Back to The Gateway

Operator runbooks program

Runbooks make operator help repeatable instead of improvised.

The Gateway needs repeatable, reviewable procedures for install, privacy review, recovery, policy changes, and managed service work. Operator runbooks package those procedures so guided tooling can help without each user inventing workflows from scratch.

Purpose

The product controls sensitive network behavior, so the operational docs should explain what to inspect, what to validate, what to avoid, and how to recover when a change goes wrong.

Positioning

Runbooks are not a replacement for documentation. They are procedural guides for operators and guided tooling that need to read state, inspect configuration, explain risk, and make scoped edits.

Runbook packs

Install and provision, privacy audit, traffic recovery, MSP operations, bridge and mesh, and policy templates cover the highest-risk operational cases.

Safety rules

Never silently change live routing, DNS, firewall, credentials, or remote access. Always inspect current state first, produce a rollback path, prefer dry-run checks, and keep secrets out of shareable output.

Program outline

Use a narrow runbook library first, then expand only when the patterns stay stable.

Install and provision
  • Environment discovery.
  • Preflight checks.
  • Install steps and first policy setup.
  • Local validation and rollback notes.
Privacy audit
  • DNS policy review.
  • Route and bridge path review.
  • Identity separation review.
  • Leak and fallback checks.
Traffic recovery
  • Safe-mode checklist.
  • DNS restore path.
  • Route rollback path.
  • Emergency access and post-incident notes.
MSP operations

Consultants and managed service providers need repeatable site intake, change logs, support handoff, and review cadences so they can scale without losing consistency.

Bridge and mesh

Operators should be able to inventory peers, validate latency and fallback, and document failure modes before depending on bridge paths for production traffic.

Policy templates

Reusable home, small office, privacy workstation, travel laptop, and MSP templates keep traffic, DNS, privacy, and fallback policy consistent across deployments.

Readiness target

Public docs should make the first usable runbook easy to find, while the deeper operational packs stay aligned with evidence, validation, and rollback practice.

Runbook surfaces

Use screenshots to anchor each runbook in a real operator view.

Redacted Gateway routing policies screen
Policy runbooks Show intended changes.

Supports route, bridge, fallback, and template procedures with a concrete policy surface.

Redacted Gateway DNS control screen
Privacy audit Show resolver behavior.

Supports DNS review, filtering posture, and leak-check procedures.

Redacted Gateway backup and recovery screen
Recovery runbooks Show the restore path.

Supports traffic recovery and post-incident procedures with visible backup evidence.

Next action

Read the runbook program, then move into install readiness or the first operator runbook.

Use this page as the public explanation for guided operations. When a live change is needed, move to the install readiness review, support intake, or the install-and-provision runbook and keep the rollback path visible.