Merge remote-tracking branch 'origin/main' into fix/pkce-flow-session-extend

# Conflicts:
#	shared/management/proto/management.pb.go

client/internal/auth/sessionwatch/watcher.go

@@ -90,8 +90,9 @@ type StatusRecorder interface {
 // fallback T-FinalWarningLead dialog (suppressed when the user dismissed
 // the first one for the same deadline). Safe for concurrent use.
 type Watcher struct {
-	lead      time.Duration
-	finalLead time.Duration
+	lead         time.Duration
+	finalLead    time.Duration
+	deadlineOnly bool
 
 	mu           sync.Mutex
 	current      time.Time
@@ -102,6 +103,7 @@ type Watcher struct {
 	dismissedAt  time.Time // deadline value the user dismissed via Dismiss(); gates fireFinal
 	closed       bool
 	recorder     StatusRecorder
+	nowFn        func() time.Time
 }
 
 // New returns a watcher with the package defaults WarningLead and
@@ -122,9 +124,17 @@ func NewWithLeads(lead, final time.Duration, recorder StatusRecorder) *Watcher {
 		lead:      lead,
 		finalLead: final,
 		recorder:  recorder,
+		nowFn:     time.Now,
 	}
 }
 
+// NewDeadlineOnly returns a watcher that validates and records deadlines but arms no warning timers.
+func NewDeadlineOnly(recorder StatusRecorder) *Watcher {
+	w := New(recorder)
+	w.deadlineOnly = true
+	return w
+}
+
 // Update sets the latest deadline. Pass the zero time to clear (e.g. when
 // a Sync push from the server omits the field because login expiration
 // was disabled).
@@ -181,7 +191,7 @@ func (w *Watcher) Update(deadline time.Time) error {
 	w.finalFiredAt = time.Time{}
 	w.dismissedAt = time.Time{}
 
-	if deadline.After(now) {
+	if deadline.After(now) && !w.deadlineOnly {
 		w.armTimerLocked(deadline)
 	}
 	recorder := w.recorder
@@ -303,6 +313,11 @@ func (w *Watcher) fire(armedFor time.Time) {
 		w.mu.Unlock()
 		return
 	}
+	now := w.nowFn()
+	if isLate(now, armedFor, max(w.finalLead, 0)) {
+		w.fireLateLocked(armedFor, now)
+		return
+	}
 	w.firedAt = armedFor
 	recorder := w.recorder
 	w.mu.Unlock()
@@ -331,6 +346,14 @@ func (w *Watcher) fireFinal(armedFor time.Time) {
 		log.Infof("auth session final-warning skipped (dismissed by user)")
 		return
 	}
+	now := w.nowFn()
+	if isLate(now, armedFor, 0) {
+		w.finalFiredAt = armedFor
+		w.mu.Unlock()
+		log.Infof("auth session final-warning skipped for deadline %s (passed %s ago)",
+			armedFor.Format(time.RFC3339), now.Round(0).Sub(armedFor).Round(time.Second))
+		return
+	}
 	w.finalFiredAt = armedFor
 	recorder := w.recorder
 	w.mu.Unlock()
@@ -341,6 +364,39 @@ func (w *Watcher) fireFinal(armedFor time.Time) {
 	publishWarning(recorder, armedFor, true)
 }
 
+// fireLateLocked handles a T-WarningLead callback that fired inside the
+// final-warning window: it sends the final warning in its place while the
+// deadline has not passed and the user has not dismissed it, so a resume
+// with time left still warns. The caller must hold w.mu; this helper
+// releases it.
+func (w *Watcher) fireLateLocked(armedFor, now time.Time) {
+	w.firedAt = armedFor
+	switch {
+	case w.dismissedAt.Equal(armedFor):
+		w.mu.Unlock()
+		log.Infof("auth session expiry soon warning skipped (dismissed by user)")
+		return
+	case w.finalFiredAt.Equal(armedFor):
+		w.mu.Unlock()
+		log.Infof("auth session expiry soon warning skipped (final warning already fired)")
+		return
+	case isLate(now, armedFor, 0):
+		w.mu.Unlock()
+		log.Infof("auth session expiry soon warning skipped for deadline %s (passed %s ago)",
+			armedFor.Format(time.RFC3339), now.Round(0).Sub(armedFor).Round(time.Second))
+		return
+	}
+	w.finalFiredAt = armedFor
+	recorder := w.recorder
+	w.mu.Unlock()
+	if recorder == nil {
+		return
+	}
+	log.Infof("auth session expiry soon warning fired inside the final-warning window, sending final warning for deadline %s",
+		armedFor.Format(time.RFC3339))
+	publishWarning(recorder, armedFor, true)
+}
+
 // armOneShotLocked schedules cb at fireAt. When fireAt is already in the
 // past it dispatches on the next scheduler tick so a state-change recorder
 // notification (invoked after w.mu is released) lands first. Caller must
@@ -380,3 +436,11 @@ func publishWarning(recorder StatusRecorder, deadline time.Time, final bool) {
 		meta,
 	)
 }
+
+// isLate reports whether the wall clock now has already reached armedFor
+// minus cutoffLead. The timers run on the monotonic clock, which can stall
+// while the host sleeps, so a timer can fire long after the window it was
+// armed for.
+func isLate(now, armedFor time.Time, cutoffLead time.Duration) bool {
+	return !now.Round(0).Before(armedFor.Add(-cutoffLead).Round(0))
+}

client/internal/auth/sessionwatch/watcher_test.go

@@ -527,3 +527,201 @@ func TestDismissBeforeUpdateIsNoop(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	t.Fatalf("final-warning did not publish after no-op pre-Update Dismiss, events=%+v", r.snapshot())
 }
+
+func TestIsLate(t *testing.T) {
+	armedFor := time.Date(2026, 10, 1, 12, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC)
+	lead := 2 * time.Minute
+	tests := []struct {
+		name       string
+		now        time.Time
+		cutoffLead time.Duration
+		want       bool
+	}{
+		{"before cutoff", armedFor.Add(-3 * time.Minute), lead, false},
+		{"at cutoff", armedFor.Add(-lead), lead, true},
+		{"after cutoff", armedFor.Add(-time.Minute), lead, true},
+		{"zero lead before deadline", armedFor.Add(-time.Second), 0, false},
+		{"zero lead at deadline", armedFor, 0, true},
+		{"zero lead after deadline", armedFor.Add(time.Second), 0, true},
+	}
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			if got := isLate(tt.now, armedFor, tt.cutoffLead); got != tt.want {
+				t.Fatalf("isLate(%s, %s, %s) = %v, want %v", tt.now, armedFor, tt.cutoffLead, got, tt.want)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func TestIsLateIgnoresMonotonicReading(t *testing.T) {
+	now := time.Now()
+	wallOnly := now.Round(0)
+	if isLate(now, wallOnly.Add(time.Second), 0) {
+		t.Fatalf("now with monotonic reading must compare as wall clock before a later wall-only deadline")
+	}
+	if !isLate(now, wallOnly, 0) {
+		t.Fatalf("now with monotonic reading must compare as wall clock at an equal wall-only deadline")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestLateTimerFiring(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name       string
+		final      bool
+		beforeDl   time.Duration
+		wantWarns  int
+		wantFinals int
+	}{
+		{"warning on resume inside window", false, 3 * time.Minute, 1, 0},
+		{"warning promoted to final inside final window", false, time.Minute, 0, 1},
+		{"warning skipped past deadline", false, -time.Minute, 0, 0},
+		{"final on resume before deadline", true, time.Minute, 0, 1},
+		{"final skipped past deadline", true, -time.Minute, 0, 0},
+	}
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			r := &fakeRecorder{}
+			w := New(r)
+			defer w.Close()
+
+			// The deadline is an hour out so the real timers never fire
+			// during the test; the late callback is invoked directly with an
+			// injected clock that simulates a resume near the deadline.
+			d := time.Now().Add(time.Hour).Round(0)
+			w.nowFn = func() time.Time { return d.Add(-tt.beforeDl) }
+			if err := w.Update(d); err != nil {
+				t.Fatalf("Update: %v", err)
+			}
+
+			if tt.final {
+				w.fireFinal(d)
+			} else {
+				w.fire(d)
+			}
+
+			events := r.snapshot()
+			if got := countWhere(events, event.isWarning); got != tt.wantWarns {
+				t.Fatalf("expected %d warning publishes, got %d: %+v", tt.wantWarns, got, events)
+			}
+			if got := countWhere(events, event.isFinalWarning); got != tt.wantFinals {
+				t.Fatalf("expected %d final-warning publishes, got %d: %+v", tt.wantFinals, got, events)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func TestPromotedFinalWarningIsNotRepeated(t *testing.T) {
+	r := &fakeRecorder{}
+	w := New(r)
+	defer w.Close()
+
+	d := time.Now().Add(time.Hour).Round(0)
+	now := d.Add(-time.Minute)
+	w.nowFn = func() time.Time { return now }
+	if err := w.Update(d); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Update: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	w.fire(d)
+	// The final timer was suspended too, so it fires even later than the
+	// warning timer, here still just before the deadline.
+	now = d.Add(-30 * time.Second)
+	w.fireFinal(d)
+
+	events := r.snapshot()
+	if got := countWhere(events, event.isFinalWarning); got != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("expected exactly 1 final-warning publish, got %d: %+v", got, events)
+	}
+	if got := countWhere(events, event.isWarning); got != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("expected no regular warning publish, got %d: %+v", got, events)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestPromotionRespectsDismiss(t *testing.T) {
+	r := &fakeRecorder{}
+	w := New(r)
+	defer w.Close()
+
+	d := time.Now().Add(time.Hour).Round(0)
+	w.nowFn = func() time.Time { return d.Add(-time.Minute) }
+	if err := w.Update(d); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Update: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	w.Dismiss()
+	w.fire(d)
+
+	events := r.snapshot()
+	if got := countWhere(events, func(e event) bool { return e.kind == publish }); got != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("expected no publish after dismiss, got %d: %+v", got, events)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestPromotionSkippedWhenFinalAlreadyFired(t *testing.T) {
+	r := &fakeRecorder{}
+	w := New(r)
+	defer w.Close()
+
+	// Both timers fall in the past after a long suspend and are dispatched
+	// with a zero delay, so the final callback can run before the warning one.
+	d := time.Now().Add(time.Hour).Round(0)
+	w.nowFn = func() time.Time { return d.Add(-time.Minute) }
+	if err := w.Update(d); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Update: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	w.fireFinal(d)
+	w.fire(d)
+
+	events := r.snapshot()
+	if got := countWhere(events, event.isFinalWarning); got != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("expected exactly 1 final-warning publish, got %d: %+v", got, events)
+	}
+	if got := countWhere(events, event.isWarning); got != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("expected no regular warning publish, got %d: %+v", got, events)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestDeadlineOnlyRecordsDeadlineWithoutWarnings(t *testing.T) {
+	r := &fakeRecorder{}
+	w := NewDeadlineOnly(r)
+	defer w.Close()
+
+	// With the default leads this deadline would otherwise fire both
+	// timers on the next tick.
+	d := time.Now().Add(50 * time.Millisecond).Round(0)
+	if err := w.Update(d); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Update: %v", err)
+	}
+	if got := r.deadline(); !got.Equal(d) {
+		t.Fatalf("expected recorder deadline %v, got %v", d, got)
+	}
+
+	time.Sleep(100 * time.Millisecond)
+
+	events := r.snapshot()
+	if got := countWhere(events, func(e event) bool { return e.kind == publish }); got != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("expected no publish in deadline-only mode, got %d: %+v", got, events)
+	}
+	if w.timer != nil || w.finalTimer != nil {
+		t.Fatal("expected no timers armed in deadline-only mode")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestDeadlineOnlyStillRejectsOutOfRangeDeadlines(t *testing.T) {
+	r := &fakeRecorder{}
+	w := NewDeadlineOnly(r)
+	defer w.Close()
+
+	if err := w.Update(time.Now().Add(time.Hour)); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Update: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	err := w.Update(time.Now().Add(-maxPastHorizon - time.Hour))
+	if !errors.Is(err, ErrDeadlineInPast) {
+		t.Fatalf("expected ErrDeadlineInPast, got %v", err)
+	}
+	if got := r.deadline(); !got.IsZero() {
+		t.Fatalf("expected recorder cleared after rejection, got %v", got)
+	}
+}

client/internal/debug/debug_test.go

@@ -846,6 +846,7 @@ func TestAddConfig_AllFieldsCovered(t *testing.T) {
 		"ClientCertKeyPair":    "non-config: parsed cert pair, not serialized",
 		"Name":                 "non-config: profile name is not needed for debug purposes",
 		"policy":               "non-config: in-memory MDM policy snapshot, surfaced via Config.Policy() / GetConfigResponse.MDMManagedFields",
+		"probing":              "non-config: marks a throwaway copy built to be diffed against; never set on a config anyone runs with",
 		"DebugBundleUploadURL": "sensitive: MDM-provided upload URL may carry credentials or query tokens; kept out of the shared bundle",
 	}
 

client/internal/engine.go

@@ -42,7 +42,6 @@ import (
 	dnsconfig "github.com/netbirdio/netbird/client/internal/dns/config"
 	"github.com/netbirdio/netbird/client/internal/dnsfwd"
 	"github.com/netbirdio/netbird/client/internal/expose"
-	"github.com/netbirdio/netbird/client/internal/ingressgw"
 	"github.com/netbirdio/netbird/client/internal/lazyconn"
 	"github.com/netbirdio/netbird/client/internal/metrics"
 	"github.com/netbirdio/netbird/client/internal/netflow"
@@ -262,11 +261,10 @@ type Engine struct {
 
 	statusRecorder *peer.Status
 
-	firewall          firewallManager.Manager
-	routeManager      routemanager.Manager
-	acl               acl.Manager
-	dnsForwardMgr     *dnsfwd.Manager
-	ingressGatewayMgr *ingressgw.Manager
+	firewall      firewallManager.Manager
+	routeManager  routemanager.Manager
+	acl           acl.Manager
+	dnsForwardMgr *dnsfwd.Manager
 
 	dnsServer dns.Server
 
@@ -448,13 +446,6 @@ func (e *Engine) stopLocked() {
 
 	e.cleanupSSHConfig()
 
-	if e.ingressGatewayMgr != nil {
-		if err := e.ingressGatewayMgr.Close(); err != nil {
-			log.Warnf("failed to cleanup forward rules: %v", err)
-		}
-		e.ingressGatewayMgr = nil
-	}
-
 	if e.srWatcher != nil {
 		e.srWatcher.Close()
 	}
@@ -1627,13 +1618,6 @@ func (e *Engine) updateNetworkMap(networkMap *mgmProto.NetworkMap) error {
 	e.updateDNSForwarder(dnsRouteFeatureFlag, fwdEntries)
 	done()
 
-	// Ingress forward rules
-	done = e.phase("forward_rules")
-	if _, err := e.updateForwardRules(networkMap.GetForwardingRules()); err != nil {
-		log.Errorf("failed to update forward rules, err: %v", err)
-	}
-	done()
-
 	log.Debugf("got peers update from Management Service, total peers to connect to = %d", len(networkMap.GetRemotePeers()))
 
 	done = e.phase("offline_peers")
@@ -2733,74 +2717,6 @@ func (e *Engine) setForwarderCapture(pc device.PacketCapture) {
 	}
 }
 
-func (e *Engine) updateForwardRules(rules []*mgmProto.ForwardingRule) ([]firewallManager.ForwardRule, error) {
-	if e.firewall == nil {
-		log.Warn("firewall is disabled, not updating forwarding rules")
-		return nil, nil
-	}
-
-	if len(rules) == 0 {
-		if e.ingressGatewayMgr == nil {
-			return nil, nil
-		}
-
-		err := e.ingressGatewayMgr.Close()
-		e.ingressGatewayMgr = nil
-		e.statusRecorder.SetIngressGwMgr(nil)
-		return nil, err
-	}
-
-	if e.ingressGatewayMgr == nil {
-		mgr := ingressgw.NewManager(e.firewall)
-		e.ingressGatewayMgr = mgr
-		e.statusRecorder.SetIngressGwMgr(mgr)
-	}
-
-	var merr *multierror.Error
-	forwardingRules := make([]firewallManager.ForwardRule, 0, len(rules))
-	for _, rule := range rules {
-		proto, err := acl.ConvertToFirewallProtocol(rule.GetProtocol())
-		if err != nil {
-			merr = multierror.Append(merr, fmt.Errorf("failed to convert protocol '%s': %w", rule.GetProtocol(), err))
-			continue
-		}
-
-		dstPortInfo, err := convertPortInfo(rule.GetDestinationPort())
-		if err != nil {
-			merr = multierror.Append(merr, fmt.Errorf("invalid destination port '%v': %w", rule.GetDestinationPort(), err))
-			continue
-		}
-
-		translateIP, err := convertToIP(rule.GetTranslatedAddress())
-		if err != nil {
-			merr = multierror.Append(merr, fmt.Errorf("failed to convert translated address '%s': %w", rule.GetTranslatedAddress(), err))
-			continue
-		}
-
-		translatePort, err := convertPortInfo(rule.GetTranslatedPort())
-		if err != nil {
-			merr = multierror.Append(merr, fmt.Errorf("invalid translate port '%v': %w", rule.GetTranslatedPort(), err))
-			continue
-		}
-
-		forwardRule := firewallManager.ForwardRule{
-			Protocol:          proto,
-			DestinationPort:   *dstPortInfo,
-			TranslatedAddress: translateIP,
-			TranslatedPort:    *translatePort,
-		}
-
-		forwardingRules = append(forwardingRules, forwardRule)
-	}
-
-	log.Infof("updating forwarding rules: %d", len(forwardingRules))
-	if err := e.ingressGatewayMgr.Update(forwardingRules); err != nil {
-		log.Errorf("failed to update forwarding rules: %v", err)
-	}
-
-	return forwardingRules, nberrors.FormatErrorOrNil(merr)
-}
-
 // toExcludedLazyPeers returns the peers that must have an always-active
 // connection: those that are not lazy by policy (the per-peer lazy state or the
 // account flag, subject to the local override).

client/internal/engine_privileged_test.go

@@ -42,7 +42,6 @@ import (
 	nbcache "github.com/netbirdio/netbird/management/server/cache"
 	"github.com/netbirdio/netbird/management/server/groups"
 	"github.com/netbirdio/netbird/management/server/integrations/integrated_validator/validator"
-	"github.com/netbirdio/netbird/management/server/integrations/port_forwarding"
 	"github.com/netbirdio/netbird/management/server/job"
 	"github.com/netbirdio/netbird/management/server/permissions"
 	"github.com/netbirdio/netbird/management/server/settings"
@@ -523,8 +522,8 @@ func startManagement(t *testing.T, dataDir, testFile string) (*grpc.Server, stri
 
 	updateManager := update_channel.NewPeersUpdateManager(metrics)
 	requestBuffer := server.NewAccountRequestBuffer(context.Background(), store)
-	networkMapController := controller.NewController(context.Background(), store, metrics, updateManager, requestBuffer, server.MockIntegratedValidator{}, settingsMockManager, "netbird.selfhosted", port_forwarding.NewControllerMock(), manager.NewEphemeralManager(store, peersManager), config, nil)
-	accountManager, err := server.BuildManager(context.Background(), config, store, networkMapController, jobManager, nil, "", eventStore, nil, false, ia, metrics, port_forwarding.NewControllerMock(), settingsMockManager, permissionsManager, false, cacheStore)
+	networkMapController := controller.NewController(context.Background(), store, metrics, updateManager, requestBuffer, server.MockIntegratedValidator{}, settingsMockManager, "netbird.selfhosted", manager.NewEphemeralManager(store, peersManager), config, nil)
+	accountManager, err := server.BuildManager(context.Background(), config, store, networkMapController, jobManager, nil, "", eventStore, nil, false, ia, metrics, settingsMockManager, permissionsManager, false, cacheStore)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, "", err
 	}

client/internal/engine_sessionwatch.go

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-//go:build !js
+//go:build !js && !android
 
 package internal
 
@@ -7,10 +7,12 @@ import (
 	"github.com/netbirdio/netbird/client/internal/peer"
 )
 
-// newSessionWatcher returns the real SSO session expiry watcher for every
-// non-wasm build. The js/wasm build gets a no-op stub from
-// engine_sessionwatch_js.go so the sessionwatch package (and its timer
-// machinery) never links into the wasm binary.
+// newSessionWatcher returns the real SSO session expiry watcher. The js/wasm
+// build gets a no-op stub from engine_sessionwatch_js.go so the sessionwatch
+// package (and its timer machinery) never links into the wasm binary; the
+// android build gets a deadline-only watcher from
+// engine_sessionwatch_android.go because the app schedules the warnings
+// itself.
 func newSessionWatcher(recorder *peer.Status) sessionDeadlineWatcher {
 	return sessionwatch.New(recorder)
 }

client/internal/engine_sessionwatch_android.go

@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+//go:build android
+
+package internal
+
+import (
+	"github.com/netbirdio/netbird/client/internal/auth/sessionwatch"
+	"github.com/netbirdio/netbird/client/internal/peer"
+)
+
+func newSessionWatcher(recorder *peer.Status) sessionDeadlineWatcher {
+	return sessionwatch.NewDeadlineOnly(recorder)
+}

client/internal/ingressgw/manager.go

@@ -1,111 +0,0 @@
-package ingressgw
-
-import (
-	"fmt"
-	"sync"
-
-	"github.com/hashicorp/go-multierror"
-	log "github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
-
-	nberrors "github.com/netbirdio/netbird/client/errors"
-	firewall "github.com/netbirdio/netbird/client/firewall/manager"
-)
-
-type DNATFirewall interface {
-	AddDNATRule(fwdRule firewall.ForwardRule) (firewall.Rule, error)
-	DeleteDNATRule(rule firewall.Rule) error
-}
-
-type RulePair struct {
-	firewall.ForwardRule
-	firewall.Rule
-}
-
-type Manager struct {
-	dnatFirewall DNATFirewall
-
-	rules   map[firewall.RuleID]RulePair
-	rulesMu sync.Mutex
-}
-
-func NewManager(dnatFirewall DNATFirewall) *Manager {
-	return &Manager{
-		dnatFirewall: dnatFirewall,
-		rules:        make(map[firewall.RuleID]RulePair),
-	}
-}
-
-func (h *Manager) Update(forwardRules []firewall.ForwardRule) error {
-	h.rulesMu.Lock()
-	defer h.rulesMu.Unlock()
-
-	var mErr *multierror.Error
-
-	toDelete := make(map[firewall.RuleID]RulePair, len(h.rules))
-	for id, r := range h.rules {
-		toDelete[id] = r
-	}
-
-	// Process new/updated rules
-	for _, fwdRule := range forwardRules {
-		id := fwdRule.ID()
-		if _, ok := h.rules[id]; ok {
-			delete(toDelete, id)
-			continue
-		}
-
-		rule, err := h.dnatFirewall.AddDNATRule(fwdRule)
-		if err != nil {
-			mErr = multierror.Append(mErr, fmt.Errorf("add forward rule '%s': %v", fwdRule.String(), err))
-			continue
-		}
-		if rule == nil {
-			mErr = multierror.Append(mErr, fmt.Errorf("add forward rule '%s': backend returned no rule", fwdRule.String()))
-			continue
-		}
-		log.Infof("forward rule has been added '%s'", fwdRule)
-		h.rules[id] = RulePair{
-			ForwardRule: fwdRule,
-			Rule:        rule,
-		}
-	}
-
-	// Remove deleted rules
-	for id, rulePair := range toDelete {
-		if err := h.dnatFirewall.DeleteDNATRule(rulePair.Rule); err != nil {
-			mErr = multierror.Append(mErr, fmt.Errorf("failed to delete forward rule '%s': %v", rulePair.ForwardRule.String(), err))
-		}
-		log.Infof("forward rule has been deleted '%s'", rulePair.ForwardRule)
-		delete(h.rules, id)
-	}
-
-	return nberrors.FormatErrorOrNil(mErr)
-}
-
-func (h *Manager) Close() error {
-	h.rulesMu.Lock()
-	defer h.rulesMu.Unlock()
-
-	log.Infof("clean up all (%d) forward rules", len(h.rules))
-	var mErr *multierror.Error
-	for _, rule := range h.rules {
-		if err := h.dnatFirewall.DeleteDNATRule(rule.Rule); err != nil {
-			mErr = multierror.Append(mErr, fmt.Errorf("failed to delete forward rule '%s': %v", rule, err))
-		}
-	}
-
-	h.rules = make(map[firewall.RuleID]RulePair)
-	return nberrors.FormatErrorOrNil(mErr)
-}
-
-func (h *Manager) Rules() []firewall.ForwardRule {
-	h.rulesMu.Lock()
-	defer h.rulesMu.Unlock()
-
-	rules := make([]firewall.ForwardRule, 0, len(h.rules))
-	for _, rulePair := range h.rules {
-		rules = append(rules, rulePair.ForwardRule)
-	}
-
-	return rules
-}

client/internal/ingressgw/manager_test.go

@@ -1,281 +0,0 @@
-package ingressgw
-
-import (
-	"fmt"
-	"net/netip"
-	"testing"
-
-	firewall "github.com/netbirdio/netbird/client/firewall/manager"
-)
-
-var (
-	_ firewall.Rule = (*MocFwRule)(nil)
-	_ DNATFirewall  = &MockDNATFirewall{}
-)
-
-type MocFwRule struct {
-	id firewall.RuleID
-}
-
-func (m *MocFwRule) ID() firewall.RuleID {
-	return m.id
-}
-
-type MockDNATFirewall struct {
-	throwError bool
-}
-
-func (m *MockDNATFirewall) AddDNATRule(fwdRule firewall.ForwardRule) (firewall.Rule, error) {
-	if m.throwError {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("moc error")
-	}
-
-	fwRule := &MocFwRule{
-		id: fwdRule.ID(),
-	}
-	return fwRule, nil
-}
-
-func (m *MockDNATFirewall) DeleteDNATRule(rule firewall.Rule) error {
-	if m.throwError {
-		return fmt.Errorf("moc error")
-	}
-	return nil
-}
-
-func (m *MockDNATFirewall) forceToThrowErrors() {
-	m.throwError = true
-}
-
-func TestManager_AddRule(t *testing.T) {
-	fw := &MockDNATFirewall{}
-	mgr := NewManager(fw)
-
-	port, _ := firewall.NewPort(8080)
-
-	updates := []firewall.ForwardRule{
-		{
-			Protocol:          firewall.ProtocolTCP,
-			DestinationPort:   *port,
-			TranslatedAddress: netip.MustParseAddr("172.16.254.1"),
-			TranslatedPort:    *port,
-		},
-		{
-			Protocol:          firewall.ProtocolUDP,
-			DestinationPort:   *port,
-			TranslatedAddress: netip.MustParseAddr("172.16.254.1"),
-			TranslatedPort:    *port,
-		}}
-
-	if err := mgr.Update(updates); err != nil {
-		t.Errorf("unexpected error: %v", err)
-	}
-
-	rules := mgr.Rules()
-	if len(rules) != len(updates) {
-		t.Errorf("unexpected rules count: %d", len(rules))
-	}
-}
-
-func TestManager_UpdateRule(t *testing.T) {
-	fw := &MockDNATFirewall{}
-	mgr := NewManager(fw)
-
-	port, _ := firewall.NewPort(8080)
-	ruleTCP := firewall.ForwardRule{
-		Protocol:          firewall.ProtocolTCP,
-		DestinationPort:   *port,
-		TranslatedAddress: netip.MustParseAddr("172.16.254.1"),
-		TranslatedPort:    *port,
-	}
-
-	if err := mgr.Update([]firewall.ForwardRule{ruleTCP}); err != nil {
-		t.Errorf("unexpected error: %v", err)
-	}
-
-	ruleUDP := firewall.ForwardRule{
-		Protocol:          firewall.ProtocolUDP,
-		DestinationPort:   *port,
-		TranslatedAddress: netip.MustParseAddr("172.16.254.2"),
-		TranslatedPort:    *port,
-	}
-
-	if err := mgr.Update([]firewall.ForwardRule{ruleUDP}); err != nil {
-		t.Errorf("unexpected error: %v", err)
-	}
-
-	rules := mgr.Rules()
-	if len(rules) != 1 {
-		t.Errorf("unexpected rules count: %d", len(rules))
-	}
-
-	if rules[0].TranslatedAddress.String() != ruleUDP.TranslatedAddress.String() {
-		t.Errorf("unexpected rule: %v", rules[0])
-	}
-
-	if rules[0].TranslatedPort.String() != ruleUDP.TranslatedPort.String() {
-		t.Errorf("unexpected rule: %v", rules[0])
-	}
-
-	if rules[0].DestinationPort.String() != ruleUDP.DestinationPort.String() {
-		t.Errorf("unexpected rule: %v", rules[0])
-	}
-
-	if rules[0].Protocol != ruleUDP.Protocol {
-		t.Errorf("unexpected rule: %v", rules[0])
-	}
-}
-
-func TestManager_ExtendRules(t *testing.T) {
-	fw := &MockDNATFirewall{}
-	mgr := NewManager(fw)
-
-	port, _ := firewall.NewPort(8080)
-	ruleTCP := firewall.ForwardRule{
-		Protocol:          firewall.ProtocolTCP,
-		DestinationPort:   *port,
-		TranslatedAddress: netip.MustParseAddr("172.16.254.1"),
-		TranslatedPort:    *port,
-	}
-
-	ruleUDP := firewall.ForwardRule{
-		Protocol:          firewall.ProtocolUDP,
-		DestinationPort:   *port,
-		TranslatedAddress: netip.MustParseAddr("172.16.254.2"),
-		TranslatedPort:    *port,
-	}
-
-	if err := mgr.Update([]firewall.ForwardRule{ruleTCP}); err != nil {
-		t.Errorf("unexpected error: %v", err)
-	}
-
-	if err := mgr.Update([]firewall.ForwardRule{ruleTCP, ruleUDP}); err != nil {
-		t.Errorf("unexpected error: %v", err)
-	}
-
-	rules := mgr.Rules()
-	if len(rules) != 2 {
-		t.Errorf("unexpected rules count: %d", len(rules))
-	}
-}
-
-func TestManager_UnderlingError(t *testing.T) {
-	fw := &MockDNATFirewall{}
-	mgr := NewManager(fw)
-
-	port, _ := firewall.NewPort(8080)
-	ruleTCP := firewall.ForwardRule{
-		Protocol:          firewall.ProtocolTCP,
-		DestinationPort:   *port,
-		TranslatedAddress: netip.MustParseAddr("172.16.254.1"),
-		TranslatedPort:    *port,
-	}
-
-	ruleUDP := firewall.ForwardRule{
-		Protocol:          firewall.ProtocolUDP,
-		DestinationPort:   *port,
-		TranslatedAddress: netip.MustParseAddr("172.16.254.2"),
-		TranslatedPort:    *port,
-	}
-
-	if err := mgr.Update([]firewall.ForwardRule{ruleTCP}); err != nil {
-		t.Errorf("unexpected error: %v", err)
-	}
-
-	fw.forceToThrowErrors()
-
-	if err := mgr.Update([]firewall.ForwardRule{ruleTCP, ruleUDP}); err == nil {
-		t.Errorf("expected error")
-	}
-
-	rules := mgr.Rules()
-	if len(rules) != 1 {
-		t.Errorf("unexpected rules count: %d", len(rules))
-	}
-}
-
-func TestManager_Cleanup(t *testing.T) {
-	fw := &MockDNATFirewall{}
-	mgr := NewManager(fw)
-
-	port, _ := firewall.NewPort(8080)
-	ruleTCP := firewall.ForwardRule{
-		Protocol:          firewall.ProtocolTCP,
-		DestinationPort:   *port,
-		TranslatedAddress: netip.MustParseAddr("172.16.254.1"),
-		TranslatedPort:    *port,
-	}
-
-	if err := mgr.Update([]firewall.ForwardRule{ruleTCP}); err != nil {
-		t.Errorf("unexpected error: %v", err)
-	}
-
-	if err := mgr.Update([]firewall.ForwardRule{}); err != nil {
-		t.Errorf("unexpected error: %v", err)
-	}
-
-	rules := mgr.Rules()
-	if len(rules) != 0 {
-		t.Errorf("unexpected rules count: %d", len(rules))
-	}
-}
-
-func TestManager_DeleteBrokenRule(t *testing.T) {
-	fw := &MockDNATFirewall{}
-
-	// force to throw errors when Add DNAT Rule
-	fw.forceToThrowErrors()
-	mgr := NewManager(fw)
-
-	port, _ := firewall.NewPort(8080)
-	ruleTCP := firewall.ForwardRule{
-		Protocol:          firewall.ProtocolTCP,
-		DestinationPort:   *port,
-		TranslatedAddress: netip.MustParseAddr("172.16.254.1"),
-		TranslatedPort:    *port,
-	}
-
-	if err := mgr.Update([]firewall.ForwardRule{ruleTCP}); err == nil {
-		t.Errorf("unexpected error: %v", err)
-	}
-
-	rules := mgr.Rules()
-	if len(rules) != 0 {
-		t.Errorf("unexpected rules count: %d", len(rules))
-	}
-
-	// simulate that to remove a broken rule
-	if err := mgr.Update([]firewall.ForwardRule{}); err != nil {
-		t.Errorf("unexpected error: %v", err)
-	}
-
-	if err := mgr.Close(); err != nil {
-		t.Errorf("unexpected error: %v", err)
-	}
-}
-
-func TestManager_Close(t *testing.T) {
-	fw := &MockDNATFirewall{}
-	mgr := NewManager(fw)
-
-	port, _ := firewall.NewPort(8080)
-	ruleTCP := firewall.ForwardRule{
-		Protocol:          firewall.ProtocolTCP,
-		DestinationPort:   *port,
-		TranslatedAddress: netip.MustParseAddr("172.16.254.1"),
-		TranslatedPort:    *port,
-	}
-
-	if err := mgr.Update([]firewall.ForwardRule{ruleTCP}); err != nil {
-		t.Errorf("unexpected error: %v", err)
-	}
-
-	if err := mgr.Close(); err != nil {
-		t.Errorf("unexpected error: %v", err)
-	}
-
-	rules := mgr.Rules()
-	if len(rules) != 0 {
-		t.Errorf("unexpected rules count: %d", len(rules))
-	}
-}

client/internal/message_convert.go

@@ -1,43 +0,0 @@
-package internal
-
-import (
-	"errors"
-	"fmt"
-	"net"
-	"net/netip"
-
-	firewallManager "github.com/netbirdio/netbird/client/firewall/manager"
-	mgmProto "github.com/netbirdio/netbird/shared/management/proto"
-)
-
-func convertPortInfo(portInfo *mgmProto.PortInfo) (*firewallManager.Port, error) {
-	if portInfo == nil {
-		return nil, errors.New("portInfo cannot be nil")
-	}
-
-	if portInfo.GetPort() != 0 {
-		return firewallManager.NewPort(int(portInfo.GetPort()))
-	}
-
-	if portInfo.GetRange() != nil {
-		return firewallManager.NewPort(int(portInfo.GetRange().Start), int(portInfo.GetRange().End))
-	}
-
-	return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid portInfo: %v", portInfo)
-}
-
-func convertToIP(rawIP []byte) (netip.Addr, error) {
-	if rawIP == nil {
-		return netip.Addr{}, errors.New("input bytes cannot be nil")
-	}
-
-	if len(rawIP) != net.IPv4len && len(rawIP) != net.IPv6len {
-		return netip.Addr{}, fmt.Errorf("invalid IP length: %d", len(rawIP))
-	}
-
-	if len(rawIP) == net.IPv4len {
-		return netip.AddrFrom4([4]byte(rawIP)), nil
-	}
-
-	return netip.AddrFrom16([16]byte(rawIP)), nil
-}

client/internal/peer/conn.go

@@ -828,7 +828,8 @@ func (conn *Conn) evalStatus() ConnStatus {
 //
 // The result is a tri-state:
 //   - ConnStatusConnected:          all available transports are up
-//   - ConnStatusPartiallyConnected: relay is up but ICE is still pending/reconnecting
+//   - ConnStatusPartiallyConnected: one transport carries the traffic and the other does
+//     not: relay up with ICE down, or ICE up with the shared relay transport down
 //   - ConnStatusDisconnected:       no working transport
 func (conn *Conn) isConnectedOnAllWay() (status guard.ConnStatus) {
 	defer func() {
@@ -845,13 +846,14 @@ func (conn *Conn) isConnectedOnAllWay() (status guard.ConnStatus) {
 	}
 
 	return evalConnStatus(connStatusInputs{
-		forceRelay:          IsForceRelayed(),
-		peerUsesRelay:       conn.workerRelay.IsRelayConnectionSupportedWithPeer(),
-		relayConnected:      conn.statusRelay.Get() == worker.StatusConnected,
-		remoteSupportsICE:   conn.handshaker.RemoteICESupported(),
-		iceWorkerCreated:    iceWorkerCreated,
-		iceStatusConnecting: conn.statusICE.Get() != worker.StatusDisconnected,
-		iceInProgress:       iceInProgress,
+		forceRelay:              IsForceRelayed(),
+		peerUsesRelay:           conn.workerRelay.IsRelayConnectionSupportedWithPeer(),
+		relayConnected:          conn.statusRelay.Get() == worker.StatusConnected,
+		relayTransportConnected: conn.workerRelay.IsTransportConnected(),
+		remoteSupportsICE:       conn.handshaker.RemoteICESupported(),
+		iceWorkerCreated:        iceWorkerCreated,
+		iceStatusConnected:      conn.statusICE.Get() == worker.StatusConnected,
+		iceInProgress:           iceInProgress,
 	})
 }
 
@@ -1060,19 +1062,21 @@ func evalConnStatus(in connStatusInputs) guard.ConnStatus {
 		return boolToConnStatus(relayUsedAndUp)
 	}
 
-	// ICE counts as "up" when the status is anything other than Disconnected, OR
-	// when a negotiation is currently in progress (so we don't spam offers while one is in flight).
-	iceUp := in.iceStatusConnecting || in.iceInProgress
+	// ICE counts as "running" when either connected or attempting to connect.
+	iceRunning := in.iceStatusConnected || in.iceInProgress
 
 	// Relay side is acceptable if the peer doesn't rely on relay, or relay is connected.
 	relayOK := !in.peerUsesRelay || in.relayConnected
 
 	switch {
-	case iceUp && relayOK:
+	case iceRunning && relayOK:
 		return guard.ConnStatusConnected
 	case relayUsedAndUp:
 		// Relay is up but ICE is down — partially connected.
 		return guard.ConnStatusPartiallyConnected
+	case in.iceStatusConnected && !in.relayTransportConnected:
+		// ICE is up and the shared relay transport is down — offers cannot restore it.
+		return guard.ConnStatusPartiallyConnected
 	default:
 		return guard.ConnStatusDisconnected
 	}

client/internal/peer/conn_status.go

@@ -17,13 +17,14 @@ const (
 // tri-state connection classification. Extracted so the decision logic can be unit-tested
 // without constructing full Worker/Handshaker objects.
 type connStatusInputs struct {
-	forceRelay          bool // NB_FORCE_RELAY or JS/WASM
-	peerUsesRelay       bool // remote peer advertises relay support AND local has relay
-	relayConnected      bool // statusRelay reports Connected (independent of whether peer uses relay)
-	remoteSupportsICE   bool // remote peer sent ICE credentials
-	iceWorkerCreated    bool // local WorkerICE exists (false in force-relay mode)
-	iceStatusConnecting bool // statusICE is anything other than Disconnected
-	iceInProgress       bool // a negotiation is currently in flight
+	forceRelay              bool // NB_FORCE_RELAY or JS/WASM
+	peerUsesRelay           bool // remote peer advertises relay support AND local has relay
+	relayConnected          bool // statusRelay reports Connected (independent of whether peer uses relay)
+	relayTransportConnected bool // the relay transport shared by all peers on that server is up
+	remoteSupportsICE       bool // remote peer sent ICE credentials
+	iceWorkerCreated        bool // local WorkerICE exists (false in force-relay mode)
+	iceStatusConnected      bool // statusICE reports Connected
+	iceInProgress           bool // a negotiation is currently in flight
 }
 
 // ConnStatus describe the status of a peer's connection

client/internal/peer/conn_status_eval_test.go

@@ -30,6 +30,21 @@ func TestEvalConnStatus_ForceRelay(t *testing.T) {
 			},
 			want: guard.ConnStatusDisconnected,
 		},
+		{
+			name: "force relay, relay up but the shared transport reports down",
+			in: connStatusInputs{
+				forceRelay:              true,
+				peerUsesRelay:           true,
+				relayConnected:          true,
+				relayTransportConnected: false,
+				// The ICE inputs are set so that the force-relay return is the only branch
+				// that can produce Connected here: without it the peer would fall through to
+				// relayUsedAndUp and report PartiallyConnected.
+				remoteSupportsICE: true,
+				iceWorkerCreated:  true,
+			},
+			want: guard.ConnStatusConnected,
+		},
 		{
 			name: "force relay, peer does NOT use relay - disconnected forever",
 			in: connStatusInputs{
@@ -123,24 +138,28 @@ func TestEvalConnStatus_FullyAvailable(t *testing.T) {
 			mutator: func(in *connStatusInputs) {
 				in.peerUsesRelay = true
 				in.relayConnected = true
-				in.iceStatusConnecting = true
+				in.relayTransportConnected = true
+				in.iceStatusConnected = true
 			},
 			want: guard.ConnStatusConnected,
 		},
 		{
-			name: "ICE connected, peer does NOT use relay",
+			name: "ICE connected, peer does NOT use relay, shared transport down",
 			mutator: func(in *connStatusInputs) {
 				in.peerUsesRelay = false
 				in.relayConnected = false
-				in.iceStatusConnecting = true
+				in.relayTransportConnected = false
+				in.iceStatusConnected = true
 			},
+			// A peer that does not rely on relay is unaffected by the shared transport:
+			// relayOK is true, so the first arm matches before the transport is considered.
 			want: guard.ConnStatusConnected,
 		},
 		{
 			name: "ICE InProgress only, peer does NOT use relay",
 			mutator: func(in *connStatusInputs) {
 				in.peerUsesRelay = false
-				in.iceStatusConnecting = false
+				in.iceStatusConnected = false
 				in.iceInProgress = true
 			},
 			want: guard.ConnStatusConnected,
@@ -150,7 +169,8 @@ func TestEvalConnStatus_FullyAvailable(t *testing.T) {
 			mutator: func(in *connStatusInputs) {
 				in.peerUsesRelay = true
 				in.relayConnected = true
-				in.iceStatusConnecting = false
+				in.relayTransportConnected = true
+				in.iceStatusConnected = false
 				in.iceInProgress = false
 			},
 			want: guard.ConnStatusPartiallyConnected,
@@ -160,21 +180,60 @@ func TestEvalConnStatus_FullyAvailable(t *testing.T) {
 			mutator: func(in *connStatusInputs) {
 				in.peerUsesRelay = false
 				in.relayConnected = false
-				in.iceStatusConnecting = false
+				in.iceStatusConnected = false
 				in.iceInProgress = false
 			},
 			want: guard.ConnStatusDisconnected,
 		},
 		{
-			name: "ICE up, peer uses relay but relay down -> partial (relay required, ICE ignored)",
+			name: "ICE connected, relay down for this peer but the shared transport is up -> disconnected",
 			mutator: func(in *connStatusInputs) {
 				in.peerUsesRelay = true
 				in.relayConnected = false
-				in.iceStatusConnecting = true
+				in.relayTransportConnected = true
+				in.iceStatusConnected = true
+			},
+			// The transport is fine, so the peer itself is unreachable over relay: it may have
+			// moved to another server, and only an offer carries its new relay address.
+			want: guard.ConnStatusDisconnected,
+		},
+		{
+			name: "ICE connected, the shared relay transport is down -> partial",
+			mutator: func(in *connStatusInputs) {
+				in.peerUsesRelay = true
+				in.relayConnected = false
+				in.relayTransportConnected = false
+				in.iceStatusConnected = true
+			},
+			// ICE carries the traffic and the relay transport is restored by the relay client's
+			// own guard, not by offers, so this must not trigger the aggressive retry.
+			want: guard.ConnStatusPartiallyConnected,
+		},
+		{
+			name: "ICE only negotiating while the shared relay transport is down -> disconnected",
+			mutator: func(in *connStatusInputs) {
+				in.peerUsesRelay = true
+				in.relayConnected = false
+				in.relayTransportConnected = false
+				in.iceStatusConnected = false
+				in.iceInProgress = true
+			},
+			// A negotiation in flight is not a working transport, so this peer has no path at
+			// all and must keep the aggressive retry. Calling it partially connected spends the
+			// ICE retry budget and parks the guard on the hourly ticker, and nothing wakes it
+			// when the negotiation then fails: onICEStateDisconnected is only reached once ICE
+			// has reached Connected (worker_ice.go onConnectionStateChange).
+			want: guard.ConnStatusDisconnected,
+		},
+		{
+			name: "ICE down and the shared relay transport is down -> disconnected",
+			mutator: func(in *connStatusInputs) {
+				in.peerUsesRelay = true
+				in.relayConnected = false
+				in.relayTransportConnected = false
+				in.iceStatusConnected = false
+				in.iceInProgress = false
 			},
-			// relayOK = false (peer uses relay but it's down), iceUp = true
-			// first switch arm fails (relayOK false), relayUsedAndUp = false (relay down),
-			// falls into default: Disconnected.
 			want: guard.ConnStatusDisconnected,
 		},
 		{
@@ -182,7 +241,7 @@ func TestEvalConnStatus_FullyAvailable(t *testing.T) {
 			mutator: func(in *connStatusInputs) {
 				in.peerUsesRelay = false
 				in.relayConnected = true // not actually used since peer doesn't rely on it
-				in.iceStatusConnecting = false
+				in.iceStatusConnected = false
 				in.iceInProgress = false
 			},
 			want: guard.ConnStatusDisconnected,

client/internal/peer/guard/guard.go

@@ -14,7 +14,8 @@ type ConnStatus int
 const (
 	// ConnStatusDisconnected means neither ICE nor Relay is connected.
 	ConnStatusDisconnected ConnStatus = iota
-	// ConnStatusPartiallyConnected means Relay is connected but ICE is not.
+	// ConnStatusPartiallyConnected means one transport is usable and the other is not:
+	// relay connected with ICE down, or ICE connected with the shared relay transport down.
 	ConnStatusPartiallyConnected
 	// ConnStatusConnected means all required connections are established.
 	ConnStatusConnected
@@ -87,8 +88,9 @@ func (g *Guard) SetICEConnDisconnected() {
 //   - Connected: no action, the peer is fully reachable.
 //   - Disconnected (neither ICE nor Relay): retries aggressively with exponential backoff (800ms doubling
 //     up to timeout), never gives up. This ensures rapid recovery when the peer has no connectivity at all.
-//   - PartiallyConnected (Relay up, ICE not): retries up to 3 times with exponential backoff, then switches
-//     to one attempt per hour. This limits signaling traffic when relay already provides connectivity.
+//   - PartiallyConnected (one transport usable, the other not): retries up to 3 times
+//     with exponential backoff, then switches to one attempt per hour. This limits
+//     signaling traffic while the peer still has a working path.
 //
 // External events (relay/ICE disconnect, signal/relay reconnect, candidate changes) reset the retry
 // counter and backoff ticker, giving ICE a fresh chance after network conditions change.

client/internal/peer/notifier.go

@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ type notifier struct {
 	serverStateLock    sync.Mutex
 	listenersLock      sync.Mutex
 	listener           Listener
+	peerListWake       chan struct{}
+	peerListStop       chan struct{}
 	currentClientState bool
 	lastNotification   ClientState
 	lastNumberOfPeers  int
@@ -62,7 +64,6 @@ func (n *notifier) setNetworkAvailable(available bool) {
 func (n *notifier) setListener(listener Listener) {
 	n.serverStateLock.Lock()
 	lastNotification := n.effectiveState(n.lastNotification)
-	numOfPeers := n.lastNumberOfPeers
 	fqdnAddress := n.lastFqdnAddress
 	address := n.lastIPAddress
 	n.serverStateLock.Unlock()
@@ -70,17 +71,19 @@ func (n *notifier) setListener(listener Listener) {
 	n.listenersLock.Lock()
 	defer n.listenersLock.Unlock()
 
+	n.stopPeerListDelivererLocked()
 	n.listener = listener
 
 	listener.OnAddressChanged(fqdnAddress, address)
 	notifyListener(listener, lastNotification)
-	// run on go routine to avoid on Java layer to call go functions on same thread
-	go listener.OnPeersListChanged(numOfPeers)
+	n.startPeerListDelivererLocked(listener)
+	n.wakePeerListDelivererLocked()
 }
 
 func (n *notifier) removeListener() {
 	n.listenersLock.Lock()
 	defer n.listenersLock.Unlock()
+	n.stopPeerListDelivererLocked()
 	n.listener = nil
 }
 
@@ -178,15 +181,56 @@ func (n *notifier) peerListChanged(numOfPeers int) {
 	n.serverStateLock.Unlock()
 
 	n.listenersLock.Lock()
-	listener := n.listener
-	n.listenersLock.Unlock()
+	defer n.listenersLock.Unlock()
+	n.wakePeerListDelivererLocked()
+}
 
-	if listener == nil {
+func (n *notifier) startPeerListDelivererLocked(listener Listener) {
+	wake := make(chan struct{}, 1)
+	stop := make(chan struct{})
+	n.peerListWake = wake
+	n.peerListStop = stop
+	go n.deliverPeerListChanges(listener, wake, stop)
+}
+
+func (n *notifier) stopPeerListDelivererLocked() {
+	if n.peerListStop == nil {
 		return
 	}
+	close(n.peerListStop)
+	n.peerListStop = nil
+	n.peerListWake = nil
+}
 
-	// run on go routine to avoid on Java layer to call go functions on same thread
-	go listener.OnPeersListChanged(numOfPeers)
+func (n *notifier) wakePeerListDelivererLocked() {
+	if n.peerListWake == nil {
+		return
+	}
+	select {
+	case n.peerListWake <- struct{}{}:
+	default:
+	}
+}
+
+func (n *notifier) deliverPeerListChanges(listener Listener, wake <-chan struct{}, stop <-chan struct{}) {
+	for {
+		select {
+		case <-stop:
+			return
+		case <-wake:
+		}
+		select {
+		case <-stop:
+			return
+		default:
+		}
+
+		n.serverStateLock.Lock()
+		numOfPeers := n.lastNumberOfPeers
+		n.serverStateLock.Unlock()
+
+		listener.OnPeersListChanged(numOfPeers)
+	}
 }
 
 func (n *notifier) localAddressChanged(fqdn, address string) {

client/internal/peer/notifier_test.go

@@ -2,7 +2,9 @@ package peer
 
 import (
 	"sync"
+	"sync/atomic"
 	"testing"
+	"time"
 )
 
 type mocListener struct {
@@ -115,3 +117,156 @@ func Test_notifier_RemoveListener(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("invalid state: %d", listener.peers)
 	}
 }
+
+type coalescingListener struct {
+	final       int
+	calls       atomic.Int32
+	inFlight    atomic.Int32
+	maxInFlight atomic.Int32
+	last        atomic.Int32
+	done        chan struct{}
+	entered     chan struct{}
+	release     chan struct{}
+	once        sync.Once
+}
+
+func (l *coalescingListener) OnStateChanged(ClientState)      {}
+func (l *coalescingListener) OnConnected()                    {}
+func (l *coalescingListener) OnDisconnected()                 {}
+func (l *coalescingListener) OnConnecting()                   {}
+func (l *coalescingListener) OnDisconnecting()                {}
+func (l *coalescingListener) OnAddressChanged(string, string) {}
+
+func (l *coalescingListener) OnPeersListChanged(size int) {
+	current := l.inFlight.Add(1)
+	for {
+		seen := l.maxInFlight.Load()
+		if current <= seen || l.maxInFlight.CompareAndSwap(seen, current) {
+			break
+		}
+	}
+	if l.calls.Add(1) == 1 && l.entered != nil {
+		close(l.entered)
+	}
+	if l.release != nil {
+		<-l.release
+	}
+	time.Sleep(time.Millisecond)
+	l.last.Store(int32(size))
+	l.inFlight.Add(-1)
+	if size == l.final {
+		l.once.Do(func() { close(l.done) })
+	}
+}
+
+func Test_notifier_PeerListChangedCoalesces(t *testing.T) {
+	const events = 1000
+	listener := &coalescingListener{final: events, done: make(chan struct{})}
+	n := newNotifier()
+	n.setListener(listener)
+
+	for i := 1; i <= events; i++ {
+		n.peerListChanged(i)
+	}
+
+	select {
+	case <-listener.done:
+	case <-time.After(5 * time.Second):
+		t.Fatalf("last peer count not delivered, last seen: %d", listener.last.Load())
+	}
+
+	if got := listener.maxInFlight.Load(); got != 1 {
+		t.Errorf("concurrent deliveries: %d, expected 1", got)
+	}
+	if got := listener.calls.Load(); got >= events {
+		t.Errorf("deliveries not coalesced: %d calls for %d events", got, events)
+	}
+}
+
+func Test_notifier_SetListenerStopsPreviousDeliverer(t *testing.T) {
+	old := &coalescingListener{final: -1}
+	replacement := &coalescingListener{final: 7, done: make(chan struct{})}
+	n := newNotifier()
+	n.setListener(old)
+	oldStop := n.peerListStop
+
+	n.peerListChanged(7)
+	n.setListener(replacement)
+
+	select {
+	case <-oldStop:
+	default:
+		t.Fatal("old deliverer not stopped on listener replacement")
+	}
+	waitFor(t, replacement.done, "replacement listener not notified")
+}
+
+func Test_notifier_RemoveListenerStopsDeliverer(t *testing.T) {
+	n := newNotifier()
+	n.setListener(&coalescingListener{final: -1})
+	stop := n.peerListStop
+
+	n.removeListener()
+
+	select {
+	case <-stop:
+	default:
+		t.Fatal("deliverer not stopped on listener removal")
+	}
+}
+
+func Test_notifier_DelivererExitsAfterInFlightCallback(t *testing.T) {
+	listener := &coalescingListener{
+		final:   -1,
+		entered: make(chan struct{}),
+		release: make(chan struct{}),
+	}
+	n := newNotifier()
+	wake := make(chan struct{}, 1)
+	stop := make(chan struct{})
+	exited := make(chan struct{})
+	go func() {
+		n.deliverPeerListChanges(listener, wake, stop)
+		close(exited)
+	}()
+
+	wake <- struct{}{}
+	waitFor(t, listener.entered, "listener not called")
+
+	n.peerListChanged(7)
+	wake <- struct{}{}
+	close(stop)
+	close(listener.release)
+
+	waitFor(t, exited, "deliverer did not exit after stop")
+	if got := listener.calls.Load(); got != 1 {
+		t.Errorf("deliverer ran %d callbacks after stop, expected only the in-flight one", got)
+	}
+	if got := listener.last.Load(); got == 7 {
+		t.Errorf("deliverer delivered the peer count queued after stop")
+	}
+}
+
+func Test_notifier_DelivererPrefersStopOverPendingWake(t *testing.T) {
+	listener := &coalescingListener{final: -1}
+	n := newNotifier()
+	wake := make(chan struct{}, 1)
+	stop := make(chan struct{})
+
+	wake <- struct{}{}
+	close(stop)
+	n.deliverPeerListChanges(listener, wake, stop)
+
+	if got := listener.calls.Load(); got != 0 {
+		t.Errorf("deliverer ran %d callbacks with stop closed, expected 0", got)
+	}
+}
+
+func waitFor(t *testing.T, ch <-chan struct{}, msg string) {
+	t.Helper()
+	select {
+	case <-ch:
+	case <-time.After(5 * time.Second):
+		t.Fatal(msg)
+	}
+}

client/internal/peer/status.go

@@ -18,9 +18,7 @@ import (
 	"google.golang.org/protobuf/types/known/durationpb"
 	"google.golang.org/protobuf/types/known/timestamppb"
 
-	firewall "github.com/netbirdio/netbird/client/firewall/manager"
 	"github.com/netbirdio/netbird/client/iface/configurer"
-	"github.com/netbirdio/netbird/client/internal/ingressgw"
 	"github.com/netbirdio/netbird/client/internal/relay"
 	"github.com/netbirdio/netbird/client/proto"
 	"github.com/netbirdio/netbird/route"
@@ -161,7 +159,6 @@ type FullStatus struct {
 	RosenpassState        RosenpassState
 	Relays                []relay.ProbeResult
 	NSGroupStates         []NSGroupState
-	NumOfForwardingRules  int
 	LazyConnectionEnabled bool
 	Events                []*proto.SystemEvent
 }
@@ -247,8 +244,6 @@ type Status struct {
 	// read it without taking mux.
 	networksRevision atomic.Uint64
 
-	ingressGwMgr *ingressgw.Manager
-
 	routeIDLookup routeIDLookup
 	wgIface       WGIfaceStatus
 }
@@ -276,12 +271,6 @@ func (d *Status) SetRelayMgr(manager *relayClient.Manager) {
 	d.relayMgr = manager
 }
 
-func (d *Status) SetIngressGwMgr(ingressGwMgr *ingressgw.Manager) {
-	d.mux.Lock()
-	defer d.mux.Unlock()
-	d.ingressGwMgr = ingressGwMgr
-}
-
 // ReplaceOfflinePeers replaces
 func (d *Status) ReplaceOfflinePeers(replacement []State) {
 	d.mux.Lock()
@@ -332,18 +321,6 @@ func (d *Status) GetPeer(peerPubKey string) (State, error) {
 	return state, nil
 }
 
-func (d *Status) PeerByIP(ip string) (string, bool) {
-	d.mux.RLock()
-	defer d.mux.RUnlock()
-
-	for _, state := range d.peers {
-		if state.IP == ip {
-			return state.FQDN, true
-		}
-	}
-	return "", false
-}
-
 // PeerStateByIP returns the full peer State for the given tunnel IP.
 // Matches against either the IPv4 (State.IP) or IPv6 (State.IPv6) tunnel
 // address so dual-stack peers are reachable on either family. Only
@@ -1163,16 +1140,6 @@ func (d *Status) GetRelayStates() []relay.ProbeResult {
 	return relayStates
 }
 
-func (d *Status) ForwardingRules() []firewall.ForwardRule {
-	d.mux.RLock()
-	defer d.mux.RUnlock()
-	if d.ingressGwMgr == nil {
-		return nil
-	}
-
-	return d.ingressGwMgr.Rules()
-}
-
 func (d *Status) GetDNSStates() []NSGroupState {
 	d.mux.RLock()
 	defer d.mux.RUnlock()
@@ -1207,7 +1174,6 @@ func (d *Status) GetFullStatus() FullStatus {
 		Relays:                d.GetRelayStates(),
 		RosenpassState:        d.GetRosenpassState(),
 		NSGroupStates:         d.GetDNSStates(),
-		NumOfForwardingRules:  len(d.ForwardingRules()),
 		LazyConnectionEnabled: d.GetLazyConnection(),
 	}
 
@@ -1579,7 +1545,6 @@ func (fs FullStatus) ToProto() *proto.FullStatus {
 	pbFullStatus.LocalPeerState.WgPort = int32(fs.LocalPeerState.WgPort)
 	pbFullStatus.LocalPeerState.RosenpassPermissive = fs.RosenpassState.Permissive
 	pbFullStatus.LocalPeerState.RosenpassEnabled = fs.RosenpassState.Enabled
-	pbFullStatus.NumberOfForwardingRules = int32(fs.NumOfForwardingRules)
 	pbFullStatus.LazyConnectionEnabled = fs.LazyConnectionEnabled
 
 	pbFullStatus.LocalPeerState.Networks = maps.Keys(fs.LocalPeerState.Routes)

client/internal/peer/worker_relay.go

@@ -101,6 +101,10 @@ func (w *WorkerRelay) RelayIsSupportedLocally() bool {
 	return w.relayManager.HasRelayAddress()
 }
 
+func (w *WorkerRelay) IsTransportConnected() bool {
+	return w.relayManager.Ready()
+}
+
 func (w *WorkerRelay) CloseConn() {
 	w.relayLock.Lock()
 	conn := w.relayedConn

client/internal/profilemanager/config.go

@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ import (
 	"os"
 	"os/user"
 	"path/filepath"
-	"reflect"
 	"runtime"
 	"slices"
 	"strings"
@@ -198,6 +197,11 @@ type Config struct {
 
 	MTU uint16
 
+	// probing marks a config that exists only to be compared against and then
+	// thrown away, so apply() can skip the work that feeds no verdict.
+	// Unexported, so it never reaches the JSON.
+	probing bool
+
 	// policy is the MDM policy that produced the currently-set values
 	// for any MDM-enforced fields. Set by ApplyMDMPolicy on every
 	// invocation. Never persisted to disk. Callers query enforcement
@@ -300,9 +304,11 @@ func fileExists(path string) (bool, error) {
 	return false, err
 }
 
-// createNewConfig creates a new config generating a new Wireguard key and saving to file
-func createNewConfig(input ConfigInput) (*Config, error) {
-	config := &Config{
+// newConfigSkeleton returns the field values a brand-new profile config starts
+// from, before apply() fills in the rest. Shared with the dry-run baseline so
+// the two cannot disagree about what "a new config" means.
+func newConfigSkeleton() *Config {
+	return &Config{
 		// defaults to false only for new (post 0.26) configurations
 		ServerSSHAllowed: util.False(),
 		// Remote jobs are an explicit opt-in and default off, including for
@@ -310,6 +316,91 @@ func createNewConfig(input ConfigInput) (*Config, error) {
 		RemoteJobsAllowed: util.False(),
 		WgPort:            iface.DefaultWgPort,
 	}
+}
+
+// resolveUnsetDefaults is the single place where an optional field that carries
+// no value gets one, and the only place that states what each of those defaults
+// is. apply() runs it before it compares anything, and that ordering is the
+// point: with the values named, every comparison below it diffs values instead
+// of presence.
+//
+// Presence-based comparison is what broke `netbird up` for a client configured
+// through the environment. These fields mean "the effective default" when they
+// hold nothing — every consumer already reads a nil as the value resolved here,
+// the SSH toggles in engine_ssh.go and the network monitor in
+// createEngineConfig — so naming them changes nothing about what runs. But
+// while they stayed nil, an input restating the default read as a change, and
+// since the CLI sends every flag whose value came from an environment variable
+// on each `netbird up`, a client with NB_ENABLE_SSH_ROOT=false restated it
+// every time and the update-settings gate refused it.
+//
+// Filling a field in is not a settings change, so a caller measuring change
+// must not read the returned bool as one: see WouldChange, which runs a pass
+// for this and discards its verdict.
+//
+// ServerSSHAllowed is the one field whose default depends on the config's age.
+// A brand-new profile gets false from newConfigSkeleton, which runs before
+// this, so what is resolved here is only the legacy case: a config written by a
+// version that had no such field keeps SSH on, for backwards compatibility.
+func (config *Config) resolveUnsetDefaults() (updated bool) {
+	// Fields that default to false on every platform.
+	for _, field := range []**bool{
+		&config.EnableSSHRoot,
+		&config.EnableSSHSFTP,
+		&config.EnableSSHLocalPortForwarding,
+		&config.EnableSSHRemotePortForwarding,
+		&config.DisableSSHAuth,
+		// Remote jobs are an explicit opt-in: unlike SSH, a pre-existing config
+		// with no value defaults to disabled rather than being turned on.
+		&config.RemoteJobsAllowed,
+	} {
+		if *field == nil {
+			*field = util.False()
+			updated = true
+		}
+	}
+
+	if config.DisableNotifications == nil {
+		log.Infof("setting notifications to disabled by default")
+		config.DisableNotifications = util.True()
+		updated = true
+	}
+
+	if config.SSHJWTCacheTTL == nil {
+		// A zero TTL disables the JWT cache, which is what no value meant.
+		config.SSHJWTCacheTTL = new(int)
+		updated = true
+	}
+
+	if config.NetworkMonitor == nil {
+		// network monitoring is on by default on windows and darwin clients
+		enabled := runtime.GOOS == "windows" || runtime.GOOS == "darwin"
+		config.NetworkMonitor = &enabled
+		updated = true
+	}
+
+	if config.ServerSSHAllowed == nil {
+		if runtime.GOOS == "android" {
+			// default to disabled SSH on Android for security
+			log.Infof("setting SSH server to false by default on Android")
+			config.ServerSSHAllowed = util.False()
+		} else {
+			// enables SSH for configs from old versions to preserve backwards compatibility
+			log.Infof("falling back to enabled SSH server for pre-existing configuration")
+			config.ServerSSHAllowed = util.True()
+		}
+		updated = true
+	}
+
+	return updated
+}
+
+// createNewConfig resolves a new config in memory, with no identity: whoever
+// needs the peer's keys calls EnsureIdentity and persists the result, so a read
+// that lands on a missing file cannot hand back a config carrying keys that
+// nothing will ever write down.
+func createNewConfig(input ConfigInput) (*Config, error) {
+	config := newConfigSkeleton()
 
 	if _, err := config.apply(input); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
@@ -318,6 +409,52 @@ func createNewConfig(input ConfigInput) (*Config, error) {
 	return config, nil
 }
 
+// createProvisionedConfig is createNewConfig plus the peer's identity, for the
+// callers that go on to persist the config or to connect with it.
+func createProvisionedConfig(input ConfigInput) (*Config, error) {
+	config, err := createNewConfig(input)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	if _, err := config.EnsureIdentity(); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	return config, nil
+}
+
+// EnsureIdentity generates the keys that identify this peer if the config does
+// not carry them yet, reporting whether it had to generate any.
+//
+// It is deliberately not part of apply(). Everything apply() fills in is a
+// default it can recompute on the next read, but a generated key is not: it
+// has to be persisted, or the peer comes back with a different WireGuard
+// identity and re-registers. Having apply() generate keys is what forced every
+// read of a config to write it back — so identity provisioning is its own step
+// now, and the callers that perform it write the result out explicitly.
+func (config *Config) EnsureIdentity() (bool, error) {
+	generated := false
+
+	if config.PrivateKey == "" {
+		log.Infof("generated new Wireguard key")
+		config.PrivateKey = generateKey()
+		generated = true
+	}
+
+	if config.SSHKey == "" {
+		log.Infof("generated new SSH key")
+		pem, err := ssh.GeneratePrivateKey(ssh.ED25519)
+		if err != nil {
+			return generated, err
+		}
+		config.SSHKey = string(pem)
+		generated = true
+	}
+
+	return generated, nil
+}
+
 func (config *Config) apply(input ConfigInput) (updated bool, err error) {
 	if config.Name != "" {
 		sanitized, err := sanitizeDisplayName(config.Name)
@@ -329,6 +466,13 @@ func (config *Config) apply(input ConfigInput) (updated bool, err error) {
 			updated = true
 		}
 	}
+
+	// Every optional field gets its value here, before anything below compares
+	// one. See resolveUnsetDefaults for why that ordering is the point.
+	if config.resolveUnsetDefaults() {
+		updated = true
+	}
+
 	if config.ManagementURL == nil {
 		log.Infof("using default Management URL %s", DefaultManagementURL)
 		config.ManagementURL, err = parseURL("Management URL", DefaultManagementURL)
@@ -336,20 +480,21 @@ func (config *Config) apply(input ConfigInput) (updated bool, err error) {
 			return false, err
 		}
 	}
-	if input.ManagementURL != "" && input.ManagementURL != config.ManagementURL.String() {
-		log.Infof("new Management URL provided, updated to %#v (old value %#v)",
-			input.ManagementURL, config.ManagementURL.String())
+	// The comparison is on the endpoint the URL addresses, not on its
+	// spelling: the same endpoint can be written several ways (an implicit
+	// :443, a trailing slash, a different host case), and treating an
+	// equivalent URL as new would rewrite the config and report a settings
+	// change where the configuration does not actually change.
+	if input.ManagementURL != "" {
 		URL, err := parseURL("Management URL", input.ManagementURL)
 		if err != nil {
 			return false, err
 		}
-		config.ManagementURL = URL
-		updated = true
-	} else if config.ManagementURL == nil {
-		log.Infof("using default Management URL %s", DefaultManagementURL)
-		config.ManagementURL, err = parseURL("Management URL", DefaultManagementURL)
-		if err != nil {
-			return false, err
+		if !SameServiceURL(URL, config.ManagementURL) {
+			log.Infof("new Management URL provided, updated to %#v (old value %#v)",
+				URL.String(), config.ManagementURL.String())
+			config.ManagementURL = URL
+			updated = true
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -360,31 +505,20 @@ func (config *Config) apply(input ConfigInput) (updated bool, err error) {
 			return false, err
 		}
 	}
-	if input.AdminURL != "" && input.AdminURL != config.AdminURL.String() {
-		log.Infof("new Admin Panel URL provided, updated to %#v (old value %#v)",
-			input.AdminURL, config.AdminURL.String())
+	// The admin panel is opened, not dialed, so unlike the Management URL its
+	// path is part of what identifies it: a panel served under /netbird is not
+	// the one served at the root.
+	if input.AdminURL != "" {
 		newURL, err := parseURL("Admin Panel URL", input.AdminURL)
 		if err != nil {
 			return updated, err
 		}
-		config.AdminURL = newURL
-		updated = true
-	}
-
-	if config.PrivateKey == "" {
-		log.Infof("generated new Wireguard key")
-		config.PrivateKey = generateKey()
-		updated = true
-	}
-
-	if config.SSHKey == "" {
-		log.Infof("generated new SSH key")
-		pem, err := ssh.GeneratePrivateKey(ssh.ED25519)
-		if err != nil {
-			return false, err
+		if !SameServiceURLIncludingPath(newURL, config.AdminURL) {
+			log.Infof("new Admin Panel URL provided, updated to %#v (old value %#v)",
+				newURL.String(), config.AdminURL.String())
+			config.AdminURL = newURL
+			updated = true
 		}
-		config.SSHKey = string(pem)
-		updated = true
 	}
 
 	if input.WireguardPort != nil && *input.WireguardPort != config.WgPort {
@@ -405,7 +539,14 @@ func (config *Config) apply(input ConfigInput) (updated bool, err error) {
 		updated = true
 	}
 
-	if input.NATExternalIPs != nil && !reflect.DeepEqual(config.NATExternalIPs, input.NATExternalIPs) {
+	// slices.Equal, not reflect.DeepEqual, and for the same reason the DNS
+	// labels below use it: DeepEqual calls a nil slice and an empty one
+	// different, while both mean "no NAT mappings". A profile stores the
+	// absent list as JSON null and reads it back nil, and `netbird up` sends
+	// CleanNATExternalIPs — an empty list — whenever NB_EXTERNAL_IP_MAP is set
+	// to nothing, so the two met on every start and the gate read a no-op as a
+	// settings change.
+	if input.NATExternalIPs != nil && !slices.Equal(config.NATExternalIPs, input.NATExternalIPs) {
 		log.Infof("updating NAT External IP [ %s ] (old value: [ %s ])",
 			strings.Join(input.NATExternalIPs, " "),
 			strings.Join(config.NATExternalIPs, " "))
@@ -443,21 +584,12 @@ func (config *Config) apply(input ConfigInput) (updated bool, err error) {
 		updated = true
 	}
 
-	if input.NetworkMonitor != nil && (config.NetworkMonitor == nil || *input.NetworkMonitor != *config.NetworkMonitor) {
+	if input.NetworkMonitor != nil && *input.NetworkMonitor != *config.NetworkMonitor {
 		log.Infof("switching Network Monitor to %t", *input.NetworkMonitor)
 		config.NetworkMonitor = input.NetworkMonitor
 		updated = true
 	}
 
-	if config.NetworkMonitor == nil {
-		// enable network monitoring by default on windows and darwin clients
-		if runtime.GOOS == "windows" || runtime.GOOS == "darwin" {
-			enabled := true
-			config.NetworkMonitor = &enabled
-			updated = true
-		}
-	}
-
 	if input.CustomDNSAddress != nil && string(input.CustomDNSAddress) != config.CustomDNSAddress {
 		log.Infof("updating custom DNS address %#v (old value %#v)",
 			string(input.CustomDNSAddress), config.CustomDNSAddress)
@@ -490,7 +622,7 @@ func (config *Config) apply(input ConfigInput) (updated bool, err error) {
 		updated = true
 	}
 
-	if input.ServerSSHAllowed != nil && (config.ServerSSHAllowed == nil || *input.ServerSSHAllowed != *config.ServerSSHAllowed) {
+	if input.ServerSSHAllowed != nil && *input.ServerSSHAllowed != *config.ServerSSHAllowed {
 		if *input.ServerSSHAllowed {
 			log.Infof("enabling SSH server")
 		} else {
@@ -498,20 +630,9 @@ func (config *Config) apply(input ConfigInput) (updated bool, err error) {
 		}
 		config.ServerSSHAllowed = input.ServerSSHAllowed
 		updated = true
-	} else if config.ServerSSHAllowed == nil {
-		if runtime.GOOS == "android" {
-			// default to disabled SSH on Android for security
-			log.Infof("setting SSH server to false by default on Android")
-			config.ServerSSHAllowed = util.False()
-		} else {
-			// enables SSH for configs from old versions to preserve backwards compatibility
-			log.Infof("falling back to enabled SSH server for pre-existing configuration")
-			config.ServerSSHAllowed = util.True()
-		}
-		updated = true
 	}
 
-	if input.RemoteJobsAllowed != nil && (config.RemoteJobsAllowed == nil || *input.RemoteJobsAllowed != *config.RemoteJobsAllowed) {
+	if input.RemoteJobsAllowed != nil && *input.RemoteJobsAllowed != *config.RemoteJobsAllowed {
 		if *input.RemoteJobsAllowed {
 			log.Infof("enabling remote jobs")
 		} else {
@@ -519,14 +640,9 @@ func (config *Config) apply(input ConfigInput) (updated bool, err error) {
 		}
 		config.RemoteJobsAllowed = input.RemoteJobsAllowed
 		updated = true
-	} else if config.RemoteJobsAllowed == nil {
-		// Remote jobs are an explicit opt-in: unlike SSH, a pre-existing config
-		// with no value defaults to disabled rather than being turned on.
-		config.RemoteJobsAllowed = util.False()
-		updated = true
 	}
 
-	if input.EnableSSHRoot != nil && (config.EnableSSHRoot == nil || *input.EnableSSHRoot != *config.EnableSSHRoot) {
+	if input.EnableSSHRoot != nil && *input.EnableSSHRoot != *config.EnableSSHRoot {
 		if *input.EnableSSHRoot {
 			log.Infof("enabling SSH root login")
 		} else {
@@ -536,7 +652,7 @@ func (config *Config) apply(input ConfigInput) (updated bool, err error) {
 		updated = true
 	}
 
-	if input.EnableSSHSFTP != nil && (config.EnableSSHSFTP == nil || *input.EnableSSHSFTP != *config.EnableSSHSFTP) {
+	if input.EnableSSHSFTP != nil && *input.EnableSSHSFTP != *config.EnableSSHSFTP {
 		if *input.EnableSSHSFTP {
 			log.Infof("enabling SSH SFTP subsystem")
 		} else {
@@ -546,7 +662,7 @@ func (config *Config) apply(input ConfigInput) (updated bool, err error) {
 		updated = true
 	}
 
-	if input.EnableSSHLocalPortForwarding != nil && (config.EnableSSHLocalPortForwarding == nil || *input.EnableSSHLocalPortForwarding != *config.EnableSSHLocalPortForwarding) {
+	if input.EnableSSHLocalPortForwarding != nil && *input.EnableSSHLocalPortForwarding != *config.EnableSSHLocalPortForwarding {
 		if *input.EnableSSHLocalPortForwarding {
 			log.Infof("enabling SSH local port forwarding")
 		} else {
@@ -556,7 +672,7 @@ func (config *Config) apply(input ConfigInput) (updated bool, err error) {
 		updated = true
 	}
 
-	if input.EnableSSHRemotePortForwarding != nil && (config.EnableSSHRemotePortForwarding == nil || *input.EnableSSHRemotePortForwarding != *config.EnableSSHRemotePortForwarding) {
+	if input.EnableSSHRemotePortForwarding != nil && *input.EnableSSHRemotePortForwarding != *config.EnableSSHRemotePortForwarding {
 		if *input.EnableSSHRemotePortForwarding {
 			log.Infof("enabling SSH remote port forwarding")
 		} else {
@@ -566,7 +682,7 @@ func (config *Config) apply(input ConfigInput) (updated bool, err error) {
 		updated = true
 	}
 
-	if input.DisableSSHAuth != nil && (config.DisableSSHAuth == nil || *input.DisableSSHAuth != *config.DisableSSHAuth) {
+	if input.DisableSSHAuth != nil && *input.DisableSSHAuth != *config.DisableSSHAuth {
 		if *input.DisableSSHAuth {
 			log.Infof("disabling SSH authentication")
 		} else {
@@ -576,7 +692,7 @@ func (config *Config) apply(input ConfigInput) (updated bool, err error) {
 		updated = true
 	}
 
-	if input.SSHJWTCacheTTL != nil && (config.SSHJWTCacheTTL == nil || *input.SSHJWTCacheTTL != *config.SSHJWTCacheTTL) {
+	if input.SSHJWTCacheTTL != nil && *input.SSHJWTCacheTTL != *config.SSHJWTCacheTTL {
 		log.Infof("updating SSH JWT cache TTL to %d seconds", *input.SSHJWTCacheTTL)
 		config.SSHJWTCacheTTL = input.SSHJWTCacheTTL
 		updated = true
@@ -659,13 +775,16 @@ func (config *Config) apply(input ConfigInput) (updated bool, err error) {
 		updated = true
 	}
 
-	if input.SyncMessageVersion != nil && *input.SyncMessageVersion != *config.SyncMessageVersion {
+	// Assigning the pointer, not writing through it: a config that carries no
+	// version yet would otherwise be a nil dereference, and a panic inside a
+	// request handler is not a way to fail.
+	if input.SyncMessageVersion != nil && (config.SyncMessageVersion == nil || *input.SyncMessageVersion != *config.SyncMessageVersion) {
 		log.Infof("setting SyncMessageVersion to %v", *input.SyncMessageVersion)
-		*config.SyncMessageVersion = *input.SyncMessageVersion
+		config.SyncMessageVersion = input.SyncMessageVersion
 		updated = true
 	}
 
-	if input.DisableNotifications != nil && (config.DisableNotifications == nil || *input.DisableNotifications != *config.DisableNotifications) {
+	if input.DisableNotifications != nil && *input.DisableNotifications != *config.DisableNotifications {
 		if *input.DisableNotifications {
 			log.Infof("disabling notifications")
 		} else {
@@ -675,24 +794,24 @@ func (config *Config) apply(input ConfigInput) (updated bool, err error) {
 		updated = true
 	}
 
-	if config.DisableNotifications == nil {
-		disabled := true
-		config.DisableNotifications = &disabled
-		log.Infof("setting notifications to disabled by default")
-		updated = true
-	}
-
-	if input.ClientCertKeyPath != "" {
+	// Compared, not just assigned: restating the path a config already holds
+	// changes nothing, and reporting it as an update makes a caller that
+	// re-sends its own configuration look like one asking to change it.
+	if input.ClientCertKeyPath != "" && input.ClientCertKeyPath != config.ClientCertKeyPath {
 		config.ClientCertKeyPath = input.ClientCertKeyPath
 		updated = true
 	}
 
-	if input.ClientCertPath != "" {
+	if input.ClientCertPath != "" && input.ClientCertPath != config.ClientCertPath {
 		config.ClientCertPath = input.ClientCertPath
 		updated = true
 	}
 
-	if config.ClientCertPath != "" && config.ClientCertKeyPath != "" {
+	// Not on a probe: the loaded pair feeds the connection, never the
+	// comparison, and this would otherwise run on every gated SetConfig and
+	// Login — twice per request — including those that are refused or change
+	// nothing, logging an error per request when the files are missing.
+	if !config.probing && config.ClientCertPath != "" && config.ClientCertKeyPath != "" {
 		cert, err := tls.LoadX509KeyPair(config.ClientCertPath, config.ClientCertKeyPath)
 		if err != nil {
 			log.Error("Failed to load mTLS cert/key pair: ", err)
@@ -886,6 +1005,49 @@ func ParseServiceURL(serviceName, serviceURL string) (*url.URL, error) {
 	return parseURL(serviceName, serviceURL)
 }
 
+// SameServiceURL reports whether two service URLs address the same endpoint:
+// same scheme, same host compared case-insensitively as DNS names are, and
+// same effective port, where an absent port means the scheme's default.
+//
+// This is the one comparison every caller deciding "did this URL change?" must
+// use. A string comparison answers a different question: "https://host",
+// "https://host/" and "https://HOST:443" are one endpoint written three ways,
+// and reading them as three values makes a client that restates its own
+// management URL look like a client asking to be repointed. A nil operand
+// matches only another nil one.
+//
+// The path plays no part: a management URL is dialed, and only its host and
+// port are. util.SameServiceURL is this comparison plus the path, which is
+// what SameServiceURLIncludingPath needs and delegates to.
+func SameServiceURL(a, b *url.URL) bool {
+	if a == nil || b == nil {
+		return a == b
+	}
+
+	return strings.EqualFold(a.Scheme, b.Scheme) &&
+		strings.EqualFold(a.Hostname(), b.Hostname()) &&
+		util.ServiceURLPort(a) == util.ServiceURLPort(b)
+}
+
+// SameServiceURLIncludingPath is SameServiceURL plus everything a URL carries
+// past its endpoint: path, query, fragment and userinfo.
+//
+// Use it for a URL that gets opened rather than dialed. The admin panel can
+// live under a path, so two URLs with the same endpoint and different paths are
+// two different panels — where for a URL the client dials over gRPC only the
+// endpoint is ever used. Equivalent spellings still compare equal: a missing
+// path and "/" are the same root, and so is a trailing slash on any path.
+func SameServiceURLIncludingPath(a, b *url.URL) bool {
+	if a == nil || b == nil {
+		return a == b
+	}
+
+	return util.SameServiceURL(a, b) &&
+		a.RawQuery == b.RawQuery &&
+		a.Fragment == b.Fragment &&
+		a.User.String() == b.User.String()
+}
+
 func parseURL(serviceName, serviceURL string) (*url.URL, error) {
 	parsedMgmtURL, err := url.ParseRequestURI(serviceURL)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -930,6 +1092,84 @@ func isPreSharedKeyHidden(preSharedKey *string) bool {
 	return false
 }
 
+// WouldChange reports whether applying input would modify any field the
+// config persists, leaving the receiver untouched. It is the dry-run half of
+// UpdateConfig and reuses the very same diff logic (Config.apply), so a
+// caller asking "is this a settings change?" cannot drift from what an
+// actual update would do, nor go stale when a new field is added.
+//
+// A redacted pre-shared key is collapsed to "unset" exactly as
+// UpdateOrCreateConfig does, so a UI that round-trips the mask is not read as
+// a request for a new key.
+//
+// A nil receiver means the profile holds no config yet, so the baseline is the
+// config the daemon would create for it: input values matching those defaults
+// change nothing, anything else does.
+func (config *Config) WouldChange(input ConfigInput) (bool, error) {
+	probe := config.clone()
+	if probe == nil {
+		baseline, err := newDryRunBaseline(input.ConfigPath)
+		if err != nil {
+			return true, fmt.Errorf("build default config baseline: %w", err)
+		}
+		probe = baseline
+	}
+	probe.probing = true
+
+	// Normalize before measuring. apply() reports two different things through
+	// one bool: an input that changed a value, and a field it had to fill in
+	// because the config carried none. Only the first is a settings change, so
+	// the filling-in gets a pass of its own whose verdict is discarded, and the
+	// pass that answers the caller runs against a config with nothing left to
+	// fill in.
+	//
+	// Readers already hand out normalized configs — readConfig applies an empty
+	// input for this very reason — so this is normally a no-op. But a gate that
+	// refuses a request must not depend on where its caller got the config
+	// from, and it must not start reading "this profile predates a field" as
+	// "the caller asked for a change" the day someone adds one.
+	if _, err := probe.apply(ConfigInput{ConfigPath: input.ConfigPath}); err != nil {
+		return true, fmt.Errorf("normalize the config to diff against: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	if isPreSharedKeyHidden(input.PreSharedKey) {
+		input.PreSharedKey = nil
+	}
+
+	return probe.apply(input)
+}
+
+// newDryRunBaseline builds the config a brand-new profile would start from, for
+// a dry run to compare an input against. It is createNewConfig without the
+// identity: this config exists only to be compared against and thrown away, and
+// no ConfigInput field maps to either key.
+func newDryRunBaseline(configPath string) (*Config, error) {
+	baseline := newConfigSkeleton()
+
+	if _, err := baseline.apply(ConfigInput{ConfigPath: configPath}); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	return baseline, nil
+}
+
+// clone returns a copy of the config that apply can be run against without the
+// original observing the writes, or nil for a nil receiver. Only what apply
+// mutates in place needs detaching, which is the slices it replaces or appends
+// to: every pointer field it touches is reassigned rather than written through,
+// and ClientCertKeyPair is only overwritten.
+func (config *Config) clone() *Config {
+	if config == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	probe := *config
+	probe.IFaceBlackList = slices.Clone(config.IFaceBlackList)
+	probe.NATExternalIPs = slices.Clone(config.NATExternalIPs)
+	probe.DNSLabels = slices.Clone(config.DNSLabels)
+	return &probe
+}
+
 // UpdateConfig update existing configuration according to input configuration and return with the configuration
 func UpdateConfig(input ConfigInput) (*Config, error) {
 	configExists, err := fileExists(input.ConfigPath)
@@ -940,6 +1180,14 @@ func UpdateConfig(input ConfigInput) (*Config, error) {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("config file %s does not exist", input.ConfigPath)
 	}
 
+	// A UI that round-trips the mask GetConfig hands it back is asking to keep
+	// the stored key, not to set the mask as the new one. UpdateOrCreateConfig
+	// and DirectUpdateOrCreateConfig already collapse it; this one did not, so
+	// the same round-trip through SetConfig replaced the key with asterisks.
+	if isPreSharedKeyHidden(input.PreSharedKey) {
+		input.PreSharedKey = nil
+	}
+
 	return update(input)
 }
 
@@ -951,7 +1199,7 @@ func UpdateOrCreateConfig(input ConfigInput) (*Config, error) {
 	}
 	if !configExists {
 		log.Infof("generating new config %s", input.ConfigPath)
-		cfg, err := createNewConfig(input)
+		cfg, err := createProvisionedConfig(input)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
@@ -976,12 +1224,20 @@ func update(input ConfigInput) (*Config, error) {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
+	// A write path is a provisioning point: a stored profile can legitimately
+	// carry no identity (a mobile logout clears the keys in place), and the
+	// next config write is what has to mint a new one. Reads leave that alone.
+	identityGenerated, err := config.EnsureIdentity()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
 	updated, err := config.apply(input)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
-	if updated {
+	if updated || identityGenerated {
 		if err := util.WriteJson(context.Background(), input.ConfigPath, config); err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
@@ -990,8 +1246,8 @@ func update(input ConfigInput) (*Config, error) {
 	return config, nil
 }
 
-// GetConfig read config file and return with Config and if it was created. Errors out if it does not exist
-func GetConfig(configPath string) (*Config, error) {
+// GetExistingConfig reads and returns the config if it exists on disk. Fails otherwise.
+func GetExistingConfig(configPath string) (*Config, error) {
 	return readConfig(configPath, false)
 }
 
@@ -1074,17 +1330,27 @@ func UpdateOldManagementURL(ctx context.Context, config *Config, configPath stri
 	return newConfig, nil
 }
 
-// CreateInMemoryConfig generate a new config but do not write out it to the store
+// CreateInMemoryConfig generate a new config but do not write out it to the store.
+// It carries an identity: callers connect with what they get back.
 func CreateInMemoryConfig(input ConfigInput) (*Config, error) {
-	return createNewConfig(input)
+	return createProvisionedConfig(input)
 }
 
-// ReadConfig read config file and return with Config. If it is not exists create a new with default values
-func ReadConfig(configPath string) (*Config, error) {
+// ReadConfigOrDefault reads the profile config at configPath, or resolves the
+// default config in memory when the file does not exist. It never writes, and
+// never mints an identity — EnsureIdentity is where that happens, so the
+// caller that provisions is also the one that persists.
+func ReadConfigOrDefault(configPath string) (*Config, error) {
 	return readConfig(configPath, true)
 }
 
-// ReadConfig read config file and return with Config. If it is not exists create a new with default values
+// readConfig reads the profile config at configPath. createIfMissing resolves a
+// default config in memory when the file is absent, rather than erroring.
+//
+// Reads are pure. This used to write the config back whenever apply() had to
+// fill in a default the file was missing, which quietly made every reader a
+// writer: a gate deciding whether to refuse a request, a UI listing profiles,
+// a mobile getter reading a single preference.
 func readConfig(configPath string, createIfMissing bool) (*Config, error) {
 	configExists, err := fileExists(configPath)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -1102,12 +1368,8 @@ func readConfig(configPath string, createIfMissing bool) (*Config, error) {
 			return nil, err
 		}
 		// initialize through apply() without changes
-		if changed, err := config.apply(ConfigInput{}); err != nil {
+		if _, err := config.apply(ConfigInput{}); err != nil {
 			return nil, err
-		} else if changed {
-			if err = WriteOutConfig(configPath, config); err != nil {
-				return nil, err
-			}
 		}
 
 		return config, nil
@@ -1115,13 +1377,7 @@ func readConfig(configPath string, createIfMissing bool) (*Config, error) {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("config file %s does not exist", configPath)
 	}
 
-	cfg, err := createNewConfig(ConfigInput{ConfigPath: configPath})
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-
-	err = WriteOutConfig(configPath, cfg)
-	return cfg, err
+	return createNewConfig(ConfigInput{ConfigPath: configPath})
 }
 
 // WriteOutConfig write put the prepared config to the given path
@@ -1144,7 +1400,7 @@ func DirectUpdateOrCreateConfig(input ConfigInput) (*Config, error) {
 	}
 	if !configExists {
 		log.Infof("generating new config %s", input.ConfigPath)
-		cfg, err := createNewConfig(input)
+		cfg, err := createProvisionedConfig(input)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
@@ -1171,12 +1427,18 @@ func directUpdate(input ConfigInput) (*Config, error) {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
+	// Same provisioning point as update(); see the note there.
+	identityGenerated, err := config.EnsureIdentity()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
 	updated, err := config.apply(input)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
-	if updated {
+	if updated || identityGenerated {
 		if err := util.DirectWriteJson(context.Background(), input.ConfigPath, config); err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
@@ -1198,7 +1460,16 @@ func ConfigToJSON(config *Config) (string, error) {
 
 // ConfigFromJSON deserializes a JSON string to a Config struct.
 // This is useful for restoring config from alternative storage mechanisms.
-// After unmarshaling, defaults are applied to ensure the config is fully initialized.
+// After unmarshaling, defaults are applied to ensure the config is fully
+// initialized.
+//
+// The peer identity is deliberately none of its business, in either direction.
+// It does not generate one: a read cannot hand back keys that nothing will
+// write down (see ReadConfigOrDefault). Nor does it refuse a document that
+// carries none, because a config legitimately has no identity between a logout
+// and the next login — mobile logout clears both keys in place — and this is
+// also the deserializer the iOS SDK copies a config through. Whoever goes on
+// to connect is where an absent identity has to be answered.
 func ConfigFromJSON(jsonStr string) (*Config, error) {
 	config := &Config{}
 	err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(jsonStr), config)

client/internal/profilemanager/config_json_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+package profilemanager
+
+import (
+	"path/filepath"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+)
+
+// The serialized form is how the tvOS SDK stores a profile and how the iOS SDK
+// copies one in memory, so it must round-trip whatever a profile legitimately
+// holds — including no identity at all, which is the state mobile logout leaves
+// behind when it clears both keys in place. Refusing that document here broke
+// logout, profile switching and the login that follows them.
+func TestConfigFromJSONRoundTripsALoggedOutProfile(t *testing.T) {
+	path := filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "exported.json")
+	stored, err := UpdateOrCreateConfig(ConfigInput{ConfigPath: path, ManagementURL: DefaultManagementURL})
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.NotEmpty(t, stored.PrivateKey, "a provisioned config is the fixture this test starts from")
+	require.NotEmpty(t, stored.SSHKey)
+
+	exported, err := ConfigToJSON(stored)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	restored, err := ConfigFromJSON(exported)
+	require.NoError(t, err, "a config exported after a login must load")
+	require.Equal(t, stored.PrivateKey, restored.PrivateKey, "the restored peer is not the stored one")
+	require.Equal(t, stored.SSHKey, restored.SSHKey)
+
+	// What mobile logout leaves on disk.
+	loggedOut := stored.clone()
+	loggedOut.PrivateKey = ""
+	loggedOut.SSHKey = ""
+
+	document, err := ConfigToJSON(loggedOut)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	reloaded, err := ConfigFromJSON(document)
+	require.NoError(t, err, "a logged-out profile must still load")
+	require.Empty(t, reloaded.PrivateKey, "loading must not mint a key nothing will write down")
+	require.Empty(t, reloaded.SSHKey)
+	require.Equal(t, stored.ManagementURL.String(), reloaded.ManagementURL.String(),
+		"the rest of the profile survives the logout")
+}

client/internal/profilemanager/config_optional_fields_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,131 @@
+package profilemanager
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"reflect"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+)
+
+// optionalBoolFields lists the *bool fields of Config by name, derived from the
+// type so a field added later is covered without touching these tests.
+func optionalBoolFields() []string {
+	pointerToBool := reflect.TypeOf((*bool)(nil))
+
+	var fields []string
+	configType := reflect.TypeOf(Config{})
+	for i := range configType.NumField() {
+		field := configType.Field(i)
+		if field.Type == pointerToBool && field.Tag.Get("json") != "-" {
+			fields = append(fields, field.Name)
+		}
+	}
+	return fields
+}
+
+func requireNoUnsetOptionalBool(t *testing.T, config *Config, context string) {
+	t.Helper()
+
+	value := reflect.ValueOf(*config)
+	for _, name := range optionalBoolFields() {
+		require.False(t, value.FieldByName(name).IsNil(),
+			"%s left %s unset, so its readers have to invent a default and a diff of it compares presence instead of value", context, name)
+	}
+}
+
+// An optional bool must not be tristate. While one can be nil, true or false,
+// every reader has to invent the meaning of nil, and — the reason this test
+// exists — a diff of the config ends up comparing presence rather than value:
+// that is what made the update-settings gate refuse `netbird up` for a client
+// restating its own defaults. apply() is where a config becomes complete, so
+// the invariant belongs to it: no *bool may come out of apply() unset.
+func TestApplyLeavesNoOptionalBoolUnset(t *testing.T) {
+	require.NotEmpty(t, optionalBoolFields(), "the invariant is only meaningful while Config has optional bools")
+
+	t.Run("a config built from scratch", func(t *testing.T) {
+		config := newConfigSkeleton()
+		_, err := config.apply(ConfigInput{})
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+
+		requireNoUnsetOptionalBool(t, config, "apply on a new config")
+	})
+
+	t.Run("a config file that predates every optional field", func(t *testing.T) {
+		path := filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "legacy.json")
+		require.NoError(t, os.WriteFile(path, []byte(`{"WgIface":"wt0"}`), 0o600))
+
+		config, err := GetExistingConfig(path)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+
+		requireNoUnsetOptionalBool(t, config, "a read of a legacy config")
+	})
+
+	t.Run("a config file that stores them as null", func(t *testing.T) {
+		path := filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "null.json")
+		_, err := UpdateOrCreateConfig(ConfigInput{ConfigPath: path})
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		unsetOnDisk(t, path, optionalBoolFields()...)
+
+		config, err := GetExistingConfig(path)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+
+		requireNoUnsetOptionalBool(t, config, "a read of a config storing nulls")
+	})
+}
+
+// The same invariant on disk: what a write leaves in the file is what the next
+// client to read it starts from, so no write may store a null.
+func TestNoWriteStoresAnUnsetOptionalBool(t *testing.T) {
+	requireNoNullOnDisk := func(t *testing.T, path string, context string) {
+		t.Helper()
+
+		raw, err := os.ReadFile(path)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+
+		var stored map[string]json.RawMessage
+		require.NoError(t, json.Unmarshal(raw, &stored))
+
+		for _, name := range optionalBoolFields() {
+			value, present := stored[name]
+			require.True(t, present, "%s did not store %s at all", context, name)
+			require.NotEqual(t, "null", string(value), "%s stored %s as null", context, name)
+		}
+	}
+
+	t.Run("UpdateOrCreateConfig", func(t *testing.T) {
+		path := filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "created.json")
+		_, err := UpdateOrCreateConfig(ConfigInput{ConfigPath: path, ManagementURL: DefaultManagementURL})
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+
+		requireNoNullOnDisk(t, path, "UpdateOrCreateConfig")
+	})
+
+	t.Run("UpdateConfig over a config storing nulls", func(t *testing.T) {
+		path := filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "stored.json")
+		_, err := UpdateOrCreateConfig(ConfigInput{ConfigPath: path})
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		unsetOnDisk(t, path, optionalBoolFields()...)
+
+		_, err = UpdateConfig(ConfigInput{ConfigPath: path, ManagementURL: "https://mgmt.example.com"})
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+
+		requireNoNullOnDisk(t, path, "UpdateConfig")
+	})
+
+	// Renaming used to copy the file back through a bare Unmarshal, which
+	// preserved the nulls a pre-fix client had written.
+	t.Run("RenameProfile", func(t *testing.T) {
+		withTestSM(t, func(sm *ServiceManager, username string) {
+			created, err := sm.AddProfile("work", username)
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+			unsetOnDisk(t, created.Path, optionalBoolFields()...)
+
+			require.NoError(t, sm.RenameProfile(created.ID, username, "office"))
+
+			requireNoNullOnDisk(t, created.Path, "RenameProfile")
+		})
+	})
+}

client/internal/profilemanager/config_probe_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,96 @@
+package profilemanager
+
+import (
+	"crypto/ecdsa"
+	"crypto/elliptic"
+	"crypto/rand"
+	"crypto/x509"
+	"crypto/x509/pkix"
+	"encoding/pem"
+	"math/big"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+)
+
+// writeCertPair writes a throwaway certificate and key, so apply() has
+// something real to load rather than a missing file it would only log about.
+func writeCertPair(t *testing.T) (certPath, keyPath string) {
+	t.Helper()
+
+	key, err := ecdsa.GenerateKey(elliptic.P256(), rand.Reader)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	template := x509.Certificate{
+		SerialNumber: big.NewInt(1),
+		Subject:      pkix.Name{CommonName: "probe-test"},
+		NotBefore:    time.Now().Add(-time.Hour),
+		NotAfter:     time.Now().Add(time.Hour),
+	}
+	der, err := x509.CreateCertificate(rand.Reader, &template, &template, &key.PublicKey, key)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	keyDER, err := x509.MarshalECPrivateKey(key)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	certPath = filepath.Join(dir, "client.crt")
+	keyPath = filepath.Join(dir, "client.key")
+	require.NoError(t, os.WriteFile(certPath, pem.EncodeToMemory(&pem.Block{Type: "CERTIFICATE", Bytes: der}), 0o600))
+	require.NoError(t, os.WriteFile(keyPath, pem.EncodeToMemory(&pem.Block{Type: "EC PRIVATE KEY", Bytes: keyDER}), 0o600))
+	return certPath, keyPath
+}
+
+// The dry run behind the update-settings gate must not read the mTLS pair off
+// disk. The loaded pair feeds the connection, never the comparison, and the
+// gate runs it on every SetConfig and Login — twice per request — including the
+// ones it refuses.
+func TestProbeDoesNotLoadTheCertificatePair(t *testing.T) {
+	certPath, keyPath := writeCertPair(t)
+
+	t.Run("a real apply loads it", func(t *testing.T) {
+		config := newConfigSkeleton()
+		config.ClientCertPath, config.ClientCertKeyPath = certPath, keyPath
+
+		_, err := config.apply(ConfigInput{})
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		require.NotNil(t, config.ClientCertKeyPair, "the connection would have no client certificate")
+	})
+
+	t.Run("a probe does not", func(t *testing.T) {
+		config := newConfigSkeleton()
+		config.ClientCertPath, config.ClientCertKeyPath = certPath, keyPath
+		config.probing = true
+
+		_, err := config.apply(ConfigInput{})
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		require.Nil(t, config.ClientCertKeyPair, "the dry run read the certificate off disk")
+	})
+
+	// And the verdict is the same either way, which is the only thing the gate
+	// asks of the probe.
+	t.Run("the verdict is unaffected", func(t *testing.T) {
+		path := filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "mtls.json")
+		_, err := UpdateOrCreateConfig(ConfigInput{
+			ConfigPath:        path,
+			ManagementURL:     DefaultManagementURL,
+			ClientCertPath:    certPath,
+			ClientCertKeyPath: keyPath,
+		})
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+
+		stored, err := GetExistingConfig(path)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+
+		changed, err := stored.WouldChange(ConfigInput{ClientCertPath: certPath, ClientCertKeyPath: keyPath})
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		require.False(t, changed, "restating the stored certificate paths is not a change")
+
+		changed, err = stored.WouldChange(ConfigInput{ClientCertPath: filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "other.crt")})
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		require.True(t, changed, "a different certificate path is a change")
+	})
+}

client/internal/profilemanager/config_test.go

@@ -196,7 +196,7 @@ func TestWireguardPortZeroExplicit(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Equal(t, 0, config.WgPort, "WgPort should be 0 when explicitly set by user")
 
 	// Verify it persists
-	readConfig, err := GetConfig(configPath)
+	readConfig, err := GetExistingConfig(configPath)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 	assert.Equal(t, 0, readConfig.WgPort, "WgPort should remain 0 after reading from file")
 }

client/internal/profilemanager/config_would_change_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,529 @@
+package profilemanager
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"runtime"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+
+	"github.com/netbirdio/netbird/client/iface"
+	"github.com/netbirdio/netbird/shared/management/domain"
+)
+
+func seededConfig(t *testing.T) *Config {
+	t.Helper()
+
+	path := filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "seeded.json")
+	cfg, err := UpdateOrCreateConfig(ConfigInput{
+		ConfigPath:    path,
+		ManagementURL: "https://api.netbird.io:443",
+		PreSharedKey:  strPointer("stored-key"),
+	})
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	return cfg
+}
+
+func strPointer(s string) *string { return &s }
+
+func intPtr(i int) *int { return &i }
+
+func TestWouldChange(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name  string
+		input ConfigInput
+		want  bool
+	}{
+		{name: "empty input", input: ConfigInput{}, want: false},
+		{name: "same management URL", input: ConfigInput{ManagementURL: "https://api.netbird.io:443"}, want: false},
+		{name: "management URL without its default port", input: ConfigInput{ManagementURL: "https://api.netbird.io"}, want: false},
+		{name: "different management URL", input: ConfigInput{ManagementURL: "https://other.example:443"}, want: true},
+		{name: "same pre-shared key", input: ConfigInput{PreSharedKey: strPointer("stored-key")}, want: false},
+		{name: "redacted pre-shared key", input: ConfigInput{PreSharedKey: strPointer("**********")}, want: false},
+		{name: "different pre-shared key", input: ConfigInput{PreSharedKey: strPointer("other-key")}, want: true},
+		{name: "new interface blacklist entry", input: ConfigInput{ExtraIFaceBlackList: []string{"nb-probe0"}}, want: true},
+		{name: "blacklist entry already present", input: ConfigInput{ExtraIFaceBlackList: []string{"lo"}}, want: false},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			cfg := seededConfig(t)
+
+			changed, err := cfg.WouldChange(tt.input)
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+			require.Equal(t, tt.want, changed)
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+// The dry run must not be observable on the config it is run against: it
+// decides whether a write is allowed, it does not perform one.
+func TestWouldChangeLeavesTheConfigAlone(t *testing.T) {
+	cfg := seededConfig(t)
+	blacklist := len(cfg.IFaceBlackList)
+
+	changed, err := cfg.WouldChange(ConfigInput{
+		ManagementURL:       "https://other.example:443",
+		PreSharedKey:        strPointer("other-key"),
+		ExtraIFaceBlackList: []string{"nb-probe0"},
+		DNSLabels:           domain.FromPunycodeList([]string{"probe"}),
+		NATExternalIPs:      []string{"1.2.3.4"},
+	})
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.True(t, changed)
+
+	require.Equal(t, "https://api.netbird.io:443", cfg.ManagementURL.String())
+	require.Equal(t, "stored-key", cfg.PreSharedKey)
+	require.Len(t, cfg.IFaceBlackList, blacklist)
+	require.Empty(t, cfg.DNSLabels)
+	require.Empty(t, cfg.NATExternalIPs)
+}
+
+// A nil config means the profile holds nothing yet, so the baseline is what
+// the daemon would create for it.
+func TestWouldChangeWithoutAStoredConfig(t *testing.T) {
+	var cfg *Config
+
+	changed, err := cfg.WouldChange(ConfigInput{})
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.False(t, changed, "a request carrying nothing cannot change anything")
+
+	changed, err = cfg.WouldChange(ConfigInput{ManagementURL: DefaultManagementURL})
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.False(t, changed, "the default management URL is what would be written anyway")
+
+	changed, err = cfg.WouldChange(ConfigInput{ManagementURL: "https://other.example:443"})
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.True(t, changed)
+}
+
+func TestWouldChangeReportsAnInvalidInput(t *testing.T) {
+	cfg := seededConfig(t)
+
+	_, err := cfg.WouldChange(ConfigInput{ManagementURL: "not-a-url"})
+	require.Error(t, err)
+}
+
+// Reads must not write. A config file missing a field apply() fills in (MTU,
+// here) is what used to trigger the write-back.
+func TestReadsDoNotWriteTheConfigBack(t *testing.T) {
+	denormalized := []byte(`{"WgIface":"wt0"}`)
+
+	for name, read := range map[string]func(string) (*Config, error){
+		"GetExistingConfig":   GetExistingConfig,
+		"ReadConfigOrDefault": ReadConfigOrDefault,
+	} {
+		t.Run(name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			path := filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "profile.json")
+			require.NoError(t, os.WriteFile(path, denormalized, 0o600))
+
+			cfg, err := read(path)
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+			require.Equal(t, uint16(iface.DefaultMTU), cfg.MTU, "the returned config is still normalized in memory")
+			require.Empty(t, cfg.PrivateKey, "a read must not mint an identity either")
+
+			after, err := os.ReadFile(path)
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+			require.Equal(t, string(denormalized), string(after), "%s rewrote the config file", name)
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+// ReadConfigOrDefault resolves a default config for a profile that has no file
+// yet, and that must not create the file either.
+func TestReadConfigDoesNotCreateTheFile(t *testing.T) {
+	path := filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "absent.json")
+
+	cfg, err := ReadConfigOrDefault(path)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.Equal(t, DefaultManagementURL, cfg.ManagementURL.String())
+
+	_, err = os.Stat(path)
+	require.True(t, os.IsNotExist(err), "ReadConfigOrDefault created the config file")
+}
+
+// The identity is the one thing a read cannot recompute, so it is provisioned
+// on request and its caller persists it.
+func TestEnsureIdentity(t *testing.T) {
+	cfg := newConfigSkeleton()
+
+	generated, err := cfg.EnsureIdentity()
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.True(t, generated)
+	require.NotEmpty(t, cfg.PrivateKey)
+	require.NotEmpty(t, cfg.SSHKey)
+
+	key := cfg.PrivateKey
+	generated, err = cfg.EnsureIdentity()
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.False(t, generated, "a config that already has an identity keeps it")
+	require.Equal(t, key, cfg.PrivateKey)
+}
+
+// One endpoint written several ways is one endpoint. A gate that compared
+// spellings refused a client restating its own management URL with a trailing
+// slash, which is a normal way to write it.
+func TestSameServiceURL(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		a, b string
+		want bool
+	}{
+		{a: "https://mgmt.example.com", b: "https://mgmt.example.com:443", want: true},
+		{a: "https://mgmt.example.com", b: "https://mgmt.example.com/", want: true},
+		{a: "https://mgmt.example.com/", b: "https://mgmt.example.com:443/", want: true},
+		{a: "https://MGMT.example.com", b: "https://mgmt.example.com", want: true},
+		{a: "http://mgmt.example.com", b: "http://mgmt.example.com:80", want: true},
+		{a: "https://mgmt.example.com", b: "http://mgmt.example.com", want: false},
+		{a: "https://mgmt.example.com", b: "https://mgmt.example.com:8443", want: false},
+		{a: "https://mgmt.example.com", b: "https://other.example.com", want: false},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.a+" vs "+tt.b, func(t *testing.T) {
+			a, err := ParseServiceURL("a", tt.a)
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+			b, err := ParseServiceURL("b", tt.b)
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+
+			require.Equal(t, tt.want, SameServiceURL(a, b))
+			require.Equal(t, tt.want, SameServiceURL(b, a), "the comparison must be symmetric")
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+// The same spellings, through the dry run the update-settings gate uses.
+func TestWouldChangeIgnoresURLSpelling(t *testing.T) {
+	path := filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "seeded.json")
+	_, err := UpdateOrCreateConfig(ConfigInput{
+		ConfigPath:    path,
+		ManagementURL: "https://mgmt.example.com",
+	})
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	cfg, err := GetExistingConfig(path)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	for _, spelling := range []string{
+		"https://mgmt.example.com",
+		"https://mgmt.example.com/",
+		"https://mgmt.example.com:443",
+		"https://mgmt.example.com:443/",
+		"https://MGMT.example.com",
+	} {
+		changed, err := cfg.WouldChange(ConfigInput{ManagementURL: spelling})
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		require.False(t, changed, "%q is the stored endpoint written differently", spelling)
+	}
+
+	changed, err := cfg.WouldChange(ConfigInput{ManagementURL: "https://mgmt.example.com:8443"})
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.True(t, changed, "a different port is a different endpoint")
+}
+
+// The dry-run baseline exists to be compared against and discarded, so it must
+// not mint keys — the CLI's login backoff loop would otherwise log a fresh
+// "generated new Wireguard key" on every attempt.
+func TestDryRunBaselineDoesNotGenerateKeys(t *testing.T) {
+	baseline, err := newDryRunBaseline(filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "absent.json"))
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	require.Empty(t, baseline.PrivateKey, "generated a WireGuard key for a throwaway config")
+	require.Empty(t, baseline.SSHKey, "generated an SSH key for a throwaway config")
+
+	// Everything the comparison actually looks at is still the default config.
+	require.Equal(t, DefaultManagementURL, baseline.ManagementURL.String())
+	require.Equal(t, uint16(iface.DefaultMTU), baseline.MTU)
+	require.Equal(t, iface.DefaultWgPort, baseline.WgPort)
+}
+
+// A stored profile can carry no identity — a mobile logout clears the keys in
+// place — so the next config write has to mint one, which is what keeps the
+// following login from dialing management with an empty key.
+func TestUpdateConfigProvisionsAMissingIdentity(t *testing.T) {
+	path := filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "logged-out.json")
+	_, err := UpdateOrCreateConfig(ConfigInput{
+		ConfigPath:    path,
+		ManagementURL: "https://api.netbird.io:443",
+	})
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	// Stand in for the logout, which zeroes the keys and writes the config out.
+	loggedOut, err := GetExistingConfig(path)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	loggedOut.PrivateKey = ""
+	loggedOut.SSHKey = ""
+	require.NoError(t, WriteOutConfig(path, loggedOut))
+
+	cfg, err := UpdateOrCreateConfig(ConfigInput{ConfigPath: path})
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.NotEmpty(t, cfg.PrivateKey, "the write path did not provision an identity")
+	require.NotEmpty(t, cfg.SSHKey)
+
+	persisted, err := GetExistingConfig(path)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.Equal(t, cfg.PrivateKey, persisted.PrivateKey, "the provisioned identity was not persisted")
+}
+
+// A config that carries no sync message version must not make the dry run
+// panic: the gate runs inside a request handler, where failing closed is the
+// worst acceptable outcome.
+func TestWouldChangeWithoutAStoredSyncMessageVersion(t *testing.T) {
+	cfg := seededConfig(t)
+	require.Nil(t, cfg.SyncMessageVersion, "the fixture is only useful while the field starts out unset")
+
+	version := 2
+	changed, err := cfg.WouldChange(ConfigInput{SyncMessageVersion: &version})
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.True(t, changed)
+	require.Nil(t, cfg.SyncMessageVersion, "the dry run set the version on the stored config")
+}
+
+// Restating the certificate paths a config already holds is not a change, for
+// the same reason restating any other value is not.
+func TestWouldChangeIgnoresRestatedCertificatePaths(t *testing.T) {
+	path := filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "mtls.json")
+	_, err := UpdateOrCreateConfig(ConfigInput{
+		ConfigPath:        path,
+		ManagementURL:     "https://api.netbird.io:443",
+		ClientCertPath:    "/etc/netbird/client.crt",
+		ClientCertKeyPath: "/etc/netbird/client.key",
+	})
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	cfg, err := GetExistingConfig(path)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	changed, err := cfg.WouldChange(ConfigInput{
+		ClientCertPath:    "/etc/netbird/client.crt",
+		ClientCertKeyPath: "/etc/netbird/client.key",
+	})
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.False(t, changed, "the stored certificate paths were restated")
+
+	changed, err = cfg.WouldChange(ConfigInput{ClientCertPath: "/etc/netbird/other.crt"})
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.True(t, changed, "a different certificate path is a change")
+}
+
+// A read that lands on a missing file must not hand back keys: nothing would
+// write them down, so the caller would connect with an identity that changes on
+// the next run and registers a second peer.
+func TestReadConfigOrDefaultCarriesNoIdentity(t *testing.T) {
+	cfg, err := ReadConfigOrDefault(filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "absent.json"))
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	require.Empty(t, cfg.PrivateKey, "a read minted a WireGuard key")
+	require.Empty(t, cfg.SSHKey, "a read minted an SSH key")
+
+	// So the caller's own EnsureIdentity is the one that reports the work, and
+	// therefore the one that triggers the write.
+	generated, err := cfg.EnsureIdentity()
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.True(t, generated, "the provisioning caller could not tell it had to persist the identity")
+}
+
+// CreateInMemoryConfig is the opposite contract: its callers connect with what
+// they get back, so it does carry an identity.
+func TestCreateInMemoryConfigCarriesAnIdentity(t *testing.T) {
+	cfg, err := CreateInMemoryConfig(ConfigInput{ManagementURL: "https://api.netbird.io:443"})
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	require.NotEmpty(t, cfg.PrivateKey)
+	require.NotEmpty(t, cfg.SSHKey)
+}
+
+// The admin panel is opened, not dialed, so its path identifies it. Comparing
+// it as a bare endpoint left a custom panel URL unable to change.
+func TestAdminURLPathIsPartOfTheIdentity(t *testing.T) {
+	path := filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "panel.json")
+	_, err := UpdateOrCreateConfig(ConfigInput{
+		ConfigPath: path,
+		AdminURL:   "https://app.example.com/netbird",
+	})
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	cfg, err := GetExistingConfig(path)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.Equal(t, "https://app.example.com:443/netbird", cfg.AdminURL.String())
+
+	// Equivalent spellings of the same panel are still not a change.
+	for _, same := range []string{
+		"https://app.example.com/netbird",
+		"https://app.example.com:443/netbird",
+		"https://app.example.com/netbird/",
+		"https://APP.example.com/netbird",
+	} {
+		changed, err := cfg.WouldChange(ConfigInput{AdminURL: same})
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		require.False(t, changed, "%q is the stored panel written differently", same)
+	}
+
+	// A different path is a different panel, and it must be persisted.
+	changed, err := cfg.WouldChange(ConfigInput{AdminURL: "https://app.example.com/other"})
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.True(t, changed, "a different panel path is a change")
+
+	updated, err := UpdateConfig(ConfigInput{ConfigPath: path, AdminURL: "https://app.example.com/other"})
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.Equal(t, "https://app.example.com:443/other", updated.AdminURL.String(), "the new panel path was not persisted")
+}
+
+// unsetOnDisk rewrites the stored config so the named fields carry a JSON null,
+// which is how a profile written before apply() resolved them looks on disk.
+// It synthesizes that state: no write produces it any more.
+func unsetOnDisk(t *testing.T, path string, fields ...string) {
+	t.Helper()
+
+	raw, err := os.ReadFile(path)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	var stored map[string]json.RawMessage
+	require.NoError(t, json.Unmarshal(raw, &stored))
+
+	for _, field := range fields {
+		_, present := stored[field]
+		require.True(t, present, "%s is not a field of the stored config", field)
+		stored[field] = json.RawMessage("null")
+	}
+
+	rewritten, err := json.Marshal(stored)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.NoError(t, os.WriteFile(path, rewritten, 0600))
+}
+
+// Seven fields mean "the effective default" when they hold no value, and every
+// profile written before apply() resolved them holds them as null. Restating
+// that default is asking for no change — and the CLI restates it on every
+// `netbird up`, because a flag set through an environment variable is a flag
+// pflag reports as Changed. Judging those restatements as changes made the
+// update-settings gate refuse `netbird up` outright for a client configured
+// through the environment, which is the shape of a Kubernetes deployment.
+//
+// A login now writes those fields set, so the fixture puts the null state back
+// on disk with unsetOnDisk instead of getting it from a login.
+func TestWouldChangeIgnoresRestatedDefaultsOfUnsetFields(t *testing.T) {
+	networkMonitorDefault := runtime.GOOS == "windows" || runtime.GOOS == "darwin"
+
+	tests := []struct {
+		field       string
+		theDefault  ConfigInput
+		theOtherWay ConfigInput
+	}{
+		{"EnableSSHRoot",
+			ConfigInput{EnableSSHRoot: boolPtr(false)}, ConfigInput{EnableSSHRoot: boolPtr(true)}},
+		{"EnableSSHSFTP",
+			ConfigInput{EnableSSHSFTP: boolPtr(false)}, ConfigInput{EnableSSHSFTP: boolPtr(true)}},
+		{"EnableSSHLocalPortForwarding",
+			ConfigInput{EnableSSHLocalPortForwarding: boolPtr(false)}, ConfigInput{EnableSSHLocalPortForwarding: boolPtr(true)}},
+		{"EnableSSHRemotePortForwarding",
+			ConfigInput{EnableSSHRemotePortForwarding: boolPtr(false)}, ConfigInput{EnableSSHRemotePortForwarding: boolPtr(true)}},
+		{"DisableSSHAuth",
+			ConfigInput{DisableSSHAuth: boolPtr(false)}, ConfigInput{DisableSSHAuth: boolPtr(true)}},
+		{"SSHJWTCacheTTL",
+			ConfigInput{SSHJWTCacheTTL: intPtr(0)}, ConfigInput{SSHJWTCacheTTL: intPtr(300)}},
+		{"NetworkMonitor",
+			ConfigInput{NetworkMonitor: boolPtr(networkMonitorDefault)}, ConfigInput{NetworkMonitor: boolPtr(!networkMonitorDefault)}},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.field, func(t *testing.T) {
+			path := filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "unset.json")
+			_, err := UpdateOrCreateConfig(ConfigInput{
+				ConfigPath:    path,
+				ManagementURL: "https://api.netbird.io:443",
+			})
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+			unsetOnDisk(t, path, tt.field)
+
+			cfg, err := GetExistingConfig(path)
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+
+			changed, err := cfg.WouldChange(tt.theDefault)
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+			require.False(t, changed, "restating the default of an unset %s was judged a change", tt.field)
+
+			// The gate still has to refuse a request that does ask for something.
+			changed, err = cfg.WouldChange(tt.theOtherWay)
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+			require.True(t, changed, "asking for a non-default %s is a change", tt.field)
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+// The verdict must not depend on where the caller got the config from. Readers
+// normalize what they hand out, but apply() signals "I filled in a default"
+// through the same bool as "the input changed something", so a config that
+// never passed through a read would otherwise report a change for an input
+// that asks for nothing.
+func TestWouldChangeNormalizesBeforeMeasuring(t *testing.T) {
+	rawConfig := func(t *testing.T) *Config {
+		t.Helper()
+
+		cfg := &Config{WgIface: iface.WgInterfaceDefault}
+		require.Nil(t, cfg.ServerSSHAllowed, "the fixture is only useful while the config is not normalized")
+		require.Nil(t, cfg.EnableSSHRoot)
+		require.Empty(t, cfg.IFaceBlackList)
+		return cfg
+	}
+
+	changed, err := rawConfig(t).WouldChange(ConfigInput{})
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.False(t, changed, "an input carrying nothing cannot change anything")
+
+	changed, err = rawConfig(t).WouldChange(ConfigInput{EnableSSHRoot: boolPtr(false)})
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.False(t, changed, "the default of a field the config never held is not a change")
+
+	changed, err = rawConfig(t).WouldChange(ConfigInput{EnableSSHRoot: boolPtr(true)})
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.True(t, changed, "a non-default value is still a change")
+}
+
+// A zero-padded port addresses the same port. The normalization itself belongs
+// to util.ServiceURLPort and is tested there; this asserts that the comparison
+// this package hands its callers inherits it.
+func TestServiceURLPortIsNormalizedNumerically(t *testing.T) {
+	padded, err := ParseServiceURL("padded", "https://mgmt.example.com:0443")
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	plain, err := ParseServiceURL("plain", "https://mgmt.example.com:443")
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	require.True(t, SameServiceURL(padded, plain))
+}
+
+// A list the profile does not have and a list the request empties are the same
+// thing: no NAT mappings, no DNS labels. The profile stores an absent list as
+// JSON null and reads it back as a nil slice, while `netbird up` sends the
+// emptied list — CleanNATExternalIPs / CleanDNSLabels — whenever the matching
+// environment variable is set to nothing, which a deployment template does by
+// default. Judging nil and empty as different made the gate refuse that start,
+// which is the very deadlock this branch exists to remove, on another field.
+func TestWouldChangeIgnoresAnEmptiedListThatWasAlreadyAbsent(t *testing.T) {
+	path := filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "lists.json")
+	_, err := UpdateOrCreateConfig(ConfigInput{ConfigPath: path, ManagementURL: DefaultManagementURL})
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	stored, err := GetExistingConfig(path)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.Nil(t, stored.NATExternalIPs, "the fixture is only useful while the stored list is absent")
+	require.Nil(t, stored.DNSLabels)
+
+	changed, err := stored.WouldChange(ConfigInput{NATExternalIPs: make([]string, 0)})
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.False(t, changed, "emptying a NAT list the profile never had is not a change")
+
+	changed, err = stored.WouldChange(ConfigInput{DNSLabels: domain.List{}})
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.False(t, changed, "emptying a DNS label list the profile never had is not a change")
+
+	// A list that does hold something still moves when the request empties it.
+	withEntries, err := UpdateConfig(ConfigInput{ConfigPath: path, NATExternalIPs: []string{"1.2.3.4"}})
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.Equal(t, []string{"1.2.3.4"}, withEntries.NATExternalIPs)
+
+	changed, err = withEntries.WouldChange(ConfigInput{NATExternalIPs: make([]string, 0)})
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.True(t, changed, "clearing a NAT list that had an entry is a change")
+}

client/internal/profilemanager/service.go

@@ -313,7 +313,11 @@ func (s *ServiceManager) AddProfile(displayName, username string) (*Profile, err
 	}
 
 	profPath := filepath.Join(configDir, id.String()+".json")
-	cfg, err := createNewConfig(ConfigInput{ConfigPath: profPath})
+	// Provisioned, not bare: this config goes straight to disk, and a profile
+	// file with no identity is one whose first reader has to mint the keys and
+	// remember to write them back. Before identity generation moved out of
+	// apply() into EnsureIdentity, createNewConfig produced them here too.
+	cfg, err := createProvisionedConfig(ConfigInput{ConfigPath: profPath})
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to create new config: %w", err)
 	}
@@ -330,6 +334,19 @@ func (s *ServiceManager) AddProfile(displayName, username string) (*Profile, err
 	}, nil
 }
 
+// RenameProfile changes a profile's display name. It rewrites the whole
+// profile file, not just the name: the config is read through the normalizing
+// reader, so apply()'s resolved values — the optional booleans, the interface
+// blacklist, the DNS route interval — are persisted along with the new name.
+//
+// That is deliberate. A write that skipped apply() is what left profiles on
+// disk carrying null where a value was meant, and made a diff of the config
+// compare presence instead of value. Two consequences worth knowing: the
+// platform-dependent defaults resolved here are the renaming host's
+// (ServerSSHAllowed and the network monitor differ per OS), and a profile
+// whose stored name does not survive sanitizeDisplayName now fails to rename
+// rather than being rewritten — though apply() rejects such a profile on every
+// other read too, so it was already unusable.
 func (s *ServiceManager) RenameProfile(id ID, username string, newName string) error {
 	displayName, err := sanitizeDisplayName(newName)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -356,17 +373,17 @@ func (s *ServiceManager) RenameProfile(id ID, username string, newName string) e
 		return ErrProfileNotFound
 	}
 
-	data, err := os.ReadFile(target.Path)
+	// Through the reader, not a bare Unmarshal: this was the one write that
+	// skipped apply(), so it copied back whatever the file held — including an
+	// optional field left unset, which every other write resolves to its
+	// default. Renaming a profile is a poor place to leave that behind.
+	cfg, err := GetExistingConfig(target.Path)
 	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	var cfg Config
-	if err := json.Unmarshal(data, &cfg); err != nil {
-		return err
+		return fmt.Errorf("read profile config: %w", err)
 	}
 	cfg.Name = displayName
 
-	if err := util.WriteJson(context.Background(), target.Path, cfg); err != nil {
+	if err := WriteOutConfig(target.Path, cfg); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed to write profile name: %w", err)
 	}
 	return nil

client/internal/profilemanager/service_test.go

@@ -228,3 +228,27 @@ func TestRemoveProfile_DeletesStateFile(t *testing.T) {
 		assert.True(t, errors.Is(err, os.ErrNotExist), "state file should be removed")
 	})
 }
+
+// A profile file is written here and read back by whoever connects with it, so
+// it has to carry the peer's identity. While AddProfile used the bare
+// constructor, it wrote a config with no keys: the first reader had to mint
+// them, and the paths that read without writing — a gate deciding whether to
+// refuse a request, the mobile SDKs loading a stored profile — got a config
+// that cannot connect.
+func TestAddProfileWritesAnIdentity(t *testing.T) {
+	withTestSM(t, func(sm *ServiceManager, username string) {
+		created, err := sm.AddProfile("work", username)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+
+		stored, err := GetExistingConfig(created.Path)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+
+		require.NotEmpty(t, stored.PrivateKey, "the profile was written without a WireGuard key")
+		require.NotEmpty(t, stored.SSHKey, "the profile was written without an SSH key")
+
+		// And the identity is the one on disk, not one minted per read.
+		reread, err := GetExistingConfig(created.Path)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		require.Equal(t, stored.PrivateKey, reread.PrivateKey)
+	})
+}

client/internal/routemanager/ipfwdstate/ipfwdstate.go

@@ -19,8 +19,7 @@ type IPForwardingState struct {
 
 	// routingV4/routingV6 track whether the routing path currently holds a
 	// reference, so repeated EnableRouting calls (one per network-map update)
-	// hold at most one reference per family and an unpaired DisableRouting
-	// can't release references held by DNAT rules.
+	// hold at most one reference per family.
 	routingV4 bool
 	routingV6 bool
 
@@ -95,31 +94,6 @@ func (f *IPForwardingState) ReleaseRouting() error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-// RequestForwarding enables the family's forwarding sysctl on first request.
-func (f *IPForwardingState) RequestForwarding(v6 bool) error {
-	f.mu.Lock()
-	defer f.mu.Unlock()
-
-	if v6 {
-		return f.requestV6()
-	}
-	return f.requestV4()
-}
-
-// ReleaseForwarding decrements the family counter. The last v6 release restores
-// what enable captured. v4 stays on: net.ipv4.ip_forward is co-owned by other
-// tooling (docker, k8s, libvirt).
-func (f *IPForwardingState) ReleaseForwarding(v6 bool) error {
-	f.mu.Lock()
-	defer f.mu.Unlock()
-
-	if v6 {
-		return f.releaseV6()
-	}
-	f.releaseV4()
-	return nil
-}
-
 func (f *IPForwardingState) requestV4() error {
 	if f.v4Count == 0 {
 		if err := systemops.EnableV4IPForwarding(); err != nil {

client/internal/routemanager/ipfwdstate/ipfwdstate_privileged_linux_test.go

@@ -10,8 +10,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 // TestRequestRoutingV6ToV4Transition verifies that a v4-only routing request
-// releases a previously held routing-owned v6 reference without touching
-// references held by DNAT rules.
+// releases a previously held routing-owned v6 reference.
 func TestRequestRoutingV6ToV4Transition(t *testing.T) {
 	f := NewIPForwardingState("wt-fwd-test")
 
@@ -25,13 +24,6 @@ func TestRequestRoutingV6ToV4Transition(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Equal(t, 1, v4, "v4 reference kept")
 	assert.Equal(t, 0, v6, "routing-owned v6 reference released")
 
-	// A DNAT-held reference survives a v4-only routing request.
-	require.NoError(t, f.RequestForwarding(true), "dnat v6 reference")
-	require.NoError(t, f.RequestRouting(false), "repeat v4-only request")
-	_, v6 = f.Counts()
-	assert.Equal(t, 1, v6, "dnat-held v6 reference survives")
-	require.NoError(t, f.ReleaseForwarding(true), "release dnat v6 reference")
-
 	require.NoError(t, f.ReleaseRouting(), "release routing")
 	v4, v6 = f.Counts()
 	assert.Equal(t, 0, v4, "all v4 references released")