better handle skipped inventories

README.md

@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ If you just want to run a single inventory snapshot across all configured vCente
 exit (no scheduler/server), use:
 
 ```shell
-vctp -settings /path/to/vctp.yml -run-inventory-once
+vctp -settings /path/to/vctp.yml -run-inventory
 ```
 
 ### Database Configuration

internal/tasks/inventorySnapshots.go

@@ -1086,9 +1086,23 @@ func (c *CronTask) captureHourlySnapshotForVcenter(ctx context.Context, startTim
 		c.Logger.Warn("failed to locate previous hourly snapshot for deletion comparison", "error", prevTableErr, "url", url)
 	}
 
+	prevSnapshotTime := int64(0)
+	if prevTableName != "" {
+		if suffix := strings.TrimPrefix(prevTableName, "inventory_hourly_"); suffix != prevTableName {
+			if ts, err := strconv.ParseInt(suffix, 10, 64); err == nil {
+				prevSnapshotTime = ts
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
 	if prevTableName != "" {
 		moreMissing := c.markMissingFromPrevious(ctx, dbConn, prevTableName, url, startTime, presentSnapshots, presentByUuid, presentByName, inventoryByVmID, inventoryByUuid, inventoryByName)
 		missingCount += moreMissing
+		// Guard against gaps: if previous snapshot is much older than expected, skip "new" detection to avoid false positives when an hourly run was missed.
+		snapshotPeriod := durationFromSeconds(c.Settings.Values.Settings.VcenterInventorySnapshotSeconds, time.Hour).Seconds()
+		if prevSnapshotTime > 0 && startTime.Unix()-prevSnapshotTime > int64(snapshotPeriod*2) {
+			c.Logger.Info("skipping new-VM detection due to gap between snapshots", "prev_table", prevTableName, "prev_snapshot_unix", prevSnapshotTime, "current_snapshot_unix", startTime.Unix())
+		} else {
 			newCount = countNewFromPrevious(ctx, dbConn, prevTableName, url, presentSnapshots)
 			if newCount > 0 {
 				newRows := listNewFromPrevious(ctx, dbConn, prevTableName, url, presentSnapshots)
@@ -1102,6 +1116,7 @@ func (c *CronTask) captureHourlySnapshotForVcenter(ctx context.Context, startTim
 				}
 				c.Logger.Info("new VMs since previous snapshot", "prev_table", prevTableName, "count", newCount, "names", names)
 			}
+		}
 		c.Logger.Debug("compared with previous snapshot", "prev_table", prevTableName, "new_since_prev", newCount, "missing_since_prev", missingCount)
 	} else {
 		// No previous snapshot found (or lookup failed).

main.go

@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ const fallbackEncryptionKey = "5L1l3B5KvwOCzUHMAlCgsgUTRAYMfSpa"
 
 func main() {
 	settingsPath := flag.String("settings", "/etc/dtms/vctp.yml", "Path to settings YAML")
-	runInventoryOnce := flag.Bool("run-inventory", false, "Run a single inventory snapshot across all configured vCenters and exit")
+	runInventory := flag.Bool("run-inventory", false, "Run a single inventory snapshot across all configured vCenters and exit")
 	flag.Parse()
 
 	bootstrapLogger := log.New(log.LevelInfo, log.OutputText)
@@ -59,6 +59,8 @@ func main() {
 	)
 	s.Logger = logger
 
+	logger.Info("vCTP starting", "build_time", buildTime, "sha1_version", sha1ver, "go_version", runtime.Version(), "settings_file", *settingsPath)
+
 	// Configure database
 	dbDriver := strings.TrimSpace(s.Values.Settings.DatabaseDriver)
 	if dbDriver == "" {
@@ -181,7 +183,7 @@ func main() {
 	}
 
 	// One-shot mode: run a single inventory snapshot across all configured vCenters and exit.
-	if *runInventoryOnce {
+	if *runInventory {
 		logger.Info("Running one-shot inventory snapshot across all vCenters")
 		ct.RunVcenterSnapshotHourly(ctx, logger)
 		logger.Info("One-shot inventory snapshot complete; exiting")

server/handler/vmTrace.go

@@ -83,7 +83,8 @@ func (h *Handler) VmTrace(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 				ts := time.Unix(lifecycle.CreationTime, 0).Local().Format("2006-01-02 15:04:05")
 				if lifecycle.CreationApprox {
 					creationLabel = fmt.Sprintf("%s (approx. earliest snapshot)", ts)
-					creationApprox = true
+					// dont double up on the approximate text
+					//creationApprox = true
 				} else {
 					creationLabel = ts
 				}