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mwiegand 519567e156
fix(l4d2-host): mount overlay via ExecStartPre so enabled units boot cleanly
The lifecycle change to systemctl enable --now (commit 8552c55) made
units auto-start at boot. But the kernel-overlayfs mount is volatile
(reboot kills it), and the web app's start_instance only re-mounts in
response to a UI click. Result: at boot, systemd starts the unit, finds
empty merged/, CHDIR fails, Restart=on-failure spins forever (counter
hit 65 on ckn before this fix landed).

Fix:
- Unit gets `ExecStartPre=/usr/bin/sudo -n .../left4me-overlay mount %i`
  so the overlay is established before the main process starts.
- Helper is now idempotent: if merged is already a mount point, exit 0.
  Required because Restart=on-failure re-runs ExecStartPre on each
  cycle, and the web-app's start_instance also calls the helper, so
  both paths would otherwise collide on "already mounted".
- StartLimitBurst=5 + StartLimitIntervalSec=60s caps the restart loop
  instead of letting it spin indefinitely on a fundamental failure.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-05-09 12:47:20 +02:00
deploy fix(l4d2-host): mount overlay via ExecStartPre so enabled units boot cleanly 2026-05-09 12:47:20 +02:00
docs/superpowers docs(specs): l4d2 cpu pinning — decision record (deferred) 2026-05-09 12:41:40 +02:00
examples/script-overlays feat(l4d2-web): seed example script overlays from examples/script-overlays/ 2026-05-08 18:41:08 +02:00
l4d2host feat(l4d2-host): server lifecycle uses systemctl enable --now / disable --now 2026-05-09 12:28:44 +02:00
l4d2web feat(l4d2-web): periodic state poller refreshes Server.actual_state 2026-05-09 12:31:28 +02:00
.envrc chore: add direnv .envrc for local Python 3.13 venv 2026-05-08 18:56:51 +02:00
.gitignore docs(specs): overlay file tree — design + implementation plan 2026-05-08 20:16:10 +02:00
AGENTS.md docs(agents): require specs and plans to live in this repo 2026-05-08 21:37:17 +02:00
README.md chore: add direnv .envrc for local Python 3.13 venv 2026-05-08 18:56:51 +02:00

left4me

left4me is a local L4D2 server management platform with two planned components:

  1. l4d2host + l4d2ctl (host library + CLI)
  2. l4d2-web-app (Flask web app for users, blueprints, servers, jobs, and logs)

Status

Implementation plans remain the source of truth for architecture and task sequencing:

  • docs/superpowers/plans/2026-04-22-l4d2-host-lib-v1.md
  • docs/superpowers/plans/2026-04-23-l4d2-web-app-v1.md

Locked v1 Decisions

  • Naming is strictly l4d2 (not l4d).
  • Host library and web app are separate components.
  • Host CLI write commands are fixed to:
    • install
    • initialize <name> -f <spec.yaml>
    • start <name>
    • stop <name>
    • delete <name>
  • Host CLI read commands are available for the web/host boundary:
    • status <name> --json
    • logs <name> --lines <n> --follow/--no-follow
  • The web app calls host operations through l4d2ctl, not direct l4d2host imports.
  • Deployment uses /var/lib/left4me for runtime state, /opt/left4me for repository contents and the virtualenv, /etc/left4me for environment files, and global units under /usr/local/lib/systemd/system.
  • Overlay handling is directory-based; the web app populates each overlay (workshop downloads, managed-global refresh).
  • No lock manager, no rollback, no preflight checks in host library.
  • CLI propagates subprocess failures via stderr and return code.
  • delete on missing instance is no-op success.
  • Blueprint model (web app):
    • user-private in v1
    • servers are live-linked to blueprint
    • no per-server overrides
    • delete blueprint blocked when linked servers exist
    • blueprint changes apply on next action
    • server can reassign blueprint anytime

Planned Repository Layout

  • l4d2host/
  • l4d2web/
  • deploy/
  • docs/superpowers/plans/

Deployment

See deploy/README.md for the Linux test deployment contract, including the runtime user, target filesystem layout, systemd units, privileged helpers, sudoers rules, admin bootstrap, and overlay reference rules.

Local development

This repo uses direnv to auto-activate a Python 3.13 venv on cd (matching the Debian Trixie production target). With direnv installed and hooked into your shell:

  1. direnv allow once per fresh checkout (and after any .envrc change).
  2. cd out and back in — .direnv/python-3.13/ is created and put on PATH.
  3. pip install -e ./l4d2host -e ./l4d2web to install both packages editable.
  4. pip install pytest to run the test suites (pytest tests/ inside either subproject).

Tech Stack (planned)

  • Python 3.12+
  • Typer, PyYAML, pytest
  • Flask, SQLAlchemy, Alembic
  • HTMX (vendored locally), custom CSS, SSE
  • systemd units, kernel overlayfs (mounted via the left4me-overlay privileged helper), steamcmd
  1. Implement l4d2host plan first.
  2. Implement l4d2web plan second.
  3. Keep tests green task-by-task (TDD flow from plans).
  4. Keep commits small and aligned with plan tasks.

Contributing Notes

  • Follow plan task order unless explicitly re-planned.
  • Keep contracts above unchanged unless the user asks to change them.
  • Update plan docs when scope or behavior changes.