bulk operations

Bulk operations

Run an operation across many devices at once. Reachable from the command palette (/ → "Bulk actions"), Settings → Advanced → Bulk actions, or via the existing checkbox-selection batch bar on the Devices page.

Available operations

Action	Backend	Notes
Upgrade packages	_queue_command_batch(ids, 'upgrade')	apt/dnf/yum/pacman, agent picks the right one
Reboot	_queue_command_batch(ids, 'reboot')	Requires typing RUN to confirm
Shut down	_queue_command_batch(ids, 'shutdown')	Requires typing RUN to confirm
Force package scan	per-device POST /devices/<id>/scan-packages fan-out	Useful before a CVE re-scan
Force ACME rescan	per-device POST /devices/<id>/acme/force-rescan fan-out	After issuing/renewing via CLI

Filtering targets

The modal lets you scope to a subset:

• All monitored — every device with monitored !== false. Default.
• By group — devices grouped under the same package-manager family (apt/dnf/yum/pacman) or your custom group label. Useful for distro-specific operations.
• By tag — devices carrying a specific tag. Tags are a free-form array on each device; up to 12 distinct tags surface in the modal.

The preview line shows exactly which devices will receive the command, so there's no surprise. If the preview is empty, the filter excluded everything — adjust before clicking Run.

Safety

Reboot and shutdown require typing the literal string RUN in a follow-up prompt. The other actions just need a one-click confirm.

Bulk commands aren't queued instantly atomic — they're appended to each device's command queue in a single loop, but if the page crashes mid-loop some devices might miss the command. Sample one device's command_executed event in Recent Activity to confirm the round trip completed.

Audit trail

Every queued command is logged to audit_log.json with actor, action, and a device=<id> detail line. Filter the audit log by action=batch_command (legacy name from the existing batch path) to find every bulk run.

When to prefer this over a script

The bulk modal is for ad-hoc operations across the UI's mental model — "patch everything in production today" or "force ACME rescan on the four web servers because I just renewed certs". It's not a replacement for:

• Scheduled maintenance — use the Schedule page; it has cron-like recurrence and maintenance window suppression
• CI/CD-style rollouts — use the API directly with an API key, with proper rollout staging (canary → 10% → 50% → 100%)
• Recurring health checks — use the existing custom-scripts feature

Limits

• Sequential fan-out for per-device endpoints (force_pkg_scan, force_acme_rescan) — N agent heartbeats means N round-trips before everything is queued. Future improvement: bulk endpoint for these.
• No "wait for completion" — the modal closes once commands are queued. Watch Recent Activity or the device drawer for execution results.
• No undo. Once shutdown/reboot/upgrade is queued, the operator must contact the agent some other way to cancel (e.g. SSH in and stop the agent before the next heartbeat picks up the command).