Josh Siviour
4793b5ac09
* fix(eks-node): stop the DHCP MTU overriding the pinned link MTU
Pinning eth0 to 1320 was never enough. This image runs dhcpcd, which
honours DHCP option 26 and stamps the advertised MTU onto every route it
installs:
default via 10.32.101.1 dev eth0 proto dhcp src 10.32.101.7 \
metric 1002 mtu 1442
Linux prefers a route's MTU metric over the device MTU, so the node kept
advertising an MSS derived from 1442 while the real path MTU through the
NAT gateway is 1408. Small packets pass and full-MSS inbound segments —
a TLS ServerHello with its certificate chain, image layers — are
silently dropped. It presents as `net/http: TLS handshake timeout` on
image pulls, not as anything MTU-shaped, and it only affects the host
netns, so containerd pulls fail while pod traffic sized off cni0 is
fine. Per-destination PMTU exceptions expiring in and out of the route
cache made it look intermittent and host-specific.
Three changes, innermost first:
- dhcpcd.conf gets `nooption interface_mtu`, so no lease can stamp a
route MTU. mulga-vpc-mtu is the single source of truth for the MTU
of these nodes.
- mulga-vpc-mtu re-stamps any route that already carries a different
MTU, covering an image built before this fix or a dhcpcd already
running. Routes with no MTU metric inherit the device MTU and are
left alone.
- the subnet DHCP option drops 1442 to 1408. 1442 is geneve-only and
ignores the IPsec ESP overhead on the NAT egress path, so it
overstates the usable MTU for every guest, not just these nodes.
Also corrects the header comment, which claimed Alpine's udhcpc ignores
option 26 — this image runs dhcpcd, which honours it. That wrong premise
is why the route metric was never considered.
Adds a stubbed-`ip` test covering the rewrite, the dev token that
`ip route show dev X` omits, idempotency, and routes without an MTU
metric.
* fix(eks): sweep the CP VPC by identity so teardown can finish
DeleteClusterCPVPC finds the managed control-plane VPC's subnets and SGs
by role tag. A create that fails partway — the first control-plane
server failing to launch, say — leaves resources behind that never got
tagged, so the sweep cannot see them.
DeleteVpc rejects while any subnet or non-default SG remains, and
teardown is re-driven on a timer, so the cluster sits in DELETING
forever retrying the same doomed delete every couple of minutes:
eks-deleting: re-driving wedged DELETING teardown cluster=toc
eks-deleting: re-drive teardown failed
err="delete managed CP VPC: eks: delete cp vpc vpc-...: DependencyViolation"
Nothing converges: the cluster name cannot be reused and terraform's
delete wait can never pass. Observed on env19, wedged for ~11 hours
until this change went in, at which point the next re-drive cleared it.
After the tagged sweep, clear anything still in the VPC scoped by
vpc-id: subnets, and non-default SGs (the default SG goes with the VPC
cascade). Teardown had no SG surface, so CPVPCDeps gains an optional SG
provisioner — nil is tolerated, since only teardown uses it.
* chore: pin viperblock + predastore to the merged storage fixes
viperblock f8cfd77 (#42) makes read-modify-write atomic per block,
removing the lost update that silently reverted a 4096-byte block to a
previous generation of itself. Confirmed as the env19 corruption cause
by an A/B: the pre-fix build corrupted image layers within ~15 minutes
(failed to extract layer / invalid tar header / unpigz: corrupted) while
the fixed build ran 5+ hours clean, absorbing 6407 same-block RMW
conflicts on the worker root disks.
predastore c0a90d2 (#63) batches FSM.Restore. Without it, any predastore
restart on a store whose metadata set outgrew one badger transaction
fails with "Txn is too big to fit into one request" on every node at
once, taking the metadata plane — and with it the AMI catalogue and
cluster creation — down permanently.
Both were verified in the built artifact rather than from go.mod alone:
go version -m reports the new pseudo-versions, and the rmw_conflicts
counter plus the batched-restore error strings are present in the
binary. Pinning by go.mod while the submodule pointer says otherwise is
how an earlier analysis ended up reading dead code.
* test: record the corrected DHCP MTU in the kitchen-sink golden
The NB golden pins the DHCP options published per subnet, including the
advertised MTU. Dropping the subnet option from 1442 to 1408 changes
what the reconciler writes, so the golden diverged and the live scenario
test failed — the test doing exactly its job.
Regenerated with UPDATE_GOLDEN=1. The diff is only mtu:1442 -> mtu:1408
on the two subnet DHCP records; nothing else in the snapshot moves.
What is Spinifex? · Platform · Deploy · AWS services · Components · Architecture · Installation · Docs
Spinifex: the open, AWS-compatible cloud you run yourself
Spinifex, built by Mulga, recreates the AWS services your software already uses (EC2, EBS, S3, VPC, IAM) on infrastructure you control. Move workloads off the hyperscalers, run AI at a fraction of the cost, or take the cloud to the edge, without rewriting a line. The exact build you ship to AWS, Spinifex serves on your own hardware: same APIs, same Terraform, same SDKs.
What is Spinifex?
Spinifex is an open-source infrastructure platform that recreates the AWS service surface (EC2, EBS, S3, VPC, IAM) on bare-metal, edge, and on-premises environments. Run cloud-native software without a hyperscaler.
Most AWS alternatives wrap an API and call it a cloud. We rebuilt the engineering underneath: distributed object storage with erasure coding, block storage built to survive failure, and compute on bare metal. That depth is the reason your software runs unchanged, instead of rewritten.
It's built for teams that need:
- The AWS tooling they already use (AWS CLI, SDKs, Terraform), with nothing to rewrite
- Full control of the stack: your hardware, your network, your data, your keys
- A cloud that keeps running offline, through disconnection, with no external control plane
- An open core (AGPL-3.0), auditable and yours to keep, with no lock-in
You change where your software runs, not what it is.
The Platform
From commodity hardware up to unmodified AWS tooling, every layer is replaceable and yours to own.
Three ways to deploy
One AWS-compatible surface, three deployment shapes. Pick the one that matches your reality; the platform on top is the same.
Neocloud
Lift and shift onto a partner Neocloud. Move workloads off the hyperscalers and onto our Neocloud partner ecosystem without rewriting them. GPU capacity (H100 / H200 / B200), cheaper, available now. Change an endpoint, keep the software.
On-premise
Bring your own hardware and host Spinifex in your own data centre. A real multi-node HA cluster integrated with your storage and networking, with full control of stack, data, and jurisdiction. A predictable bill, no egress surprises, an auditable open-source core.
Edge
Cloud where the cloud can't reach. Air-gapped sites, vehicles, vessels, factories, and clinics. Compute next to the data, running through disconnection, on hardware you own. The same AWS APIs your software already uses.
AWS compatibility
Speak the AWS API surface, natively. The AWS SDKs, AWS CLI, and Terraform: everything you deploy on AWS deploys on Spinifex unchanged. At the edge, on-premise, or on a partner Neocloud.
| Service | What it is | Status |
|---|---|---|
| EC2 | Compute | Available |
| EBS | Block storage | Available |
| S3 | Object storage | Available |
| VPC | Networking | Available |
| IAM | Identity & auth | Available |
| ALB / NLB | Load balancers | Available |
| EKS | Kubernetes | Available |
| ECR | Container registry | Available |
| ECS | Container service | Available |
| RDS | Databases | Q3 2026 |
Roadmap items (Q3 2026) ship under the same AWS API surface. Code written for AWS today keeps working the moment they land. Track what's shipped in the release notes.
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.
Just systemd units, a NATS cluster, and your hardware. Deep dive:
docs/DESIGN.md.
Key Features
- AWS-compatible APIs. Use the AWS CLI, SDKs, and Terraform you already know. Repoint your endpoint and ship; nothing to rewrite.
- Zero cloud dependency. Runs entirely on your hardware. No phone-home, no control plane, no external authority. Works fully offline.
- Bare-metal compute. QEMU-based with direct hardware access. No hypervisor tax, no abstraction overhead.
- Built-in storage. Block and object storage included: NVMe caching, Reed-Solomon erasure coding, and replication out of the box.
- Edge-first architecture. Designed for disconnected, contested, and resource-constrained environments from day one.
- Open core, no lock-in. AGPL-3.0 with a commercial option. Inspect it, modify it, deploy it. The platform is yours to keep.
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.