Improve CTF testing orchestration scripts

[madebygps]

Summary

Improve the CTF testing scripts so the cloud validation flow is easier to maintain, safer to run, and clearer when failures happen.

Current state

The current testing flow works, but the local orchestration script has grown into a lot of Bash logic. It now handles Terraform, provider-specific values, SSH retries, setup marker checks, reboot flow, remote script copying, cleanup, and final reporting.

That is a lot of state and branching for Bash.

Proposed direction

• Keep the VM-side challenge validation shell script for now because it runs learner-like Linux commands and proves the real student experience works.
• Consider replacing the local deploy-and-test orchestration script with Python.
• Use Python to manage Terraform subprocess calls, SSH/SCP subprocess calls, retries, timeouts, reboot handling, cleanup, logging, and clearer failure reporting.
• Keep reboot testing optional instead of part of the default run.
• Later, consider moving challenge checks into structured test data, while still executing shell commands on the VM.

Why this helps

• Cleaner error handling and timeout handling.
• Easier provider-specific branching.
• More reliable cleanup behavior for paid cloud resources.
• More readable test output when a provider, setup step, or challenge fails.
• Easier future testing improvements without adding more complex Bash.

Notes

Reboot testing is useful, but should remain a deeper validation step. It is most important when changing systemd services, persistence paths, setup markers, verify state, or before a release.

[madebygps]

Update on the CTF testing skill and testing workflow:

We improved .github/skills/ctf-testing/SKILL.md so it now has two clear test modes:

• Basic test: runs the provider test without reboot.
• Full test: runs the provider test with reboot validation.

The skill now uses simple trigger examples such as Run a basic test on Azure and Run a full test on all providers. The agent workflow now keeps the mode, provider choice, command, tested behavior, cleanup expectation, and result reporting in one place.

We also trimmed CONTRIBUTING.md so contributors have the current practical guidance they need: local checks, basic and full cloud test commands, contributor-mode behavior, and short troubleshooting notes.

Manual skill test result:

Prompt used:

run a basic test on azure, the az cli is authenticated, use that subscription

Result from the skill:

RESULT: PASS (azure)

Azure basic CTF test passed using the authenticated subscription Visual Studio Enterprise Subscription. All 18 challenges passed, certificate export passed, token checks passed, and completion time freeze passed.

Cleanup completed successfully: Terraform destroyed 9 resources, and no matching test resource groups remained.

Current status: the updated skill guidance worked well for a basic Azure test, including cleanup verification.