infra/docs/runbooks/kms-public-exposure.md
Viktor Barzin e63a812062 kms: dedicated vlmcs.viktorbarzin.me endpoint + Anubis /scripts carve-out
Internal split-horizon resolves kms.viktorbarzin.me to Traefik (10.0.20.203),
which has no :1688 listener — so LAN clients pointed at kms.viktorbarzin.me:1688
failed with 0xC004F074 "no KMS could be contacted". Add a dedicated A-only
vlmcs.viktorbarzin.me (cloudflare_record.vlmcs -> 176.12.22.76 for the public
WAN NAT; Technitium -> 10.0.20.202 internal, set via API) so it resolves to
vlmcsd both ways. Also carve /scripts/* out of Anubis (module.ingress_scripts
-> bare kms-web-page service) so `iwr | iex` downloads the real script instead
of the PoW challenge HTML.

Verified end-to-end on Win VM 300: reproduced 0xC004F074 on the old host, then
slmgr + ospp + both PowerShell one-liners all -> Licensed via vlmcs (10.0.20.202).

Docs: kms-public-exposure runbook + service-catalog entry.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-06-01 10:36:49 +00:00

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8.8 KiB
Markdown

# Runbook: KMS public exposure (vlmcs.viktorbarzin.me:1688)
`vlmcs.viktorbarzin.me:1688/TCP` is intentionally open to the internet so any
visitor can activate Volume License Microsoft products. The webpage at
`https://kms.viktorbarzin.me/` documents how to use it.
**Two hostnames, on purpose** (do not merge them):
- `kms.viktorbarzin.me` — the **website** (Traefik). Serves the docs and the
`/scripts/*.ps1` activators. Internally resolves to the Traefik LB
(`10.0.20.203`), which has **no** `:1688` listener.
- `vlmcs.viktorbarzin.me` — the **KMS endpoint** (vlmcsd). A-only (no AAAA —
the IPv6 tunnel doesn't forward 1688). Resolves to `10.0.20.202` on the LAN
(Technitium split-horizon, set via API — `cloudflare_record.vlmcs` in
`stacks/kms` owns the public A) and to `176.12.22.76` on the internet
(Cloudflare → pfSense WAN NAT :1688). Every `slmgr` / `ospp` command on the
page points here.
Pointing a client at `kms.viktorbarzin.me:1688` fails from the LAN with "KMS
server cannot be reached" — that name is the website, not the KMS server.
This runbook covers operations on the public exposure: where to find logs,
how to tune the rate limit, how to revoke if abused.
## Architecture
- **K8s service**: `windows-kms` in namespace `kms`, MetalLB **dedicated**
LB IP `10.0.20.202:1688`. ETP=Local, so vlmcsd sees real WAN client IPs
in its log (pfSense WAN forwards do DNAT-only, no SNAT; ETP=Local skips
the kube-proxy SNAT too). Same pattern mailserver used pre-2026-04-19.
Sharing `10.0.20.200` isn't an option — all 10 services there are
ETP=Cluster and MetalLB requires a single ETP per shared IP.
- **Native DNS auto-discovery for LAN clients**: any Windows client with
DNS suffix `viktorbarzin.lan` activates with zero config — Windows
queries `_vlmcs._tcp.viktorbarzin.lan` SRV by default, the SRV target
resolves to `vlmcs.viktorbarzin.lan``10.0.20.202`, and `slmgr /ato`
succeeds. Records:
- `_vlmcs._tcp.viktorbarzin.lan` SRV 0 0 1688 vlmcs.viktorbarzin.lan
- `vlmcs.viktorbarzin.lan` A `10.0.20.202`
- `kms.viktorbarzin.lan` A `10.0.20.200` (Traefik — for the user-facing
website at `https://kms.viktorbarzin.lan/`; **not** the KMS server)
Manual override (e.g., for clients without the suffix or for clients
on the public internet): `slmgr /skms vlmcs.viktorbarzin.me:1688` (works
LAN + WAN) or `slmgr /skms 10.0.20.202:1688` (LAN, direct). Do **not** use
`kms.viktorbarzin.me:1688` — that name is the website (Traefik), not the
KMS server. To revert a manually-overridden client back to auto-discovery:
`slmgr /ckms`.
- **Pod fluidity**: deployment has `replicas=1` (notifier dedup state is
per-pod) with no node affinity. TCP readiness/liveness probes on 1688
gate Pod Ready on the listener actually being up, so MetalLB only
advertises `10.0.20.202` from a node where vlmcsd is serving.
- **pfSense WAN forward**: `WAN TCP/1688 → k8s_kms_lb:1688`
(alias = `10.0.20.202`, dedicated to KMS). Description: `KMS public —
kms.viktorbarzin.me`. Other forwards using `k8s_shared_lb` (WireGuard,
HTTPS, shadowsocks, smtps, etc.) are unaffected.
- **Filter rule** on the WAN interface, TCP/1688 destination
`<k8s_kms_lb>`, with state-table per-source caps:
- `max-src-conn 50` — concurrent connections per source IP
- `max-src-conn-rate 10/60` — 10 new connections per 60 seconds per
source
- `overload <virusprot>` flush — sources that exceed either cap get added
to pfSense's stock `virusprot` pf table and have their existing states
flushed. (`virusprot` is the only table pfSense's filter generator
targets for `overload`; see `/etc/inc/filter.inc`. Don't try to point
it at a custom table — the schema doesn't expose that knob.)
- **Probe filter in slack-notifier**: a bare TCP open/close (no
Application/Activation block from vlmcsd) is treated as a probe — Uptime
Kuma's port-type monitor on `windows-kms.kms.svc:1688` and the kubelet
readiness/liveness probes both hit this path. Probes increment
`kms_connection_probes_total{source}` (`source``internal_pod`,
`cluster_node`, `external`) and log to stdout, but never post to Slack.
Real activations still post.
- **Website `/scripts` carve-out**: the website is Anubis-fronted (PoW
challenge). `/scripts/*` is carved out to the bare nginx backend
(`module.ingress_scripts` in `stacks/kms`) because PowerShell `iwr | iex`
is a non-JS client and can't solve the PoW — without the carve-out the
one-liner downloads the Anubis challenge HTML and `iex` chokes on it.
Everything except `/scripts/*` stays behind Anubis. Verify:
`curl -A curl https://kms.viktorbarzin.me/scripts/setup-kms.ps1` returns
the script (not "Making sure you're not a bot!").
## Where the logs are
### vlmcsd (kms namespace, k8s)
```bash
# Live tail
kubectl logs -n kms -l app=kms-service -c windows-kms --tail=50 -f
# All activations in the running pod
kubectl logs -n kms -l app=kms-service -c windows-kms | grep "Incoming KMS request"
```
Source IPs from the WAN are real client IPs (pfSense DNAT-only + ETP=Local
preserve them through the chain). LAN clients hitting the LB IP directly
appear as their own IP. Pod-source probes (Uptime Kuma) appear as a Calico
pod IP in `10.10.0.0/16`. Kubelet readiness/liveness probes appear as the
hosting node IP in `10.0.20.0/24`.
### Slack notifier (kms namespace, k8s)
```bash
kubectl logs -n kms -l app=kms-service -c slack-notifier --tail=50 -f
```
Posts to `#alerts`, dedup window 1h per (source-IP, product). Activations
also increment the Prometheus counter `kms_activations_total{product,status}`
exposed on the same pod at `:9101/metrics` (scraped by the cluster-wide
`kubernetes-pods` job; query via Prometheus or Grafana directly).
Probe-only TCP connections (open+close, no KMS RPC) are silently filtered
out of Slack and counted in `kms_connection_probes_total{source}`. Useful
queries:
```promql
# Probe rate by source
rate(kms_connection_probes_total[5m])
# Probes from the public WAN (a non-zero rate here means real port-scans
# are reaching us, not just internal monitoring)
rate(kms_connection_probes_total{source="external"}[5m])
```
### pfSense — virusprot table and filter hits
```bash
# SSH to 10.0.20.1 as root
pfctl -t virusprot -T show # who's currently in the virusprot table
pfctl -t virusprot -T expire 86400 # boot anyone added more than 24h ago
pfctl -t virusprot -T flush # nuke the entire table
# Filter rule hit counts (find the KMS public rule, look at Evaluations / States)
pfctl -sr -v | grep -A 4 1688
# State table — current TCP/1688 connections, per source
pfctl -ss | grep ':1688 '
```
## Tightening or loosening the rate limit
The filter rule is configured via the pfSense web UI
(`Firewall → Rules → WAN`, look for the `KMS public — kms.viktorbarzin.me`
rule) under **Advanced Options → "Maximum new connections per source per
seconds"** and **"Maximum state entries per source"**.
- **Default**: `max-src-conn 50`, `max-src-conn-rate 10/60`
- To **tighten** (suspected abuse): drop to `max-src-conn 10`,
`max-src-conn-rate 3/60`. Flush state and existing virusprot afterwards
(`pfctl -k 0.0.0.0/0 -K 0.0.0.0/0` is overkill — just save+apply the
rule, pfSense reloads pf and existing virusprot stay blocked).
- To **loosen** (legitimate users blocked): bump to
`max-src-conn-rate 30/60`. The `virusprot` table flush still applies on
overload; reduce its lifetime via
`Firewall → Advanced → State Timeouts` if entries linger.
The `overload` table entry survives pf reloads. Running
`pfctl -t virusprot -T flush` after a tuning change clears the slate.
## Revoking the public exposure
If the activation surface needs to come down (abuse, legal, audit):
1. **pfSense web UI**`Firewall → NAT → Port Forward` → find
`WAN TCP/1688 → k8s_kms_lb`**delete** (or disable). Apply.
2. **pfSense web UI**`Firewall → Rules → WAN` → find
`KMS public — kms.viktorbarzin.me`**delete** (or disable). Apply.
3. Verify externally: from a phone tether, `nc -zw3 kms.viktorbarzin.me 1688`
should now fail.
The k8s service stays reachable on the LAN
(`10.0.20.202:1688` directly, and the website at `kms.viktorbarzin.lan`
via Traefik on `10.0.20.200:443`) — only the WAN port-forward is removed.
To put it back, recreate the NAT rule (target alias `k8s_kms_lb`,
port `1688`) and the filter rule with the same per-source caps. The alias
itself is independent of any forward and persists across delete/restore.
## Related
- Stack: `stacks/kms/` (Terraform; deployment, MetalLB Service, ingress,
ExternalSecret for the Slack webhook)
- Webpage source: `kms-website/` repo (Hugo + nginx; Woodpecker builds +
pushes to forgejo, then `kubectl set image deployment/kms-web-page`)
- Networking architecture footnote:
`docs/architecture/networking.md` § "MetalLB & Load Balancing"