davidandClaude Sonnet 5
1121835678
- base: Tailscale's per-codename .nosetup.sh install scripts are gone (404); switch to the universal tailscale.com/install.sh, and split install/enable (always) from auth (only when a key is given) so a node without an authkey still gets Tailscale installed, just not authenticated. - meshcore_capture: the current upstream installer (v2.0.0+, what a fresh install now produces) uses a completely different layout than dm-baldock/dm-ashwell's older flat ~/.meshcore-packet-capture setup — dedicated system user, /opt + /etc/meshcore-packet-capture, config.d/*.toml, meshcore-packet-capture.service. Added meshcore_capture_layout (system/legacy) so the role targets the right paths/service name per host without touching the two working legacy nodes. New 99-user.toml.j2 replicates the old MQTT broker coverage (letsmesh us/eu, meshrank, ukmesh, meshmapper) in the new config.d override format. - dm-edworth: fill in serial_port now that the MeshCore device is connected; confirmed running and publishing to all 5 brokers. - README: fix broken list formatting, document the installer's required manual step and why. Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <[email protected]>
94 lines
7.1 KiB
Markdown
94 lines
7.1 KiB
Markdown
# dotmesh-monitor
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Ansible playbooks for deploying MeshCore monitoring nodes (Raspberry Pi Zero W / Zero 2 W).
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## Hosts
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| Host | Hardware | Group |
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|---|---|---|
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| dm-baldock | Pi Zero W (armv6) | zero_w |
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| dm-ashwell | Pi Zero 2 W (armv7) | zero2_w |
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| dm-edworth | Pi Zero 2 W (armv7) | zero2_w |
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## Prerequisites
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**Local machine:**
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```bash
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pip install ansible
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# or: sudo apt install ansible
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```
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**New Pi node checklist:**
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1. Flash Raspberry Pi OS Lite (Trixie) with Raspberry Pi Imager, using "Edit Settings" (OS customisation) to set hostname, the `david` user + password, and the `dotnetwork` wifi (SSID/password only — the imager only supports one network at flash time; the deployed-location and `dotmobile` networks get added later by the `wifi` role, see below).
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2. **Before ejecting the card**, verify the customisation actually got written — mount the boot partition and check `network-config`/`user-data` aren't just the commented-out stock template (see "Imager gotcha" below). Only `cmdline.txt`'s regdomain getting a fresh timestamp while the rest stay at the image's build date is the tell that it silently failed.
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3. Boot the Pi, find its LAN IP (e.g. from the router's DHCP leases), confirm SSH access with the password you set — no key is seeded at flash time.
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4. Run `ssh-copy-id david@<ip>` **from an interactive terminal** (not through a non-interactive shell/script — it needs a real TTY to prompt for the password) so ansible can connect with a key.
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5. Connect the MeshCore device via USB, then find its serial ID: `ls /dev/serial/by-id/`.
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6. Add `serial_port` (and `wifi_ssid_location`) to `ansible/host_vars/<hostname>/vars.yml`, and the location wifi password to `ansible/host_vars/<hostname>/vault.yml` (see "Vault" below).
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7. Run `site.yml` against just that host, overriding the host's address since Tailscale/DNS won't resolve it yet: `ansible-playbook site.yml --limit <hostname> -e "ansible_host=<ip>"`. This authorizes your SSH keys, joins the deployed-location + dotmobile wifi networks, installs (but does not authenticate) Tailscale, and deploys everything else in one pass.
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8. Tailscale needs one manual step: SSH in and run `sudo tailscale up`, then open the printed URL in a browser to approve the device on your tailnet. (You *can* pass `-e tailscale_auth_key=tskey-...` — from the [admin console](https://login.tailscale.com/admin/settings/keys) — to authenticate non-interactively instead, but there's no stored key anywhere for this repo, so the interactive route is simplest for a one-off node.)
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9. The meshcore-packet-capture installer also needs one manual step (see "meshcore-packet-capture install is interactive" below): SSH in and run `sudo bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/agessaman/meshcore-packet-capture/main/install.sh)"`, answering its ~3 prompts (service account, install method — pick **1**, IATA/broker config — defaults are fine, `site.yml` overwrites `.env.local` afterward anyway).
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10. Once Tailscale is up, re-run `site.yml` without the `ansible_host` override — it'll resolve via the Tailscale hostname from here on, and will now just write `.env.local` + enable the service since the installer step is already satisfied.
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### meshcore-packet-capture install is interactive
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The `install.sh` bootstrap has no real non-interactive path for a *fresh* install — its `--update` flag only changes behavior when an installation already exists. It also refuses to run at all with piped stdin (`curl | sudo bash` errors out asking you to download the script first) and its Python layer explicitly opens `/dev/tty` for prompts, which just hangs forever over plain SSH/ansible (no human there to answer). We tried feeding it scripted answers via `script`/a pty and it's not worth the fragility — just run it manually once per node (step 9 above); `ansible/roles/meshcore_capture/tasks/main.yml`'s `creates:` guard means ansible never touches it again afterward.
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### Imager gotcha (2026-07)
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The Raspberry Pi Imager available via Flathub (`org.raspberrypi.rpi-imager`) is stuck on **1.9.6** and there's no newer `.deb`/Flatpak in the Ubuntu or Flathub repos either — Flathub hasn't published the 2.0.x rewrite. 1.9.6 silently fails to apply OS customisation (hostname, user, SSH, wifi) on newer Raspberry Pi OS Trixie images: it only writes the kernel `cfg80211.ieee80211_regdom=` cmdline parameter and leaves `user-data`/`network-config` as the stock commented-out template, with no error. The result looks exactly like a wifi problem (Pi never appears on the network) but is actually "the card has no credentials on it at all."
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Fix: grab the real `.deb` from the [GitHub releases page](https://github.com/raspberrypi/rpi-imager/releases) (e.g. `rpi-imager_2.0.10_amd64.deb`) and `sudo dpkg -i` it — that version writes the customisation correctly.
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## Usage
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**Deploy to a single host (recommended for first run / testing):**
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```bash
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cd ansible
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ansible-playbook -i inventory.yml site.yml --limit dm-edworth
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```
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**Deploy to all nodes:**
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```bash
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ansible-playbook -i inventory.yml site.yml
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```
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**Dry run:**
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```bash
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ansible-playbook -i inventory.yml site.yml --limit dm-edworth --check
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```
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If sudo requires a password, add `--ask-become-pass`.
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You'll be prompted for a Tailscale auth key — leave blank if the node is already authenticated.
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## What it does
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1. **wifi** — configures NetworkManager connections for `dotnetwork` (home), `dotmobile` (phone hotspot, field troubleshooting fallback), and the host's deployed-location network
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2. **base** — apt upgrade, installs screen/pipx/vnstat/git, sets MOTD, authorizes SSH keys for both laptop partitions, installs Tailscale (always) and authenticates it (only if `tailscale_auth_key` is set — otherwise run `sudo tailscale up` manually once, see checklist above)
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3. **meshcore_cli** — installs `meshcore-cli` via pipx
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4. **meshcore_capture** — runs the agessaman/meshcore-packet-capture install script (skipped once already installed — see "meshcore-packet-capture install is interactive" above, this needs a manual first run), writes `.env.local` config, enables `meshcore-capture.service`, deploys update/log helper scripts
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5. **scripts** — deploys `voltage.sh` and `bandwidth.sh`
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## Config
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Shared MQTT config lives in `group_vars/meshcore.yml`. Per-host serial port and wifi SSID are in `host_vars/<hostname>/vars.yml`.
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Running the playbook again re-applies `.env.local` and restarts the service if it changed — safe to run on already-deployed nodes.
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## Vault
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`group_vars/all/vault.yml` (shared wifi/SSH secrets) and `host_vars/<hostname>/vault.yml` (per-host deployed-location wifi password) are encrypted with Ansible Vault. `ansible.cfg` points at `../.vault_pass` (gitignored, not committed) for the password — ask David for a copy, or generate a fresh one and re-encrypt if starting over:
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```bash
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ansible-vault view --vault-password-file ../.vault_pass group_vars/all/vault.yml
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ansible-vault edit --vault-password-file ../.vault_pass host_vars/dm-edworth/vault.yml
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```
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`*/vault.yml.example` shows the expected keys.
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`group_vars/meshcore.yml` (MQTT credentials) is still plaintext — consider moving it into the vault too if this repo is shared further.
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