Air-gapped installation

Status: documented. The steps have not been run.

Differently is built to run with no internet access:

• No telemetry. It has no telemetry, update checks or phone-home code paths.
• No third-party dashboard requests. The dashboard is served from the binary with Content-Security-Policy: default-src 'self', so the browser loads nothing from third parties.
• No outbound calls by default. The only outbound connections the control plane ever makes go to PostgreSQL, to the backends of its pools (OpenSandbox servers, remote plugins) and to external-provider APIs. Provider pools are disabled by default.

OpenSandbox is a separate product with its own images and configuration. Whether it runs fully offline, and which of its components reach the network, is for its documentation to answer; it has not been checked here.

1. Mirror the images

Image	Needed for
ghcr.io/different-ai/differently-server:0.1.0	Control plane, migrations, preflight
ghcr.io/different-ai/differently-cli:0.1.0	helm test only
docker.io/library/postgres:17	Only with the evaluation-only postgresql.embedded
docker.io/library/busybox:1.37	Only for the kubectl debug checks in these guides
OpenSandbox’s server, execd and other component images	Your OpenSandbox installation; see step 3
The sandbox images your pools create sandboxes from	Pulled by OpenSandbox’s runtime, not by Differently

Copy by digest so the internal tags point at exactly what you reviewed. Use --all (skopeo) or crane copy so multi-architecture indexes come along:

REG=registry.internal.example.com
for img in differently-server differently-cli; do
  skopeo copy --all docker://ghcr.io/different-ai/$img:0.1.0 docker://$REG/different-ai/$img:0.1.0
done
skopeo inspect docker://$REG/different-ai/differently-server:0.1.0 | jq -r .Digest

global.imageRegistry replaces only the registry part of each image, so keep the repository paths (different-ai/differently-server) in the mirror, or override *.image.repository per component. Pin with *.image.digest in production.

2. Mirror the chart

helm package deploy/helm/differently                 # differently-0.2.0.tgz
helm push differently-0.2.0.tgz oci://$REG/charts    # or copy the .tgz across the gap
helm show chart oci://$REG/charts/differently --version 0.2.0

3. Mirror and configure OpenSandbox

Install OpenSandbox from its own chart or manifests, mirrored the same way, following its documentation. Point every image it uses at the internal registry. In the configuration the adapter was checked against (test/opensandbox/config.toml), those are at least the server image, the execd image ([runtime] execd_image) and the egress image ([egress] image); a Fast Sandbox installation adds its own components and templates. Pin the same versions you tested.

Sandboxes are created from an image URI (or a Fast Sandbox template). The pool’s default image is ubuntu:24.04 unless you set opensandbox.image (or a Fast Sandbox opensandbox.templateId), or the request names a template. Mirror those images and use internal URIs, or creation fails when OpenSandbox’s runtime cannot pull them.

4. Install with no external egress

values-airgap.yaml

global:
  imageRegistry: registry.internal.example.com
  imagePullSecrets: [{name: internal-registry}]
config:
  store: {driver: postgres}
  policy:
    external: never          # the default; stated explicitly here
postgresql:
  external: {existingSecret: differently-database}
auth:
  existingSecret: differently-tokens
opensandbox:
  apiURL: http://opensandbox-server.opensandbox-system.svc/v1
  trust: private
  isolation: container
  image: registry.internal.example.com/library/ubuntu:24.04   # mirrored sandbox image
  existingSecret: opensandbox-api-key
providers:
  daytona: {enabled: false}
  freestyle: {enabled: false}
networkPolicy:
  enabled: true
  server:
    egress:
      restricted: true       # DNS, the database and OpenSandbox only
      databaseCIDRs: ["10.20.0.0/24"]

helm install dly oci://$REG/charts/differently --version 0.2.0 -n differently -f values-airgap.yaml

With providers disabled, the server NetworkPolicy has no TCP 443 egress rule; its OpenSandbox rule (networkPolicy.server.egress.opensandbox) allows only the OpenSandbox namespace (or cidrs) on the server’s port (80 by default). Even a misconfigured provider pool could not reach the internet from the server pods, as long as the CNI enforces NetworkPolicy. For defence in depth, add a namespace-wide default-deny egress policy as well.

Sandboxes are a separate matter. Their egress goes through OpenSandbox’s runtime and the network under it, not through Differently, which does not configure OpenSandbox’s network policy. Close it with OpenSandbox’s own egress settings, NetworkPolicy in OpenSandbox’s namespace, or node and VPC firewalling if sandboxes must not reach the internet.

Verify

# 1. Every image comes from the internal registry (repeat for OpenSandbox's namespace).
kubectl -n differently get pods -o jsonpath='{range .items[*]}{range .spec.containers[*]}{.image}{"\n"}{end}{range .spec.initContainers[*]}{.image}{"\n"}{end}{end}' | sort -u

# 2. The server reports no telemetry, no approved external pools, and no external pool at all.
curl -fsS -H "Authorization: Bearer $DIFFERENTLY_API_KEY" "$DIFFERENTLY_URL/v1/admin/trust-report" \
  | jq '{telemetry, external: .globalPolicy.external, pools: [.pools[] | {name, trust, endpoint, approvedForExternalPlacement}]}'
#   "telemetry": "none: Differently has no telemetry or phone-home code paths"
#   every pool has "trust": "private", and the opensandbox endpoint is an internal address

# 3. The server's egress is restricted to DNS, the database and OpenSandbox.
kubectl -n differently get networkpolicy dly-differently-server -o yaml | sed -n '/egress:/,$p'

# 4. Everything still works with egress locked down.
helm test dly -n differently --logs

For an independent check, watch flows from the server pods with your CNI’s flow logs (for example Cilium Hubble, or VPC flow logs). Expect only DNS, PostgreSQL and the OpenSandbox server’s port (80 by default).

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Source: docs/deploy/air-gapped.md