|
| 1 | +# Develop with dstack without TEE hardware |
| 2 | + |
| 3 | +Development guest images can run dstack's normal guest setup on a KVM machine |
| 4 | +that has no TDX or SEV-SNP support. The VMM starts the guest with `no_tee`, the |
| 5 | +guest supplies the TDX ABI through `dstack-tee-simulator`, and `swtpm` provides |
| 6 | +persistent TPM-backed application keys. This is suitable for development and |
| 7 | +integration testing, not for production workloads or secrets. |
| 8 | + |
| 9 | +## What this mode tests |
| 10 | + |
| 11 | +The development simulator provides configfs-tsm reports, RTMR extension files, |
| 12 | +and a CCEL event log. Guest preparation, measurements, application key setup, |
| 13 | +encrypted persistent storage, the guest agent, and Docker Compose therefore |
| 14 | +use their normal code paths. |
| 15 | + |
| 16 | +It does not provide hardware isolation or a valid hardware-signed quote. The |
| 17 | +host controls QEMU and swtpm, and a production verifier or KMS must reject the |
| 18 | +simulated quote. |
| 19 | + |
| 20 | +## Build the development image on the host |
| 21 | + |
| 22 | +TEE hardware is not needed for the build. Follow the prerequisites in |
| 23 | +[Build the dstack guest OS](building-guest-os.md), then run this from the |
| 24 | +repository root: |
| 25 | + |
| 26 | +```bash |
| 27 | +make os-deps |
| 28 | +cd os/yocto/repro-build |
| 29 | +RELEASE_FLAVORS="dev" ./repro-build.sh -n |
| 30 | +``` |
| 31 | + |
| 32 | +The artifact used below is |
| 33 | +`os/yocto/repro-build/dist/dstack-dev-<version>.tar.gz`. Confirm that it really |
| 34 | +is a development image: |
| 35 | + |
| 36 | +```bash |
| 37 | +mkdir -p ~/.dstack-vmm/image |
| 38 | +tar -xzf os/yocto/repro-build/dist/dstack-dev-*.tar.gz \ |
| 39 | + -C ~/.dstack-vmm/image |
| 40 | +jq '{version, git_revision, is_dev}' \ |
| 41 | + ~/.dstack-vmm/image/dstack-dev-*/metadata.json |
| 42 | +``` |
| 43 | + |
| 44 | +Expected output includes `"is_dev": true`. Use a development image for this |
| 45 | +workflow because production images do not include `dstack-tee-simulator`. |
| 46 | + |
| 47 | +## Install and configure the VMM |
| 48 | + |
| 49 | +Install QEMU and swtpm on the development host. On Ubuntu: |
| 50 | + |
| 51 | +```bash |
| 52 | +sudo apt-get update |
| 53 | +sudo apt-get install -y qemu-system-x86 swtpm swtpm-tools jq |
| 54 | +test -r /dev/kvm && test -w /dev/kvm |
| 55 | +``` |
| 56 | + |
| 57 | +Add the current user to the `kvm` group and log in again if the `/dev/kvm` |
| 58 | +check fails because of its permissions. |
| 59 | + |
| 60 | +Build the VMM and supervisor from the same checkout as the image: |
| 61 | + |
| 62 | +```bash |
| 63 | +cargo build --manifest-path dstack/Cargo.toml --release \ |
| 64 | + -p dstack-vmm -p supervisor |
| 65 | +``` |
| 66 | + |
| 67 | +Install both binaries and the CLI on the machine that will run QEMU. You can |
| 68 | +also run them directly from the checkout during development: |
| 69 | + |
| 70 | +```bash |
| 71 | +mkdir -p ~/.dstack-vmm |
| 72 | +install -Dm755 dstack/target/release/dstack-vmm ~/.local/bin/dstack-vmm |
| 73 | +install -Dm755 dstack/target/release/supervisor ~/.local/bin/supervisor |
| 74 | +install -Dm755 dstack/vmm/src/vmm-cli.py ~/.local/bin/dstack |
| 75 | +mkdir -p ~/.dstack-vmm |
| 76 | +cp dstack/vmm/vmm.toml ~/.dstack-vmm/vmm.toml |
| 77 | +``` |
| 78 | + |
| 79 | +Set these values in `~/.dstack-vmm/vmm.toml`: |
| 80 | + |
| 81 | +```toml |
| 82 | +[image] |
| 83 | +path = "/home/USER/.dstack-vmm/image" |
| 84 | + |
| 85 | +[cvm] |
| 86 | +qemu_path = "/usr/bin/qemu-system-x86_64" |
| 87 | + |
| 88 | +[cvm.networking] |
| 89 | +mode = "user" |
| 90 | + |
| 91 | +[supervisor] |
| 92 | +exe = "/home/USER/.local/bin/supervisor" |
| 93 | +``` |
| 94 | + |
| 95 | +Start the VMM from a stable working directory because its default API socket is |
| 96 | +relative to that directory: |
| 97 | + |
| 98 | +```bash |
| 99 | +mkdir -p ~/.dstack-vmm/run |
| 100 | +cd ~/.dstack-vmm/run |
| 101 | +dstack-vmm -c ../vmm.toml |
| 102 | +``` |
| 103 | + |
| 104 | +In another terminal, check that the development image is visible: |
| 105 | + |
| 106 | +```bash |
| 107 | +cd ~/.dstack-vmm/run |
| 108 | +dstack lsimage --json | jq '.[] | {name, version, is_dev}' |
| 109 | +``` |
| 110 | + |
| 111 | +## Launch with no TEE and swtpm |
| 112 | + |
| 113 | +Create a small stateful workload: |
| 114 | + |
| 115 | +```yaml |
| 116 | +# docker-compose.yml |
| 117 | +services: |
| 118 | + state-test: |
| 119 | + image: alpine:3.20 |
| 120 | + command: |
| 121 | + - sh |
| 122 | + - -c |
| 123 | + - | |
| 124 | + date -Iseconds >> /data/boots |
| 125 | + touch /data/persistent-marker |
| 126 | + sleep infinity |
| 127 | + volumes: |
| 128 | + - state-data:/data |
| 129 | +volumes: |
| 130 | + state-data: {} |
| 131 | +``` |
| 132 | +
|
| 133 | +Convert it to app-compose JSON and select the TPM key provider: |
| 134 | +
|
| 135 | +```bash |
| 136 | +dstack compose \ |
| 137 | + --name swtpm-persistence \ |
| 138 | + --docker-compose docker-compose.yml \ |
| 139 | + --key-provider tpm \ |
| 140 | + --public-logs \ |
| 141 | + --public-sysinfo \ |
| 142 | + --output app-compose.json |
| 143 | +``` |
| 144 | + |
| 145 | +Deploy with the development image, no KMS, and no TEE: |
| 146 | + |
| 147 | +```bash |
| 148 | +dstack deploy \ |
| 149 | + --name swtpm-persistence \ |
| 150 | + --image dstack-dev-<version> \ |
| 151 | + --compose app-compose.json \ |
| 152 | + --vcpu 2 --memory 3G --disk 10G \ |
| 153 | + --no-tee |
| 154 | +``` |
| 155 | + |
| 156 | +Successful output contains a VM ID. `dstack info VM_ID` should eventually show |
| 157 | +`Boot Progress: done`. The QEMU command line should contain the swtpm frontend |
| 158 | +and no TDX guest object: |
| 159 | + |
| 160 | +```bash |
| 161 | +ps aux | grep '[q]emu-system' | grep -E -- '-tpmdev|tpm-tis' |
| 162 | +ps aux | grep '[s]wtpm socket' |
| 163 | +``` |
| 164 | + |
| 165 | +The VMM stores both durable components below the VM work directory: |
| 166 | + |
| 167 | +```text |
| 168 | +~/.dstack-vmm/vm/VM_ID/hda.img |
| 169 | +~/.dstack-vmm/vm/VM_ID/swtpm/tpm2-00.permall |
| 170 | +``` |
| 171 | + |
| 172 | +Do not delete either path if the VM must restart with the same state. |
| 173 | + |
| 174 | +## Verify encrypted storage and restart persistence |
| 175 | + |
| 176 | +First check the guest preparation log: |
| 177 | + |
| 178 | +```bash |
| 179 | +dstack logs VM_ID -n 300 | grep -E \ |
| 180 | + 'Generating app keys from TPM|Filesystem options|LUKS2 header|Device mapper' |
| 181 | +``` |
| 182 | + |
| 183 | +A successful first boot includes output like: |
| 184 | + |
| 185 | +```text |
| 186 | +Generating app keys from TPM |
| 187 | +Filesystem options: encryption=true, filesystem=Zfs |
| 188 | +Mounting tmpfs for in-memory LUKS header |
| 189 | +Loading the LUKS2 header |
| 190 | +Device mapper /dev/mapper/dstack_data_disk is ready |
| 191 | +``` |
| 192 | + |
| 193 | +Record the instance ID, then perform a graceful restart: |
| 194 | + |
| 195 | +```bash |
| 196 | +dstack info VM_ID | grep 'Instance ID' |
| 197 | +dstack stop VM_ID |
| 198 | +dstack start VM_ID |
| 199 | +``` |
| 200 | + |
| 201 | +Wait for `Boot Progress: done`, then inspect the recent events and boot log: |
| 202 | + |
| 203 | +```bash |
| 204 | +dstack info VM_ID |
| 205 | +dstack logs VM_ID -n 300 | grep -E \ |
| 206 | + 'mounting data disk|Loading the LUKS2 header|Device mapper|Container .* Started' |
| 207 | +``` |
| 208 | + |
| 209 | +The restart passes when all of the following hold: |
| 210 | + |
| 211 | +1. the instance ID is unchanged; |
| 212 | +2. the event stream says `mounting data disk`, not `initializing data disk`; |
| 213 | +3. the LUKS mapping becomes ready without reformatting the disk; |
| 214 | +4. Docker starts the existing container and volume, and |
| 215 | + `/data/persistent-marker` and the earlier entries in `/data/boots` remain. |
| 216 | + |
| 217 | +## Common failures |
| 218 | + |
| 219 | +`tpm key provider requested but swtpm is not installed` means `swtpm` is not on |
| 220 | +the VMM user's `PATH`. If QEMU reports that KVM is unavailable, confirm that |
| 221 | +hardware virtualization is enabled and that `/dev/kvm` is writable by the VMM |
| 222 | +user. |
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