bhatti serve

bhatti serve server only

Start the bhatti daemon.

Synopsis

sudo bhatti serve

Description

Starts the HTTP API listener, the thermal manager, the public proxy (if domain mode or public_proxy_listen is configured), the port scanner, and the metrics + event recorders. Recovers any previously running sandboxes from the SQLite database on startup and re-attaches their TAP devices.

Requires:

Linux with KVM (/dev/kvm)
Root, because Firecracker needs it
Config at /etc/bhatti/config.yaml (or $BHATTI_CONFIG)
The Firecracker binary, kernel image, and at least one rootfs image present at the paths in the config

Logs are emitted as structured JSON to stdout. Set BHATTI_LOG_LEVEL=debug for verbose logging. Most operators run this under systemd; the install script sets up the unit file at /etc/systemd/system/bhatti.service.

Examples

# Foreground (development)
sudo bhatti serve

# Under systemd (production)
sudo systemctl start bhatti
sudo journalctl -u bhatti -f

# Verbose logs
BHATTI_LOG_LEVEL=debug sudo bhatti serve

Options

This command takes no flags. Configuration is via /etc/bhatti/config.yaml. See Configuration.

Lifecycle

Startup: load config → open store → initialise engine → recover VMs → start servers (API + optional public proxy + optional internal loopback).
Shutdown (SIGTERM / SIGINT): drain HTTP, snapshot all running VMs to disk, close store, exit. Snapshots are restored on the next start.