fix(elway): probe NOPASSWD with sudo -n true, never sudo -n -v

`sudo -v` refreshes the auth timestamp, and a NOPASSWD-only rule creates
no timestamp to refresh, so on sudo >= 1.9.15 `sudo -n -v` returns
non-zero while every real command runs passwordless. Measured:

  pfi-gx10    sudo 1.9.15p5   sudo -n -v rc=1   sudo -n true rc=0
  nh3-docker  sudo 1.9.13p3   sudo -n -v rc=0   sudo -n true rc=0
  ana-docker  sudo 1.9.13p3   sudo -n -v rc=0   sudo -n true rc=0
  irv-ml1     sudo 1.9.13p3   sudo -n -v rc=0   sudo -n true rc=0

Only pfi-gx10 is new enough to hit it today, but every host does as it
moves past 1.9.13, and the failure mode is bad: elway prompts for a
password on a host with working NOPASSWD sudo, which in a
non-interactive run is an EOFError partway through a playbook.

The same probe in my own notes cost this session directly. gx10 looked
like a fleet exception with no NOPASSWD sudo when it had it from account
creation, and the operator was asked for a password that was never
needed. Corrected in auto-memory too.

Also lands the gx10 privileged outfit playbook, now green at 5/5:
NOPASSWD sudo, nvcc, docker group, a CUDA container seeing the GB10, and
the userspace torch stack still working afterward.

persistent-memory.d/2026-09-01-pfi-gx10-onboarding.md

@@ -181,7 +181,62 @@ Consequences:
 - ⚠ **Any library shipping cubin-only binaries with no PTX will simply fail here.** That is the
   real shape of the "per-arch unknown" risk — not source builds, but prebuilt kernels.
 
-### 🔴 BLOCKED ON SUDO — the privileged half is not done
+### ✅ PRIVILEGED HALF DONE — and I WAS NEVER BLOCKED
+
+⚠⚠ **The block was my own bad test.** `infra-ops` has had **NOPASSWD sudo since account
+creation** (`/etc/sudoers.d/infra-ops`, installed 11:31 with the account). I probed with
+`sudo -n -v`, which returns non-zero on **sudo >= 1.9.15** because `-v` refreshes an auth
+timestamp that a NOPASSWD-only rule never creates — and asked the operator for a password that
+was never needed.
+
+    pfi-gx10    sudo 1.9.15p5   sudo -n -v rc=1   sudo -n true rc=0
+    nh3-docker  sudo 1.9.13p3   sudo -n -v rc=0   sudo -n true rc=0
+    ana-docker  sudo 1.9.13p3   sudo -n -v rc=0   sudo -n true rc=0
+    irv-ml1     sudo 1.9.13p3   sudo -n -v rc=0   sudo -n true rc=0
+
+**Always `sudo -n true`.** Fixed in `scripts/elway` (which carried the same probe and would
+have started falsely prompting fleet-wide as hosts pass sudo 1.9.13) and in auto-memory
+`reference_infra_ops_sudo_identity`, which *recommended the broken test*.
+[[feedback_assert_effective_value_not_substring]]
+
+⚠ **Same shape twice in one session.** I also reported "nvcc: ABSENT" from `command -v nvcc`
+when the CUDA toolkit was installed all along at `/usr/local/cuda/bin/nvcc`, just not on PATH.
+Both times I checked a proxy and reported it as the thing itself.
+
+**Credential:** the temp password was `infra-ops`'s, not `lkraven`'s. Rotated to 32 random
+chars and **vaulted at `pfi-gx10/infra-ops-password`** (round-trip verified). Kept rather than
+locked — deviating from the canonical bootstrap's no-password posture **deliberately, because
+this box has no iDRAC/BMC**, so a console break-glass credential is the only way back if key
+auth breaks. ⚠ `lkraven` (uid 1000, GUI desktop user, `sudo` group) has a password nobody
+knows; out of scope, but it is a gap.
+
+### ⚠ DOCKER'S BUILDKIT DB WAS ALREADY CORRUPT — the restart surfaced it, did not cause it
+
+`nvidia-ctk runtime configure` + `systemctl restart docker` failed with
+`error initializing buildkit: error creating buildkit instance: invalid database`. **Not the
+nvidia config** — `daemon.json` was valid and `nvidia-container-runtime` was present. dockerd
+had been running on a process whose on-disk buildkit state was already bad; it simply could not
+come back. Remediated by removing `/var/lib/docker/buildkit` (108 KB of **cache**, and the box
+had **0 images, 0 containers**), then `daemon-reload` + `reset-failed` + start.
+
+⚠ **A long-running daemon can be unable to restart for hours before anyone finds out.** Nothing
+reported unhealthy until something asked it to restart.
+
+### ✅ FINAL STATE — playbook green, 5/5 verifies
+
+    playbooks/gx10-outfit-privileged.yaml -> steps 1 ok / 1 changed / 0 failed / 6 skipped
+                                             verify 5 ok / 0 failed
+
+    NOPASSWD sudo                    OK
+    nvcc                             /usr/local/cuda/bin/nvcc (NOT on default PATH)
+    docker socket as infra-ops       OK (docker group)
+    CUDA container sees the GB10     OK (nvidia/cuda:13.0.0-base -> nvidia-smi -L reports GB10)
+    userspace torch still sees GPU   OK
+    docker Runtimes                  nvidia runc io.containerd.runc.v2
+
+**The box is fully outfitted for inference + training, bare metal, containers available.**
+
+### Historical note — what the block looked like before it was disproved
 
 ⚠ **`infra-ops` does NOT have NOPASSWD sudo on pfi-gx10** (`sudo -n -v` -> "a password is
 required"), unlike the rest of the fleet — see [[reference_infra_ops_sudo_identity]], which

persistent-memory.md

@@ -133,8 +133,16 @@ _As of 2026-09-01 — **the GX10 is on the operator's desk, NOT racked. Standing
   **first use of every kernel pays a JIT compile** and cubin-only libraries will fail.
   ⚠⚠ **ALWAYS WARM UP BEFORE TIMING** — an unwarmed benchmark read 27 TFLOP/s (it was timing the
   JIT) and nearly became a phantom "tensor cores are broken" report.
-  🔴 **BLOCKED ON SUDO** for nvcc / container toolkit / docker group: **infra-ops has NO NOPASSWD
+  ✅ **PRIVILEGED HALF DONE 2026-09-01** — nvcc, NVIDIA Container Toolkit, docker group; playbook
-  sudo on gx10** (fleet exception) and **no credential is vaulted**.
+  `gx10-outfit-privileged.yaml` green 5/5 (a CUDA container sees the GB10). **Bare metal, fully
+  outfitted.** ⚠⚠ **I was NEVER blocked** — infra-ops had NOPASSWD sudo all along; I probed with
+  **`sudo -n -v`, which is WRONG on sudo >= 1.9.15** (it refreshes a timestamp NOPASSWD never
+  creates) and asked the operator for a password that did not exist to need. **Always
+  `sudo -n true`.** Fixed in `scripts/elway` (same probe, would have broken fleet-wide as hosts
+  pass sudo 1.9.13) and in auto-memory. Password rotated + vaulted at
+  `pfi-gx10/infra-ops-password` (kept not locked: **no iDRAC on this box**, so it is the only
+  console break-glass). ⚠ Docker's buildkit DB was **already corrupt** — the restart surfaced it,
+  did not cause it; cleared `/var/lib/docker/buildkit` (cache, 0 images/containers).
   → `persistent-memory.d/2026-09-01-pfi-gx10-onboarding.md`
 - **▶ ADA INFERENCE SERVER (R750xa `JPJ1ZP3`) — awaiting an iDRAC inventory.** 2× RTX 6000
   Ada to be fitted; ComfyUI's new home at NH3. **Order regardless: 8× `M04W6` RDIMM (restores

scripts/elway

@@ -426,9 +426,25 @@ def ensure_sudo(ctx: SSHContext) -> None:
     if ctx.sudo_probed:
         return
     ctx.sudo_probed = True
-    # Is sudo configured NOPASSWD for this user? `sudo -n -v` exits 0 if so.
+    # Is sudo configured NOPASSWD for this user?
+    #
+    # ⚠ This MUST be `sudo -n true`, never `sudo -n -v`. `-v` refreshes the
+    # auth timestamp, and a NOPASSWD-only rule creates no timestamp to refresh,
+    # so on **sudo >= 1.9.15** `-n -v` returns non-zero even though every real
+    # command runs passwordless. Measured 2026-09-01:
+    #
+    #   pfi-gx10    sudo 1.9.15p5   sudo -n -v rc=1   sudo -n true rc=0
+    #   nh3-docker  sudo 1.9.13p3   sudo -n -v rc=0   sudo -n true rc=0
+    #   ana-docker  sudo 1.9.13p3   sudo -n -v rc=0   sudo -n true rc=0
+    #   irv-ml1     sudo 1.9.13p3   sudo -n -v rc=0   sudo -n true rc=0
+    #
+    # The old probe cost a whole session on gx10: elway prompted for a password
+    # on a host that had working NOPASSWD sudo the entire time, and in a
+    # non-interactive run that prompt is an EOFError mid-playbook. Every host
+    # will hit this as it moves past sudo 1.9.13. Assert the effective
+    # behaviour (can I run a command?), not a proxy for it.
     p = subprocess.run(
-        ctx.ssh_cmd("sudo -n -v"),
+        ctx.ssh_cmd("sudo -n true"),
         stdout=subprocess.DEVNULL,
         stderr=subprocess.DEVNULL,
     )