# Debug Openshell Cluster > Debug why an OpenShell gateway deployment is unhealthy, unreachable, or unable to create sandboxes. Use when the user has a gateway health failure, Docker/Podman runtime issue, Helm install failure, Kubernetes scheduling issue, TLS secret issue, VM driver issue, or sandbox startup problem. Trigger keywords - debug gateway, gateway failing, deployment failing, helm install failing, cluster health, gateway health, gateway not starting, health check failed, sandbox pending, docker driver, podman driver, vm driver. Use when this capability is needed. - Skill: `tomevault-io/debug-openshell-cluster` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add tomevault-io/debug-openshell-cluster` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/tomevault-io/debug-openshell-cluster/raw - Safety review: pending (external: skill-scanner PASS, skillspector CAUTION) - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: DevOps & Infra - Author: tomevault-io (https://skillmd.com/u/tomevault-io) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/tomevault-io/debug-openshell-cluster --- # Debug OpenShell Gateway Deployment Diagnose a gateway and its selected compute platform. Do not assume OpenShell provisions Kubernetes or runs a k3s container. OpenShell targets a reachable gateway endpoint backed by Docker, Podman, Kubernetes, or the experimental VM driver. Use `openshell` first to identify the active endpoint. Then use the platform tools that match the gateway's compute driver: `docker`, `podman`, `kubectl`/`helm`, or VM driver logs. ## Overview The target deployment flow is: 1. Operator starts or deploys the gateway with system packages, systemd, Helm, or a development task. The CLI does not start, stop, or destroy gateway services. 2. Operator configures the compute driver. 3. Operator provides TLS and SSH relay material for the deployment mode. 4. The CLI registers a reachable gateway endpoint with `openshell gateway add`. 5. The gateway creates sandboxes through the selected compute driver. For local evaluation only, TLS may be disabled and the gateway can be reached through `http://127.0.0.1:`. ## Prerequisites - The `openshell` CLI must be available for endpoint checks. - Know the active gateway name and endpoint, or be able to inspect local gateway metadata. - Know the compute platform: Docker, Podman, Kubernetes, or VM. - For Kubernetes: `kubectl` must target the cluster that hosts OpenShell and Helm version 3 or later must be available. - For Docker or Podman: the runtime socket must be reachable from the gateway host. ## Workflow Run diagnostics in order and stop once the root cause is clear. ### Step 1: Check CLI Reachability ```bash openshell gateway info openshell status ``` Common findings: - `No active gateway`: register one with `openshell gateway add `. - Connection refused: gateway process is not running, service exposure is wrong, or a port-forward/proxy is not active. - TLS/certificate errors: CLI mTLS bundle does not match the gateway CA, or the gateway is running with unexpected TLS settings. ### Step 2: Identify the Compute Platform Use gateway metadata, deployment values, or the user's setup notes to identify the driver. | Platform | Primary checks | |---|---| | Docker | Gateway process logs, Docker daemon health, sandbox containers, image pulls. | | Podman | Podman socket, rootless networking, sandbox containers, image pulls. | | Kubernetes | Helm release, gateway workload, service, secrets, sandbox pods, events. | | VM | VM driver logs, rootfs availability, host virtualization support. | ### Step 3: Check Docker-Backed Gateways ```bash docker info docker ps --filter name=openshell docker logs --tail=200 docker run --rm --entrypoint /openshell-sandbox "${OPENSHELL_DOCKER_SUPERVISOR_IMAGE:-ghcr.io/nvidia/openshell/supervisor:latest}" --version openshell status ``` For Docker GPU failures, check CDI support and NVIDIA CDI discovery separately: ```bash docker info --format '{{json .CDISpecDirs}}' docker info --format '{{json .DiscoveredDevices}}' for dir in /etc/cdi /var/run/cdi; do if [ -d "$dir" ]; then find "$dir" -maxdepth 1 -type f \( -name '*.yaml' -o -name '*.json' \) -print else echo "$dir missing" fi done systemctl is-enabled nvidia-cdi-refresh.service nvidia-cdi-refresh.path || true systemctl is-active nvidia-cdi-refresh.service nvidia-cdi-refresh.path || true systemctl status nvidia-cdi-refresh.service nvidia-cdi-refresh.path --no-pager --lines=50 journalctl -u nvidia-cdi-refresh.service --no-pager --lines=100 ``` When the NVIDIA Container Toolkit CDI refresh units are not enabled or no NVIDIA CDI spec has been generated, enable them and trigger a refresh: ```bash sudo systemctl enable --now nvidia-cdi-refresh.path sudo systemctl enable --now nvidia-cdi-refresh.service sudo systemctl restart nvidia-cdi-refresh.service docker info --format '{{json .DiscoveredDevices}}' ``` Common findings: - Docker daemon unavailable: start Docker Desktop or Docker Engine. - Gateway process stopped: inspect exit status and logs. - Sandbox image missing or pull denied: verify image reference and registry credentials. - Docker driver cannot initialize because it cannot find `openshell-sandbox`: verify `OPENSHELL_DOCKER_SUPERVISOR_BIN`, the sibling binary next to `openshell-gateway`, or the configured supervisor image contains `/openshell-sandbox`. - Sandbox never registers: check gateway logs and supervisor callback endpoint. - Supervisor image exits before printing `openshell-sandbox --version`: the image should be the scratch supervisor image from `deploy/docker/Dockerfile.supervisor` and must contain a static executable at `/openshell-sandbox`. - `mise run e2e:docker:gpu` fails with `docker info --format json did not report any discovered NVIDIA CDI GPU devices`: Docker may report `CDISpecDirs` while still having no generated NVIDIA CDI specs. Verify `.DiscoveredDevices` contains entries such as `nvidia.com/gpu=all`, verify `/etc/cdi` or `/var/run/cdi` contains a generated NVIDIA spec, and check that `nvidia-cdi-refresh.service` and `nvidia-cdi-refresh.path` from NVIDIA Container Toolkit are enabled and healthy. The service is a one-shot unit, so `inactive (dead)` can be normal after a successful run; use `systemctl status` and `journalctl` to distinguish success from a skipped or failed refresh. NVIDIA recommends enabling the path and service units, and restarting `nvidia-cdi-refresh.service` to regenerate missing or stale CDI specs. If specs are generated but Docker still reports no discovered devices, restart Docker or reload the daemon and re-check `docker info`. For source checkout development, restart the local gateway with: ```bash mise run gateway:docker ``` ### Step 4: Check Podman-Backed Gateways ```bash podman info podman ps --filter name=openshell podman logs --tail=200 openshell status ``` Common findings: - Podman socket unavailable: start or expose the user socket. - Rootless networking unavailable: inspect Podman network configuration. - Sandbox image missing or pull denied: verify image reference and registry credentials. - Supervisor cannot call back: check callback endpoint and gateway logs. ### Step 5: Check Kubernetes Helm Gateways ```bash helm -n openshell status openshell helm -n openshell get values openshell kubectl -n openshell get deployment,statefulset,pod,svc,pvc kubectl -n openshell logs deployment/openshell -c openshell-gateway --tail=200 kubectl -n openshell logs statefulset/openshell -c openshell-gateway --tail=200 kubectl -n openshell rollout status deployment/openshell kubectl -n openshell rollout status statefulset/openshell ``` Use the log and rollout commands for the workload kind that exists in the release. Look for failed installs, unexpected values, missing namespace, wrong image tag, TLS settings that do not match the registered endpoint, and scheduling failures. For HA or PostgreSQL-backed installs, also check the external database Secret referenced by `server.externalDbSecret` and the PostgreSQL workload if the test or operator deployed one in-cluster: ```bash kubectl -n openshell get secret openshell-ha-pg -o yaml kubectl -n openshell get deployment,service,pod -l app.kubernetes.io/name=openshell-e2e-postgres kubectl -n openshell logs deployment/openshell-e2e-postgres --tail=200 ``` Check required Helm deployment secrets: ```bash kubectl -n openshell get secret \ openshell-server-tls \ openshell-server-client-ca \ openshell-client-tls \ openshell-jwt-keys ``` In cert-manager installs, `certManager.enabled=true` makes cert-manager own TLS generation. The Helm chart should still render the `openshell-certgen` pre-install/pre-upgrade hook in JWT-only mode to create `openshell-jwt-keys`, even if `pkiInitJob.enabled` remains true. If the gateway pod is pending with `MountVolume.SetUp failed for volume "sandbox-jwt"` and `openshell-jwt-keys` is absent, inspect the rendered `templates/certgen.yaml` output and the hook Job logs; cert-manager creates TLS Secrets but does not create the sandbox JWT signing Secret. If the gateway exits with `failed to read sandbox JWT signing key from /etc/openshell-jwt/signing.pem`, verify that `openshell-jwt-keys` contains `signing.pem`, `public.pem`, and `kid`, and that the gateway workload mounts the `sandbox-jwt` secret at `/etc/openshell-jwt`. The sandbox JWT mount is required even when local Helm values disable TLS. If `server.providerTokenGrants.spiffe.enabled=true`, the gateway should still render `[openshell.gateway.gateway_jwt]` and mount the `sandbox-jwt` Secret. SPIRE is used only by sandbox pods for dynamic provider token grants. Verify that SPIRE is installed, the CSI driver is available, and the Kubernetes driver config includes `provider_spiffe_workload_api_socket_path`: ```bash helm -n openshell get values openshell | grep -E 'providerTokenGrants|workloadApiSocketPath' kubectl get pods -A | grep -E 'spire|spiffe' kubectl -n openshell get configmap openshell-config -o yaml | grep provider_spiffe_workload_api_socket_path ``` Sandbox pods using provider token grants should have an `openshell.io/sandbox-id` annotation, an `openshell.ai/managed-by=openshell` label, supervisor env vars `OPENSHELL_K8S_SA_TOKEN_FILE` and `OPENSHELL_PROVIDER_SPIFFE_WORKLOAD_API_SOCKET`, plus both the projected `openshell-sa-token` volume and the `spiffe-workload-api` CSI volume. Check the image references currently used by the gateway deployment: ```bash kubectl -n openshell get deployment openshell -o jsonpath="{.spec.template.spec.containers[*].image}{\"\n\"}{.spec.template.spec.containers[*].env[?(@.name==\"OPENSHELL_SUPERVISOR_IMAGE\")].value}{\"\n\"}" kubectl -n openshell get statefulset openshell -o jsonpath="{.spec.template.spec.containers[*].image}{\"\n\"}{.spec.template.spec.containers[*].env[?(@.name==\"OPENSHELL_SUPERVISOR_IMAGE\")].value}{\"\n\"}" helm -n openshell get values openshell | grep -E 'repository|tag|supervisorImage|workload' ``` The gateway image built from `deploy/docker/Dockerfile.gateway` and the scratch supervisor image built from `deploy/docker/Dockerfile.supervisor` should use the same build tag in branch and E2E deploys. A stale supervisor image can make sandbox behavior lag behind gateway policy or proto changes. For local/external pull mode (the default local path via `mise run cluster`), local images are tagged to the configured local registry base, pushed to that registry, and pulled by k3s via the `registries.yaml` mirror endpoint. The `cluster` task pushes prebuilt local tags (`openshell/*:dev`, falling back to `localhost:5000/openshell/*:dev` or `127.0.0.1:5000/openshell/*:dev`). Gateway image builds stage a partial Rust workspace from `deploy/docker/Dockerfile.images`. If cargo fails with a missing manifest under `/build/crates/...`, or an imported symbol exists locally but is missing in the image build, verify that every current gateway dependency crate, including `openshell-driver-docker`, `openshell-driver-kubernetes`, and `openshell-ocsf`, is copied into the staged workspace there. For plaintext local evaluation, confirm the chart has: ```bash helm -n openshell get values openshell | grep -E 'disableTls|grpcEndpoint' ``` Expected shape: ```yaml server: disableTls: true grpcEndpoint: http://openshell.openshell.svc.cluster.local:8080 ``` Check service exposure: ```bash kubectl -n openshell get svc openshell -o wide kubectl -n openshell get endpoints openshell ``` For local port-forward testing: ```bash kubectl -n openshell port-forward svc/openshell 8080:8080 openshell gateway add http://127.0.0.1:8080 --local --name local openshell status ``` If the gateway is healthy but sandbox creation fails: ```bash kubectl -n openshell get pods kubectl -n openshell get events --sort-by=.lastTimestamp | tail -n 50 kubectl -n openshell logs deployment/openshell -c openshell-gateway --tail=200 kubectl -n openshell logs statefulset/openshell -c openshell-gateway --tail=200 ``` Check the configured sandbox namespace: ```bash helm -n openshell get values openshell | grep sandboxNamespace ``` Then inspect sandbox resources in that namespace. Check the configured sandbox service account when TokenReview bootstrap or sandbox registration fails. Helm creates a dedicated sandbox service account by default and writes it to `[openshell.drivers.kubernetes].service_account_name`; the gateway rejects projected tokens from other service accounts. ```bash helm -n openshell get values openshell | grep -A3 sandboxServiceAccount kubectl -n get serviceaccount openshell-sandbox kubectl -n openshell get configmap openshell-config -o jsonpath='{.data.gateway\.toml}' kubectl -n get sandbox -o jsonpath='{.spec.template.spec.serviceAccountName}{"\n"}' ``` ### Step 6: Check VM-Backed Gateways Use the VM driver logs and host diagnostics available in the user's environment. Verify: - The VM driver process is running and reachable by the gateway. - The runtime rootfs exists and matches the expected architecture. - Host virtualization support is enabled. - The sandbox supervisor can establish its callback connection to the gateway. Then run: ```bash openshell status openshell logs ``` ## Common Failure Patterns | Symptom | Likely cause | Check | |---|---|---| | `openshell status` fails | Gateway endpoint unreachable or auth mismatch | `openshell gateway info`, gateway logs | | Gateway starts but sandbox create fails | Compute driver cannot reach runtime | Docker/Podman/Kubernetes/VM driver logs | | Docker or Podman sandbox never registers | Wrong callback endpoint or supervisor startup failure | Gateway logs and sandbox container logs | | Docker GPU e2e fails before GPU sandbox comparison | NVIDIA CDI specs are missing or Docker has not discovered them | `docker info --format '{{json .DiscoveredDevices}}'`, `/etc/cdi`, `/var/run/cdi`, `nvidia-cdi-refresh.service` | | Kubernetes gateway pod pending | PVC unbound, taint, selector, or insufficient resources | `kubectl -n openshell describe pod ` | | Kubernetes gateway pod crash loops | Missing secret, bad DB URL, bad TLS config | `kubectl -n openshell logs deployment/openshell -c openshell-gateway` or `kubectl -n openshell logs statefulset/openshell -c openshell-gateway` | | CLI TLS error | Local mTLS bundle does not match server cert/CA | Check `~/.config/openshell/gateways//mtls/` | | Image pull failure | Gateway or sandbox image cannot be pulled | Runtime events and image pull credentials | | `K8s namespace not ready` with `envoy-gateway-openshell.yaml: the server could not find the requested resource` | Optional Gateway API manifest was applied without Envoy Gateway CRDs, or k3s Helm controller startup exceeded the namespace wait | Apply `deploy/kube/manifests/envoy-gateway-openshell.yaml` manually only after Envoy Gateway is installed and `grpcRoute` is enabled | ## Reporting When handing results back to the user, include: - Active gateway endpoint and auth mode. - Compute platform and driver. - Gateway process or workload status. - Recent gateway log summary. - Missing or malformed TLS or SSH relay material. - Service exposure status. - Sandbox workload status. - The exact command that failed and the shortest fix. --- > Source: [NVIDIA/OpenShell](https://github.com/NVIDIA/OpenShell) — distributed by [TomeVault](https://tomevault.io).