Dotnix follow-up

applications/dotnix-followup.md

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+# Dotnix
+
+- **Team Name:** Sporyon Technologies OÜ
+
+- **Payment Address-sporyon:** Fiat 25.03.2024, 15:18
+- **DOT-sporyon:** 1Z765yAFnVpzYT7Vk2wKaePoP1YGdYQ5yUw3nVEyu2DYju8
+- **DOT-tv:** 1Qtup4rW7TCCryMTH6UB7Fx2cN8ntbNyYVhbjRZiHP7skXQ
+- **[Level](https://github.com/w3f/Grants-Program/tree/master#level_slider-levels):** 3
+
+## Project Overview 📄
+
+
+### Overview
+
+Dotnix is a collection of Nix packages, NixOS modules, and a commandline tool designed for compiling Polkadot validators, managing their deployments while emphasizing both security and ease of use.
+
+This is a follow-up grant on (Dotnix-W3-Pull-Link), for which all milestones have been submitted and accepted.
+* [Milestone 1](https://github.com/w3f/Grant-Milestone-Delivery/blob/master/deliveries/dotnix-milestone_1.md) - [Evaluation](https://github.com/w3f/Grant-Milestone-Delivery/blob/master/evaluations/dotnix_1_semuelle.md)
+* [Milestone 2](https://github.com/w3f/Grant-Milestone-Delivery/blob/master/deliveries/dotnix-milestone_2.md) - [Evaluation](https://github.com/w3f/Grant-Milestone-Delivery/blob/master/evaluations/dotnix_2_piewol.md)
+
+#### Project overview
+This follow-up grant is intended to further
+1. Increase security by scanning the validator for known CVEs,
+2. Improve usability by exposing the validator to polkadot.js,
+3. Make validating polkadot more accessible for users by providing the option to deploy dotnix on multiple cloud infrastructure providers,
+4. Increase observability with monitoring
+5. Improve maintainability by automating state management (generating offsite backups and restoring them for all services, like the validator and the monitoring setup).
+
+#### Security / Auditability
+
+Dotnix aims to minimize the attack surface of a Polkadot node by only enabling services explicitly declared in Nix configuration files. This approach not only enhances its security but also ensures a minimalistic machine setup where components run solely when they are declared, further bolstering the node's defense against potential threats.
+
+Auditability is facilitated by the way the Nix package manager builds packages using only predetermined build inputs, and by producing packages that never change once they have been built. During the build process, there is no arbitrary network access nor access to any file that hasn't been specified explicitly.
+Each package is stored in its own directory, like e.g. `/nix/store/nawl092prjblbhvv16kxxbk6j9gkgcqm-git-2.14.1`.
+
+The directory name consists of a unique identifier, the package name, and its version. The name and version are included only for convenience. The identifier captures all of the package's dependencies, i.e. it's a cryptographic hash of its build dependency graph, including all source files, all other packages used directly or indirectly by the build process, and any other detail like e.g. compiler flags.
+
+With Nix, the entire configuration of the Polkadot validator node can be observed at a glance for both the executing system and the validator configurations. This clarity is invaluable for those responsible maintaining these systems.
+
+Dotnix will scan all packages with an integrated CVE scanner to give administrators time to react to vulnerabilitys and take neccesary measures.
+To prevent unplanned downtime of the validator due to resouce issues dotnix will monitor the system health for all relevant metrics and alert administrators of problems before they arise.
+
+
+#### Ease of Use
+
+To simplify testing and operation of the Polkadot validator, Dotnix provides easy access to an array of tools built on top of Nix's tooling such as [nixos-anywhere](https://github.com/nix-community/nixos-anywhere) and [nixos-generators](https://github.com/nix-community/nixos-generators) which will enable users of the Dotnix to iterate quickly over their staking infrastructure. This allows to deploy Polkadot validators to a variety of cloud providers as well as self-hosted virtual machines. It can even spawn local virtual machine instances directly for any given NixOS configuration, providing a convenient way to do testing. A command line tool will be developed to add even more management capabilities of validators that have been deployed using the initial set of tools.
+
+### Project Details
+
+#### Mockups/designs of any UI components 
+#### Technology stack to be used
+  - Nix
+  - NixOS
+  - nixos-anywhere
+  - disko
+  - VPNs such as (Wireguard, Zerotier, Mycelium)
+  - Github actions
+
+####  Documentation of core components, protocols, architecture, etc. to be deployed
+
+  We will be providing Markdown documentation in the dotnix repository.
+
+#### PoC/MVP or other relevant prior work or research on the topic
+We have a dotnix validator running on westend which is running stable and can be observed on Polkadot telemetry under "sporyon-dotnix-westend".
+We have also written a Blog article on deploying dotnix on a machine with just a rescue shell.
+
+### Ecosystem Fit
+
+The software sponsored by this grant is intentented to be a SecOps tool to enable system admistrators have a better overview/management of their validators. There is a lot of Infrastructure as Code that is kept closed source and we hope that this tooling provides best in class open source staking infrastructure for individual to large teams. The software created by this grant will provide alternative deployment methods to `ansible` and `docker-compose`.
+
+Business-oriented activities (marketing, business planning), events or outreach. To increase awareness, we will target people who want to host a validator but don't have the technical knowledge to deploy their machines. Additionally, we aim to reach individuals and institutions experienced in hosting infrastructure but are searching for ways to do it more securely or with less maintenance.
+
+#### Where and how does your project fit into the ecosystem?
+
+Dotnix seeks to enhance the existing methods of creating and managing validator nodes by:
+
+-  Minimizing the attack surface of a node by exclusively enabling services declared in the `nix` derivation.
+-  Enabling modularized linux system components 
+
+#### Who is your target audience (parachain/dapp/wallet/UI developers, designers, your own user base, some dapp's userbase, yourself)?
+
+Our primary focus is on the DotSama community that seeks a more straightforward method to deploy Kusama or Polkadot validators. Additionally, we cater to institutions and maintainers aiming for a validator setup with a pronounced emphasis on high security and low maintenance.
+
+#### What need(s) does your project meet?
+
+- Better OpenSource Infrastructure as Code for validators.
+- Deterministic dependency management of the Polkadot validator ecosystem.
+- Software supply chain auditing.
+- DevOps tooling to manage containers, virtual machines, and bare metal machines.
+
+#### Are there any other projects similar to yours in the Substrate / Polkadot / Kusama ecosystem?
+
+-  [Bitcoin.nix](https://github.com/fort-nix/nix-bitcoin)
+   -  While not directly in the aforementioned ecosystem, the Bitcoin community offers a Bitcoin node setup. This setup also stresses security and user-friendliness. However, given Bitcoin's distinct nature compared to Polkadot, our architectural approaches are significantly different.
+- [polkadot.nix](https://github.com/andresilva/polkadot.nix)
+- [Enby collective validator](https://github.com/enby-collective/validator)
+
+## Team 👥
+
+### Team members
+
+- Team Lead 
+  - Sebastian Kraus
+
+- Team Members 
+  - Tomislav "tv" Viljetić
+
+### Contact
+
+- **Contact Name:** Sebastian Kraus
+- **Contact Email:** [email protected]
+- **Website:** sporyon.io
+
+### Legal Structure
+
+- **Registered Address:** **Harju maakond, Tallinn, Kesklinna linnaosa, Narva mnt 7-652, 10117**
+- **Registered Legal Entity:** **SPORYON Technologies OÜ**
+
+### Team's experience
+
+##### Tomislav "tv" Viljetić
+###### Freelancer
+
+Tomislav has been administering systems with and developing software around Nix since 2014. He has helped multiple companies to move their testing and production environments to or build them from scratch on top of Nix, both for bare metal as well as virtual machines at Hetzner, GCP, AWS, and Azure. He is maintaining a handful Nix packages and NixOS services at https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs and is the author of the [krops](https://github.com/krebs/krops) deployment tool. Tomislav is an active member of the Nix community and is known for founding and hosting the NixOS meetup in Berlin as well as organizing NixCon2024.
+
+
+###### Previous Web3Foundation grant:
+
+ Tomislav Viljetić has applied and delivered the First and Second Milestone of Dotnix Sporyon OÜ.
+
+##### Sebastian Kraus
+
+###### Founder of Sporyon
+
+Sebastian has been an entrepreneur for 6 years and a seasoned CEO. He has experience leading teams and delivering within tight deadlines. Over the past six years, Sebastian has built a broad industry network in the real estate technology sector. Thanks to his dedication and vision, they expanded the agency successfully, acquiring notable clients. Between November 2021 and January 2023, Sebastian enhanced his expertise at Qrucial OÜ, a company specializing in blockchain security. They participated in the Web3 foundation's Grants program, planning and developing the first milestone for QrucialDao on chain auditing solution.
+Since 2023 Sebastian is working on sporyon a software development company dedicated to Nix.
+Sebastian is active member of the Nix community and is known for organizing NixCon2024.
+
+###### Previous Web3Foundation grant:
+
+Sebastian Kraus has applied and delivered the First and Second Milestone of Dotnix Sporyon OÜ and the First Milestone of Qrucial DAO Grant Qrucial OÜ.
+
+### Team Code Repos
+
+#### Team Members
+
+- https://github.com/4z3 (tv)
+- https://github.com/ra33it0
+
+## Development Status 📖
+
+We have started designing the architecture and the interfaces between the different modules. We have kept the first milestone short just to enable quicker iteration of the code and documention.
+After a sucessfull delivery of an MVP in the first 2 Milestones and the deployment of a Dotnix Validator on Westend we want to ( move to a longer term view and want to move the project to a production ready state, in terms of features)
+
+
+### Previous research
+-
+
+## Development Roadmap 🔩
+
+### Overview
+
+- **Total Estimated Duration:** 6.25 months
+- **Full-Time Equivalent (FTE):** 2 FTE
+- **Total Costs:** 75000 USD
+
+### Milestone 1: Usability, Reachability
+
+#### Objective: Streamline installation and deployment to multiple targets and enable access by different means.
+- **Estimated duration:** 8 weeks
+- **FTE:** 2 FTE
+- **Costs:** 24000 USD
+
+| Number | Deliverable | Specification |
+| -----: | ----------- | ------------- |
+| **0a.** | License | MIT |
+| **0b.** | Documentation | We will provide both **inline documentation** of the code and a basic **quick start guide** of how to go from 0 to a running validator that can perform the basic functions up until making a test transaction. The guide will be focused on how to set up the dotnix validator and other administrative topics. |
+| **0c.** | Testing and Testing Guide | Core functions will be fully covered by comprehensive unit tests to ensure functionality and robustness. In the guide, we will describe how to run these tests. |
+| **0d.** | Docker | We will provide a Dockerfile(s) built with `nix` that can be used to test all the functionality delivered with this milestone. |
+| 1. | Deployment Templates | Providing templates to install and deploy dotnix on two different targets like e.g. Hetzner Dedicated, Hetzner Cloud. |
+| 2. | CLI interface and Cloud-Image generator | Implement a command-line interface to generate images for two different targets (one self-hosted e.g. Proxmox, one cloud-hosted e.g. AWS) to install and deploy dotnix on a variety of hosts. |
+| 3. | VPN | Expose the validator using a P2P-VPN like e.g. [ZeroTier](https://github.com/zerotier/ZeroTierOne), [headscale](https://github.com/juanfont/headscale), or [mycelium](https://github.com/threefoldtech/mycelium). This allows you to e.g. securely connect with polkadot.js and/or maintain the validator. |
+| 4. | Usability | Improving the usability of set-node-key to prevent the insertion of invalid keys causing the validator to enter a failed state. |
+| 5. | Reachability | Make dotnix reachable over the Web to allow users to optionally access their validators via HTTPS without VPN. |
+
+### Milestone 2: Security, Observability, Usability
+#### Objective: Increase observabiliy to increase availabiliy, and reduce unplanned downtime. And additionally make dotnix easyer to use.
+- **Estimated Duration:** 9 weeks
+- **FTE:** 2 FTE
+- **Costs:** 27000 USD
+
+| Number | Deliverable | Specification |
+| -----: | ----------- | ------------- |
+| **0a.** | License | MIT |
+| **0b.** | Documentation | We will provide both **inline documentation** of the code and  extend the guide to cover the new functions implemented in M2 like key rotate and our runtime CLI tool. |
+| **0c.** | Testing and Testing Guide | Core functions will be fully covered by comprehensive unit tests to ensure functionality and robustness. In the guide, we will describe how to run these tests. |
+| **0d.** | Docker | We will provide a Dockerfile(s) built with `nix` that can be used to test all the functionality delivered with this milestone. |
+| 1.| Monitoring, alerting | Implement comprehensive monitoring in dotnix, to collect, expose data such as system health, service health, to the administrator, and alert them via e.g. email. |
+| 2. | CVE-scanner | Integrate a CVE-scanner utility like e.g. [`vulnix`](https://github.com/nix-community/vulnix) into dotnix that regularly checks the Nix-storepaths for potential vulnerabilities using databases like e.g. [NVD](https://nvd.nist.gov/).  |
+| 3. | CI, Public Artifacts | Setup continuous integration to build and test each modification to the Dotnix codebase, using e.g. GitHub Actions, and produce publicly accessible cloud images. |
+| 4. | Bash completion | Implementing Bash completion for dotnix-specific functions to increase usability. |
+
+### Milestone 3: State management, CI
+#### Objective: Make service state portable to simplify migration to other machines and/or restore broken machines, and simplify user configuration development
+- **Estimated Duration:** 8 weeks
+- **FTE:** 2 FTE
+- **Costs:** 24000 USD
+
+| Number | Deliverable | Specification |
+| -----: | ----------- | ------------- |
+| **0a.** | License | MIT |
+| **0b.** | Documentation | We will provide both **inline documentation** of the code and  extend the guide to cover the new functions implemented in M2, like key rotate and our runtime CLI tool. |
+| **0c.** | Testing and Testing Guide | Core functions will be fully covered by comprehensive unit tests to ensure functionality and robustness. In the guide, we will describe how to run these tests. |
+| **0d.** | Docker | We will provide a Dockerfile(s) built with `nix` that can be used to test all the functionality delivered with this milestone. |
+| 1. | State management | Implement comprehensive service-level state management to allow migrating a system to bigger or smaller machines to optimize hardware utilization/costs, and for general purpose backupping and restoration in order to reduce MTTR. |
+| 2. | User CI | Implement GitHub Actions that can be used by dotnix users to build and test their codebase for each modification. |
+
+## Future Plans
+
+Our vision for the Polkadot ecosystem centers on three key pillars: improving ease of use, enhancing security, and bolstering decentralization.
+
+### First Objective: Auditability and alternative build methods
+
+We're aware of a gap in the Substrate ecosystem, one that we can bridge with additional tooling. Our strategy is to tap into the established advantages of nix within the DevOps cycle, enhancing the toolkit available to Polkadot validators. This enhancement is aimed at not only refining the validator management experience but also introducing features like:
+
+A detailed software bill of materials.
+Enhanced supply chain security through the use of isolated build environments.
+Smoother transitions between software compilation and its deployment.
+Open-source playbooks designed for both individual and team deployment.
+Currently, there's a noticeable absence of an open-source software build system that can guarantee software remains unaltered. Addressing this, we are focused on developing fundamental tools that will not only cater to immediate needs but also lay the groundwork for an open-source Polkadot infrastructure, conceptualized as code.
+
+### Second Objective: ease of use, and decentralization
+With the development of improved tools for the Polkadot ecosystem, our next step is to explore the provision of SaaS solutions for Polkadot validators. We aim to include features like:
+
+- A modular network stack, giving validators greater control over their network operations.
+- The introduction of alternative git hosting to enhance decentralization through diverse software distribution methods.
+- Distributing validator source code via IPFS.
+-Investigating the integration of redundant connections, such as effortless LTE backups.
+
+We are confident that these enhancements will not only simplify usage for validators but also address security concerns more effectively. Our ambition extends beyond tool development; we aspire to evolve into a company renowned for its expertise in these areas, contributing significantly to the Polkadot community.
+
+### Third Objective: Expanding the Scope of Validator Software Distribution
+
+Our vision includes a significant role for nix in the Polkadot ecosystem, particularly in utilizing Polkadot's consensus for the distribution of auditable and reliable binaries. We're keen to delve into how we can enhance the interaction between the Polkadot virtual machine and the software it runs. Our goal is to simplify deployment on a secure platform, ensuring even those without technical expertise can securely operate machines by default. Our focus is on making validator operation more accessible to a broader audience. Furthermore, we aspire to develop tooling that not only serves our immediate needs but also holds potential to contribute to other services and possibly be integrated into other software initiatives. 
+
+## Additional Information :heavy_plus_sign:
+
+**How did you hear about the Grants Program?** 
+After having a constructive discussion with Gavin Wood at protocol berg, he kindly suggested that we consider applying for the first dotnix grant.
+
+Here you can also add any additional information that you think is relevant to this application but isn't part of it already, such as:
+
+**Work you have already done.**
+We have implemented a working MVP in the first Dotnix Grant.
+
+
+**If there are any other teams who have already contributed (financially) to the project.**
+No other teams contributed to this project.
+
+**Previous grants you may have applied for.**
+Our team has worked the following w3f granted projects in the past: https://github.com/Qrucial/QRUCIAL-DAO,  https://github.com/sporyon/dotnix-core