Harden demo SSH setup for private deploy hosts

.github/workflows/deploy-demo-server.yml

@@ -149,8 +149,35 @@ jobs:
           chmod 700 ~/.ssh
           echo "$DEMO_SERVER_SSH_KEY" > ~/.ssh/id_ed25519
           chmod 600 ~/.ssh/id_ed25519
-          ssh-keyscan -H "$DEMO_SERVER_HOST" >> ~/.ssh/known_hosts
+
-          chmod 600 ~/.ssh/known_hosts
+          : > ~/.ssh/known_hosts
+          keyscan_output="$(mktemp)"
+          keyscan_error="$(mktemp)"
+          MAX_SSH_SETUP_ATTEMPTS=18
+          for attempt in $(seq 1 "$MAX_SSH_SETUP_ATTEMPTS"); do
+            if getent hosts "$DEMO_SERVER_HOST" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+              if ssh-keyscan -T 10 -H "$DEMO_SERVER_HOST" > "$keyscan_output" 2>"$keyscan_error" && [ -s "$keyscan_output" ]; then
+                cat "$keyscan_output" >> ~/.ssh/known_hosts
+                chmod 600 ~/.ssh/known_hosts
+                echo "Demo SSH host key captured."
+                exit 0
+              fi
+              echo "ssh-keyscan did not return demo host keys on attempt ${attempt}/${MAX_SSH_SETUP_ATTEMPTS}."
+            else
+              echo "Demo SSH host is not resolvable yet on attempt ${attempt}/${MAX_SSH_SETUP_ATTEMPTS}."
+            fi
+
+            if [ "$attempt" -lt "$MAX_SSH_SETUP_ATTEMPTS" ]; then
+              sleep 10
+            fi
+          done
+
+          echo "::error::Timed out waiting for the demo SSH host to resolve and return host keys after Tailscale setup."
+          tailscale status --peers=false || true
+          if [ -s "$keyscan_error" ]; then
+            sed 's/^/ssh-keyscan: /' "$keyscan_error" || true
+          fi
+          exit 1
 
       - name: Verify target host identity
         env:

.github/workflows/update-demo-server.yml

@@ -256,8 +256,35 @@ jobs:
           chmod 700 ~/.ssh
           echo "$DEMO_SERVER_SSH_KEY" > ~/.ssh/id_ed25519
           chmod 600 ~/.ssh/id_ed25519
-          ssh-keyscan -H "$DEMO_SERVER_HOST" >> ~/.ssh/known_hosts
+
-          chmod 600 ~/.ssh/known_hosts
+          : > ~/.ssh/known_hosts
+          keyscan_output="$(mktemp)"
+          keyscan_error="$(mktemp)"
+          MAX_SSH_SETUP_ATTEMPTS=18
+          for attempt in $(seq 1 "$MAX_SSH_SETUP_ATTEMPTS"); do
+            if getent hosts "$DEMO_SERVER_HOST" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+              if ssh-keyscan -T 10 -H "$DEMO_SERVER_HOST" > "$keyscan_output" 2>"$keyscan_error" && [ -s "$keyscan_output" ]; then
+                cat "$keyscan_output" >> ~/.ssh/known_hosts
+                chmod 600 ~/.ssh/known_hosts
+                echo "Demo SSH host key captured."
+                exit 0
+              fi
+              echo "ssh-keyscan did not return demo host keys on attempt ${attempt}/${MAX_SSH_SETUP_ATTEMPTS}."
+            else
+              echo "Demo SSH host is not resolvable yet on attempt ${attempt}/${MAX_SSH_SETUP_ATTEMPTS}."
+            fi
+
+            if [ "$attempt" -lt "$MAX_SSH_SETUP_ATTEMPTS" ]; then
+              sleep 10
+            fi
+          done
+
+          echo "::error::Timed out waiting for the demo SSH host to resolve and return host keys after Tailscale setup."
+          tailscale status --peers=false || true
+          if [ -s "$keyscan_error" ]; then
+            sed 's/^/ssh-keyscan: /' "$keyscan_error" || true
+          fi
+          exit 1
 
       - name: Verify target host identity
         env:

docs/release-control/v6/internal/subsystems/deployment-installability.md

@@ -1183,7 +1183,10 @@ Those same governed demo deploy/update workflows also own the runner-to-host
 network path. They must establish the canonical Tailscale connectivity step
 before SSH setup so stable or preview targets may stay on governed private
 hostnames or Tailscale IPs, rather than silently depending on public SSH
-reachability from GitHub-hosted runners.
+reachability from GitHub-hosted runners. After Tailscale setup, SSH setup must
+wait for the configured demo host to resolve and return host keys with bounded
+retries before any installer or binary copy runs; a one-shot `ssh-keyscan`
+against a private demo hostname is not sufficient release or deploy proof.
 Those same workflows also own customer-visible browser truth for the public
 demo shell. Health checks and entry-asset parity are necessary but not
 sufficient; after those checks pass, the governed helpers

scripts/installtests/build_release_assets_test.go

@@ -947,6 +947,10 @@ func TestDeployDemoWorkflowFailsClosedForStableAndVerifiesFrontendParity(t *test
 		`          - stable`,
 		`Capture expected frontend entry asset`,
 		`Verify target host identity`,
+		`MAX_SSH_SETUP_ATTEMPTS=18`,
+		`getent hosts "$DEMO_SERVER_HOST"`,
+		`ssh-keyscan -T 10 -H "$DEMO_SERVER_HOST"`,
+		`Timed out waiting for the demo SSH host to resolve and return host keys after Tailscale setup.`,
 		`SERVICE_NAME="pulse"`,
 		`Unsupported demo target: ${TARGET}`,
 		`Demo environment points at host $REMOTE_HOSTNAME but expected $DEMO_EXPECTED_HOSTNAME.`,
@@ -987,6 +991,10 @@ func TestUpdateDemoWorkflowUsesGovernedNetworkPath(t *testing.T) {
 		`go run ./scripts/release_update_key.go public-key-ssh`,
 		`sed -i "s|^PINNED_RELEASE_SSH_PUBLIC_KEY=.*|PINNED_RELEASE_SSH_PUBLIC_KEY=\"${TRUSTED_SSH_PUBLIC_KEY}\"|" /tmp/pulse-install.sh`,
 		`Verify target host identity`,
+		`MAX_SSH_SETUP_ATTEMPTS=18`,
+		`getent hosts "$DEMO_SERVER_HOST"`,
+		`ssh-keyscan -T 10 -H "$DEMO_SERVER_HOST"`,
+		`Timed out waiting for the demo SSH host to resolve and return host keys after Tailscale setup.`,
 		`Demo environment points at host $REMOTE_HOSTNAME but expected $DEMO_EXPECTED_HOSTNAME.`,
 		`Prepare demo host storage`,
 		`KEEP_BACKUPS=2`,

scripts/release_control/release_promotion_policy_test.py

@@ -525,6 +525,7 @@ class ReleasePromotionPolicyTest(unittest.TestCase):
     def test_release_workflow_enforces_rc_lineage_soak_and_v5_notice(self) -> None:
         content = read(".github/workflows/create-release.yml")
         update_demo_workflow = read(".github/workflows/update-demo-server.yml")
+        deploy_demo_workflow = read(".github/workflows/deploy-demo-server.yml")
         validation_workflow = read(".github/workflows/validate-release-assets.yml")
         helper = read("scripts/trigger-release.sh")
         renderer = read("scripts/release_control/render_release_body.py")
@@ -610,6 +611,11 @@ class ReleasePromotionPolicyTest(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertIn("does not trust the configured release signing key", content)
         self.assertIn("TRUSTED_SSH_PUBLIC_KEY", update_demo_workflow)
         self.assertIn('sed -i "s|^PINNED_RELEASE_SSH_PUBLIC_KEY=.*|PINNED_RELEASE_SSH_PUBLIC_KEY=\\"${TRUSTED_SSH_PUBLIC_KEY}\\"|" /tmp/pulse-install.sh', update_demo_workflow)
+        for demo_workflow in (update_demo_workflow, deploy_demo_workflow):
+            self.assertIn("MAX_SSH_SETUP_ATTEMPTS=18", demo_workflow)
+            self.assertIn('getent hosts "$DEMO_SERVER_HOST"', demo_workflow)
+            self.assertIn('ssh-keyscan -T 10 -H "$DEMO_SERVER_HOST"', demo_workflow)
+            self.assertIn("Timed out waiting for the demo SSH host to resolve and return host keys after Tailscale setup", demo_workflow)
         self.assertIn("derive the OpenSSH installer trust key from `PULSE_UPDATE_SIGNING_PUBLIC_KEY`", normalize_ws(contract))
         self.assertIn('SYFT_VERSION="1.42.4"', content)
         self.assertIn('SYFT_ARCHIVE="syft_${SYFT_VERSION}_linux_amd64.tar.gz"', content)