# Design v2 — implementation errata (RHEL/Rocky 9)

Records where the as-built implementation diverges from
`diskless-fleet-design-v2.pdf`. The PDF remains authoritative for the
architecture; this note captures deltas discovered bringing the build up on
**Rocky 9.8** until they are folded into a consolidated **v3**. Last updated
2026-06-13.

The architecture is unchanged: 802.1X EAP-TLS with a TPM-held key, MACsec on the
access link, dm-verity-protected erofs root over NVMe/TCP, signed UKI, and the
FROM-scratch OCI release artifact. Only the items below differ.

## 1. Design-level change — writable root overlay

**PDF says (§3 step 8, §5):** runtime state lives on a tmpfs overlay enabled by
the kernel cmdline option **`rootovl`**.

**As built:** the cmdline uses **`systemd.volatile=overlay`** instead.

**Why:** `rootovl`/`overlayfs` is a Debian/third-party dracut module; RHEL/Rocky
dracut does not ship it (`dracut: module 'overlayfs' cannot be found`).
`systemd.volatile=overlay` is the RHEL-native, systemd-supported mechanism and
is the recommended overlay for dm-verity-protected read-only roots. Behaviour is
equivalent: the verity erofs root mounts read-only and a tmpfs overlay carries
runtime writes; per-host `machine-id` is still generated into the overlay.

**Caveat:** requires `systemd-volatile-root.service` in the initramfs (bundled by
recent dracut; `install_items` it if the root stays read-only at boot). The known
failure mode is NFS root — not applicable here (NVMe block root). Set in
[../scripts/extract-artifacts.sh](../scripts/extract-artifacts.sh); module list
in [../files/etc/dracut.conf.d/90-diskless.conf](../files/etc/dracut.conf.d/90-diskless.conf).

## 2. Implementation notes (not architectural)

These don't contradict the PDF (it doesn't specify them) but are worth recording.

- **Network backend.** The dracut hook uses `network-legacy`/`ifup`, which needs
  `dhclient`; RHEL 9 deprecated it and the minimal ISO omits it, so the
  provisioner installs `dhcp-client` explicitly. dhclient is on its way out — the
  durable fix is porting the hook to the `network-manager` dracut module
  (tracked; see project todo).
- **Build ISO.** Defaults to a version-pinned Rocky 9.x **minimal** ISO on the
  internal mirror (`iso_url` + `sha256` `iso_checksum`). `http/ks.cfg` installs
  only core+sshd+chrony from the ISO; the diskless tooling is pulled online by
  the provisioner, so the build VM needs outbound repo access.
- **Reference serving stack.** §7's SPDK + nginx + DHCP/DNS serving stack has a
  concrete docker-compose implementation in [../serving/](../serving/), incl.
  Docker image-volume mounting of the OCI artifact image.
- Assorted build-time fixes (HCL `%%{` escaping, file-provisioner staging,
  dracut module naming) are documented in
  [../CLAUDE.md](../CLAUDE.md) → "RHEL 9.x build notes".

## 3. Temporary deviation — must be reverted before production

- **802.1X/MACsec test bypass.** `disable_dot1x=true` bakes `rd.dot1x=0` into the
  cmdline so the host skips authentication/MACsec and DHCPs the NIC directly, to
  validate the UKI/rootfs/NVMe-oF path on an open switch port. The auth stack
  stays in the image (dormant). This is **lab-only**; a production build must
  drop the flag (`DISABLE_DOT1X: "false"` in CI) to restore the secure boot
  chain described throughout the PDF.