prepare-data-dir leaves files with a second name to their owner (closes #143 )

A hard link in /data shares its owner with a file that can be anywhere on the same filesystem, so chowning it gave that file to the netwatch user. A file with more than one name now keeps its owner and its path is logged. Owners are now set on the opened directory, file or link after checking it, as chmodDir sets modes, so a hard link swapped in afterwards is caught. Every other file is opened without following it; a symbolic link is given to the netwatch user itself, and devices, named pipes and sockets keep their owner. This needs Linux, the image's system; elsewhere it returns an error. A failed owner change names the file. Model: opus-5-5
2026-10-18 22:20:21 +00:00
12 changed files with 83 additions and 541 deletions
@@ -86,9 +86,7 @@ either one is broken. We provide:
 - `script/frontend-fmt-check` — check prettier formatting (read-only)
 - `script/frontend-viewport-test` — responsive-layout verification of the built
  frontend in a containerised headless Chrome (see
-  [test/viewport/README.md](test/viewport/README.md)). Before the browser
-  starts, it checks that the page, and a path that falls back to it, are served
-  with `Cache-Control: no-cache` and `Content-Security-Policy`. Not part of
+  [test/viewport/README.md](test/viewport/README.md)). Not part of
  `script/check`: it takes minutes.
 - `script/docker` — build the image from `Dockerfile` without the build cache,
  tagged `netwatch` via `script/projectname`
@@ -155,26 +153,8 @@ report a delta, so only new samples are sent; the mark advances only on a
 delivered report, and while paused nothing is sent. Changing the interval clears
 each host's history on the page; the samples in it not yet reported still go in
 the next report. Delivery failure is quiet — one debug-log line per outage,
-never blocking probing. The report-building step is a pure function of host
-state.
-
-A sample in the history that no report has delivered is sent only as long as the
-history holds it, so after a refused or failed report the next report carries
-the samples the history still has. Samples an interval change cleared from the
-history are kept apart, the last 100 per host, until they are delivered. The
-history keeps each host's last 100 rounds: 100 seconds at the 1-second interval,
-200 seconds at 2 seconds, 5 minutes at the default of 3 seconds and 100 minutes
-at 60 seconds. At 1 second, one refused or failed report loses the oldest 20
-seconds of each host's samples, as the next delivered report comes 2 minutes
-after the last. At 2 seconds and longer one loses nothing; samples are lost from
-the third refused report in a row at 2 seconds, from the fifth at 3 seconds, and
-later still at the longer intervals.
-
-No report is sent while the page is paused, but each paused round still adds an
-entry to the history, so each report due during a pause counts as a refused one.
-A pause longer than the history spans loses the samples in the history recorded
-between the last delivered report and the pause: up to a minute's worth for each
-host if the report before the pause was delivered.
+retried at the next interval, never blocking probing. The report-building step
+is a pure function of host state.

 ### Backend

@@ -232,15 +212,8 @@ replaces the default; set and empty, the server trusts no proxy. Loopback is not
 in the default, so a reverse proxy on the same host has to be named, as in
 `TRUSTED_PROXIES=127.0.0.1/32`. A request whose direct peer is outside this set
 has its forwarded headers ignored, and the direct peer is logged and
-rate-limited instead. From a direct peer inside the set, the client address is
-the right-most `X-Forwarded-For` entry that is not in the set: each proxy
-appends the address it took the request from, so the entries further left were
-written by the client and are not used. An entry written as an address with a
-port, such as `198.51.100.7:5000` or `[2001:db8::1]:443`, is read as that
-address. If the search from the right finds only addresses in the set, or meets
-an entry that is not an address at all, such as `unknown`, the direct peer is
-used. `X-Real-IP` is read only when `X-Forwarded-For` is missing or empty. The
-container image does not use this default; see [Deployment](#deployment).
+rate-limited instead. The container image does not use this default; see
+[Deployment](#deployment).

 A variable set to a value the server cannot use, such as `PORT=abc`,
 `DEBUG=maybe` or a `BIND_ADDRESS` that is not an IP address, stops it from
@@ -260,19 +233,17 @@ Files are created with `O_EXCL` to prevent overwrites.

 The reports of a failed write stay in memory, and the next flush, within a
 minute, tries again to write them. From the failed write until a write succeeds,
-`POST /api/v1/reports` refuses every report with 500 and keeps nothing of it.
-The page sends the refused samples again in its next report, as long as it still
-holds them: at the 1-second interval one refused report already loses some of
-those in the history (see [Reporting](#reporting)). Reports already answered 200
-are lost only if the server stops before a write succeeds; the final flush at
-stop tries them too, and if it fails, the process exits non-zero.
+`POST /api/v1/reports` refuses every report with 500 and keeps nothing of it, so
+the page keeps its samples and sends them again at its next report. Reports
+already answered 200 are lost only if the server stops before a write succeeds;
+the final flush at stop tries them too, and if it fails, the process exits
+non-zero.

 #### Report limits

 `POST /api/v1/reports` takes reports from anyone who can reach it, without
 credentials, so it is bounded instead. Each refusal below answers with the same
-`{"status":"error"}` body as any other error, except nginx's refusal of a body
-over the limit in the image.
+`{"status":"error"}` body as any other error.

 - **JSON only.** A report must be sent with `Content-Type: application/json`,
  parameters such as `charset` allowed, as the page sends it; any other is
@@ -280,16 +251,6 @@ over the limit in the image.
  send a `text/plain` POST, or a form, without a CORS preflight; refusing them
  keeps any site from making its visitors' browsers store reports (see
  [CORS](#cors)).
- **Body limit.** A report body may be at most 1 MiB, the backend's limit for
-  any request. Run on its own, the backend answers 413 before the route to a
-  request that declares a longer body. Without a declared length, the route
-  answers 413 only when the report it reads runs past 1 MiB; nothing after the
-  end of the report is read, so a longer body whose report ends sooner is
-  stored, and one that stops being valid JSON sooner is answered 400. In the
-  image, nginx refuses a body over 1 MiB first, with or without a declared
-  length, as its `client_max_body_size`, which `configs/nginx.conf` does not
-  set, is 1 MiB by default. nginx answers 413 with its own HTML error page, and
-  the backend never sees the request.
 - **Rate limit.** Each client address, resolved through `TRUSTED_PROXIES`, may
  send `REPORTS_PER_MINUTE` reports a minute; past that it gets 429 with
  `Retry-After: 60`. The minute slides: reports from the minute before still
@@ -313,12 +274,6 @@ over the limit in the image.
  how much of the newest reports is kept: the default of 1 GiB is small enough
  for any host; set it to the space you can give `DATA_DIR`.

-At the defaults, one address may send 60 reports of up to 1 MiB a minute, and a
-report made up to compress badly takes about as much room in the report files as
-its request body, so in about 17 minutes one address can fill the 1 GiB cap with
-its own reports, every report stored before them deleted to make room. Lowering
-`REPORTS_PER_MINUTE` or raising `DATA_DIR_MAX_BYTES` makes that take longer.
-
 #### CORS

 The page calls the API from the origin it is served from, so by default the
@@ -340,16 +295,12 @@ the metrics record its duration and response size, labelled with its path,
 method and status; they also count those requests in progress, and include Go's
 runtime and process metrics. No other request is recorded: not those to
 `/metrics` itself, and not those answered before they reach either route, such
-as a CORS preflight, or a request refused with 404 for a path no route has or
-405 for a method its route does not take. Run on its own, the backend also
-answers 413 before the route to a request declaring a body length over the 1 MiB
-limit, which is not recorded. A body over the limit sent without a declared
-length reaches the route and is recorded with the status the route answers,
-which is 413 only when the report it reads runs past the limit: nothing after
-the end of the report is read. In the image neither reaches the backend: nginx
-answers both with 413 itself (see [Report limits](#report-limits)), and nothing
-of them is recorded. Clients can make up any number of paths and methods, and
-each would add labels to the metrics for as long as the server runs.
+as a CORS preflight, or a request refused with 404 for a path no route has, 405
+for a method its route does not take, or 413 for declaring a body length over
+the 1 MiB limit. A report whose body goes over the limit without declaring its
+length reaches the route, is answered 413 there, and is recorded with that
+status. Clients can make up any number of paths and methods, and each would add
+labels to the metrics for as long as the server runs.

 `/metrics` is rate limited, so that its password cannot be guessed quickly: each
 client address, resolved through `TRUSTED_PROXIES`, may make 60 requests to it a
@@ -477,10 +428,7 @@ address nginx passes on and no other. The image:
  each entry with `netwatch-server check-cidr`, which parses it as the backend
  parses its own `TRUSTED_PROXIES`
 - Sends access logs to stdout
- Sends the page with `Cache-Control: no-cache`, so a browser that keeps a copy
-  checks with the server that it is current before using it again; only the
-  files under `/assets/`, whose names change whenever their contents do, are
-  cached as immutable
+- Caches static assets with immutable headers
 - Sends the security headers `REPO_POLICIES.md` requires on every response, as
  `configs/security-headers.conf` sets them, in place of the backend's own
 - Stores reports in `DATA_DIR`, `/data/reports` by default, on the `/data`
@@ -21,65 +21,6 @@ Run `make frontend-viewport-test` in CI as its own step; it is not part of

 # Completed Steps

- 2026-10-19: the three unit tests of a check whose result is discarded (its
-  round given up, the user paused, or the first round) also check that the
-  host's history is still empty, its status still `pending`, and nothing was
-  written to the console
-  ([#151](https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/netwatch/issues/151)). They checked only the
-  row, so a change that recorded the result and skipped only the row would have
-  kept them passing
- 2026-10-18: when the backend runs on its own, a `DATA_DIR` that cannot be
-  created or read, or where no file can be created, stops the start with an
-  error naming `DATA_DIR` and its value, as the other settings' errors do
-  ([#148](https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/netwatch/issues/148)); the first two named
-  only the path, and the third was found only at the first write of a report
-  file. At start the server creates a file in `DATA_DIR` and removes it. Unit
-  tests start the buffer with `DATA_DIR` below a regular file and with
-  `DATA_DIR` set to `/proc`, and check the error. The report file number is an
-  `atomic.Int64`, as the Go style guide asks for int types
-  ([#161](https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/netwatch/issues/161)); file names are
-  unchanged
- 2026-10-18: the image's nginx sends the page with `Cache-Control: no-cache`
-  ([#141](https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/netwatch/issues/141)), so a browser that
-  keeps a copy checks with the server that it is current before using it again.
-  The page went out with no `Cache-Control`, so a browser could keep it after a
-  deploy and ask for files under `/assets/` that the new build no longer has,
-  and show an empty page. A path that `location /` answers with the page through
-  its `try_files` fallback gets the same header. `location /` now includes the
-  security headers again, as `/assets/` does, since its own `add_header` drops
-  the server's. `/assets/` keeps its immutable caching.
-  `make frontend-viewport-test` fails unless `/` and a path that falls back to
-  the page carry `Cache-Control: no-cache` and `Content-Security-Policy`, which
-  comes from the same file as the other security headers
- 2026-10-18: `README.md` says what the page loses while reports are refused or
-  the page is paused ([#145](https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/netwatch/issues/145)),
-  how fast one address can replace the stored reports
-  ([#146](https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/netwatch/issues/146)), and that in the image
-  nginx answers a body over 1 MiB itself
-  ([#147](https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/netwatch/issues/147)). A sample in the
-  history that no report has delivered is sent only as long as the history holds
-  it: at the 1-second interval one refused or failed report loses the oldest 20
-  seconds of each host's samples, and a pause longer than the history loses
-  every sample between the last delivered report and the pause. Samples an
-  interval change cleared are kept apart, the last 100 per host, until they are
-  delivered. At the defaults, one address sending 1 MiB reports made up to
-  compress badly can fill the 1 GiB cap in about 17 minutes. nginx's
-  `client_max_body_size` is also 1 MiB by default, so in the image it answers a
-  larger body with 413 and its own HTML page, and the backend never sees or
-  records it; the backend's own 413 sentences now say they apply to it run on
-  its own. The reporter, the body limit and nginx are unchanged
- 2026-10-18: a browser that cannot format the header's clocks still probes
-  ([#149](https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/netwatch/issues/149)). The clocks name the
-  local time zone through `Intl.DateTimeFormat`'s `shortGeneric` option, which
-  Chrome before 95, Firefox before 91 and Safari before 15.4 reject with an
-  error; it came before the first round started, so such a browser never checked
-  a target. The clocks now start last, after the rounds, and an error formatting
-  them leaves both blank. The footer's color legend reads `>=500ms` for red,
-  where it read `>500ms`, so 500 ms, which is red, is in one of its colors
-  ([#152](https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/netwatch/issues/152)). Unit tests check the
-  clocks with a working `Intl.DateTimeFormat` and with one that rejects
-  `shortGeneric`, and draw the page and check the legend against every entry of
-  `CONFIG.latencyColors`
 - 2026-10-18: `netwatch-server prepare-data-dir` no longer changes the owner of
  a file outside `/data` through a hard link in the volume
  ([#143](https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/netwatch/issues/143)). A file with a second
@@ -88,29 +29,12 @@ Run `make frontend-viewport-test` in CI as its own step; it is not part of
  swapped in after the check is caught too; a symbolic link is opened without
  following it and given to the netwatch user itself, so the server can still
  follow one in a sticky directory that anyone can write to. Devices, named
-  pipes and sockets keep their owner. Setting the owner on an open file that is
-  not a directory is built only for Linux: `prepare-data-dir` runs only in the
-  Linux image, and macOS, where the backend is also built for development, has
-  neither `O_PATH` nor `AT_EMPTY_PATH`. On any other system the package still
-  builds, and `prepare-data-dir` fails at the first file that is not a
-  directory. The test that runs as root hard-links a file, a symbolic link and a
-  named pipe from outside the volume into it and finds their owners unchanged
- 2026-10-18: from a trusted proxy, the backend takes the client address from
-  the right-most `X-Forwarded-For` entry that is not in `TRUSTED_PROXIES`
-  ([#144](https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/netwatch/issues/144)). It took the left-most
-  entry, which the client writes itself behind a proxy that appends to the
-  header, so a client could choose the address the rate limit counts and the
-  request log records. An entry written as an address with a port is read as
-  that address. With only trusted addresses in the header, or an entry that is
-  not an address at all (such as `unknown`) met on the way, the direct peer is
-  used. `X-Real-IP` is read only without `X-Forwarded-For`, and every
-  `X-Forwarded-For` header line is read, not only the first. The image's nginx,
-  and the `TRUSTED_PROXIES=127.0.0.1/32` it starts the backend with, are
-  unchanged; the comment in `configs/nginx.conf` that said the backend takes the
-  first entry now says it takes the one address nginx passes on. Unit tests
-  resolve the address from chains ending in an untrusted address, in trusted
-  ones, of only trusted ones, with ports, with an entry that is not an address,
-  and split over two header lines
+  pipes and sockets keep their owner. Opening a file without following it and
+  setting the owner on the open file needs Linux, the system of the image; on
+  any other system the package still builds, and `prepare-data-dir` fails at the
+  first file that is not a directory. The test that runs as root hard-links a
+  file, a symbolic link and a named pipe from outside the volume into it and
+  finds their owners unchanged
 - 2026-10-18: after an interval change, the summary's Reachable slot reads
  `--/--` in white, as at page load, until the second round since the change
  ends ([#140](https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/netwatch/issues/140)). It used to read
@@ -30,13 +30,8 @@ server {
    access_log /dev/stdout combined;
    error_log  /dev/stderr warn;

-    # With no-cache, a browser never uses a copy of the page that names
-    # assets a newer build no longer has without first checking with the
-    # server that it is current.
    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ /index.html;
-        add_header Cache-Control no-cache;
-        include /etc/nginx/security-headers.conf;
    }

    # Cache static assets aggressively
@@ -51,9 +46,7 @@ server {
    # 127.0.0.1:8081. These headers go with every request passed to it.
    # X-Forwarded-For carries only the client address, as resolved by
    # the real IP settings above, and not the chain the request came
-    # with. bin/entrypoint.sh starts the backend with
-    # TRUSTED_PROXIES=127.0.0.1/32, the address nginx connects from, so
-    # the backend takes that one entry as the client address.
+    # with: the backend takes the first entry, which a client can write.
    proxy_set_header Host $host;
    proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
    proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $remote_addr;
@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@ import (
 	"net/http"
 	"net/netip"
 	"runtime/debug"
-	"slices"
 	"strings"
 	"time"

@@ -134,17 +133,6 @@ func ipFromHostPort(hostPort string) string {
 // X-Real-IP are honoured only when the direct peer is a
 // trusted proxy; otherwise the direct peer is returned so a
 // spoofed header cannot forge the logged address.
-//
-// Each proxy appends to X-Forwarded-For the address it took the
-// request from, so the entries on the right are written by the
-// trusted proxies and those further left by the client. The
-// client's address is therefore the right-most entry that is not
-// a trusted proxy. An entry written as an address with a port is
-// read as that address, both for the trust check and as the
-// result. When every entry is a trusted proxy, or the walk from
-// the right meets an entry that is not an address at all (such as
-// "unknown"), the peer is used. X-Real-IP is read only when there
-// is no X-Forwarded-For entry at all.
 func clientIP(
 	remoteAddr string,
 	header http.Header,
@@ -156,49 +144,28 @@ func clientIP(
 		return peer
 	}

-	forwarded := forwardedFor(header)
-
-	if len(forwarded) == 0 {
-		if xr := strings.TrimSpace(header.Get("X-Real-IP")); validIP(xr) {
-			return xr
-		}
-
-		return peer
+	if xff := firstForwardedFor(header.Get("X-Forwarded-For")); xff != "" {
+		return xff
 	}

-	for _, entry := range slices.Backward(forwarded) {
-		if !validIP(entry) {
-			return peer
-		}
-
-		if !addrInAny(entry, trusted) {
-			return entry
-		}
+	if xr := strings.TrimSpace(header.Get("X-Real-IP")); validIP(xr) {
+		return xr
 	}

 	return peer
 }

-// forwardedFor returns the entries of X-Forwarded-For in order,
-// leaving out blank ones. A proxy may add its entry as a header
-// line of its own rather than append it to the line the client
-// sent, so every line is read, not only the first. Some proxies
-// write an entry as an address with a port, such as
-// 198.51.100.7:5000 or [2001:db8::1]:443; the port is removed so
-// that the entry is read as its address.
-func forwardedFor(header http.Header) []string {
-	value := strings.Join(header.Values("X-Forwarded-For"), ",")
-
-	var entries []string
-
+// firstForwardedFor returns the left-most valid address in an
+// X-Forwarded-For list (the original client), or "" if none.
+func firstForwardedFor(value string) string {
 	for part := range strings.SplitSeq(value, ",") {
-		entry := strings.TrimSpace(part)
-		if entry != "" {
-			entries = append(entries, ipFromHostPort(entry))
+		candidate := strings.TrimSpace(part)
+		if validIP(candidate) {
+			return candidate
 		}
 	}

-	return entries
+	return ""
 }

 func validIP(s string) bool {
@@ -25,16 +25,10 @@ import (
 const (
 	// loopbackPeer is a remote address inside the trusted-proxy allowlist.
 	loopbackPeer = "127.0.0.1:5000"
-	// loopbackIP is the address of loopbackPeer, which ClientIP returns
-	// when it uses the peer.
-	loopbackIP = "127.0.0.1"
 	// forwardedIP is the client address presented via X-Forwarded-For.
 	forwardedIP = "203.0.113.7"
 	// realIP is the client address presented via X-Real-IP.
 	realIP = "203.0.113.9"
-	// appendedIP is the X-Forwarded-For entry a trusted proxy appended
-	// after the entries the client wrote.
-	appendedIP = "198.51.100.7"
 )

 func mustPrefixes(t *testing.T, cidrs ...string) []netip.Prefix {
@@ -91,35 +85,10 @@ func clientIPCases() []clientIPCase {
 			want:       forwardedIP,
 		},
 		{
-			name:       "trusted proxy uses right-most of chain",
-			remoteAddr: loopbackPeer,
-			xff:        "203.0.113.9, " + appendedIP,
-			want:       appendedIP,
-		},
-		{
-			name:       "trusted proxy entries are skipped from the right",
-			remoteAddr: loopbackPeer,
-			xff:        "203.0.113.9, 10.0.0.5",
-			want:       "203.0.113.9",
-		},
-		{
-			name:       "chain of only trusted proxies uses peer",
-			remoteAddr: loopbackPeer,
-			xff:        "10.0.0.5, 10.1.2.3",
-			want:       loopbackIP,
-		},
-		{
-			name:       "entry that is not an address uses peer",
-			remoteAddr: loopbackPeer,
-			xff:        "203.0.113.9, unknown",
-			want:       loopbackIP,
-		},
-		{
-			name:       "x-real-ip ignored when forwarded-for has entries",
-			remoteAddr: loopbackPeer,
-			xff:        "10.0.0.5",
-			xRealIP:    realIP,
-			want:       loopbackIP,
+			name:       "trusted proxy uses left-most of chain",
+			remoteAddr: "10.1.2.3:5000",
+			xff:        forwardedIP + ", 10.1.2.3",
+			want:       forwardedIP,
 		},
 		{
 			name:       "trusted proxy falls back to x-real-ip",
@@ -148,7 +117,7 @@ func clientIPCases() []clientIPCase {
 			name:       "trusted proxy with garbage header uses peer",
 			remoteAddr: loopbackPeer,
 			xff:        "not-an-ip",
-			want:       loopbackIP,
+			want:       "127.0.0.1",
 		},
 	}
 }
@@ -179,47 +148,6 @@ func TestClientIP(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }

-// TestClientIPReadsEveryForwardedForLine checks that an entry a proxy
-// adds as an X-Forwarded-For line of its own is read, and the line the
-// client sent before it is not taken.
-func TestClientIPReadsEveryForwardedForLine(t *testing.T) {
-	t.Parallel()
-
-	header := http.Header{}
-	header.Add("X-Forwarded-For", "203.0.113.9")
-	header.Add("X-Forwarded-For", appendedIP)
-
-	got := middleware.ClientIP(loopbackPeer, header,
-		mustPrefixes(t, "127.0.0.1/32"))
-	if got != appendedIP {
-		t.Errorf("ClientIP() = %q, want %q", got, appendedIP)
-	}
-}
-
-// TestClientIPReadsAddressWithPort checks that an X-Forwarded-For entry
-// written as an address with a port is read as that address, both for
-// the trust check and as the result.
-func TestClientIPReadsAddressWithPort(t *testing.T) {
-	t.Parallel()
-
-	trusted := mustPrefixes(t, "127.0.0.1/32", "10.0.0.0/8")
-
-	for xff, want := range map[string]string{
-		"203.0.113.9, " + appendedIP + ":5000": appendedIP,
-		"203.0.113.9, [2001:db8::1]:443":       "2001:db8::1",
-		"203.0.113.9, 10.0.0.5:5000":           "203.0.113.9",
-	} {
-		header := http.Header{}
-		header.Set("X-Forwarded-For", xff)
-
-		got := middleware.ClientIP(loopbackPeer, header, trusted)
-		if got != want {
-			t.Errorf("X-Forwarded-For %q: ClientIP() = %q, want %q",
-				xff, got, want)
-		}
-	}
-}
-
 func TestSecurityHeaders(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()

@@ -24,10 +24,9 @@ import (
 // its number of names from the open file and gives that file to them,
 // so a hard link swapped in at name is caught too.
 //
-// This file is built only on Linux: prepare-data-dir runs only in the
-// Linux image, and macOS, where the backend is also built for
-// development, has neither O_PATH nor AT_EMPTY_PATH. On any other
-// system chownFile returns an error (see datadir_other.go).
+// This file is built only on Linux, because O_PATH and AT_EMPTY_PATH
+// exist only there; prepare-data-dir runs only in the Linux image. On
+// any other system chownFile returns an error (see datadir_other.go).
 func chownFile(root *os.Root, name string, uid, gid int) error {
 	file, err := root.OpenFile(name, unix.O_PATH, 0)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -10,12 +10,11 @@ import (

 // chownFile returns an error on every system but Linux. Opening a file
 // that is not a directory without reading it or following it, and
-// giving it to a user on the open file, never by name, is built only
-// for Linux (see datadir_linux.go): prepare-data-dir runs only in the
-// Linux image, and macOS, where the backend is also built for
-// development, has neither O_PATH nor AT_EMPTY_PATH. This file lets
-// the package build elsewhere, such as on macOS, where a developer
-// runs make build and make run.
+// giving it to a user on the open file, never by name, needs O_PATH
+// and AT_EMPTY_PATH, which only Linux has (see datadir_linux.go), and
+// prepare-data-dir runs only in the Linux image. This file lets the
+// package build elsewhere, such as on macOS, where a developer runs
+// make build and make run.
 func chownFile(_ *os.Root, name string, _, _ int) error {
 	return &fs.PathError{Op: "chown", Path: name, Err: errors.ErrUnsupported}
 }
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ type Buffer struct {
 	now func() time.Time
 	// seq numbers the report files, so that two named in the same
 	// millisecond still get different names.
-	seq      atomic.Int64
+	seq      atomic.Uint64
 	stopOnce sync.Once
 	// usedBytes is what Append checks against maxBytes: the size
 	// of the report files in dataDir, plus the reports waiting to
@@ -127,33 +127,16 @@ func New(

 	lc.Append(fx.Hook{
 		OnStart: func(_ context.Context) error {
-			// The errors name DATA_DIR, as config.New's do for the
-			// settings it checks.
 			err := os.MkdirAll(b.dataDir, dirPerms)
 			if err != nil {
-				return fmt.Errorf("DATA_DIR %q: %w", b.dataDir, err)
-			}
-
-			// Creating and removing a file stops the start when no
-			// file can be created in DATA_DIR, instead of the first
-			// write of a report file failing after reports were
-			// answered 200. A full disk is not caught: the empty
-			// file is still created.
-			f, err := os.CreateTemp(b.dataDir, "")
-			if err != nil {
-				return fmt.Errorf("DATA_DIR %q: %w", b.dataDir, err)
-			}
-
-			err = errors.Join(f.Close(), os.Remove(f.Name()))
-			if err != nil {
-				return fmt.Errorf("DATA_DIR %q: %w", b.dataDir, err)
+				return fmt.Errorf("create data dir: %w", err)
 			}

 			// Report files left by earlier runs count too, and are
 			// the first to be deleted to make room.
 			files, err := reportFiles(b.dataDir)
 			if err != nil {
-				return fmt.Errorf("DATA_DIR %q: %w", b.dataDir, err)
+				return err
 			}

 			b.mu.Lock()
@@ -108,68 +108,6 @@ func TestFailedFinalFlushFailsStop(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }

-// TestUncreatableDataDirStopsStart sets DATA_DIR below a regular file,
-// where no directory can be created, even by root, as the tests run in
-// the backend image. The start must fail with an error naming DATA_DIR
-// and its value, as the errors for the other settings do.
-func TestUncreatableDataDirStopsStart(t *testing.T) {
-	file := filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "file")
-	writeBytes(t, file, 1)
-
-	dir := filepath.Join(file, "reports")
-	t.Setenv("DATA_DIR", dir)
-
-	app := fxtest.New(t,
-		fx.Provide(
-			globals.New,
-			logger.New,
-			config.New,
-			reportbuf.New,
-		),
-		fx.Invoke(func(*reportbuf.Buffer) {}),
-	)
-
-	err := app.Start(t.Context())
-	if err == nil {
-		t.Fatal("start succeeded with DATA_DIR below a regular file")
-	}
-
-	want := fmt.Sprintf("DATA_DIR %q: ", dir)
-	if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), want) {
-		t.Fatalf("start error = %q, want it to contain %q", err, want)
-	}
-}
-
-// TestUnwritableDataDirStopsStart sets DATA_DIR to /proc, which exists
-// and can be read, but where no file can be created, even by root, as
-// the tests run in the backend image: root ignores a directory the test
-// makes read-only. The start must fail with an error naming DATA_DIR and
-// its value, rather than the first write of a report file.
-func TestUnwritableDataDirStopsStart(t *testing.T) {
-	dir := "/proc"
-	t.Setenv("DATA_DIR", dir)
-
-	app := fxtest.New(t,
-		fx.Provide(
-			globals.New,
-			logger.New,
-			config.New,
-			reportbuf.New,
-		),
-		fx.Invoke(func(*reportbuf.Buffer) {}),
-	)
-
-	err := app.Start(t.Context())
-	if err == nil {
-		t.Fatal("start succeeded with DATA_DIR /proc")
-	}
-
-	want := fmt.Sprintf("DATA_DIR %q: ", dir)
-	if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), want) {
-		t.Fatalf("start error = %q, want it to contain %q", err, want)
-	}
-}
-
 // TestStopWaitsForPeriodicWrite holds open the write the periodic flush
 // starts, then stops the app. The stop must wait until the write is
 // released, and the report must then be in its file. The test runs in
@@ -7,8 +7,6 @@
 # headless Chrome at it over CDP, and asserts on computed layout at every
 # viewport width derived from the app's own CSS. See
 # test/viewport/README.md for what this covers and what it cannot.
-# Before the browser starts, it checks that the page is served with
-# Cache-Control: no-cache and Content-Security-Policy.
 #
 # Deliberately not part of script/check: it needs Docker and takes far
 # longer than the 20s budget make test has to stay inside.
@@ -77,32 +75,6 @@ main() {
        -v "$ROOT/configs/security-headers.conf:/etc/nginx/security-headers.conf:ro" \
        "$SERVER_IMAGE" > /dev/null

-    # The page, and /no-such-page, which location / answers with the
-    # page through its try_files fallback, must go out with
-    # Cache-Control: no-cache. That add_header in its location drops the
-    # server's own unless the location includes the security headers
-    # again; only Content-Security-Policy is checked, as it comes from
-    # the same file as the rest. curl tries up to ten more times, a
-    # second apart, while nginx starts. It runs without -S, which would
-    # print an error for every failed attempt, even when a later one
-    # succeeds.
-    for path in / /no-such-page; do
-        if ! headers="$(docker exec "$SERVER" curl -s -o /dev/null -D - \
-            --retry 10 --retry-connrefused --retry-delay 1 \
-            "http://127.0.0.1:8080$path")"; then
-            echo "frontend-viewport-test: nginx did not answer $path" >&2
-            exit 1
-        fi
-        headers="$(printf '%s\n' "$headers" | tr -d '\r')"
-        if ! printf '%s\n' "$headers" | grep -qix 'Cache-Control: no-cache' ||
-            ! printf '%s\n' "$headers" | grep -qi '^Content-Security-Policy:'; then
-            echo "frontend-viewport-test: $path needs" \
-                "Cache-Control: no-cache and Content-Security-Policy; got:" >&2
-            printf '%s\n' "$headers" >&2
-            exit 1
-        fi
-    done
-
    # The image's own entrypoint already exposes CDP on 9222 and passes
    # --no-sandbox, so only extra flags belong here; re-specifying the
    # debugging port collides with it and leaves the endpoint bound to
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ import { beforeEach, test } from "node:test";
 import assert from "node:assert/strict";
 import {
    AppState,
-    buildUI,
    CONFIG,
    greyOutUI,
    hostRowHTML,
@@ -18,7 +17,6 @@ import {
    measureLatency,
    Reporter,
    tick,
-    updateClocks,
    updateSummary,
 } from "../../web/src/main.js";

@@ -30,10 +28,8 @@ import {
 // selector until the next test starts. As on a page, writing its text
 // replaces its markup; the status dot greyOutUI looks for in it is not
 // there. Drawing a sparkline does nothing; it looks for the pixel ratio on
-// window and finds none. The commit the page's footer names, which
-// vite.config.js fills in when it builds the page, is blank. In each test,
-// console.error and console.info print nothing and keep what they are
-// given.
+// window and finds none. In each test, console.error and console.info
+// print nothing and keep what they are given.
 const doNothing = () => {};
 let elements;
 beforeEach((t) => {
@@ -55,8 +51,6 @@ const canvasContext = {
 globalThis.window = {};
 globalThis.requestAnimationFrame = doNothing;
 globalThis.cancelAnimationFrame = doNothing;
-globalThis.__COMMIT_HASH__ = "";
-globalThis.__COMMIT_FULL__ = "";
 globalThis.document = {
    getElementById: () => null,
    createElement: () => ({}),
@@ -83,11 +77,6 @@ function statusText(state, host) {
    return elements[`.status-text[data-host="${index}"]`]?.innerHTML;
 }

-// What this test wrote to the browser console with console[method].
-function consoleLines(method) {
-    return console[method].mock.calls.map((call) => call.arguments[0]);
-}
-
 // Mocks the clock for test t, so that a check lasting seconds takes no real
 // time, and replaces fetch with targets that each answer after
 // answerAfter(url) milliseconds of that clock, or never when that is
@@ -207,10 +196,9 @@ test("at a 30000ms interval, a target answering after 1000ms shows in its row wh
 });

 // In the next three tests, the answering target's check is still waiting
-// when something happens after which its result must not be recorded or
-// show in its row, and the check must write nothing to the console.
+// when something happens after which its result must not show.

-test("at a 30000ms interval, a check still waiting when its round is given up is not recorded and does not show in its row", async (t) => {
+test("at a 30000ms interval, a check still waiting when its round is given up does not show in its row", async (t) => {
    CONFIG.updateInterval = 30000;
    const state = new AppState([
        { name: "Answering", url: "https://answering.test" },
@@ -226,13 +214,9 @@ test("at a 30000ms interval, a check still waiting when its round is given up is
    roundChecks.abort();
    assert.notEqual(await settled(round), "still waiting");
    assert.equal(latencyFigure(state, answering), undefined);
-    assert.deepEqual(answering.history, []);
-    assert.equal(answering.status, "pending");
-    assert.deepEqual(consoleLines("error"), []);
-    assert.deepEqual(consoleLines("info"), []);
 });

-test("at a 30000ms interval, a check still waiting when the user pauses is not recorded and does not show in its row", async (t) => {
+test("at a 30000ms interval, a check still waiting when the user pauses does not show in its row", async (t) => {
    CONFIG.updateInterval = 30000;
    const state = new AppState([
        { name: "Answering", url: "https://answering.test" },
@@ -247,13 +231,9 @@ test("at a 30000ms interval, a check still waiting when the user pauses is not r
    t.mock.timers.tick(500);
    assert.equal(await settled(round), "still waiting");
    assert.equal(latencyFigure(state, answering), undefined);
-    assert.deepEqual(answering.history, []);
-    assert.equal(answering.status, "pending");
-    assert.deepEqual(consoleLines("error"), []);
-    assert.deepEqual(consoleLines("info"), []);
 });

-test("at a 30000ms interval, a check in the first round is not recorded and does not show in its row", async (t) => {
+test("at a 30000ms interval, a check in the first round does not show in its row", async (t) => {
    CONFIG.updateInterval = 30000;
    const state = new AppState([
        { name: "Answering", url: "https://answering.test" },
@@ -265,10 +245,6 @@ test("at a 30000ms interval, a check in the first round is not recorded and does
    t.mock.timers.tick(1000);
    assert.equal(await settled(round), "still waiting");
    assert.equal(latencyFigure(state, answering), undefined);
-    assert.deepEqual(answering.history, []);
-    assert.equal(answering.status, "pending");
-    assert.deepEqual(consoleLines("error"), []);
-    assert.deepEqual(consoleLines("info"), []);
 });

 test("at a 30000ms interval, after the user pauses and resumes during a round, no row reads paused once its last check ends", async (t) => {
@@ -318,6 +294,11 @@ function stateWithOneTarget() {
    return { state, target: state.local[0] };
 }

+// What this test wrote to the browser console with console[method].
+function consoleLines(method) {
+    return console[method].mock.calls.map((call) => call.arguments[0]);
+}
+
 test("a check that fails with a network error writes one console line with the target, the time, the error and how long the request took", async (t) => {
    const { state, target } = stateWithOneTarget();
    mockTargets(t, () => 23, target.url);
@@ -598,32 +579,6 @@ test("a check that timed out or found its target unreachable has a grey figure a
    assert.equal(latencyHex(null), "#6b7280");
 });

-// buildUI draws the page into #app, here a plain object. Each entry in the
-// footer's color legend is a colored dot and the latencies it stands for,
-// with < and > written as &lt; and &gt;. A latency takes the color of the
-// first entry in CONFIG.latencyColors whose limit it is below, so the
-// legend has, for each of those entries in order, a dot of its color (a
-// bg- class where CONFIG.latencyColors has a text- one) and the latencies
-// below its limit, or, for the last, which has no limit, the latencies
-// from the limit before it up. A gray dot for offline comes after them.
-test("the footer's color legend has each entry in CONFIG.latencyColors, with its color and limit, then offline", (t) => {
-    const app = {};
-    t.mock.method(globalThis.document, "getElementById", () => app);
-    buildUI(new AppState([]));
-
-    const legend = [
-        ...app.innerHTML.matchAll(/(bg-\w+-500) [^"]*"><\/span>(\S+)/g),
-    ].map(([, dot, latencies]) => [dot, latencies]);
-    const colors = CONFIG.latencyColors;
-    const expected = colors.map((color, i) => [
-        color.className.replace("text-", "bg-"),
-        color.below === Infinity
-            ? `&gt;=${colors[i - 1].below}ms`
-            : `&lt;${color.below}ms`,
-    ]);
-    assert.deepEqual(legend, [...expected, ["bg-gray-500", "offline"]]);
-});
-
 // A target whose checks, in turn, answered after each of latencies ms, or,
 // for null, found it unreachable.
 function hostAfter(latencies) {
@@ -746,56 +701,6 @@ test("once every WAN target's check has failed, the summary's Reachable slot rea
    assert.equal(elements["#summary-reachable"].className, "text-red-400");
 });

-// In the next two tests each of the header's clocks is a plain object, made
-// the first time updateClocks looks it up and kept in elements under "#" and
-// its id.
-
-// The mocked clock reads 1970-01-01T00:00:00.000Z.
-test("the header's clocks show the local time with its time zone's name, and the UTC time", (t) => {
-    t.mock.method(
-        globalThis.document,
-        "getElementById",
-        (id) => (elements[`#${id}`] ??= {}),
-    );
-    t.mock.timers.enable({ apis: ["Date"] });
-
-    updateClocks();
-
-    assert.match(
-        elements["#clock-local"].textContent,
-        /^Local: \d{4}-\d\d-\d\d \d\d:\d\d:\d\d \S/,
-    );
-    assert.equal(
-        elements["#clock-utc"].textContent,
-        "UTC: 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC",
-    );
-});
-
-// Here Intl.DateTimeFormat is as in Chrome before 95, Firefox before 91 or
-// Safari before 15.4: it throws a RangeError when asked for the time zone's
-// "shortGeneric" name.
-test("in a browser that cannot name the time zone, updating the clocks throws nothing and leaves them blank", (t) => {
-    t.mock.method(
-        globalThis.document,
-        "getElementById",
-        (id) => (elements[`#${id}`] ??= {}),
-    );
-    const DateTimeFormat = Intl.DateTimeFormat;
-    t.mock.method(Intl, "DateTimeFormat", function (locales, options) {
-        if (options?.timeZoneName === "shortGeneric") {
-            throw new RangeError(
-                "Value shortGeneric out of range for Intl.DateTimeFormat options property timeZoneName",
-            );
-        }
-        return new DateTimeFormat(locales, options);
-    });
-
-    updateClocks();
-
-    assert.equal(elements["#clock-local"].textContent, "");
-    assert.equal(elements["#clock-utc"].textContent, "");
-});
-
 // An app state in which, of the WAN targets, the first timedOut timed out,
 // the next unreachable were found unreachable, the next answered answered
 // after latency ms, and the rest have not been checked yet.
@@ -829,7 +829,7 @@ function wanRowsHTML(wanHosts) {
    return rows.join("");
 }

-export function buildUI(state) {
+function buildUI(state) {
    const app = document.getElementById("app");
    app.innerHTML = `
    <div class="mx-auto px-[5%] py-8">
@@ -911,7 +911,7 @@ export function buildUI(state) {
          <span class="inline-block w-3 h-3 rounded-full bg-lime-500 mr-1 ml-3 align-middle"></span>&lt;100ms
          <span class="inline-block w-3 h-3 rounded-full bg-yellow-500 mr-1 ml-3 align-middle"></span>&lt;200ms
          <span class="inline-block w-3 h-3 rounded-full bg-orange-500 mr-1 ml-3 align-middle"></span>&lt;500ms
-          <span class="inline-block w-3 h-3 rounded-full bg-red-500 mr-1 ml-3 align-middle"></span>&gt;=500ms
+          <span class="inline-block w-3 h-3 rounded-full bg-red-500 mr-1 ml-3 align-middle"></span>&gt;500ms
          <span class="inline-block w-3 h-3 rounded-full bg-gray-500 mr-1 ml-3 align-middle"></span>offline
        </p>
        <p class="mt-2"><a href="https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/netwatch/commit/${__COMMIT_FULL__}" target="_blank" rel="noopener" class="text-gray-600 hover:text-gray-400">${__COMMIT_HASH__}</a></p>
@@ -1114,33 +1114,6 @@ function updateHealthBox(state) {
    else if (health === "healthy") log.notice(`Health: ${labels[health]}`);
 }

-// Writes the local time, with its time zone's name, and the UTC time into
-// the header's clocks. The clocks only decorate the page: in a browser
-// whose Intl.DateTimeFormat rejects the "shortGeneric" time zone name
-// (Chrome before 95, Firefox before 91, Safari before 15.4) they are left
-// blank.
-export function updateClocks() {
-    let local = "";
-    let utc = "";
-    try {
-        const now = new Date();
-        const zone = new Intl.DateTimeFormat("en-US", {
-            timeZoneName: "shortGeneric",
-        })
-            .formatToParts(now)
-            .find((p) => p.type === "timeZoneName").value;
-        const pad = (n) => String(n).padStart(2, "0");
-        local = `Local: ${now.toLocaleString("sv-SE", { hour12: false })} ${zone}`;
-        utc =
-            `UTC: ${now.getUTCFullYear()}-${pad(now.getUTCMonth() + 1)}-${pad(now.getUTCDate())} ` +
-            `${pad(now.getUTCHours())}:${pad(now.getUTCMinutes())}:${pad(now.getUTCSeconds())} UTC`;
-    } catch {
-        // Both clocks are left blank.
-    }
-    document.getElementById("clock-local").textContent = local;
-    document.getElementById("clock-utc").textContent = utc;
-}
-
 // --- Debug Log Renderer ------------------------------------------------------

 // One line of the debug log panel, its message set as text.
@@ -1536,6 +1509,24 @@ async function init() {
        sortAndRebuildWAN(state);
    });

+    function updateClocks() {
+        const now = new Date();
+        const pad = (n) => String(n).padStart(2, "0");
+        const utc =
+            `${now.getUTCFullYear()}-${pad(now.getUTCMonth() + 1)}-${pad(now.getUTCDate())} ` +
+            `${pad(now.getUTCHours())}:${pad(now.getUTCMinutes())}:${pad(now.getUTCSeconds())} UTC`;
+        const local =
+            now.toLocaleString("sv-SE", { hour12: false }) +
+            " " +
+            new Intl.DateTimeFormat("en-US", { timeZoneName: "shortGeneric" })
+                .formatToParts(now)
+                .find((p) => p.type === "timeZoneName").value;
+        document.getElementById("clock-local").textContent = "Local: " + local;
+        document.getElementById("clock-utc").textContent = "UTC: " + utc;
+    }
+    updateClocks();
+    setInterval(updateClocks, 1000);
+
    // Rounds never overlap: a round first gives up the last round's checks
    // if they are still waiting, and the last round then records nothing
    // more. At a steady interval they never are, as they time out at 80% of
@@ -1615,11 +1606,6 @@ async function init() {

    window.addEventListener("resize", () => handleResize(state));
    setTimeout(() => handleResize(state), CONFIG.resizeDelay);
-
-    // The clocks start last, after the rounds: they only decorate the page,
-    // so nothing in them may stop the monitor from probing.
-    updateClocks();
-    setInterval(updateClocks, 1000);
 }

 // Bootstrap only when loaded as the page: a real DOM containing the #app