The per-definition fan-out applied markers to links in a serial loop -- one compute round-trip per link. On a 1000-link project that serializes N HTTP round-trips (minutes on remote computes). Fan out with asyncio.gather + Semaphore(32): links are independent (own _markers/_link_data), per-link ControllerError stays isolated, and Project.dump is synchronous + atomic (tmp + rename) so concurrent dumps cannot corrupt the topology file.
Converts the definition-create fan-out, the definition-update sync and re-fan-out loops, and the definition-delete cleanup to the shared _marker_apply_concurrently helper. apply_defs_to_new_link stays serial deliberately: all definitions share one link and each push carries the link's full marker set, so concurrent pushes would race and lose markers.
Markers now work on serial links (Cisco HDLC / PPP / Frame Relay / ATM), not just Ethernet. A marker carries a data_link_type (default DLT_EN10MB); at the uBridge boundary it becomes the 'mark ... linktype <dlt>' keyword so the BPF compiles and the pcap is written with the matching link-layer.
- MarkerCreate / MarkerDefinitionCreate gain data_link_type (default DLT_EN10MB). Per-link it is create-only; definitions are updatable (a change re-fans-out).
- base_node._marker_linktype() normalizes the GNS3 DLT name (strip DLT_, uppercase, None for EN10MB). Single source is SerialPort.data_link_types, so Cisco PPP -> PPP_SERIAL (50), matching the capture path -- no second mapping table.
- _ubridge_add_marker_filter (generic) and the IOU marker loop append 'linktype <dlt>'.
- Definition fan-out branches on link_type in inherit_marker: Ethernet is always EN10MB; a serial link uses the definition's WAN encapsulation, or is SKIPPED when none was chosen (an EN10MB pcap on serial is undecodable). One definition covers a mixed topology.
- MCP marker_definition exposes data_link_type (None = not forwarded).
- No uBridge rebuild on a data_link_type change -- only that one marker's filter is swapped (delete + re-add), mirroring a BPF change; reset_packet_filters preserves sibling mark filters.
Requires the uBridge build with 'mark ... linktype' support.
Deleting a marker while its node was stopped, then starting the node, recreated
an empty pcap. Root cause: delete_marker_capture removed the uBridge filter and
the pcap file but not the marker spec cached on the port NIO (nio.markers) —
the data source _ubridge_apply_markers reads on node start. The stale spec
reinstalled the marker when uBridge came up.
This was a regression from switching stop_marker off update() (which re-sent
the NIO and implicitly refreshed nio.markers) to the fine-grained
node.delete(/markers/{name}) path.
Fix: make the delete port-aware so the compute can locate the NIO. The DELETE
marker route becomes /adapters/{a}/ports/{p}/markers/{name} across all six
node types; the handler resolves the NIO via get_nio and passes it to
delete_marker_capture, which now pops the marker from nio.markers. get_nio
works regardless of uBridge state, so the stopped-node case is covered. The
controller's stop_marker targets the capture side's adapter/port.
A marker definition validated its BPF N times — once per link in the fan-out
(start_marker runs validate_bpf_syntax on every copy), spawning one tcpdump -d
subprocess per link for the same expression. Definitions did not validate BPF
at all; only direction was checked.
Move the single validation point to the definition layer (create/update), and
validate each definition's BPF on project load (dropping any that have gone
invalid, like private markers). The inherited fan-out (start_marker) and def
sync (update_marker) now skip validate_bpf_syntax for inherited copies, since
the BPF comes from an already-validated definition. Private per-link markers
still validate inline as before. uBridge still runs pcap_compile at install, so
an invalid expression can never slip through.
Creating a definition over N links now runs one tcpdump instead of N.
Deleting or updating a marker no longer triggers a full NIO reapply
(reset_packet_filters + re-add), which closed/reopened every sibling
marker's pcap via uBridge. Instead operate on single filters:
- stop_marker: bridge delete_packet_filter + unlink the pcap (works with
the node stopped; filter removal is skipped, the file is still deleted).
- update_marker: bpf/tag/direction → rebuild just that filter (delete + add);
enabled → instant toggle; color/highlight_duration → stored only.
- compute delete_marker_capture / rebuild_marker_filter + per-node routes
(DELETE /markers/{name}, PUT /markers/{name}/rebuild) + MarkerRebuild schema.
IOU overrides _ubridge_delete_marker_filter for iol_bridge; rebuild reuses
the already-overridden add/delete/set, so IOU needs no rebuild override.
Restore a private marker's direction (and highlight_duration) when a
project is reopened — _create_link_from_topology_data previously dropped
them, silently reverting rx/tx markers to "both".
Reject tx/rx direction on marker definitions with HTTP 409: a definition
auto-selects its capture node per link and direction is relative to that
node, so a fixed tx/rx has no stable project-wide meaning. Per-link
markers still support tx/rx; only the project-wide definition is restricted
to "both" (the default).
The project-wide mute (POST /markers/pause|resume + _markers_paused) paused
every marker with one button. The actual need is per-rule control: pause one
definition and toggle only its inherited global-{name} copies across all links.
- Drop project-level: _markers_paused (init/asdict/load/start_all), the
pause_all/resume_all_markers methods, and the /markers/pause|resume routes.
- Add per-definition: a persisted `paused` flag on each definition;
pause/resume_marker_definition fan out update_marker(enabled) to every
global-{name} copy — instant, via the existing enable_packet_filter toggle
(no NIO rebuild, pcap/emitted preserved). New links inherit a paused
definition already off (inherit_marker passes enabled=not paused).
- start_marker takes an enabled kwarg; update_marker's enabled-only short-circuit
now also covers inherited copies so def pause/resume is instant.
- Routes: POST /marker-definitions/{name}/pause|resume.
- Docs + tests updated.
- compute (test_base_node.py): set_marker_filter_state on/off command,
marker pause/resume command, and apply issues enable_packet_filter off
for a disabled marker (+ records the name->bridge map).
- controller (test_marker.py): _markers_for_node keeps disabled markers
and carries enabled; update_marker enabled-only hits the toggle route
(not NIO rebuild) while a bpf change still rebuilds; pause/resume fan
out to capture nodes.
A marker is single-sided — only the chosen capture node's uBridge installs the
mark filter — and dir=tx|rx is interpreted from that node's perspective. Until
now the observer was always auto-picked (_choose_marker_side), so dir=tx meant
"the auto-chosen endpoint is sending", which is unpredictable and makes the
direction filter hard to render meaningfully in the Web UI.
Add an optional create-only capture_node_id to MarkerCreate: when set, the
marker is pinned to that endpoint's uBridge (validated as a link endpoint and a
marker-capable type); when omitted, behavior is unchanged (auto-pick). The
chosen id is already echoed back as capture_node_id and in MARK signals, so the
UI can always render the observer regardless of who picked it.
capture_node_id is create-only (changing it would silently flip the meaning of
stored direction; recreate instead) and is not accepted on project-level
definitions — they are link-agnostic and have no endpoints, so inherited
markers keep auto-picking per link.
Plumbed through REST create_marker, the MCP link_marker tool, and base
Link.start_marker. update_marker does not forward it.
19 controller-layer tests covering start/stop/update_marker (storage,
inheritance guards + bypasses, partial-update preservation of render
hints), project-def CRUD (fan-out, sync, delete-cleanup regression),
apply_defs_to_new_link, persist_markers/asdict, and aggregation.
15 API-route tests covering per-link create/update/delete (201/200/204),
global-prefix rejection on create (409 regression), bad-format rejection
(422), PUT/DELETE-on-inherited guard (409 regression), project-def CRUD
endpoints, and the aggregation view.
All 34 tests pass when run as part of the full suite.
