Openwrt Diagnostics

OpenWrt Diagnostic and Verification Rules

Permanent Diagnostics

1. OpenWrt build includes diagnostic tasks at two key milestones that run on EVERY build:

Bootstrap diagnostics (openwrt_vm, after SSH bootstrap):

• VM status, bridge layout, bootstrap IP presence, dmesg errors

Phase 1 diagnostics (openwrt_configure, after WAN route + firewall restart):

• WAN route, WAN IP, LAN IP, DNS resolvers, firewall status, dmesg errors

Final diagnostics (openwrt_configure, end of build):

• VM status, onboot/startup config, LAN bridge IP, management config presence

2. When build fails, diagnostic output from last successful milestone narrows failure window.

State File Pattern

3. build.py probes PRIMARY_HOST before running Ansible. If unreachable, it reads .state/addresses.json for cached alternative IPs. This handles cable-swap scenarios where original management IP is no longer routable.

4. The state file is written by openwrt_configure and cleaned by both cleanup playbooks. It is gitignored.

Verification Requirements

5. ALWAYS verify expected outcome after network operations:

   • wait_for on SSH port (proves dropbear restarted)
   • wait_for on WAN default route (proves network restarted)
   • Firewall restart task (proves firewall can be restarted = it's running)

6. If detached script fails silently, verification steps catch it.