# TODO — robustness backlog for the van router (`wayback`)

Candidate improvements toward a robust unattended mobile router, tiered by
value-for-effort. Generated 2026-06-29 from a robustness review of the live box.

## Already in place (for reference — don't redo)

- [x] Multi-WAN failover (wifi → Starlink → 4G) — `van-failover`
- [x] Thermal monitoring + alerts + history — `van-thermal`
- [x] Battery low-charge Pushover alerts + safe auto-shutdown — `van-battery`
- [x] Mains ↔ battery transition alerts
- [x] Cockpit dashboard (AP, temps, battery, failover, WAN)
- [x] Never-sleep / lid-closed operation
- [x] `unattended-upgrades` enabled
- [x] `smartd` active (SMART being read) — but see Tier 2 (alerts go nowhere)
- [x] Time sync healthy (NTP synced)
- [x] journald within sane ZFS limits

---

## Tier 1 — high value, pieces already on hand

- [x] **systemd hardware watchdog** — DONE. `power/10-vanlink-watchdog.conf` drop-in sets
  `RuntimeWatchdogSec=20s` + `RebootWatchdogSec=5min`; PID1 pets `intel_oc_wdt`, chip
  hard-resets the box if systemd hangs >20s. Deployed via `daemon-reexec`.
- [x] **Auto power-on when mains returns** — RESOLVED as "document only". Not
  OS-controllable on this ZenBook: `/proc/acpi/wakeup` is wake-from-suspend (S3/S4) only,
  and "restore on AC loss" is a BIOS/firmware feature this laptop likely doesn't expose.
  The 10% auto-shutdown is therefore a one-way trip until manual power-on. **Action:**
  check BIOS setup for an "AC power-on / restore on AC loss" option and enable it if
  present (documented in README §3, Battery monitor).
- [x] **Heartbeat / dead-man's switch** — DONE. `hbc` (heartbeat client, from
  git.wrede.ca/andreas/heartbeat) installed to `~/venvs/hbd` + `~/bin/hbc`; `hbc.service`
  reports to **hbd.wrede.pvt** (UDP 50003) every 15s as user `andreas`, shipping cpu/mem/
  disk/network/zfs metrics. Config `/etc/hbc.yaml`, vendored in `heartbeat/`.
- [ ] **Connectivity alerts → Pushover** — `van-failover` already knows when it fails
  over or when ALL WANs are down; it just logs it. Pipe those events to the Pushover
  plumbing so internet loss is alerted, not just battery.

## Tier 2 — worth doing soon

- [ ] **smartd → Pushover** — smartd alerts default to emailing root (a black hole on a
  headless box). Wire `-M exec` to a Pushover script so NVMe SMART/wear warnings
  (reallocated sectors, wear-leveling) actually reach a phone.
- [ ] **ZFS hygiene** (root is `zroot`) — schedule a periodic scrub (with zfs-zed
  alerting), and auto-snapshot before `deploy.sh` for one-command rollback. Cap ARC if
  RAM ever gets tight.
- [ ] **Security hardening**:
  - [ ] Cockpit binds `*:9090` (all interfaces incl. WANs unless nftables drops inbound —
    confirm). Restrict to LAN/ZeroTier.
  - [ ] Add `fail2ban` for Cockpit/SSH.
  - [ ] WPA3-transition on the AP.
  - [ ] Guest SSID isolated from trusted devices.
- [ ] **Cellular data-cap tracking** — `vnstat` or nftables counters on the gsm iface +
  a Pushover alert near the monthly cap, to avoid bill shock when parked on 4G.

## Tier 3 — situational

- [ ] **Captive-portal handling** for public-WiFi WANs (campsites / neighbour APs) —
  detection at minimum, auto-auth for frequently-used ones.
- [ ] **GPS** — location logging / geofencing / offline time source.
- [ ] **Secrets backup** — git covers configs, but `/etc/van-battery/pushover.json` and
  other secrets are intentionally out of git. Document a restore path so a disk swap
  doesn't lose them.

---

**Suggested next:** Tier 1. The watchdog and connectivity-alerts are quick and reuse
existing plumbing; the AC-restore BIOS setting is what makes the battery auto-shutdown
genuinely safe rather than a trap.