Zync CTFd Plugin

This plugin for CTFd integrates with the Galvanize Instancer to allow competing teams/users to deploy challenge instances. It adds a challenge type "zync" that works with the Galvanize Instancer API for on-demand challenge deployments.

Features

Player Features

• Deploy challenge instances on-demand via Galvanize Instancer
• Time-limited instances with countdown display
• Extend instance duration (when supported by the Instancer)
• Terminate instances manually
• Support for both unique (per-team) and shared challenge instances

Admin Features

• Configuration Management: Configure Instancer URL and JWT secret via web UI or environment variables
• Admin Dashboard (/admin/zync_dashboard): Real-time monitoring and management interface
  • Error deployments monitoring with auto-refresh (10s)
  • Team deployments overview with auto-refresh (60s)
  • Retry, terminate, and delete actions for failed deployments
  • Team filtering functionality
  • Visual status badges and deployment duration tracking
  • Expandable/collapsible error messages
  • Challenge index reload functionality
• Environment Variable Support: Load configuration from env vars at startup (ZYNC_DEPLOYER_URL, ZYNC_JWT_SECRET)
• Full deployment lifecycle management via Galvanize Instancer

Installation

1. Rename or copy the plugin folder to zync in your CTFd plugins directory:

   CTFd/CTFd/plugins/zync/
   

2. Replace CTFd standard docker-entrypoint.sh with the one provided (ctfd-docker-entrypoint.sh) or add the following lines (enables plugin dependencies installation) before the app start:

    for d in CTFd/plugins/*; do \
        if [ -f "$d/requirements.txt" ]; then
            pip install --no-cache-dir -r "$d/requirements.txt";
        fi;
    done;
   

3. Restart CTFd.

4. Configure the plugin (choose one method):

   Option A: Web UI Configuration

   • Navigate to Plugins → Zync Config (/admin/zync_config)
   • Configure:
     • Instancer URL: The full URL to your Galvanize Instancer (e.g., https://instancer.example.com)
     • JWT Secret: The secret used to sign JWT tokens for the Instancer

   Option B: Environment Variables (recommended for production)

   • Set the following environment variables before starting CTFd:

     export ZYNC_DEPLOYER_URL="https://instancer.example.com"
     export ZYNC_JWT_SECRET="your-secret-key-here"

   • The plugin will automatically load these values into the database at startup
   • Environment variables take precedence and will overwrite existing database configuration

5. Create challenges with the zync challenge type.

6. (Optional) Access the Admin Dashboard at /admin/zync_dashboard to monitor deployments.

API

The plugin exposes the following endpoints:

User Endpoints

• GET /api/v1/deploy/url - Get Instancer URL
• POST /api/v1/deploy/token - Get JWT token for a challenge deployment

Admin Endpoints

• GET /admin/zync_config - Configuration page for Instancer URL and JWT secret
• GET /admin/zync_dashboard - Admin dashboard for monitoring and managing deployments
• GET /admin/zync_token - Generate admin JWT token for API access
• POST /admin/zync_status_token - Generate status token for specific challenge

The frontend communicates directly with the Galvanize Instancer at the configured URL.

Configuration

Environment Variables

• ZYNC_DEPLOYER_URL - URL to the Galvanize Instancer API (e.g., https://instancer.example.com)
• ZYNC_JWT_SECRET - Shared secret for JWT token signing/verification

These variables are loaded once at plugin startup and stored in the database. If both environment variables and database values exist, environment variables take precedence.

Admin Dashboard

Access the dashboard at /admin/zync_dashboard to:

• Monitor error deployments with real-time status updates
• View all team deployments with filtering capabilities
• Retry failed deployments
• Terminate or delete problematic instances
• Reload challenge index from Galvanize Instancer
• Track deployment durations and statuses

The dashboard auto-refreshes error deployments every 10 seconds and team deployments every 60 seconds.

Version

Current version: 0.4.0

See CHANGELOG.md for detailed version history.