The install probe read the mini as silent once while ssh answered #5

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opened 2026-10-07 12:14:41 +00:00 by jimmy · 0 comments

jimmy commented

2026-10-07 12:14:41 +00:00

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On 2026-10-06 a bare hatchery install answered "silent: jimmyhoughjr@jimmys-mac-mini.local; nothing was read and nothing was written". In the same minute, from the same Mac, ssh -o BatchMode=yes jimmyhoughjr@jimmys-mac-mini.local and the bare host name both answered. Two more runs a few minutes later, hatchery install --host jimmyhoughjr@jimmys-mac-mini.local and the bare form again, read the mini and printed its rows, so the silence is a one-off and not a standing fault.

The likely cause is the probe's timeout meeting this Mac's ssh config for the mini: a Match host jimmys-mac-mini.local exec "nc -z -G 1 ..." line tries the LAN name with a one-second window and falls back to the Tailscale address when it fails. A probe that gives the host one try inside a short timeout reads a slow mDNS answer as silence, and --yes then refuses the whole run on it.

The work

The probe gives a host a second try before calling it silent, or a longer window than the one-second check in front of it.
A silent host says what the probe ran and what came back, so a person can tell a flap from a host that is down.

Done when

A bare hatchery install run ten times in a row from the air never reads the mini as silent while ssh to it answers.
A host that is really down still reads as silent, with the probe's own words.

On 2026-10-06 a bare `hatchery install` answered "silent: jimmyhoughjr@jimmys-mac-mini.local; nothing was read and nothing was written". In the same minute, from the same Mac, `ssh -o BatchMode=yes jimmyhoughjr@jimmys-mac-mini.local` and the bare host name both answered. Two more runs a few minutes later, `hatchery install --host jimmyhoughjr@jimmys-mac-mini.local` and the bare form again, read the mini and printed its rows, so the silence is a one-off and not a standing fault. The likely cause is the probe's timeout meeting this Mac's ssh config for the mini: a `Match host jimmys-mac-mini.local exec "nc -z -G 1 ..."` line tries the LAN name with a one-second window and falls back to the Tailscale address when it fails. A probe that gives the host one try inside a short timeout reads a slow mDNS answer as silence, and `--yes` then refuses the whole run on it. ## The work - The probe gives a host a second try before calling it silent, or a longer window than the one-second check in front of it. - A silent host says what the probe ran and what came back, so a person can tell a flap from a host that is down. ## Done when - A bare `hatchery install` run ten times in a row from the air never reads the mini as silent while `ssh` to it answers. - A host that is really down still reads as silent, with the probe's own words.

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