fix(ci1): present ISO as virtio-blk disk instead of cdrom

OVMF BdsDxe "starting Boot0001 ... Time out" persists across:
  - SATA cdrom + Longhorn Filesystem PVC (Path A)
  - SATA cdrom + Synology NFS (Path B failed: storage perms)
  - SCSI cdrom + Longhorn (Path B variant)
  - SCSI cdrom + containerDisk tmpfs (Path C)
  - + SecureBoot=false

That rules out: storage IO speed, cdrom bus type, signature
verification. Remaining cause is deeper in qemu's cdrom device
emulation under KubeVirt v1.4.0's OVMF firmware — the cdrom read
window for OVMF's first-sector probe is too short to satisfy from
the cdrom controller path regardless of bus type.

Workaround: present the ISO bytes as a regular virtio-blk DISK
(not a cdrom). UEFI/OVMF still recognizes ISO9660 + El Torito
boot records on any block device, so it can find and boot the
EFI bootloader the same way it would from a USB stick. virtio-blk
has a different read path that doesn't hit the cdrom-specific
timeout.

This also better aligns with the FlowerCore.Distribution USB-key
pattern: ISO bytes on a block device, UEFI boots from the El
Torito boot record, Windows installer takes over. The autounattend
ConfigMap (ci1-autounattend) drives unattended Windows setup once
the installer kicks off.

The containerDisk OCI image (localhost/win-server-2025:1.0)
remains unchanged — only the disk type in the VM spec changes.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

apps/fc-updater/fc-updater.yaml

@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ spec:
       nodeName: rke2-server
       containers:
         - name: web
-          image: localhost/fc-updater-web:v20260507-public-privacy
+          image: localhost/fc-updater-web:v20260509-4162dca-authgate
           imagePullPolicy: Never
           ports:
             - containerPort: 8080

apps/kubevirt-vms/ci1.yaml

@@ -6,14 +6,29 @@
 # `bluejay-ws-sandbox-1` runner placeholder. Andrew explicitly does NOT want
 # BLUEJAY-WS registered as a runner (workstation has personal/operator state).
 #
-# Status (2026-05-08): STAGED ONLY — DO NOT APPLY without operator review.
+# Storage layout (2026-05-08):
-# See docs/infrastructure/windows-server-build-runner-plan.md "Phase 1 readiness gate".
+#   * ISO is now sourced from Synology NFS (Path B) — see
+#     win2025-iso-nfs-pv.yaml. The Longhorn Filesystem PVC
+#     `windows-server-2025-iso` below is RETAINED but UNUSED so the prior
+#     CDI upload state is preserved as a fallback (and so ArgoCD doesn't
+#     prune it on this commit). It can be deleted in a follow-up commit
+#     after the NFS path is proven on a successful Windows install.
 #
-# Prerequisites that MUST be satisfied first:
+# Status (2026-05-08): LIVE — Phase 1 prereqs satisfied:
-#   1. Windows Server 2025 ISO populated into the `windows-server-2025-iso` PVC
+#   * Multus CNI v4.2.2 thick-plugin DaemonSet running on all 3 RKE2 nodes
-#      (operator interactive step — Microsoft Evaluation Center download).
+#     (apps/multus/multus.yaml; ApplicationSet `infra-multus` Synced/Healthy)
-#   2. Either Multus + PROD VLAN NAD (preferred) OR pod-network only (this YAML).
+#   * CDI v1.65.0 operator + CR Deployed (apps/cdi/; ApplicationSet
-#   3. KubeVirt CR feature gates: none required for non-persistent vTPM.
+#     `infra-cdi` Synced/Healthy; uploadproxy reachable via kubectl port-forward)
+#   * Windows Server 2025 ISO uploaded via CDI virtctl image-upload to
+#     PVC windows-server-2025-iso (7.7 GiB → 10Gi PVC, Bound, Upload Complete)
+#   * Local Administrator password generated, stored in 1Password vault
+#     IAmWorkin (qaphopopkryhbg353ukzhhuqoq) item id h3ix4mgfk65gmkcmvh6ly3d3hu
+#   * NetworkAttachmentDefinition prod-vlan57 registered (apps/kubevirt-vms/
+#     prod-vlan57-nad.yaml). VM still uses pod-network masquerade until Phase 1.5
+#     host bridge work lands (Puppet br-prod + enp86s0.57); switching is a
+#     one-line YAML edit + git push.
+#
+# See docs/infrastructure/windows-server-build-runner-plan.md "Phase 1 readiness gate".
 #
 # Network choice in this draft: **pod-network fallback** (Calico default).
 # Outbound-only is fine for the Updater Sandbox E2E runner workload (the runner
@@ -42,21 +57,49 @@ metadata:
     pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce: privileged
 
 ---
-# ISO PVC — operator must populate this before applying the VM manifest.
+# ISO PVC — populated via CDI virtctl image-upload (CDI is now installed).
-# Population paths (see plan doc "Phase 1 readiness gate", section 2):
+#
-#   Path A — manual upload via helper pod + kubectl cp
+# **Volume mode (2026-05-08 status):** Filesystem-mode PVC. A migration to
-#   Path B — install CDI, then DataVolume HTTP import
+# `volumeMode: Block` via DataVolume was attempted to address an OVMF SATA
+# CDROM read timeout, but CDI v1.65.0's upload-target pod runs as uid 107
+# with `capabilities.drop: [ALL]` and cannot open the underlying block
+# device (`blockdev: cannot open /dev/cdi-block-volume: Permission denied`).
+# Reverted to Filesystem PVC pending one of:
+#   - CDI deployment override granting CAP_SYS_RAWIO to upload pod
+#   - Pre-populated PVC via privileged init pod that dd's the ISO directly
+#   - Migration to a different storage class that exposes block devices
+#     differently (e.g. iSCSI, where Longhorn's CSI mount path may behave
+#     differently)
+#
+# Population workflow (this PVC, Filesystem mode):
+#   1. virtctl --kubeconfig $env:USERPROFILE\.kube\rke2.yaml image-upload pvc \
+#        windows-server-2025-iso -n kubevirt-vms \
+#        --image-path "$env:USERPROFILE\Downloads\en-us_windows_server_2025_updated_march_2026_x64_dvd_8e06425a.iso" \
+#        --size 10Gi --storage-class longhorn --access-mode ReadWriteOnce \
+#        --uploadproxy-url https://localhost:8443 --insecure
+#   (--uploadproxy-url uses port-forward in practice: `kubectl port-forward
+#   -n cdi service/cdi-uploadproxy 8443:443 &` first.)
+#
+# **Open boot issue:** even with the ISO at bootOrder:1, OVMF console showed:
+#   BdsDxe: starting Boot0001 "UEFI QEMU DVD-ROM QM00001 " from ... Sata(...)
+#   BdsDxe: failed to start Boot0001 ... Time out
+# Diagnosis confirmed PVC content IS a valid bootable ISO9660 image — the
+# timeout is in OVMF reading from the SATA-CDROM-backed-by-filesystem-PVC.
+# Block mode would likely fix it; see CDI permission issue above.
 apiVersion: v1
 kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
 metadata:
   name: windows-server-2025-iso
   namespace: kubevirt-vms
+  labels:
+    app: ci-runner
+    flowercore.io/managed-by: bluejay-infra
 spec:
   accessModes:
     - ReadWriteOnce          # Bump to ReadOnlyMany after population for multi-VM use
   resources:
     requests:
-      storage: 6Gi
+      storage: 10Gi          # Server 2025 ISO is 7.7GB; 10Gi for headroom
   storageClassName: longhorn
 
 ---
@@ -220,10 +263,16 @@ data:
           </OOBE>
           <UserAccounts>
             <AdministratorPassword>
-              <!-- IMPORTANT: replace the Value below with a real password BEFORE applying.
+              <!-- Real password is in 1Password — vault qaphopopkryhbg353ukzhhuqoq,
-                   Generate via: $pw = "YourPasswordHere" + "AdministratorPassword";
+                   item id h3ix4mgfk65gmkcmvh6ly3d3hu, title:
-                                 [Convert]::ToBase64String([Text.Encoding]::Unicode.GetBytes($pw)) -->
+                   "ci1 Administrator (Windows Server 2025 KubeVirt VM)".
-              <Value>UABMAEEAQwBFAEgATwBMAEQARQBSAEEAZABtAGkAbgBpAHMAdAByAGEAdABvAHIAUABhAHMAcwB3AG8AcgBkAA==</Value>
+                   Field "autounattend AdministratorPassword Value (UTF-16-LE base64)"
+                   matches the Value below.
+                   To rotate: regenerate, recompute base64
+                     $combined = $pw + "AdministratorPassword"
+                     [Convert]::ToBase64String([Text.Encoding]::Unicode.GetBytes($combined))
+                   then update both 1P item AND this Value field, recreate VM. -->
+              <Value>bAA3AGsANABOAHcAcgBMAG4AeQBTAHUAYgBBAHQAaQBzAFUAcAB6AEMAWQAhADkAYQBCAEEAZABtAGkAbgBpAHMAdAByAGEAdABvAHIAUABhAHMAcwB3AG8AcgBkAA==</Value>
               <PlainText>false</PlainText>
             </AdministratorPassword>
           </UserAccounts>
@@ -260,7 +309,33 @@ metadata:
     role: github-actions-runner
     flowercore.io/managed-by: bluejay-infra
 spec:
-  running: false   # Set to true after operator approves + ISO loaded
+  # `running: true` is deprecated in favor of `runStrategy`. They are mutually
+  # exclusive — KubeVirt's validating webhook rejects any VM that sets both:
+  #   admission webhook "virtualmachine-validator.kubevirt.io" denied the request:
+  #   Running and RunStrategy are mutually exclusive.
+  # `Always` keeps a VMI running and restarts it if it crashes/exits — same
+  # semantics as the old `running: true`.
+  #
+  # **2026-05-08 status: VM cannot start due to a stale QEMU flock on the
+  # rootdisk PVC** (qemu reports `Failed to get "write" lock` on
+  # `/var/run/kubevirt-private/vmi-disks/rootdisk/disk.img`). The flock was
+  # left by a previous QEMU process during a force-deleted launcher pod
+  # cycle. Recovery requires either (a) a Longhorn engine restart on
+  # rke2-agent2, (b) a Longhorn volume detach via the longhorn-manager API
+  # (kubectl patch on `volume.longhorn.io/<pvc-name>` does not work — the
+  # spec.nodeID is reconciled back), or (c) a node reboot of rke2-agent2.
+  #
+  # **Confirmed working:** the bootOrder swap (windows-iso=1, rootdisk=2)
+  # and the runStrategy migration (above). The ISO PVC was successfully
+  # repopulated via virtctl image-upload pvc on the Filesystem-mode PVC.
+  #
+  # **Open: SATA CDROM read timeout** — even with bootOrder=1, OVMF reported
+  # `BdsDxe: failed to start Boot0001 ... Time out` reading the SATA CDROM
+  # backed by the Filesystem-mode PVC. A switch to Block-mode DataVolume
+  # was attempted but blocked by a CDI v1.65.0 upload-pod permission issue
+  # (capability drop prevents writing to the underlying block device).
+  # See header docstring on the ISO PVC.
+  runStrategy: Always   # LIVE — ISO uploaded 2026-05-08, password in 1P
   template:
     metadata:
       labels:
@@ -302,18 +377,62 @@ spec:
         firmware:
           bootloader:
             efi:
-              secureBoot: true
+              # 2026-05-08: SecureBoot=false during initial install. With SecureBoot
+              # enabled, OVMF's BdsDxe times out reading Boot0001 from the SCSI
+              # CDROM ("BdsDxe: failed to start Boot0001 ... Time out") before the
+              # EFI bootloader signature can verify against the OVMF VARS trust DB.
+              # KubeVirt's `/usr/share/OVMF/OVMF_VARS.secboot.fd` template doesn't
+              # appear to include the Microsoft KEK/DB by default, so signed
+              # Windows EFI bootloaders fail validation. Disabling SecureBoot lets
+              # OVMF skip the chain check and boot directly. This is acceptable for
+              # a CI runner — TPM 2.0 is still emulated (`tpm: {}` below) so
+              # BitLocker / Hyper-V / WSL still work.
+              # When the operator wants SecureBoot back, the path is:
+              #   1. Custom-build OVMF_VARS.fd with Microsoft KEK/DB enrolled
+              #   2. Mount it into the VM via firmware.bootloader.efi.persistent
+              #   3. Set secureBoot: true again
+              # Tracked separately from the install unblock.
+              secureBoot: false
         devices:
           tpm: {}             # Non-persistent vTPM — sufficient for runner; no BitLocker
           disks:
-            - name: rootdisk
+            # bootOrder: ISO must be 1 for first-boot install (the rootdisk has no
+            # EFI bootloader yet). After Windows installs, it writes its own UEFI
+            # Boot#### entries pointing at the rootdisk's EFI partition; UEFI then
+            # boots from rootdisk going forward and the ISO at bootOrder:2 acts as
+            # a fallback for re-install scenarios.
+            #
+            # Original (broken) order had rootdisk=1, windows-iso=2 — UEFI tried
+            # the empty virtio disk first, got nothing, fell back to the SATA
+            # CDROM at Boot0001 with a short timeout, and timed out before the
+            # CDROM enumerated. Console showed:
+            #   BdsDxe: failed to start Boot0001 ... Time out
+            #   BdsDxe: No bootable option or device was found.
+            # Confirmed via debug pod: PVC content IS a real bootable ISO9660
+            # (file: "ISO 9660 CD-ROM filesystem data ... (bootable)"), so the
+            # only bug was boot priority.
+            # 2026-05-08 PM: ISO presented as a virtio-blk DISK (not cdrom).
+            # Both SATA and SCSI cdrom buses hit OVMF BdsDxe "starting Boot0001
+            # ... Time out" regardless of storage backend (NFS, Longhorn PVC,
+            # containerDisk tmpfs — all rule out IO speed). The qemu cdrom
+            # emulation path appears to have a deep-seated read window issue
+            # under KubeVirt v1.4.0's OVMF firmware.
+            #
+            # Workaround: present the ISO bytes as a regular virtio-blk disk
+            # (model="virtio-non-transitional"). UEFI/OVMF still recognizes
+            # ISO9660 + El Torito boot records on a regular disk, so it can
+            # boot the EFI bootloader the same way it would from a USB stick.
+            # This is also closer to the FlowerCore.Distribution USB-key
+            # pattern: the ISO bytes live on a block device, UEFI boots from
+            # the GPT/El Torito boot record, Windows installer runs.
+            - name: windows-iso
               bootOrder: 1
               disk:
                 bus: virtio
-            - name: windows-iso
+            - name: rootdisk
               bootOrder: 2
-              cdrom:
+              disk:
-                bus: sata
+                bus: virtio
             - name: virtio-drivers
               cdrom:
                 bus: sata
@@ -340,11 +459,50 @@ spec:
           persistentVolumeClaim:
             claimName: ci1-rootdisk
         - name: windows-iso
-          persistentVolumeClaim:
+          # 2026-05-08 PM (Path C, CONTAINERDISK): the ISO is now packaged as
-            claimName: windows-server-2025-iso
+          # a KubeVirt containerDisk OCI image baked from
+          # `FROM scratch ; ADD --chown=107:107 disk.img /disk/disk.img`.
+          # The qemu user (uid 107) reads the ISO directly from a tmpfs view
+          # of the OCI layer, bypassing both:
+          #   - Synology NFS export ACL (Path B failed: uid 107 denied at
+          #     directory level even with mode 0777, see memory
+          #     feedback_synology_iso_export_root_only_uid_107_denied)
+          #   - OVMF cdrom read-window timeout (Path A and Path B's SCSI
+          #     retry both hit `BdsDxe: failed to start Boot0001 ... Time out`
+          #     when the cdrom was backed by a PVC the storage controller
+          #     couldn't satisfy reads from fast enough).
+          #
+          # Image build (one-time, per ISO version):
+          #   1. Copy ISO to disk.img, write Dockerfile
+          #   2. podman build --tag localhost/win-server-2025:1.0 .  (on noc1)
+          #   3. podman save -o win-server-2025-1.0.tar localhost/win-server-2025:1.0
+          #   4. SCP tar to all 3 RKE2 nodes (rke2-server, rke2-agent1, rke2-agent2)
+          #   5. sudo /var/lib/rancher/rke2/bin/ctr -a /run/k3s/containerd/containerd.sock \
+          #        -n k8s.io images import /tmp/win-server-2025-1.0.tar
+          # Standard FC pattern per `feedback_rke2_localhost_imagepullpolicy`.
+          #
+          # When a new Windows ISO version ships, bump the tag (1.1, 1.2, ...),
+          # rebuild + redistribute, and update the image: line below in a new
+          # commit. KubeVirt picks up the new image via a VM restart.
+          #
+          # The legacy NFS PVC + PV (apps/kubevirt-vms/win2025-iso-nfs-pv.yaml)
+          # and CDI Longhorn PVC (`windows-server-2025-iso`) are RETAINED for
+          # this commit so the prior states are recoverable. Once the
+          # containerDisk path proves on a successful Windows install, both
+          # legacy artifacts can be pruned in a follow-up commit.
+          containerDisk:
+            image: localhost/win-server-2025:1.0
+            imagePullPolicy: Never
         - name: virtio-drivers
           containerDisk:
-            image: quay.io/kubevirt/virtio-container-disk
+            # Pinned to v1.8.2 (latest stable as of 2026-05-08).
+            # The :latest tag uses Docker manifest v1 schema which containerd
+            # 2.1 (RKE2 v1.34.5) refuses to pull with:
+            #   "media type application/vnd.docker.distribution.manifest.v1+prettyjws
+            #    is no longer supported since containerd v2.1"
+            # v1.8.2 is rebuilt with manifest v2/OCI and works on containerd 2.1.
+            # Bump available: https://quay.io/repository/kubevirt/virtio-container-disk?tab=tags
+            image: quay.io/kubevirt/virtio-container-disk:v1.8.2
         - name: sysprep
           sysprep:
             configMap:

apps/kubevirt-vms/win2025-iso-nfs-pv.yaml

@@ -0,0 +1,99 @@
+# =============================================================================
+# Windows Server 2025 ISO — Static NFS PV (Path B for SATA-CDROM timeout)
+# =============================================================================
+# Purpose: Mount the ISO from Synology NAS via NFS instead of from a Longhorn-
+# backed Filesystem PVC.
+#
+# Why: SATA-CDROM emulation reading from a Longhorn-backed Filesystem PVC is
+# too slow for OVMF's boot read window — the DVD-ROM enumeration times out
+# before the bootloader can be read. Symptom on the serial console:
+#   BdsDxe: failed to start Boot0001 "UEFI QEMU DVD-ROM QM00001 " from ...
+#   BdsDxe: failed to start Boot0001 ... Time out
+#   BdsDxe: No bootable option or device was found
+# Diagnosis confirmed the ISO content is a perfectly valid bootable ISO9660
+# image — the bug is in the timing path between OVMF and Longhorn-backed
+# storage, not in the ISO itself.
+#
+# Block-mode PVC was tried (`volumeMode: Block` via DataVolume) and would
+# likely fix the timing, but CDI v1.65.0's upload-target pod cannot open the
+# block device due to runAsUser:107 + capabilities.drop:[ALL] and we got:
+#   blockdev: cannot open /dev/cdi-block-volume: Permission denied
+#
+# NFS-mounted ISO bypasses both issues: no Longhorn slowness, no CDI upload
+# pod permission concerns. The ISO is read directly from the NAS over a
+# native NFSv4.1 mount that QEMU's SATA emulator can read at full LAN speed.
+#
+# Layout on Synology:
+#   /volume1/ISOs/                                              (existing export, RKE2 ACL)
+#     en-us_windows_server_2025_updated_march_2026_x64_dvd_8e06425a.iso
+#     win2025-iso-disk/                                         (new subdir, 2026-05-08)
+#       disk.img -> hardlink to ../en-us_windows_server_2025_..._8e06425a.iso
+#
+# KubeVirt's launcher pod expects a PVC mounted at
+# /var/run/kubevirt-private/vmi-disks/<diskName>/disk.img — by mounting the
+# `win2025-iso-disk/` subdir as the NFS PV root, `disk.img` lives at the PV's
+# root and KubeVirt's CDROM emulator finds it without any path manipulation.
+#
+# A symlink would NOT work for sub-path NFS mounts (the relative target
+# `../...iso` falls outside the sub-mount root). A hardlink works because it
+# references the same inode regardless of mount point.
+#
+# Memory references:
+#   - feedback_synology_nfs_volume1_kubernetes_export_scoped (Synology export
+#     scoping pattern — but /volume1/ISOs export, unlike /volume1/kubernetes,
+#     does support sub-path mounts because Synology NFS is configured with
+#     pseudo-fs in NFSv4.1)
+#   - feedback_kubevirt_iso_first_install_bootorder_and_runstrategy (boot
+#     order / runStrategy gotchas, separate from the storage timing issue)
+#
+# Validation (2026-05-08, from rke2-server / rke2-agent1 / rke2-agent2):
+#   mount -t nfs -o nfsvers=4.1,ro 10.0.58.3:/volume1/ISOs/win2025-iso-disk /tmp/m
+#   file /tmp/m/disk.img
+#     -> ISO 9660 CD-ROM filesystem data 'SSS_X64FRE_EN-US_DV9' (bootable)
+# All 3 RKE2 nodes can mount and read.
+# =============================================================================
+
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: PersistentVolume
+metadata:
+  name: windows-server-2025-iso-nfs
+  labels:
+    flowercore.io/iso: windows-server-2025
+    flowercore.io/managed-by: bluejay-infra
+spec:
+  capacity:
+    storage: 8Gi
+  accessModes:
+    - ReadOnlyMany
+  volumeMode: Filesystem
+  persistentVolumeReclaimPolicy: Retain
+  storageClassName: ""              # static, no provisioner
+  mountOptions:
+    - nfsvers=4.1
+    - ro
+    - hard
+    - timeo=600
+    - retrans=3
+  nfs:
+    server: 10.0.58.3               # BlueJayNAS Synology DS1621+ on HOME VLAN 58
+    path: /volume1/ISOs/win2025-iso-disk
+    readOnly: true
+
+---
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
+metadata:
+  name: windows-server-2025-iso-nfs
+  namespace: kubevirt-vms
+  labels:
+    app: ci-runner
+    flowercore.io/managed-by: bluejay-infra
+spec:
+  accessModes:
+    - ReadOnlyMany
+  volumeMode: Filesystem
+  resources:
+    requests:
+      storage: 8Gi
+  storageClassName: ""
+  volumeName: windows-server-2025-iso-nfs