Preview mode that survives a reboot, and a fallback log that survives one too

Deployment/master.conf.template

@@ -865,6 +865,17 @@
                                     # Success returns on the first try, so a healthy cycle costs
                                     # nothing extra. Only a failure pays: 3×4s + 2×2s = 16s worst
                                     # case, which must stay under FALLBACK_CHECK_INTERVAL.
+    FALLBACK_DRY_RUN=false          # run the daemon in PREVIEW mode, permanently
+                                    # Survives array start, unlike a --dry-run typed at a shell:
+                                    # array_started.sh launches with no arguments, so a hand-run
+                                    # preview is replaced by the LIVE daemon at the next boot.
+                                    # Decides nothing, starts nothing, moves no DNS, sends no
+                                    # notification — it only reports what it WOULD have done.
+                                    # Set true to observe real outages before arming for real.
+    FALLBACK_LOG_MAX_MB=5           # size cap for data/logs/fallback.log before one rotation
+                                    # Event-only output (the default, no --log) is a few lines
+                                    # per incident and holds years; --log fills this in about a
+                                    # fortnight and keeps the previous one as fallback.log.1
     FALLBACK_STATE_FILE="$STATE_DIR/fallback_state.db"
     FALLBACK_ENABLED=false          # set true once both servers are configured and paired
                                     # false = suppresses "not running" warnings in status scripts

Fallback/fallback.sh

@@ -314,6 +314,50 @@ if [[ "$EUID" -ne 0 ]]; then
     exit 1
 fi
 
+
+# ── Persistent dry-run ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+# Conf-driven, not argument-driven, deliberately. array_started.sh launches every entry as a bare
+# `bash script.sh &` with no arguments, so a --dry-run typed at a terminal survives exactly until
+# the next array start — and then the LIVE daemon comes up in its place, silently, which is the
+# one transition nobody would be watching for.
+#
+# Setting it here means the mode is a property of the install rather than of how the process
+# happened to be started: array start, the Fallback tab's button, and a hand-run all agree.
+#
+# OR, never override: --dry-run on the command line still wins over a conf that says false, so an
+# ad-hoc preview against a live install needs no conf edit.
+if [[ "${FALLBACK_DRY_RUN:-false}" == "true" ]]; then
+    DRY_RUN=true
+fi
+
+# ── Persistent log ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+# array_started.sh launches every entry as a bare `bash script.sh &` with no redirection, so this
+# daemon's output has never been captured anywhere: /var/log/varaverk has a directory for every
+# other script family and none for Fallback. A month of dry-run observation would have persisted
+# nothing at all.
+#
+# /var/log is a 128 MB tmpfs on Unraid — RAM, and cleared on reboot — so the log goes to
+# LOG_ARCHIVE_DIR, which follows DATA_DIR onto real storage.
+#
+# Only when stdout is not a terminal. Run by hand, output still goes to the terminal exactly as
+# before; run by array_started or the Fallback tab's button, it lands in the file. A plain append
+# redirect rather than `tee` through process substitution: no extra child to outlive, and nothing
+# for the shutdown trap to race.
+FALLBACK_LOG="${LOG_ARCHIVE_DIR:-${DATA_DIR:-/tmp}/logs}/fallback.log"
+if [[ ! -t 1 ]]; then
+    mkdir -p "$(dirname "$FALLBACK_LOG")" 2>/dev/null
+    # One rotation, sized rather than line-counted — the whole point of this log is a long run,
+    # and _orch_trim_log()'s 1000-line cap would discard weeks of it. Event-only output (no
+    # --log) is a few lines per incident, so this holds years; --log fills it in about a fortnight
+    # and then keeps the most recent fortnight plus the one before it.
+    _fb_max=$(( ${FALLBACK_LOG_MAX_MB:-5} * 1048576 ))
+    if [[ -f "$FALLBACK_LOG" ]] && (( $(stat -c %s "$FALLBACK_LOG" 2>/dev/null || echo 0) > _fb_max )); then
+        mv -f "$FALLBACK_LOG" "${FALLBACK_LOG}.1" 2>/dev/null
+    fi
+    exec >> "$FALLBACK_LOG" 2>&1
+    echo ""
+    echo "═══ fallback.sh started $(date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S') — dry_run=${DRY_RUN} pid=$$ ═══"
+fi
 # FALLBACK_ENABLED gate — exits cleanly when disabled.
 # Fail-closed: anything that isn't exactly "true" disables fallback. Matching only the
 # literal "false" would let a typo ("no", "0", "FALSE") hand this script DDNS authority

Plugin/unraid/api/fallback_control.php

@@ -84,9 +84,11 @@ $scripts = rtrim(SCRIPTS_DIR, '/');
 $cmds = [
     'stop'       => 'bash ' . escapeshellarg("$scripts/Fallback/fallback.sh") . ' --stop 2>&1',
     'stop_test'  => 'bash ' . escapeshellarg("$scripts/Fallback/fallback_test.sh") . ' --stop 2>&1',
-    // setsid so it outlives this request; own log so the page can show what the preview said.
+    // setsid so it outlives this request. No redirect: fallback.sh writes its own persistent
+    // log when stdout is not a terminal, so an ad-hoc preview and the array-start daemon leave
+    // their record in the same file rather than one going to tmpfs and vanishing on reboot.
     'start_dry'  => 'setsid bash ' . escapeshellarg("$scripts/Fallback/fallback.sh")
-                  . ' --dry-run --log > /tmp/varaverk/fallback_dryrun.log 2>&1 < /dev/null & echo started',
+                  . ' --dry-run --log > /dev/null 2>&1 < /dev/null & echo started',
     'clear_lock' => 'rm -f /tmp/unraid_locks/fallback.lock /tmp/unraid_locks/fallback_test.lock && echo cleared',
 ];
 
@@ -119,8 +121,8 @@ if ($remoteDir === '') $remoteDir = '/boot/config/plugins/varaverk';
 $remoteCmds = [
     'stop'       => "bash '$remoteDir/Fallback/fallback.sh' --stop 2>&1",
     'stop_test'  => "bash '$remoteDir/Fallback/fallback_test.sh' --stop 2>&1",
-    'start_dry'  => "mkdir -p /tmp/varaverk; setsid bash '$remoteDir/Fallback/fallback.sh'"
+    'start_dry'  => "setsid bash '$remoteDir/Fallback/fallback.sh'"
-                  . " --dry-run --log > /tmp/varaverk/fallback_dryrun.log 2>&1 < /dev/null & echo started",
+                  . " --dry-run --log > /dev/null 2>&1 < /dev/null & echo started",
     'clear_lock' => 'rm -f /tmp/unraid_locks/fallback.lock /tmp/unraid_locks/fallback_test.lock && echo cleared',
 ];
 

Plugin/unraid/include/fallback.php

@@ -353,6 +353,7 @@ function vv_fb_all(): array {
         'fb_enabled'          => $fbEnabled,
         'partnership_enabled' => $ptEnabled,
         'fb_rsync_enabled'    => $rsyncEnabled,
+        'dry_run'             => vv_fb_scalar($masterRaw, 'FALLBACK_DRY_RUN') === 'true',
         'handback_req'        => $handbackReq,
         'check_interval'      => $checkInterval,
         'suspend_after'       => $suspendAfter,

Plugin/unraid/pages/fallback.php

@@ -237,6 +237,19 @@ if (vv_ai_ui_on()) vv_ai_chat_assets();
     </div>
     <div class="vv-fb-tog" id="vv-fb-rsync-tog" onclick="vvFbToggle(this,'FALLBACK_RSYNC_ENABLED')"></div>
   </div>
+
+  <hr class="vv-fb-sep">
+
+  <!-- Persistent preview. Distinct from the per-card "Start dry run" button: that launches one
+       now, this decides what array_started.sh launches at every boot. Without it a preview lasts
+       exactly until the next array start and is then silently replaced by the live daemon. -->
+  <div class="vv-fb-ctrl-row">
+    <div>
+      <div class="vv-fb-ctrl-lbl">Preview mode <span style="font-size:9px;color:#4a9eff;border:1px solid #1e3a5a;background:#101a26;border-radius:3px;padding:1px 5px;margin-left:5px;">DRY RUN</span></div>
+      <div class="vv-fb-ctrl-sub">Watch and report, change nothing — no containers, no DDNS, no notifications. Survives reboots, so a long observation run stays a preview.</div>
+    </div>
+    <div class="vv-fb-tog" id="vv-fb-dry-tog" onclick="vvFbToggle(this,'FALLBACK_DRY_RUN')"></div>
+  </div>
 </div>
 
 <!-- Mesh verdict — one line answering "is this armed and is anything watching" before any detail -->
@@ -712,6 +725,7 @@ function _setToggles(data) {
     ['vv-fb-pt-tog',    !!data.partnership_enabled],
     ['vv-fb-en-tog',    !!data.fb_enabled],
     ['vv-fb-rsync-tog', !!data.fb_rsync_enabled],
+    ['vv-fb-dry-tog',   !!data.dry_run],
   ];
   pairs.forEach(([id, on]) => {
     const el = document.getElementById(id);