diff --git a/docs/Redundancy.md b/docs/Redundancy.md
index fcd6ca7f..f5831ebd 100644
--- a/docs/Redundancy.md
+++ b/docs/Redundancy.md
@@ -314,7 +314,21 @@ operational unattended.
| `"00:00:10"` (**default**) | A node with no membership after 10 s self-forms. A live peer answers `InitJoin` in milliseconds, so on any normal boot the fallback never fires. |
| `null` / `≤ 0` | Disabled — the pre-2026-07-22 behaviour: wait on `InitJoin` indefinitely. |
-**The island guard is the load-bearing part.** The fallback fires **only when this node's own address
+**Two guards keep the fallback from creating the split it exists to avoid.**
+
+**1 — Reachability.** An expired window is not evidence the peer is down, so before self-forming the
+fallback TCP-probes the other seed addresses; if any accepts a connection it waits another window instead.
+This was added after the live gate below caught the fallback islanding a node: a node bounced by a manual
+failover restarted, received `InitJoinAck` from its live peer — a join in flight and healthy — but did not
+get the Welcome inside the window, because the peer's ring still held the node's previous incarnation
+(`Exiting` → `Down` → `Removed`). The fallback fired on the timer and the node formed a **second cluster**.
+The original design assumed `Cluster.Join(SelfAddress)` would be ignored mid-handshake; **it is not — it
+wins.** Since manual failover deliberately produces exactly that restart, without this guard every manual
+failover could island the node it bounced. Pinned by
+`SelfFormBootstrapTests.Reachable_peer_suppresses_self_forming_until_it_goes_away`, whose "peer" is a bare
+`TcpListener` that speaks no Akka: reachable, never answering a join.
+
+**2 — Seed membership.** The fallback fires **only when this node's own address
appears in its own `SeedNodes`**. A node that is not one of its own seeds is never legitimately first, and
if it self-formed, a later-booting real seed would form a second cluster the two could never merge. That is
exactly the current docker-dev topology: the site-a/site-b driver nodes list only `central-1` as a seed, so
@@ -330,8 +344,9 @@ strategy already accepts, with the same recovery (restart one side).
Pinned by `SelfFormBootstrapTests` (`tests/Core/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Cluster.Tests/`), which starts real hosts
through the production bootstrap: a lone non-first seed comes Up; a disabled window keeps waiting; a node
-absent from its own seed list never self-forms. The two negative cases each carry a positive control (an
-explicit self-join) so they cannot pass merely because the node was unformable.
+absent from its own seed list never self-forms; a node whose peer is merely *reachable* keeps waiting. Every
+negative case carries a positive control (an explicit self-join, or dropping the peer listener) so none can
+pass merely because the node was unformable.
> **Live gate: PASSED (docker-dev, 2026-07-22).** Drilled on the six-node rig, defect first and fix
> second. On the pre-change image, `central-2` started alone (central-1 stopped) and logged **zero** join
diff --git a/src/Core/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Cluster/ClusterBootstrapFallback.cs b/src/Core/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Cluster/ClusterBootstrapFallback.cs
index e3eeb76e..82a69226 100644
--- a/src/Core/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Cluster/ClusterBootstrapFallback.cs
+++ b/src/Core/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Cluster/ClusterBootstrapFallback.cs
@@ -20,11 +20,22 @@ namespace ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Cluster;
/// (a booting node only self-forms when NO seed answers InitJoin), so a peer booting after this
/// node self-formed simply joins it.
///
-/// Races are benign. If the join completes between window expiry and
-/// Cluster.Join(SelfAddress), Akka ignores the join — a node joins a cluster at most once
-/// per incarnation. The residual risk is both pair nodes cold-starting inside the window while
-/// mutually unreachable (a boot-time partition): both self-form, the same dual-active class the
-/// auto-down downing strategy already accepts, with the same recovery (restart one side).
+/// Reachability guard (added 2026-07-22 after a live-gate failure). An expired window
+/// is NOT sufficient evidence that the peer is down, and joining on the timer alone islands nodes.
+/// Drilled on the docker-dev rig: a node bounced by a manual failover restarted, received
+/// InitJoinAck from its live peer — a join in flight and healthy — but did not get the
+/// Welcome inside the window, because the peer's ring still held the node's previous incarnation
+/// (Exiting → Down → Removed). The fallback fired anyway and the node formed a SECOND cluster,
+/// islanded until an operator restarted it. So Join(SelfAddress) is not ignored
+/// mid-handshake — it wins, which is the opposite of what the original design assumed. Before
+/// self-forming, this therefore TCP-probes the other seed addresses: if any accepts a connection
+/// the peer is alive, a join is likely already in flight, and the fallback waits another window
+/// instead. That is also exactly what the fallback claims to detect — "no seed answered InitJoin
+/// (peer down at boot)".
+///
+/// Residual risk. Both pair nodes cold-starting inside the window while mutually
+/// unreachable (a boot-time partition): both self-form, the same dual-active class the auto-down
+/// downing strategy already accepts, with the same recovery (restart one side).
///
/// Deliberately duplicated from ScadaBridge's equivalent (like the termination watchdogs) —
/// the two repos share the behavior, not a package.
@@ -39,7 +50,16 @@ public static class ClusterBootstrapFallback
/// The actor system whose cluster membership is being watched.
/// The bound cluster options carrying the window and the seed list.
/// Logger for the armed / inert / self-forming decisions.
- public static void Arm(ActorSystem system, AkkaClusterOptions options, ILogger logger)
+ ///
+ /// Overrides the reachability probe (host, port) → reachable. Production passes
+ /// for the real TCP connect; tests substitute it to drive the guard
+ /// deterministically.
+ ///
+ public static void Arm(
+ ActorSystem system,
+ AkkaClusterOptions options,
+ ILogger logger,
+ Func>? peerProbe = null)
{
ArgumentNullException.ThrowIfNull(system);
ArgumentNullException.ThrowIfNull(options);
@@ -66,28 +86,108 @@ public static class ClusterBootstrapFallback
return;
}
+ // Every seed that is not this node. These are the addresses whose reachability decides
+ // whether an expired window means "peer is down" or "peer is alive and we are mid-join".
+ var peerSeeds = options.SeedNodes
+ .Select(s => TryParseAddress(s, out var a) ? a : null)
+ .Where(a => a is not null && !a.Equals(self))
+ .Select(a => (Host: a!.Host ?? string.Empty, Port: a!.Port ?? 0))
+ .Where(p => !string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(p.Host) && p.Port > 0)
+ .ToList();
+
+ var probe = peerProbe ?? TryConnectAsync;
+
var joined = new TaskCompletionSource(TaskCreationOptions.RunContinuationsAsynchronously);
cluster.RegisterOnMemberUp(() => joined.TrySetResult());
_ = Task.Run(async () =>
{
- var winner = await Task.WhenAny(joined.Task, Task.Delay(window));
- if (winner == joined.Task || system.WhenTerminated.IsCompleted)
+ while (true)
{
+ var winner = await Task.WhenAny(joined.Task, Task.Delay(window));
+ if (winner == joined.Task || system.WhenTerminated.IsCompleted)
+ {
+ return;
+ }
+
+ var reachable = await AnyReachableAsync(peerSeeds, probe);
+ if (reachable is not null)
+ {
+ // Do NOT self-form. A reachable peer means either a join already in flight (the
+ // failure this guard exists for) or a peer about to answer — self-forming here
+ // creates a second cluster that can never merge.
+ logger.LogInformation(
+ "Self-form window ({Window}) expired, but seed peer {Peer} is reachable — a join is "
+ + "most likely already in flight (a node re-joining after a restart is not admitted "
+ + "until its previous incarnation is removed). Continuing to wait rather than "
+ + "forming a second cluster.",
+ window,
+ reachable);
+ continue;
+ }
+
+ logger.LogWarning(
+ "No cluster membership after {Window} and no seed peer is reachable — the peer is down "
+ + "at boot. Self-forming a cluster at {Self} so this node becomes operational; if the "
+ + "peer was merely partitioned (not dead), the pair is now dual-active — restart one "
+ + "side after the partition heals (accepted availability-first trade, decision "
+ + "2026-07-22).",
+ window,
+ self);
+ cluster.Join(self);
return;
}
-
- logger.LogWarning(
- "No cluster membership after {Window} — no seed answered InitJoin (peer down at boot). "
- + "Self-forming a cluster at {Self} so this node becomes operational; if the peer was "
- + "merely partitioned (not dead), the pair is now dual-active — restart one side after "
- + "the partition heals (accepted availability-first trade, decision 2026-07-22).",
- window,
- self);
- cluster.Join(self);
});
}
+ /// How long a single peer-reachability connect attempt may take.
+ public static readonly TimeSpan ProbeTimeout = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(2);
+
+ ///
+ /// Returns the first reachable peer as host:port, or when none
+ /// answered — including when there are no peer seeds at all (a lone-seed config, where an
+ /// expired window really does mean this node is on its own).
+ ///
+ private static async Task AnyReachableAsync(
+ IReadOnlyList<(string Host, int Port)> peers,
+ Func> probe)
+ {
+ foreach (var (host, port) in peers)
+ {
+ bool ok;
+ try
+ {
+ ok = await probe(host, port);
+ }
+ catch (Exception)
+ {
+ // A probe that cannot even be attempted (DNS gone, socket exhaustion) is treated as
+ // unreachable — it must not throw out of the watchdog and disarm the fallback.
+ ok = false;
+ }
+
+ if (ok) return $"{host}:{port}";
+ }
+
+ return null;
+ }
+
+ private static async Task TryConnectAsync(string host, int port)
+ {
+ using var client = new System.Net.Sockets.TcpClient();
+ using var cts = new CancellationTokenSource(ProbeTimeout);
+ try
+ {
+ await client.ConnectAsync(host, port, cts.Token);
+ return client.Connected;
+ }
+ catch (Exception)
+ {
+ // Refused, unresolvable, or timed out — all mean "not reachable right now".
+ return false;
+ }
+ }
+
private static bool TryParseAddress(string seed, out Address address)
{
try
diff --git a/tests/Core/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Cluster.Tests/SelfFormBootstrapTests.cs b/tests/Core/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Cluster.Tests/SelfFormBootstrapTests.cs
index 13155071..0cbdffcf 100644
--- a/tests/Core/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Cluster.Tests/SelfFormBootstrapTests.cs
+++ b/tests/Core/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Cluster.Tests/SelfFormBootstrapTests.cs
@@ -173,6 +173,60 @@ public sealed class SelfFormBootstrapTests
}
}
+ ///
+ /// Regression for the live-gate islanding defect (2026-07-22). A peer that is reachable
+ /// but not yet admitting the join must NOT be treated as "peer down at boot".
+ ///
+ ///
+ ///
+ /// On the docker-dev rig, a node bounced by a manual failover restarted, received
+ /// InitJoinAck from its live peer — the join was in flight and healthy — but did
+ /// not get the Welcome inside the window, because the peer's ring still held the node's
+ /// previous incarnation. The fallback fired on the timer and the node formed a
+ /// second cluster, islanded until an operator restarted it. The original design
+ /// assumed Join(SelfAddress) would be ignored mid-handshake; it is not.
+ ///
+ ///
+ /// The peer here is a bare that accepts connections and speaks
+ /// no Akka at all — reachable at the transport level, never answering a join. That is the
+ /// defect's shape with nothing faked: under the pre-fix code this node self-formed on the
+ /// timer; under the guard it keeps waiting. The positive control then proves the guard is
+ /// a guard and not a disablement: drop the listener and the same node self-forms.
+ ///
+ ///
+ [Fact]
+ public async Task Reachable_peer_suppresses_self_forming_until_it_goes_away()
+ {
+ var selfPort = FreePort();
+ var peerPort = FreePort();
+
+ // A peer that accepts TCP and does nothing else — reachable, but no join will ever complete.
+ var peer = new TcpListener(IPAddress.Loopback, peerPort);
+ peer.Start();
+
+ var host = await StartNodeAsync(
+ "otopcua-selfform-4", selfPort, peerPort, TimeSpan.FromSeconds(2));
+ try
+ {
+ var system = host.Services.GetRequiredService();
+
+ // Several windows pass. Pre-fix this self-formed after the first one.
+ (await WaitForUpMemberAsync(system, TimeSpan.FromSeconds(10)))
+ .ShouldBeFalse("a reachable peer means a join may be in flight — self-forming here islands this node");
+
+ // Positive control: the peer really goes away, and now the fallback does its job.
+ peer.Stop();
+
+ (await WaitForUpMemberAsync(system, TimeSpan.FromSeconds(30)))
+ .ShouldBeTrue("once the peer is genuinely gone the fallback must still self-form");
+ }
+ finally
+ {
+ try { peer.Stop(); } catch (SocketException) { /* already stopped by the test body */ }
+ await StopAsync(host);
+ }
+ }
+
///
/// THE island guard. A node that is not in its own seed list — the current docker-dev site-node
/// topology, where site-a/site-b list only central-1 — must never self-form: it would island