${dest_dir}/${dest_name}"
 echo "Built and staged: ${dest_dir}/${dest_name}"
 REMOTE_SCRIPT
       local_image="$remote_path"
@@ -799,36 +814,42 @@ if [[ "$type" == "lxc" ]]; then
   # hands the whole string to `ssh` as a single command for the *remote*
   # shell to parse -- unquoted, that `;` would be read as a remote
   # command separator and silently truncate this into two commands.
-  create_cmd="pct create ${vmid} ${iso_storage}:vztmpl/${remote_filename} --unprivileged ${unprivileged_flag} --features '${PROXMOX_DEFAULT_LXC_FEATURES}' --rootfs ${storage}:${local_disk_size} --hostname ${name} --cores ${cores} --memory ${memory} --swap ${local_swap} --net0 name=eth0,bridge=${bridge},ip=dhcp"
+  create_cmd="${sudo_prefix} pct create ${vmid} ${iso_storage}:vztmpl/${remote_filename} --unprivileged ${unprivileged_flag} --features '${PROXMOX_DEFAULT_LXC_FEATURES}' --rootfs ${storage}:${local_disk_size} --hostname ${name} --cores ${cores} --memory ${memory} --swap ${local_swap} --net0 name=eth0,bridge=${bridge},ip=dhcp"
   remote "$create_cmd"
-  remote "pct start ${vmid}"
+  remote "${sudo_prefix} pct start ${vmid}"
 else
   echo "==> Creating VM ${vmid} (${name})..."
   # pre-enrolled-keys=0 disables OVMF's Secure Boot key pre-enrollment --
   # required, or systemd-boot (unsigned) can't be trusted by the firmware.
-  remote "qm create ${vmid} --name ${name} --memory ${memory} --cores ${cores} \
+  # --agent 1: wires up the virtio-serial channel QEMU exposes to the guest.
+  # modules/common/configuration.nix sets services.qemuGuest.enable = true
+  # on every host, so the guest-side qemu-ga daemon is already running --
+  # without this flag Proxmox never creates the channel it listens on, so
+  # `qm guest exec`/`qm agent` and the UI's IP-address display silently
+  # never work for any VM this script creates.
+  remote "${sudo_prefix} qm create ${vmid} --name ${name} --memory ${memory} --cores ${cores} \
 --net0 virtio,bridge=${bridge} --bios ovmf --machine q35 --scsihw virtio-scsi-pci \
---efidisk0 ${storage}:1,efitype=4m,pre-enrolled-keys=0"
+--efidisk0 ${storage}:1,efitype=4m,pre-enrolled-keys=0 --agent enabled=1"
 
   if [[ "$dry_run" -eq 1 ]]; then
-    echo "[dry-run] ssh ${ssh_target} -- qm importdisk ${vmid} ${remote_path} ${storage}"
+    echo "[dry-run] ssh ${ssh_target} -- ${sudo_display}qm importdisk ${vmid} ${remote_path} ${storage}"
     echo "[dry-run] (would parse the resulting disk identifier from that output)"
-    echo "[dry-run] ssh ${ssh_target} -- qm set ${vmid} --scsi0 ${storage}:<parsed-disk-id>"
+    echo "[dry-run] ssh ${ssh_target} -- ${sudo_display}qm set ${vmid} --scsi0 ${storage}:<parsed-disk-id>"
   else
-    importdisk_output="$(ssh "$ssh_target" "qm importdisk ${vmid} ${remote_path} ${storage}")"
+    importdisk_output="$(ssh "$ssh_target" "${sudo_prefix} qm importdisk ${vmid} ${remote_path} ${storage}")"
     echo "$importdisk_output"
     disk_id="$(echo "$importdisk_output" | grep -oP "(?<=Successfully imported disk as ')[^']+" | sed 's/^unused[0-9]*://')"
     if [[ -z "$disk_id" ]]; then
       echo "ERROR: couldn't parse the imported disk identifier from qm importdisk's output above." >&2
       echo "The VM shell (${vmid}) and imported disk both exist -- finish attaching it by hand:" >&2
-      echo "  ssh ${ssh_target} -- qm set ${vmid} --scsi0 ${storage}:<disk-id-from-output-above>" >&2
-      echo "  ssh ${ssh_target} -- qm set ${vmid} --boot order=scsi0" >&2
+      echo "  ssh ${ssh_target} -- ${sudo_display}qm set ${vmid} --scsi0 ${storage}:<disk-id-from-output-above>" >&2
+      echo "  ssh ${ssh_target} -- ${sudo_display}qm set ${vmid} --boot order=scsi0" >&2
       exit 1
     fi
-    remote "qm set ${vmid} --scsi0 ${disk_id}"
+    remote "${sudo_prefix} qm set ${vmid} --scsi0 ${disk_id}"
   fi
-  remote "qm set ${vmid} --boot order=scsi0"
-  remote "qm start ${vmid}"
+  remote "${sudo_prefix} qm set ${vmid} --boot order=scsi0"
+  remote "${sudo_prefix} qm start ${vmid}"
 fi
 
 echo

secrets/common.yaml

@@ -5,94 +5,130 @@ sops:
     age:
         - enc: |
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             -----END AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----
           recipient: age1njap586hc0q43kr03g6c8eqhdsmk8zcafkl3f83xwlc2gqhlmfgs4tmwad
         - enc: |
             -----BEGIN AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----
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             -----END AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----
           recipient: age19gfn2yedg76dmztm4hncr7vf3r3c9j0qpt4rap7y7gersjk4m3ks2lhd0e
         - enc: |
             -----BEGIN AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----
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             -----END AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----
           recipient: age1ll6hj5ggruetgjwjfnplpn5xtq35uhlcdflksx3xmnjm6s3uad9sz70jkf
         - enc: |
             -----BEGIN AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----
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             -----END AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----
           recipient: age120le4a5l8dh3lyfgvmj3d9ksmej6ajs5mer5y7r0vfg3x9fn69dqf8xgzu
         - enc: |
             -----BEGIN AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----
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             -----END AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----
           recipient: age1jy444f9d9stygj4p3w9kh54cqcfr654tvr75tdvee5cxsgtdtc9q3v60ep
         - enc: |
             -----BEGIN AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----
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           recipient: age120whqj96g26lsgy4udvgsn8dc9lumh8jeu3a564fx79rjr5lxffqmrljuu
         - enc: |
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         - enc: |
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             -----END AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----
           recipient: age1fxxzpnfse8nd9wz78ht3m0plrmraacf4cpga0pe8fm2tdnqcgy8q7qsyvp
+        - enc: |
+            -----BEGIN AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----
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+            iNdOtVtb2WRxIAgyjR72yp1tLMrop9NkZN68MGvd/LsNM+6simyosQ==
+            -----END AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----
+          recipient: age190htw7prp4vln076dxjx3gxxaq06h0zl0te7cqgpx79vl3lhkaes8suy05
+        - enc: |
+            -----BEGIN AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----
+            YWdlLWVuY3J5cHRpb24ub3JnL3YxCi0+IFgyNTUxOSBHcmIxZVc4aGRmNEhSY3Iv
+            YXhzLzduWFdzVVlKZTR6WExzcDNtSWQza0FjCmlsZDVJUWpqY0pRSktQeGk2SlAy
+            cjZXL0JCVFRtQXpHNkNIejhyTnVtWjgKLS0tIHBSZ1JyMFBJVWZ3VWFLOUt5OHd6
+            YUI4ODhHc1I2UHVRQ0diSnhsSUhDelEK3hBBX1+Uwe/MusLqmt4oAy7Z6jOU96Cd
+            7zTe8YyLc0/DUDsyuFZ7a68riO9/My+zrFllwtKe/JPmPHLY0+3Pnw==
+            -----END AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----
+          recipient: age1ukpqxzl44mnjpy5r96sfuc5sqzm47u4k8ujjh5qdgy6jvl9uqgpspymqfk
+        - enc: |
+            -----BEGIN AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----
+            YWdlLWVuY3J5cHRpb24ub3JnL3YxCi0+IFgyNTUxOSBZSE53Yy9FOHNpeVFtTmF1
+            UUExbzJlZktxMGR3Ukora3RpbVN2THlyVjNJCnFpWVEyK2U1N1diOWZQWm5Bb1lD
+            djV0U3QxamRJY3BRN3hBTmZ4SVRiV0UKLS0tIFU2Q0o1UTRjaEFaSTRVTm5MVW5T
+            QXdEbVB0Y3YwM3R5dGp5d1oxeUxHNGcKRj5hNLlXtZoT3IwXHTxaReJLu8k133n/
+            ZoCtv470LPL1M/kTjdPc/nWMgYOHDKkO90gr3WILfHg8idkVuCLT2Q==
+            -----END AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----
+          recipient: age15kh7akxlx7zn00tey79rq2g8lgs4j5y77rcnyfxrxap8ckfu0a9sqvtdhh
+        - enc: |
+            -----BEGIN AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----
+            YWdlLWVuY3J5cHRpb24ub3JnL3YxCi0+IFgyNTUxOSBQazFqSWpaVGtkNFhPU3A5
+            cE1oVXEvSU5RNnY5NU9mbFhGOFQycVFuL1U4CnNwRnVkYmxCNFZzNVZvM2N5eVN0
+            clNjUWY4RHZxbVNsMFlFSnZKcmI3dm8KLS0tIFBDZTRuRlprdzdVT1ZHejNsNDBJ
+            OUVjclpPSjl0RGtLVlZRSkpFeG02KzAKt0rcJunZppojjijrjbXsztLwRD9pgWRb
+            jYsn7dCvWGFZGVgeyxqfL0jfYNz6dW0yecRE/gbP5hIooxbcPcxfag==
+            -----END AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----
+          recipient: age1ehkswwz2pqaz4svzh7ela5tdnssl8kn6d4vwwxd6zwg8exfpd43syyrrjp
     lastmodified: "2026-07-19T02:30:40Z"
     mac: ENC[AES256_GCM,data:UiL3VMDF6rq4Nr87KspcDx434q3tfNXeb5pwH2O+4ssNQ6xzcYDdzXBnhAY3zLBsqPMKrvHBd4Ot/gEMcq3FMIVe7Q6p9yWKpep66KZ/yWEhAlwIVhD79Oj8VS+1CHKjf25zpRdhZorp04oeFQQd9VfjJB4EE/Q1aVbwTGlpIic=,iv:i/0conaFgFia+wzNTdUL6tlSTw35HTK3Ap1Sr5RGHf8=,tag:ULbz5FllShA/JjlSRdxA0g==,type:str]
     unencrypted_suffix: _unencrypted

secrets/gui.yaml

@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+wifi-password: ENC[AES256_GCM,data:SZQPtU6PYHbf9o83wq3KTupx,iv:FxO68Pn/+N58r/OPLfkAMYPFpP8TYxszMniFd/01E38=,tag:jwxaY6zDEcO5r9OWSfvUyw==,type:str]
+sops:
+    age:
+        - enc: |
+            -----BEGIN AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----
+            YWdlLWVuY3J5cHRpb24ub3JnL3YxCi0+IFgyNTUxOSBrWFpRSURBR0gvRzVIMElk
+            ZlJGZlJvc3lFOVJIZ29YbFp3akFCNG42TWkwCjhNM0J6cjIwRXBzc3VWNVpZSGdL
+            Q1M1bm90OE1tTG9GbUxvS1dvRkZ0UGsKLS0tIE43L1dnbWhQOUhhYjg5bEIvZkVD
+            Zkh1NDhvZjlDc2c0cUZUYVRLdEozS2sKU/r6JnEnUs2WPj/J724B+lgiV84iteZa
+            uMlhgnwYJFLkH7ZyydQqjYcHL7xEInr0taYJN+M0nZIsZTvzAEi7iw==
+            -----END AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----
+          recipient: age1njap586hc0q43kr03g6c8eqhdsmk8zcafkl3f83xwlc2gqhlmfgs4tmwad
+        - enc: |
+            -----BEGIN AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----
+            YWdlLWVuY3J5cHRpb24ub3JnL3YxCi0+IFgyNTUxOSBXZmYrVTZxWW1QKzhLWThX
+            UFAwSEhId24yMitmVk1kT215OGdqbGp4akFjCjRzN2dkTURXS0wzbzhYL0YxRW41
+            TWJ3UExXaHNhSUxaYkVsMFNCekZHZDgKLS0tIGQrSWNzalhCbGJZdkxvT1N5ZWlo
+            a0l0Nk9DY1BKYU9ReWovaHJ0Z2NyWGcKFoIYS1M4EbR6H6QG3Wjv2ZdX3r2W8zKp
+            S9f578O5ZLh2OWaawcSb0oecZJykT9pgudVcuKRunzZN7NQvFxBRnQ==
+            -----END AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----
+          recipient: age190htw7prp4vln076dxjx3gxxaq06h0zl0te7cqgpx79vl3lhkaes8suy05
+        - enc: |
+            -----BEGIN AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----
+            YWdlLWVuY3J5cHRpb24ub3JnL3YxCi0+IFgyNTUxOSBlWnpPUk10YW82TVRzbk80
+            WHJqbXVVSUFrSTVjMEdqUTdSQWwvdG1TcW1nClQ5T0E0akFtSlFGdC9WaU1LbGkw
+            allOSjJ2SjQ0MkVMcVNtdzN3cW1hVzgKLS0tIERlQ2l3NitPQndERTYrNVA3ajF0
+            bCtnYzhHcnZkalRNK1BHbjdIS2JLNmcK5RwFzeaK1KafO4cAtdFh5Tnz1lpZbj1Q
+            aeMmTGMkxJYVGzXKS6SRspVT3MvY4Fvay8B0MezjG5Y5HKNIv22Vog==
+            -----END AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----
+          recipient: age1ehkswwz2pqaz4svzh7ela5tdnssl8kn6d4vwwxd6zwg8exfpd43syyrrjp
+    lastmodified: "2026-07-22T01:15:21Z"
+    mac: ENC[AES256_GCM,data:dC/oIqMUHkOh3AocOwP7Gc6XGH3L+nTqJfhFNts1DNbRXsopNIxVBtIz2pEhwnWSQrqPisDLmPHFBwRpGVn01u8w8IU1FKbAKC0J2nJXF8ozpInbjzDOmehqPWZG7yaKoq8cwAnp5XOk+IVO4l6tPxLxkExU5fT2ALuMq+sgOko=,iv:jaVyArpf6zMCFa6J9X1aQMGrmFq+W2CPZdWO6vVW68c=,tag:S+qF8/FkgHc4uW0e4ICmSQ==,type:str]
+    unencrypted_suffix: _unencrypted
+    version: 3.13.2

secrets/server.yaml

@@ -3,22 +3,40 @@ sops:
     age:
         - enc: |
             -----BEGIN AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----
-            YWdlLWVuY3J5cHRpb24ub3JnL3YxCi0+IFgyNTUxOSBURmMzN3hrSlNrUkkvVWNl
-            L3M1dEhWeW14N0RFNVRPci9QK1YyTFdqRVVJCk5WaWswT2NicldkYzZjbVhYU2xu
-            MGFsNmUzeTN2TS9wOEdvRURpVUVYZXMKLS0tIDZ6MEdPTVhCaTQ2UXFWTUFtc0pm
-            MFlJb0c2WXJtMGRLZEZYY0pZWWpFWm8K/mlYZIe8UC0QU+1mq3NtrtTF5b2m5hCK
-            +K0QiZLTKmmDcr4bRhZ32VE7R7GRwtMNnOP/mElZvPAyWyHHhRiOHg==
+            YWdlLWVuY3J5cHRpb24ub3JnL3YxCi0+IFgyNTUxOSBaYU9HR0lETDhkYXR5NWlj
+            L0diSE5JQU9KWjRoU3hrVjdqZ2tPNUtOdFZvCjdUVGNFbDVYa3pVSC9ZWVNORER4
+            QWozUlhoSEtjTk9IRlM3VkZoYlc1RTAKLS0tIDlHS01WVWlOMWFEQU5GTVRLZVhV
+            VTcwekhrRHB3SlVYT2MzOW5GbE52dkkKKCWehPhpdGapdyzpll20NJUcZwvW/7X8
+            KQ1EqAgI2fewnbwuIDYCleN0b0SLJNUeSV/tFKDDoTMnHWCdeD4ECg==
             -----END AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----
           recipient: age1njap586hc0q43kr03g6c8eqhdsmk8zcafkl3f83xwlc2gqhlmfgs4tmwad
         - enc: |
             -----BEGIN AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----
-            YWdlLWVuY3J5cHRpb24ub3JnL3YxCi0+IFgyNTUxOSBURHlUL0RNMUtNallEcG5p
-            eG4xby8yVzdQUTBaNkl4ano0YjBMcDd0Wm5NCkZvaXNPZm9wemJkMmNSdGdOaTI4
-            Z1RwUnhiRUpCMWZaeWtlSVBmNW5KOXMKLS0tIDk0R0k3ZHczTFNCWUZxSWF0M0FJ
-            MGlZMmtuSFYrcG1meDNMWDNqSjFxcE0KDu2dAc0gqmmPkpbpBe4YohM7rYmUwEkI
-            V2FUQwjlvh50svtjCVdYbx2xuq4sQLnKelk/q1onLw60FwsVfzD8sQ==
+            YWdlLWVuY3J5cHRpb24ub3JnL3YxCi0+IFgyNTUxOSB4YndybFBTQ2p4SGZ4SDJs
+            a2p0eFRQOVVWcGd2a25ESW9ESGx1RWw0Zno4CnhpVVh3cGI5UjY0YmFINFFPMTh4
+            b1B5SjJ3NTNvUE1QUmJjVFozY1dYS2MKLS0tIC9HZGNpOFZhZGNFZGt5blJuZXVV
+            SXpkRzV4d2ppV3ZQZSt1dmxYNGVFMUEKmSe9dkrmkND81Hw2/ATAmFvcmhk1tUC1
+            LxxBw54IVHUqwYKgRYUYRNu+pykDT5OnFDPiskd49Xso99LY87PyiA==
             -----END AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----
           recipient: age1ll6hj5ggruetgjwjfnplpn5xtq35uhlcdflksx3xmnjm6s3uad9sz70jkf
+        - enc: |
+            -----BEGIN AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----
+            YWdlLWVuY3J5cHRpb24ub3JnL3YxCi0+IFgyNTUxOSBLd1FSSHVTSGdHWm8wMVQz
+            d0dlOEsxeGwxdHU0eUlFSUxka0ZmcVpnOTM0CndYNUVjVy92QVhNY2orQmpSQjYy
+            VS9KM0NUTXhuM0lCSDBZMWtISEdtWTgKLS0tIExTL2wvS3FEdVViUmRYZEFsR3R0
+            YTJFM200RjF6MjNxOFA4eHRpWVhtRkUKOqBIT445HnPXrrH/qV6FIuAhAuJmSL6V
+            +PQopM/m3PAnK5m5Mu3cfjYfDiB8+GWTABhljfT+GbcoK7CqWLehrw==
+            -----END AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----
+          recipient: age1ukpqxzl44mnjpy5r96sfuc5sqzm47u4k8ujjh5qdgy6jvl9uqgpspymqfk
+        - enc: |
+            -----BEGIN AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----
+            YWdlLWVuY3J5cHRpb24ub3JnL3YxCi0+IFgyNTUxOSAvVXF4a2NmaW15R2VXS3FP
+            SDVPUGpUWTlIWjl2N2N2SXR1UlRkdllWNVRJClZDbVo4dUhrZytqZkMrYWtpOEZx
+            c0dSZGViN04zQ1B1WEZEWm1QM1lsejQKLS0tIE0wa0k5Rm1xZmw3OHFESkVXc25j
+            NlFpYTJSckQ4MVlZQ01reDlkaWY3TkEKsmQlreRhRAjVZ/q5x52FNATDF2sLhbHo
+            djOZigZx2rs6shqQ6It/XRJ8CiPaXZBPOt529Gwmplu+hWlAU1+l2Q==
+            -----END AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----
+          recipient: age15kh7akxlx7zn00tey79rq2g8lgs4j5y77rcnyfxrxap8ckfu0a9sqvtdhh
     lastmodified: "2026-07-19T02:30:40Z"
     mac: ENC[AES256_GCM,data:rKHZjU/MH08ASTlu32HZO9uWmsBYuMCEC6M8gwVhzuWvmablnP05tS2z13XfaWaCEUXk6kmGJKuU0zu5+IKVZgamCF6DAMtxQb6bVCaLsoAm/GSqWQ5VI9eHqgnSSdN/o3ul/33Rf8iBQo4aw8FFAmDVuNz8bfAn0QefFTj0ByI=,iv:JD2gtqRinOY77etg6PUmZNovkYl1Q3F6ZvRi4x7RznQ=,tag:/5IMpWKRVt+l1luCTQE0BA==,type:str]
     unencrypted_suffix: _unencrypted

variables.nix

@@ -45,6 +45,20 @@
   # the installer image's nixos/root users.
   adminSshKey = "ssh-rsa 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 wayne@stream";
 
+  # Prestaged wifi SSID for the gui host's NetworkManager profile
+  # (modules/networking/wifi.nix). The password is not here -- it's
+  # sops-encrypted in secrets/gui.yaml (wifi-password) instead, since this
+  # file isn't a secret store.
+  wifiSsid = "nbn-fttp-net-5G";
+
+  # Bare-metal gui host's two disks for a ZFS RAID0 (striped) root pool
+  # (modules/disko/baremetal.nix). Only used transiently at disko-format
+  # time (partitioning); the resulting fileSystems/zpool import reference
+  # by-partlabel/by-id paths afterward regardless, same as
+  # modules/disko/proxmox.nix's own plain "/dev/sda".
+  guiRootDisk1 = "/dev/sda";
+  guiRootDisk2 = "/dev/sdb";
+
   # System
   timeZone = "Australia/Brisbane";