echo6-docs/vault/projects/argus.md

---
title: ARGUS - OSINT Intelligence Platform
type: project
tags:
  - mesh
  - auth
  - recon
aliases: []
related:
  - [[ip-allocation]]
  - [[caddy]]
  - [[headscale-onboard-node]]
  - [[ct-runbook]]
  - [[environment]]
updated: 2026-06-18
---
# ARGUS - OSINT Intelligence Platform

**Status:** Container provisioned, baseline installed, awaiting application deployment
**Last Updated:** 2026-06-14

---

## Overview

ARGUS (Automated Reconnaissance & Gathering for Unified Situational-awareness) is an OSINT intelligence gathering platform combining SearXNG with local LLM analysis for automated threat intelligence collection and processing.

**Architecture:**
- Search backend: SearXNG (self-hosted)
- Analysis: Local LLM models (no cloud APIs)
- Scopes: Local, regional, national, global threat levels
- Privacy-first: No PII collection, focus on events/trends/policies

---

## Container Specifications

| Property | Value |
|----------|-------|
| **CTID** | 103 |
| **Hostname** | argus |
| **Host** | utility (192.168.1.241 / 100.64.0.5) |
| **Local IP** | 192.168.1.103 (static) |
| **Tailscale IP** | 100.64.0.25 |
| **Gateway** | 192.168.1.1 |
| **Container Type** | Privileged (unprivileged=0) |
| **Resources** | 4 cores, 8GB RAM, 30GB disk |
| **Storage** | local-lvm:vm-103-disk-0 |
| **Network** | vmbr0, eth0 |
| **Features** | nesting=1 (Docker support) |
| **Autostart** | Yes (onboot=1) |
| **OS** | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS |

**Why privileged:** Required for /dev/net/tun access (Tailscale). Attempted unprivileged initially but tailscaled failed with "CreateTUN failed; /dev/net/tun does not exist".

---

## Installed Software (Baseline)

- **Docker:** 29.5.3 + docker-compose plugin
- **Tailscale:** 1.98.4 (registered with Headscale at vpn.echo6.co)
- **User:** zvx (uid=1000, groups: sudo, docker)
- **Common tools:** curl, wget, vim, htop, git, jq, net-tools, dnsutils, sshpass
- **SSH:** OpenSSH server (password auth enabled)

---

## Tailscale Configuration

**Headscale server:** https://vpn.echo6.co
**User:** echo6 (user ID 1)
**Tailscale IP:** 100.64.0.25
**Registration:** `tailscale up --login-server=https://vpn.echo6.co --authkey=<key> --ssh --accept-routes`

**DNS Bootstrap Fix:**
Systemd drop-in at `/etc/systemd/system/tailscaled.service.d/dns-bootstrap.conf` ensures fallback DNS (1.1.1.1, 8.8.8.8) exists before tailscaled starts, preventing chicken-and-egg DNS resolution failures on reboot.

```bash
[Service]
# Ensure fallback DNS exists before tailscaled starts
# Prevents chicken-and-egg DNS resolution failures on reboot
ExecStartPre=/bin/sh -c "echo nameserver 1.1.1.1 > /etc/resolv.conf; echo nameserver 8.8.8.8 >> /etc/resolv.conf"
```

---

## Network Configuration

**Static IP:** Configured via Proxmox (`pct set 103 -net0 name=eth0,bridge=vmbr0,ip=192.168.1.103/24,gw=192.168.1.1`)

**Container config** (`/etc/pve/lxc/103.conf`):
```
arch: amd64
cores: 4
features: nesting=1
hostname: argus
memory: 8192
net0: name=eth0,bridge=vmbr0,hwaddr=BC:24:11:EA:8B:21,ip=192.168.1.103/24,gw=192.168.1.1,type=veth
onboot: 1
ostype: ubuntu
rootfs: local-lvm:vm-103-disk-0,size=30G
swap: 512
lxc.cgroup2.devices.allow: c 10:200 rwm
lxc.mount.entry: /dev/net dev/net none bind,create=dir
```

**TUN device:** Added manually via `lxc.cgroup2.devices.allow` and `lxc.mount.entry` to support Tailscale in privileged container.

---

## Access Methods

### SSH Access

```bash
# Local network (static IP)
ssh zvx@192.168.1.103

# Tailscale VPN
ssh zvx@100.64.0.25
ssh zvx@argus

# With password (for sshpass workflows)
sshpass -p '7redditGold' ssh zvx@192.168.1.103
```

**Credentials:**
- User: `zvx`
- Password: `7redditGold`
- Sudo: Enabled (no password prompt)

### From Proxmox Host

```bash
# Execute commands in container
pct exec 103 -- <command>

# Enter container shell
pct enter 103

# Container management
pct start 103
pct stop 103
pct reboot 103
pct status 103
```

---

## ARGUS Application Architecture (Planned)

### Geographic Scope Hierarchy

| Scope | Description | Update Frequency |
|-------|-------------|------------------|
| LOCAL | Idaho, immediate region | High |
| REGIONAL | Pacific Northwest, neighboring states | Medium |
| NATIONAL | US-wide threats, policy changes | Medium |
| GLOBAL | International, geopolitical | Low |

### Data Storage

- **Raw search results:** `data/raw/{scope}/{date}/`
- **Processed intel:** `data/processed/{scope}/`
- **Alerts:** `data/alerts/`
- **Timestamps:** All in UTC

### Privacy Rules

- No PII collection on individuals
- Focus on events, trends, policies — not people
- Scrub any inadvertent PII before storage
- Logs must not contain search queries with personal info

### LLM Analysis

- **Model hosting:** Local only (no cloud APIs)
- **Functions:** Summarization, threat classification, entity extraction, sentiment/threat scoring
- **Entities:** Locations, organizations (not individuals)

---

## Provisioning History

**2026-06-14 03:00 UTC** - Initial provisioning

1. **First attempt (unprivileged):** Failed - tailscaled couldn't access /dev/net/tun
2. **Second attempt (privileged):** Success
   - Created CT 103 with `--unprivileged 0`
   - Installed baseline (apt update/upgrade, common tools, Docker, Tailscale)
   - DNS fix required post-restart (resolv.conf reset to 100.100.100.100)
   - Added DNS bootstrap systemd drop-in to prevent future DNS failures
   - Configured static IP 192.168.1.103 (originally got .142 via DHCP)
   - Added TUN device support via lxc.cgroup2 and lxc.mount.entry

**Headscale registration:**
- Created preauth key via `docker exec headscale headscale preauthkeys create --user 1 --expiration 24h --reusable`
- Registered successfully after DNS fix
- Assigned Tailscale IP: 100.64.0.25

---

## Verification Checklist

Run inside container to verify baseline:

```bash
pct exec 103 -- bash -c '
echo "=== CT Provisioning Check ==="
echo ""
echo "Hostname:     $(hostname)"
echo "User zvx:     $(id zvx 2>/dev/null && echo OK || echo MISSING)"
echo "sudo:         $(sudo -l -U zvx 2>/dev/null | grep -q ALL && echo OK || echo MISSING)"
echo "sshpass:      $(which sshpass >/dev/null 2>&1 && echo OK || echo MISSING)"
echo "SSH:          $(systemctl is-active ssh)"
echo "Docker:       $(docker --version 2>/dev/null || echo MISSING)"
echo "Tailscale:    $(tailscale status --self 2>/dev/null | head -1 || echo NOT CONNECTED)"
echo "Tailscale IP: $(tailscale ip -4 2>/dev/null || echo N/A)"
echo "Local IP:     $(hostname -I | awk \"{print \$1}\")"
'
```

**Expected output:**
```
=== CT Provisioning Check ===

Hostname:     argus
User zvx:     uid=1000(zvx) gid=1000(zvx) groups=1000(zvx),27(sudo),990(docker) OK
sudo:         OK
sshpass:      OK
SSH:          active
Docker:       Docker version 29.5.3, build d1c06ef
Tailscale:    100.64.0.25  argus              echo6  linux    -
Tailscale IP: 100.64.0.25
Local IP:     192.168.1.103
```

---

## Known Issues & Resolutions

### Issue: DNS resolution fails after container restart

**Symptom:** `resolv.conf` gets reset to invalid nameserver (100.100.100.100), breaking apt and network connectivity.

**Root cause:** LXC containers sometimes reset DNS on boot before networking is fully initialized.

**Resolution:** Installed systemd drop-in (`/etc/systemd/system/tailscaled.service.d/dns-bootstrap.conf`) that sets fallback DNS before tailscaled starts. Prevents chicken-and-egg failure where Tailscale can't resolve vpn.echo6.co because DNS is broken.

### Issue: Tailscaled fails with "/dev/net/tun does not exist"

**Symptom:** Tailscaled crashes on startup with `CreateTUN("tailscale0") failed; /dev/net/tun does not exist`.

**Root cause:** Unprivileged LXC containers don't have access to /dev/net/tun by default.

**Resolution:** Recreated container as privileged (`--unprivileged 0`) and added TUN device to container config:
```
lxc.cgroup2.devices.allow: c 10:200 rwm
lxc.mount.entry: /dev/net dev/net none bind,create=dir
```

---

## Next Steps (Application Deployment)

1. **SearXNG deployment:** Docker container for self-hosted search aggregation
2. **LLM integration:** Local model for analysis (Ollama on cortex or self-hosted)
3. **Database:** SQLite for processed intel, possibly Qdrant for vector search (cortex:6333 available)
4. **Scheduler:** Cron or systemd timers for automated collection
5. **Web dashboard:** Flask/FastAPI for threat intel visualization
6. **Alerting:** Integration with Matrix/email for high-priority threats

---

## Operational Notes

- **Backup strategy:** TBD (Docker volumes + application data)
- **Log rotation:** TBD
- **Monitoring:** TBD (consider adding to WATCHTOWER ops dashboard)
- **Updates:** Standard Ubuntu + Docker update procedures
- **Resource scaling:** Can adjust cores/RAM via `pct set 103 -cores X -memory Y` (requires container restart)

---

## Related Documentation

- **CT provisioning:** `/home/zvx/projects/.ref/runbooks/ct-runbook.md`
- **ARGUS rules:** `~/.claude/rules/argus.md`
- **Environment:** `/home/zvx/projects/.ref/docs/hardware/environment.md`
- **Services:** `/home/zvx/projects/.ref/docs/services/services.md`
- **Headscale:** `/home/zvx/projects/.ref/docs/software/caddy.md` (dnsmasq split DNS)

---

## Quick Command Reference

```bash
# Container management (from Proxmox host)
pct start 103
pct stop 103
pct reboot 103
pct enter 103

# SSH access
ssh zvx@192.168.1.103
ssh zvx@argus  # via Tailscale DNS

# Check Tailscale status
pct exec 103 -- tailscale status
pct exec 103 -- tailscale ip -4

# Docker commands (as zvx user)
ssh zvx@argus "docker ps"
ssh zvx@argus "docker compose up -d"

# View container config
cat /etc/pve/lxc/103.conf

# Check resource usage
pct status 103 --verbose
```

---

**Provisioned by:** Claude Code
**Container ready for:** ARGUS application deployment