Josh Siviour
1e1d2f3c6d
* ci: GPU e2e workflow on ci-gpu self-hosted runner Runs tests/e2e/gpu (EC2/ECS/EKS GPU passthrough) against the persistent, hand-bootstrapped wattle shared host, driven over SSH by a banksia runner labelled ci-gpu (matches the ci-single/ci-multi convention) — no runner installed on the shared box. - runs-on [self-hosted, ci-gpu]; concurrency ci-gpu, cancel-in-progress false (single A1000 = single-flight, queue not stomp) - workflow_dispatch + GPU-path filter (not every push) - manual-work mutex gate (~/.ci-gpu-paused / CI_GPU_PAUSED) so hands-on GPU testing blocks CI - if: always() cleanup terminates launched GPU instances; never resets the box (no setup-ovn.sh/dev-reset/cluster-reset) - drives the control plane with spx + the already-configured aws spinifex profile directly (no wrapper scripts, nothing to install on wattle) * ci(gpu-e2e): advisory AMI preflight, fail only if zero GPU AMIs The suite is self-guarding — each test skips when its AMI is absent. The hard-fail on the base ubuntu GPU AMI blocked the whole run even when the ECS GPU AMI (the only one imported) could execute. Inventory the AMIs and fail only when none are present. * ci(gpu-e2e): self-provision base GPU AMI, hard-require it in preflight The GPU E2E workflow was green-because-skipped: with no GPU AMIs imported the self-guarding suite skipped every test, passing as a false green. Make the raw-EC2 GPU passthrough test the always-on baseline. - Add an import-if-absent setup step that pulls the prebuilt base GPU image from the catalog by name (ubuntu-26.04-nvidia-gpu-x86_64), naming the AMI exactly what tests/e2e/gpu filters for. Idempotent; caches on wattle's persistent loop-fs. Runs spx under sg spinifex (local storage write). - Preflight now hard-requires the base AMI (fail, not skip) so a silent import failure can't pass as green; ECS/EKS node AMIs stay opt-in warn. - Reconcile the local build path: ubuntu-gpu-nvidia.conf AMI_NAME and launch-gpu.sh's nvidia default now use the same canonical name, so a locally built+imported image also satisfies the suite. * ci(gpu-e2e): pass --ami-name on base GPU import so the AMI name matches spx admin images import --name selects the catalog entry but names the resulting AMI generically (ami-<distro>-<version>-<arch>), so the import landed as ami-ubuntu-26.04-x86_64 and the tests/e2e/gpu name filter never matched. Pass --ami-name ubuntu-26.04-nvidia-gpu-x86_64 explicitly (same flag build-system-image.sh uses) and poll briefly for availability. * fix(network,vm): reconcile auto-assigned public-IP NAT + scale VFIO QMP timeout Auto-assigned public IPs were never carried through the network reconciler. applyEIPs ran AddEIP + ensureGuestPortDatapath for user EIPs only; auto-assigned IPs (intent.Ports[].PublicIP) got egress exemption but no NAT re-assert and no gatewayLRP->guest convergence. Their dnat_and_snat was created once at RunInstances and never touched, so a vpcd/OVN rebuild dropped it and the guest-port hop never converged: inbound DNATs at the gateway but never reaches the guest (TCP/SSH dark) while ICMP is answered by the gateway LR (ping OK). floatingIPSpecs now folds every auto-assigned/ELB public IP into the same AddEIP + guest-port convergence path as user EIPs (deduped by private IP; a user EIP wins), making the datapath self-healing across reconcile ticks and deploys. qmpGreetingTimeout for VFIO guests now scales with guest RAM (base 30s + 8s/GiB, floored at 180s, capped at 600s) instead of a flat 180s, so a large guest is not SIGKILLed mid-pin while the whole guest RAM is IOMMU-locked before QMP answers. * fix(vm): scale QMP handshake command deadline for VFIO launches The greeting timeout scaling alone did not fix the VFIO launch SIGKILL: a GPU guest sends its QMP greeting before the RAM pin completes, then cannot service qmp_capabilities until the pin finishes. sendQMPCommand hardcoded a 30s response deadline, so the handshake decode timed out (~43s for a 16 GiB g5.xlarge) and the launch cleanup SIGKILLed a QEMU that would have come up. Parameterize the command deadline (sendQMPCommandWithTimeout); the handshake now uses the RAM-scaled qmpGreetingTimeout (base 30s + 8s/GiB, floor 180s, cap 600s) for qmp_capabilities. Other callers keep the 30s default. * test(gpu-e2e): share one GPU instance across passthrough subtests to avoid mid-suite IP recycle
What is Spinifex? · Platform · Components · Architecture · Installation · Docs
Spinifex: An Open Source AWS-Compatible Stack for Bare-Metal, Edge, and On-Prem Deployments
Spinifex developed by Mulga Defense Corporation is an open source infrastructure platform that brings the core services of AWS—like EC2, VPC, EBS, and S3—to environments where running in the cloud isn't an option. Whether you're deploying to edge sites, private data-centers, or need to operate in low-connectivity or highly contested environments, Spinifex gives you AWS-style workflows on your own hardware.
What is Spinifex?
Spinifex replicates essential AWS primitives—virtual machines, block volumes, and object storage—using lightweight, self-contained components that are easy to deploy and integrate.
It's designed for developers and operators who need:
- Cloud-like infrastructure without the cloud
- Minimal dependencies, full control
- Drop-in compatibility with tools like the AWS CLI, SDKs, and Terraform
- A secure cloud environment you control and own the entire hardware, network and software stack
You can run Spinifex on a few servers in a rack, a field site, or anywhere centralized cloud services aren't feasible.
The Platform
From commodity hardware up to unmodified AWS tooling, every layer is replaceable and yours to own.
Core Components
Spinifex (Compute Service – EC2 Alternative)
Spinifex is a minimal VM orchestration layer built on top of QEMU, exposing APIs similar to EC2. It manages lifecycle operations like start, stop, and terminate, using QEMU's QMP interface. Designed to be straightforward and scriptable, Spinifex lets you launch VMs using the AWS CLI, SDKs, or Terraform—without needing Kubernetes or heavyweight orchestrators. Keep in mind, you can also setup a Kubernetes environment using Spinifex with underlying instances.
- EC2-like VM management on bare metal
- Launches with cloud-init metadata support
- Works with standard AWS tooling
Viperblock (Block Storage – EBS Alternative)
Viperblock is a high-performance, WAL-backed block storage service that replicates volumes across multiple nodes. It's built for reliability and speed, with support for snapshots, recovery, and direct connection to QEMU instances using NBD or virtio-blk.
- Fast, durable virtual disks
- Replication for resilience
- Exposed over NBD or embedded in VMs
- Supports high performance WAL logs using local NVMe drives to reduce IO traffic to S3.
- In memory read/write block cache for blazing performance.
Predastore (Object Storage – S3-Compatible)
Predastore is a fully S3-compatible object storage system. It supports the AWS S3 API, including Signature V4 authentication, multipart uploads, and Terraform provisioning. Data is chunked and distributed across nodes using Reed-Solomon erasure coding, making it fault-tolerant and ideal for large-scale or low-bandwidth scenarios.
- S3-compatible API and auth
- Multipart uploads, streaming reads/writes
- Data redundancy with Reed-Solomon encoding
Architecture at a Glance
Every AWS API call is authenticated at the gateway, published to a NATS subject, and answered by whichever daemon claims it. Daemons are stateless — scale horizontally by starting more. No etcd, no Kubernetes, no external control plane. Deep dive: docs/DESIGN.md.
Key Features
AWS-Compatible Interfaces – Provision infrastructure with awscli, Terraform, or SDKs you already use.
- Designed for Control – Run on your own terms, whether that's in a datacenter, remote site, or sensitive environment.
- Minimal Dependencies – Each service is standalone and avoids complex orchestration layers.
- Works Offline – No reliance on centralized cloud services or external networks.
- Open Source – Licensed under AGPL 3.0. Fork it, extend it, or deploy it as-is.
Installation
Installation requires an Ubuntu / Debian system. See the detailed documentation at docs.mulgadc.com for maintaining and installing Spinifex.
Bare Metal ISO
The recommended installation is a bootable x86 installer for bare-metal hardware.
curl -fLO https://iso.mulgadc.com/spinifex.iso
Follow the USB install guide to write the ISO to USB and install on your hardware. The install guide walks through the full process.
Single Node Install
The installation is straightforward to set up and running on a single node for testing purposes. Debian 13 is currently supported, additional Linux distributions are on the immediate roadmap.
Prerequisite: Linux bridge for networking.
Spinifex requires a Linux bridge configured on the host for VM networking. See the single-node install guide prerequisites for setup details.
curl -fsSL https://install.mulgadc.com | bash
sudo /usr/local/share/spinifex/setup-ovn.sh --management
sudo spx admin init --node node1 --nodes 1
sudo systemctl start spinifex.target
export AWS_PROFILE=spinifex
aws ec2 describe-instance-types
Development Setup
For a complete development environment see the Source Install documentation
Component Repositories
Spinifex coordinates these independent components:
- Predastore - S3-compatible object storage
- Viperblock - EBS-compatible block storage
Each component can be developed independently. See component-specific documentation for focused development guides.
Spinifex UI
Spinifex ships with a built-in web console — an optional alternative to the AWS CLI, SDKs, and Terraform. If you're familiar with the AWS Management Console, the Spinifex UI fills the same role: a browser-based view of your instances, volumes, buckets, VPCs, and IAM resources, without leaving your own network.
The console is served by each node on port 3000 over TLS, and becomes available as soon as spinifex.target is up:
open https://YOUR_NODE_IP:3000
- Same API, different surface. Every action in the UI is the same AWS SigV4 call the CLI makes — so RBAC, audit trails, and IAM policies apply uniformly.
- Single sign-on against your AWS credentials. Log in with the access keys from
~/.aws/credentialson the node where Spinifex is installed — no separate user database. - Self-hosted, works offline. The UI is embedded in the Spinifex binary and served from the node itself. No external CDN, no analytics calls, no cloud dependency.
For the full walkthrough — first-time TLS certificate trust, login, and feature tour — see Launching the Web UI in the cluster setup guide.
Development Philosophy
Built by Engineers, For Engineers
Spinifex is developed by experienced infrastructure engineers with deep AWS expertise, including former AWS team members who understand the intricacies of building production-grade cloud services. Our team brings decades of combined experience from AWS, enterprise infrastructure, and edge computing environments.
Real-World Experience:
- Production AWS service development and operations
- Large-scale infrastructure deployment and management
- Edge computing and resource-constrained environments
- Enterprise security and compliance requirements
AI-Assisted Development
While Spinifex is architected and implemented by experienced engineers, we leverage Claude Code (Anthropic's AI coding assistant) to accelerate certain development tasks. This approach combines human expertise with AI efficiency:
How We Use Claude Code:
- Code Generation: Boilerplate AWS API structures and handlers
- Documentation: Comprehensive development guides and API documentation
- Testing: Test case generation and validation scenarios
- Refactoring: Large-scale code restructuring and optimization
What Remains Human-Driven:
- Architecture Decisions: Core system design and scalability choices
- Security Implementation: Authentication, encryption, and threat modeling
- Performance Optimization: Real-world performance tuning and benchmarking
- Production Operations: Deployment strategies and operational procedures
This hybrid approach ensures Spinifex benefits from both proven engineering expertise and modern development acceleration, while maintaining the quality and reliability standards required for production infrastructure.
Trademarks
"AWS", "Amazon Web Services", and all related service names (EC2, EBS, S3, VPC, IAM, and others) are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. Mulga Defense Corporation and Spinifex are independent and not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Amazon.com, Inc. or Amazon Web Services, Inc. References to AWS services describe interoperability and compatibility only.
License
Spinifex is open source under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0. You're free to use, modify, and deploy it anywhere you need reliable infrastructure without depending on centralized cloud platforms.