Josh Siviour
287487a4f2
* feat(elbv2): implement ModifyListener
Adds AWS-compatible ModifyListener to the spinifex ELBv2 stack so
listeners can be edited in place — port, protocol, and default
actions — without the current delete+create dance that briefly drops
the listener from HAProxy.
- Handler interface, impl, and NATS wrapper get ModifyListener;
validation mirrors CreateListener (LB type ↔ protocol, dup-port
excluding self, target-group existence + protocol compatibility).
- Daemon subscribes to elbv2.ModifyListener on the spinifex-workers
queue and a new gateway action dispatches it.
- Frontend exposes a per-row edit button that pre-fills a dialog from
the existing listener and calls ModifyListenerCommand, replacing
the "Listeners cannot be edited" note.
- Unit + NATS round-trip + frontend tests cover the new flow.
Cert / SslPolicy / Alpn handling stays out of scope and lands with
HTTPS listener support.
* test(e2e): cover ModifyListener in lb harness
Adds an Internal_ALB_ModifyListener subtest to TestLoadBalancer that
exercises in-place listener edits end-to-end:
- Provisions tgA + tgB sharing the same app instances.
- Brings up an internal ALB with HTTP:80 → tgA, baselines round-robin.
- ModifyListener port=8090, asserts DescribeListeners shows the new
port and that probes on 8090 still round-robin — proves HAProxy is
reconciled without dropping the listener (the regression mulga-944
fixes; the frontend previously delete+created on every edit).
- ModifyListener DefaultActions → tgB, asserts traffic still flows.
Also factors a probeAtPort helper so the order JSON can target any
listener port, and updates TEST_COVERAGE.md with phase 3e.
* fix(ui): widen listener add/edit dialog so content stays inside the box
AlertDialogContent defaults to max-w-xs (20rem) which clipped the listener
form on the right edge. Use a 32rem cap with grid-cols-[minmax(0,1fr)] +
min-w-0 on the form so CSS grid tracks shrink instead of expanding to
max-content.
* test: cover ModifyListener + system instance dispatch
Lifts ModifyListener diff coverage by exercising nil/empty arn paths,
NLB protocol acceptance + rejection, protocol-only revalidation against
existing target groups, and the launcher-nats wire format error paths
(missing input, missing instance type, decode failures, no responder,
default timeout fallback).
Adds a new spinifex/daemon/daemon_system_dispatch_test.go covering
splitSubjectTail edge cases, respondWithSystem{Launch,Terminate}{Output,
OK,Error} envelope shape, handler entry points for invalid JSON and
missing instance ID, and subscribeSystemTerminate nil-conn + idempotent
re-subscribe behaviour.
Fixes the flaky TestHandleEC2DescribeInstanceTypes/NoFilter… subtest by
selecting a 2-vCPU instance type that also fits schedulable memory, so
hosts with smaller schedulableMem (CI 4 vCPU / ~13 GiB) don't pick a
16 GiB-mem type that fails allocation.
* test(e2e): wait for tgB after listener swap, not before
Spinifex health-checks only target groups wired into a listener's
HAProxy config. Waiting for tgB to report healthy before
modifyListenerDefaultTG attaches it to the listener is impossible —
the agent never probes its targets, so they stay in initial and the
2m EventuallyErr trips.
Drop the pre-swap tgB wait. After modifyListenerDefaultTG, replace
the fixed 3s sleep with WaitForTargetsHealthy on tgB (post-swap),
which is now the listener's DefaultAction.
* test(e2e): derive LB name from ARN in lbENI/deleteLB ENI filter
The ENI description filter was building the LB-name token from a
hard-coded "alb"/"nlb" template (e.g. `ELB app/lb-e2e-alb-int/<id>`),
which only matched LBs whose name happened to be `lb-e2e-alb-*` or
`lb-e2e-nlb-*`. The ModifyListener suite names its LB `lb-e2e-mod`,
so lbENI's EventuallyErr could never find the ENI and tripped after
30s. deleteLB had the same bug: sysInstanceID stayed empty and
WaitForENICleanup waited for a non-existent filter, allowing the
next suite's createLB to race the sys.micro VM reclaim.
Parse the LB name straight out of lb.ARN (penultimate path segment,
same shape createLB already relies on) so the filter matches any
caller-chosen name. Drop the now-redundant scheme arg from lbENI.
* test(e2e): poll for listener serving on new port after ModifyListener
The post-modifyListenerPort settle was a hard 3s sleep, but lb-agent
polls for new HAProxy config on a 5s tick. After the API returns, the
agent has typically not yet detected the config-hash change, so
HAProxy is still bound to the old port — every probe to the new port
RSTs and probeAtPort sees 0/0 successful.
Replace the sleep with waitForListenerServing: a polling loop that
fires 2 probes via the shared trigger client every 2s until at least
one returns a parsable instance_id, with a 60s ceiling. Factor the
trigger-and-fetch out of probeAtPort into probeOnce so the polling
helper can reuse it without the require.* asserts.
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.
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.