RedFlag

🚨 BREAKING CHANGES IN v0.1.23 - READ THIS FIRST

⚠️ ALPHA SOFTWARE - NOT READY FOR PRODUCTION

This is experimental software in active development. Features may be broken, bugs are expected, and breaking changes happen frequently. Use at your own risk, preferably on test systems only. Seriously, don't put this in production yet.

Self-hosted update management for homelabs

Cross-platform agents • Web dashboard • Single binary deployment • No enterprise BS No MacOS yet - need real hardware, not hackintosh hopes and prayers

v0.1.23 - BREAKING CHANGES RELEASE

Latest: Complete rearchitecture with security hardening, multi-subsystem support, and real metrics. This is NOT a simple update - see Breaking Changes below.

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What It Does

RedFlag lets you manage software updates across all your servers from one dashboard. Track pending updates, approve installs, and monitor system health without SSHing into every machine.

Supported Platforms:

• Linux (APT, DNF, Docker)
• Windows (Windows Update, Winget)
• Future: Proxmox integration planned

Built With:

• Go backend + PostgreSQL
• React dashboard
• Pull-based agents (firewall-friendly)
• JWT auth with refresh tokens

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Screenshots

Dashboard	Agent Details	Update Management

Live Operations	History Tracking	Docker Integration

More Screenshots (click to expand)

Heartbeat System	Registration Tokens	Settings Page

Linux Update Details	Linux Health Details	Agent List

Linux Update History	Windows Agent Details	Windows Update History

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🚨 Breaking Changes (v0.1.23)

THIS IS NOT A SIMPLE UPDATE - Complete rearchitecture from monolithic to multi-subsystem security architecture.

What Changed

• Security: Machine binding enforcement (v0.1.22+ minimum), Ed25519 signing required
• Architecture: Single scan → Multi-subsystem (storage, system, docker, packages)
• Paths: /var/lib/aggregator/ → /var/lib/redflag/agent/, /etc/aggregator/ → /etc/redflag/agent/
• Database: Separate tables for metrics, docker images, storage metrics
• UI: New approval/reject workflow, real security metrics, frosted glass design

RECOMMENDED: Full Uninstall & Fresh Install

# COMPLETE UNINSTALL - Remove all previous versions
sudo systemctl stop redflag-agent 2>/dev/null || true
sudo systemctl disable redflag-agent 2>/dev/null || true
sudo rm -f /etc/systemd/system/redflag-agent.service
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo userdel redflag-agent 2>/dev/null || true

# REMOVE ALL OLD DATA
sudo rm -rf /var/lib/aggregator/
sudo rm -rf /var/lib/redflag/
sudo rm -rf /etc/aggregator/
sudo rm -rf /etc/redflag/

# REMOVE DOCKER STUFF (BE SURE YOU'RE IN REDFLAG FOLDER)
cd /path/to/RedFlag  # IMPORTANT: Be in RedFlag directory
docker-compose down -v 2>/dev/null || true
docker system prune -f 2>/dev/null || true

Manual Migration (Advanced Users Only)

If you really need to preserve data:

1. Backup old data:

sudo cp -r /var/lib/aggregator/ ~/aggregator-backup
sudo cp -r /etc/aggregator/ ~/aggregator-config-backup

2. Follow fresh install instructions below
3. Manual data migration (not supported - you're on your own)

No Support for Automatic Migration

At this alpha stage, automated migration is not worth the complexity. The new architecture is fundamentally different and migration would be fragile.

Need Migration Help? If you're one of the few existing v0.1.18 users who needs migration support, join our Discord server and ask - I'll help you through it manually.

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Quick Start

Server Deployment (Docker)

# Clone and configure
git clone https://github.com/Fimeg/RedFlag.git
cd RedFlag
cp config/.env.bootstrap.example config/.env
docker-compose build
docker-compose up -d

# Access web UI and run setup
open http://localhost:3000
# Follow setup wizard to:
# - Generate Ed25519 signing keys (CRITICAL for agent updates)
# - Configure database and admin settings
# - Copy generated .env content to config/.env

# Restart server to use new configuration and signing keys
docker-compose down
docker-compose up -d

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Agent Installation

Linux (one-liner):

curl -sfL https://your-server.com/install | sudo bash -s -- your-registration-token

Windows (PowerShell):

iwr https://your-server.com/install.ps1 | iex

Manual installation:

# Download agent binary
wget https://your-server.com/download/linux/amd64/redflag-agent

# Register and install
chmod +x redflag-agent
sudo ./redflag-agent --server https://your-server.com --token your-token --register

Get registration tokens from the web dashboard under Settings → Token Management.

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Updating

To update to the latest version:

git pull && docker-compose down && docker-compose build --no-cache && docker-compose up -d

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Full Reinstall (Nuclear Option)

If things get really broken or you want to start completely fresh:

docker-compose down -v --remove-orphans && \
  rm config/.env && \
  docker-compose build --no-cache && \
  cp config/.env.bootstrap.example config/.env && \
  docker-compose up -d

What this does:

• down -v - Stops containers and wipes all data (including the database)
• --remove-orphans - Cleans up leftover containers
• rm config/.env - Removes old server config
• build --no-cache - Rebuilds images from scratch
• cp config/.env.bootstrap.example - Resets to bootstrap mode for setup wizard
• up -d - Starts fresh in background

Warning: This deletes everything - all agents, update history, configurations. You'll need to handle existing agents:

Option 1 - Re-register agents:

• Remove ALL agent config:
  • sudo rm /etc/aggregator/config.json (old path)
  • sudo rm -rf /etc/redflag/ (new path)
  • sudo rm -rf /var/lib/aggregator/ (old state)
  • sudo rm -rf /var/lib/redflag/ (new state)
  • C:\ProgramData\RedFlag\config.json (Windows)
• Re-run the one-liner installer with new registration token
• Scripts handle override/update automatically (one agent per OS install)

Option 2 - Clean uninstall/reinstall:

• Uninstall agent completely first
• Then run installer with new token

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Full Uninstall

Uninstall Server:

docker-compose down -v --remove-orphans
rm config/.env

Uninstall Linux Agent:

# Using uninstall script (recommended)
sudo bash aggregator-agent/uninstall.sh

# Remove ALL agent configuration (old and new paths)
sudo rm /etc/aggregator/config.json
sudo rm -rf /etc/redflag/
sudo rm -rf /var/lib/aggregator/
sudo rm -rf /var/lib/redflag/

# Remove agent user (optional - preserves logs)
sudo userdel -r redflag-agent

Uninstall Windows Agent:

# Stop and remove service
Stop-Service RedFlagAgent
sc.exe delete RedFlagAgent

# Remove files
Remove-Item "C:\Program Files\RedFlag\redflag-agent.exe"
Remove-Item "C:\ProgramData\RedFlag\config.json"

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Key Features

✓ Secure by Default - Registration tokens, JWT auth, rate limiting ✓ Idempotent Installs - Re-running installers won't create duplicate agents ✓ Real-time Heartbeat - Interactive operations with rapid polling ✓ Dependency Handling - Dry-run checks before installing updates ✓ Multi-seat Tokens - One token can register multiple agents ✓ Audit Trails - Complete history of all operations ✓ Proxy Support - HTTP/HTTPS/SOCKS5 for restricted networks ✓ Native Services - systemd on Linux, Windows Services on Windows ✓ Ed25519 Signing - Cryptographic signatures for agent updates (v0.1.22+) ✓ Machine Binding - Hardware fingerprint enforcement prevents agent spoofing ✓ Real Security Metrics - Actual database-driven security monitoring

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Architecture

┌─────────────────┐
│  Web Dashboard  │  React + TypeScript
│  Port: 3000     │
└────────┬────────┘
         │ HTTPS + JWT Auth
┌────────▼────────┐
│  Server (Go)    │  PostgreSQL
│  Port: 8080     │
└────────┬────────┘
         │ Pull-based (agents check in every 5 min)
    ┌────┴────┬────────┐
    │         │        │
┌───▼──┐  ┌──▼──┐  ┌──▼───┐
│Linux │  │Windows│ │Linux │
│Agent │  │Agent  │ │Agent │
└──────┘  └───────┘ └──────┘

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Documentation

• API Reference - Complete API documentation
• Configuration - CLI flags, env vars, config files
• Architecture - System design and database schema
• Development - Build from source, testing, contributing

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Security Notes

RedFlag uses:

• Registration tokens - One-time use tokens for secure agent enrollment
• Refresh tokens - 90-day sliding window, auto-renewal for active agents
• SHA-256 hashing - All tokens hashed at rest
• Rate limiting - Configurable API protection
• Minimal privileges - Agents run with least required permissions
• Ed25519 Signing - All agent updates signed with server keys (v0.1.22+)
• Machine Binding - Agents bound to hardware fingerprint (v0.1.22+)

File Flow & Update Security:

• All agent update packages are cryptographically signed
• Setup wizard generates Ed25519 keypair during initial configuration
• Agents validate signatures before installing any updates
• File integrity verified with checksums and signatures
• Controlled file flow prevents unauthorized updates

For production deployments:

1. Complete setup wizard to generate signing keys
2. Use HTTPS/TLS
3. Configure firewall rules
4. Enable rate limiting
5. Monitor security metrics dashboard

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Current Status

What Works:

• ✅ Cross-platform agent registration and updates
• ✅ Update scanning for all supported package managers
• ✅ Dry-run dependency checking before installation
• ✅ Real-time heartbeat and rapid polling
• ✅ Multi-seat registration tokens
• ✅ Native service integration (systemd, Windows Services)
• ✅ Web dashboard with full agent management
• ✅ Docker integration for container image updates

Known Issues:

• Windows Winget detection needs debugging
• Some Windows Updates may reappear after installation (known Windows Update quirk)

Planned Features:

• Proxmox VM/container integration
• Agent auto-update system
• Mobile-responsive dashboard improvements

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Development

# Start local development environment
make db-up
make server   # Terminal 1
make agent    # Terminal 2
make web      # Terminal 3

See docs/DEVELOPMENT.md for detailed build instructions.

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Alpha Release Notice

This is alpha software built for homelabs and self-hosters. It's functional and actively used, but:

• Expect occasional bugs
• Backup your data
• Security model is solid but not audited
• Breaking changes may happen between versions
• Documentation is a work in progress

That said, it works well for its intended use case. Issues and feedback welcome!

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License

MIT License - See LICENSE for details

Third-Party Components:

• Windows Update integration based on windowsupdate (Apache 2.0)

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Project Goals

RedFlag aims to be:

• Simple - Deploy in 5 minutes, understand in 10
• Honest - No enterprise marketing speak, just useful software
• Homelab-first - Built for real use cases, not investor pitches
• Self-hosted - Your data, your infrastructure

If you're looking for an enterprise-grade solution with SLAs and support contracts, this isn't it. If you want to manage updates across your homelab without SSH-ing into every server, welcome aboard.

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Made with ☕ for homelabbers, by homelabbers