Josh Siviour
9d662f9889
* feat: bake aws-ebs-csi-driver addon + mdev by-id bridge Add the aws-ebs-csi-driver entry (v1.40.1) to the eks addon catalog and ship its baked manifests (RBAC, IRSA-wired controller, node DaemonSet, default gp3 StorageClass) under the eks-node image. The node plugin locates EBS volumes via /dev/disk/by-id, which busybox mdev does not populate. Add mulga-ebs-byid: an mdev rule + helper that symlinks nvme-Amazon_Elastic_Block_Store_<serial> from the virtio-blk serial, plus a boot oneshot that points the kernel hotplug helper at mdev and coldplugs volumes present at boot. * test: e2e EBS CSI volume — PVC bind + mount + reschedule survival Add a TestEKS/EBSCSIVolume subtest that installs the aws-ebs-csi-driver managed addon bound to an IRSA role, provisions a default gp3 PVC + pod, and asserts a marker written by the first pod survives a reschedule onto a fresh pod backed by the same PVC. Exercises the full data path: CreateVolume(Viperblock)/AttachVolume virtio-blk hotplug with serial set to the volume-id, mdev /dev/disk/by-id symlink, and ext4 mount. * feat: eks-node provider-id + topology/instance-type labels for EBS CSI mulga-eks-provider-id boot oneshot writes a K3s config.yaml.d drop-in from IMDS before K3s starts: kubelet provider-id plus the region, zone and instance-type node labels. The aws-ebs-csi-driver node plugin reads this metadata for NodeGetInfo (instance id from providerID, region/zone from topology labels, instance type for the volume-limit family lookup). k3s runs no AWS cloud-provider so none of it is set otherwise, which left the node plugin's metadata init failing, NodeGetInfo panicking in IsNitroInstanceType, and the CSINode carrying no topology key. Wire the service into the image manifest (INSTALL_FILES + ENABLE_SERVICES) and chmod it in setup. * test: e2e EBS CSI controller IRSA policy + failure diagnostics awsgw enforces IAM on assumed-role EC2 calls, so the controller's CreateVolume/AttachVolume need a permission policy on the IRSA role. Attach a customer-managed EC2 policy (AWS-managed ARNs are opaque and grant nothing) covering the EBS CSI action set; CreateVolume then succeeds. Add an OnFailure dump of the CSI control path (provisioner and plugin logs, pvc/pod describe, events, csinode) to the EBSCSIVolume subtest so provisioning/attach failures are diagnosable post-teardown. * feat: EBS CSI obeys control-plane taint; e2e worker nodegroup Drop the CriticalAddonsOnly/NoExecute tolerations from the EBS CSI controller + node manifests so the driver runs only on customer worker nodes, never the system control-plane VM. The e2e creates a 1-node worker nodegroup and the writer/reader pods drop their CP tolerations so the customer-owned volume attaches in the customer space. * fix: EBS CSI attach — decouple hotplug PCIe port from device name; iothread rollback virtio-blk-pci hot-plug bus was derived from the AWS device-name letter (/dev/sd[f-p]); the EBS CSI driver sends arbitrary names (/dev/xvdaa) that map to no slot, so device_add fell back to pcie.0 — which rejects hot-plug — and the attach hung. A failed attach also left the per-volume iothread object behind, so every retry died on object-add 'duplicate property'. nextHotplugEBSPort allocates the lowest free hotplug-ebs port from live query-block state, independent of the device name. delIothreadBestEffort removes the iothread on every attach rollback path. * fix: EBS CSI node discovery — un-shadow mdev by-id rule, mint nvme link Alpine eks-node runs busybox mdev (no eudev), which stops at the first matching /etc/mdev.conf rule. setup.sh appended the mulga-ebs-byid rule after the stock 'vd[a-z].* -> persistent-storage' line, so it never fired on hot-attach: only /dev/disk/by-id/virtio-<serial> was created, while the upstream aws-ebs-csi-driver resolves nvme-Amazon_Elastic_Block_Store_<volid>. Swap the stock vd* rule in place to route through mulga-ebs-byid, which now delegates to persistent-storage (preserving stock links) before minting the nvme-style link the node plugin expects. * test: EKS e2e — NAT Gateway egress for private worker nodegroup The customer-VPC worker is private; AttachIGW programs no SNAT (mirrors AWS: an IGW serves only public-IP instances), so an IGW-only fixture left the worker unable to reach the public NLB endpoint or pull public CSI images — the nodegroup never joined. createWorkerEgress now builds the real topology: an IGW-fronted public subnet hosting a NAT Gateway, with the worker subnet default-routed to it. Associating the worker route table triggers the subnet-wide SNAT egress reroute. Teardown drains the NAT Gateway before releasing the public subnet + EIP it pins.
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.