rcourtman
156d2e274d
## Problem
`ingestRecord` refuses a physical-disk match under another parent
(`findMatch` skips scope-incompatible candidates), then `chooseNewID`
mints the same hardware-keyed canonical ID (`machine:<serial>`) and the
ingest merges into whatever disk already holds it. Disks that report one
usable serial on several machines collapse into a single resource
parented to whichever machine ingested last, and every other machine
loses the disk from inventory. Real triggers: dual-ported SAS shelves
seen by two nodes, cloned VMs with an explicit identical serial,
fixed-serial USB bridges, TrueNAS systems. Repro: `IngestSnapshot` with
three PVE nodes in one instance, each with a `/dev/sda` of the same
serial, gave one disk.
## Fix
- A new disk resolves its parent to a machine: the nearest host
ancestor, so a TrueNAS pool or Unraid array counts as its system or
host.
- Two disks with one identity stay apart only on evidence: one reporter
placing the serial on two machines (cloned VMs keep both serial and
hostname), or machines whose hostnames share nothing. Reporters on one
box still join across grouping parents and unmerged host resources, so
the TrueNAS API and the agent on that box stay one disk. An unknown
machine never splits a disk, so a PVE row whose node row is missing
still joins its host's agent disk.
- Once a serial spans machines, every copy takes the serial keyed to its
own machine, and the holder of the unscoped ID is re-keyed with its
source mappings, retired-ID claims and relationship endpoints. IDs don't
depend on machine ingest order, and the unscoped ID never passes between
disks that coexist. A disk only one machine reports keeps its current
ID.
- Operator splits ("Split merged resource" exclusions) now hold on this
path; the old collision merge ignored them. A split recorded against any
ID the disk can hold applies, so it survives a re-key.
- The registry indexes disks by hardware key (`physicalDisksByHardware`)
because `IdentityMatcher` keeps one resource per machine ID.
## ID stability decision
Machine-scoped IDs only for identities that actually span machines,
rather than a pre-pass. A pre-pass needs final parent scopes before
ingest, but host/node merging happens during ingest. Giving the
first-ingested machine the unscoped ID would hand one machine's ID, and
its operator state, to another machine when an earlier-sorting machine
appears. With the chosen design a disk's ID changes when a same-serial
disk first appears on another machine. That orphans ID-keyed state
rather than misapplying it.
## Residuals (documented in unified-resources.md)
- Like any serial-keyed ID, the unscoped ID still passes to a
same-serial disk that appears once the previous holder is gone.
- Alert-history rows owned under the unscoped ID don't follow a re-key.
The PVE disk alert owner (#2646) already leaves shared-serial rows
unbound unless a WWN tells them apart.
- Agent SMART and Unraid disk source IDs are the bare serial.
Same-serial agent disks on different hosts share one `SourceAgent`
mapping, and only the last ingested keeps the agent source target. This
is tracked as a separate task, because the fix re-keys persisted
mappings.
- Same-serial disks share one metrics history key.
- Across reporters, hostnames that normalize alike still join.
## Verification
- New tests in `registry_merge_policy_test.go`: per-machine disks for
PVE-only and linked-agent clusters, including reversed ingest order;
rehydration with a machine joining; agent + TrueNAS on one box versus a
cloned TrueNAS with the same hostname; a disk moving into a pool; a
parentless PVE row on a shared serial; exclusions honoured, surviving a
re-key, with per-machine fallback; serialized-JSON rehydration;
retired-ID claims carried across a re-key.
- Every new test fails against the unfixed registry or with its fix
removed (`-overlay` negative controls).
- `go test ./internal/unifiedresources` passes, as do the
disk/SMART/Unraid/TrueNAS tests in `internal/monitoring`, `internal/api`
and `internal/truenas`.
- Five rounds of independent review; the last round found no P1/P2
issues.
Pulse
Real-time Proxmox, Docker and Kubernetes monitoring that finds what needs attention.
Pulse is a self-hosted monitoring workspace for Proxmox, Docker, Kubernetes, TrueNAS, physical and virtual machines, and early-access VMware vSphere environments. It combines live infrastructure state, history, alerts, recovery visibility, and scheduled health checks without requiring a conventional enterprise monitoring stack.
Why Pulse
- It watches between visits. Alerts and Pulse Patrol find failed backups, capacity pressure, restart loops, unhealthy containers, clock drift, and other problems that dashboards cannot surface when nobody is looking.
- It keeps each platform familiar. Proxmox, Docker, Kubernetes, TrueNAS, vSphere, and machines have dedicated views, backed by one shared resource model for search, alerts, history, and investigation.
- It stays operator-controlled. Credentials are encrypted at rest, API tokens are scoped, agent commands are disabled by default, and governed fixes require the configured policy and approval path.
Platform coverage
| Platform | Coverage |
|---|---|
| Proxmox VE, PBS, and PMG | Nodes, guests, storage, backups, replication, Ceph, mail gateways, and alerts |
| Docker and Podman | Hosts, containers, Compose projects, Swarm services, health, images, and updates |
| Kubernetes | Clusters, nodes, workloads, pods, services, storage, and events through the unified agent |
| TrueNAS SCALE and CORE | Pools, datasets, disks, snapshots, replication tasks, apps, VMs, and alerts |
| Linux, Windows, and macOS machines | Host health, filesystems, networking, temperatures, RAID, and availability through the unified agent |
| VMware vSphere | Early-access inventory, hosts, clusters, VMs, datastores, networks, snapshots, and recovery context; validate against your own vCenter before production use |
Platform pages keep storage and recovery information beside the infrastructure it belongs to. Alerts, Actions, and Patrol remain cross-platform views.
Patrol: monitoring that does rounds
Pulse Patrol runs scheduled checks across the current state and recent history of your infrastructure. Community installations can use a local model or their own AI provider for watch-only analysis. Pulse Pro adds investigation and policy-bound fixes with approval, verification, and an audit trail.
Pulse also includes an interactive Assistant and an MCP adapter for external clients such as Claude Code and OpenCode. Both sit on top of the same scoped inventory, metrics, alert, storage, and governed-action contracts.
Quick start
Choose an exact version from the latest release and keep that version pinned during installation.
Docker
docker run -d \
--name pulse \
-p 7655:7655 \
-v pulse_data:/data \
-e PULSE_DEPLOYMENT_METHOD=docker_run \
--restart unless-stopped \
rcourtman/pulse:vX.Y.Z
Open http://<your-ip>:7655 and follow the bootstrap-token setup. Docker host
monitoring is provided by the unified agent; the Pulse server container does
not need the Docker socket.
Proxmox LXC, Linux, and Kubernetes
The installer is signed. Verify install.sh against the pinned
pulse-installer key before running it:
export PULSE_VERSION=vX.Y.Z
curl -fsSLO "https://github.com/rcourtman/Pulse/releases/download/${PULSE_VERSION}/install.sh" &&
curl -fsSLO "https://github.com/rcourtman/Pulse/releases/download/${PULSE_VERSION}/install.sh.sshsig" &&
ssh-keygen -Y verify \
-f <(printf '%s\n' 'pulse-installer namespaces="pulse-install" ssh-ed25519 AAAAC3NzaC1lZDI1NTE5AAAAIMZd/DaH+BldzOkq1A8KVTcFk73nAyrE8aJOyf7i00jm pulse-installer') \
-I pulse-installer \
-n pulse-install \
-s install.sh.sshsig < install.sh &&
bash install.sh --version "${PULSE_VERSION}"
Paste the whole block: installation stops if either download or signature verification fails. Do not run the final command separately to bypass a failure.
The GitHub installer installs the Pulse server. Install and upgrade agents (including v5-to-v6 agent upgrades) with the per-host command generated under Settings → Infrastructure → Install on a host.
Do you need an agent?
Often not. Proxmox VE, PBS, and PMG are monitored through the Proxmox API with a read-only token, so nothing runs on the host and the generated setup script creates a privilege-separated monitoring user. Install the unified agent only where you want data the platform API cannot provide, such as host SMART health, temperatures, Docker hosts, or standalone machines.
The agent is operator-controlled by design. Command execution is off by
default, the local listener binds to localhost, and generated systemd units
ship hardened. On Linux, the installer's --least-privilege profile runs the
service as a dedicated non-root user, with optional scoped sudo grants for
the few collectors that need elevation. The
agent security model documents exactly what the
agent can and cannot do at each privilege level.
Important
GitHub release assets and
rcourtman/pulseimages are Community builds. Relay, Pro, and eligible legacy customers should use the private image or Linux archive provided by the Pulse download portal. Replacing a private Pro runtime with a public Community build removes its private runtime hooks.
Editions
- Community — self-hosted monitoring, seven days of metric history, core SSO, update alerts, and Patrol with your own provider or local model.
- Pro — Community plus Patrol investigation, governed fixes, ninety days of history, centralized agent profiles, RBAC, audit logging, and reporting.
- MSP — for managed service providers: one Pulse Account running many client workspaces, each with an isolated Pulse runtime — separate dashboards, alerts, users, audit history, and reports. Free sixty-day two-client evaluation at Pulse for MSPs.
Relay is no longer sold. Existing Relay subscribers receive Pro features at their current price for as long as their subscription continues. Existing paired phones keep working until 31 March 2027. Relay connects the app, not the web UI. Use your own VPN or tunnel for remote web access. For phone alerts, add an ntfy, Gotify or Pushover destination and open Pulse in your phone's browser.
Core self-hosted monitoring is not gated by monitored-system or child-resource volume. See the runtime-aligned capability reference and current plans for details.
Documentation
- Install and deployment
- Production deployment and security
- Upgrade from Pulse v5
- Releases and update channels
- Configuration
- Platform and agent guides
- Pulse Intelligence
- Security and privacy
- Code signing policy
- Troubleshooting
- API reference and architecture
Localized getting started guides: Deutsch · Español
Development
Pulse uses Go 1.26 and a SolidJS/TypeScript frontend. The managed development
runtime starts the frontend at http://127.0.0.1:5173 and proxies API and
WebSocket traffic to the backend on port 7655.
npm ci
npm --prefix frontend-modern ci
npm run dev
Useful checks:
go test ./...
npm --prefix frontend-modern test
npm --prefix frontend-modern run type-check
python3 scripts/check_public_docs.py
See CONTRIBUTING.md before investing in a code change. Pulse uses an issue-first contribution process and does not normally accept unsolicited pull requests.
Community and support
- Ask questions in GitHub Discussions.
- Report reproducible bugs through GitHub Issues.
- Home Assistant users can use the community-maintained Pulse add-ons.
- If Pulse is useful to you, support its development through GitHub Sponsors or Ko-fi.
License
Everything in this repository is licensed under the MIT License. There is no dual licensing and no commercial or source-available code here.
Pulse Pro is a separate commercial product, built from private sources and distributed through pulserelay.pro. Its use is governed by the Terms of Service, which apply to that product only, not to anything in this repository.