Josh Siviour
9f349e86ca
* feat(eks): expose NVIDIA GPUs to pods via CDI device plugin GPU nodegroups now label workers nvidia.com/gpu.present=true and taint them nvidia.com/gpu=present:NoSchedule (via a k3s config.yaml.d drop-in, since k3s has no K3S_NODE_TAINT env), and stage a hidden nvidia-device-plugin addon that addon-sync renders into the K3s auto-deploy dir. The device plugin runs with --device-list-strategy=cdi-cri and is gated to GPU nodes by nodeSelector + toleration, advertising nvidia.com/gpu allocatable so pods land on GPU nodes and get the device injected via the CDI spec baked by mulga-cdi-generate. Relies on containerd 2.0.5 default enable_cdi=true (no config fork). * fix(vm): scale QMP greeting deadline for VFIO passthrough guests A GPU passthrough guest (-device vfio-pci + large -m) must lock and DMA-map its entire guest RAM through the IOMMU before QEMU's QMP monitor answers, which exceeds the fixed 30s greeting deadline and gets the VM SIGKILLed at launch. Parameterize the greeting timeout (NewQMPClientWithGreetingTimeout) and scale it to 180s for VMs with GPU attachments; plain VMs keep the 30s default and reconnects against an already-running QEMU keep it too. * fix(eks): register GPU workers reliably and expose GPUs to pods Three fixes let a GPU nodegroup worker boot, register, and advertise its GPU: - k3s-agent.service gains Delegate=yes (plus KillMode/TasksMax/limits and overlay/br_netfilter modprobe): k3s embeds containerd+kubelet in-process, so on cgroup-v2 the kubelet cannot create /kubepods without a delegated subtree and ContainerManager.Start fails before Node registration. - The GPU node label rides a k3s config drop-in (20-gpu.yaml node-label + node-taint) instead of K3S_NODE_LABEL, which k3s ignores; without the label the nvidia-device-plugin nodeSelector never matches. - Raise the nodegroup ready timeout to 20m for the ~7min GPU first boot. Adds the GPU e2e (VPC + NAT-GW egress harness) and a slog-restore unit test. * fix(eks): install ecr-credential-provider on the GPU node AMI The GPU worker's kubelet is started (from nodegroup userdata) with --image-credential-provider-config + --image-credential-provider-bin-dir= /usr/local/bin, but the eks-node-gpu AMI never built or installed the ecr-credential-provider binary. kubelet treats a referenced-but-missing provider binary as a fatal RegisterCredentialProviderPlugins error, so the node crash-loops and never registers (while the Alpine eks-node worker, which ships the binary, joins fine). Build + install it in the GPU manifest; the server-only binaries stay omitted since GPU nodes are agent-only. Also tee k3s-agent stderr (and its embedded kubelet klog) to the serial console: Ubuntu logs only to journald, which is off-box-invisible on a worker in an isolated customer VPC, so a kubelet that fails to register left no trace. * fix(eks): give the nvidia-device-plugin its own GPU access The CDI-mode device plugin (--device-list-strategy=cdi-cri) must run nvml.Init and generate the CDI spec in its own container, but the DS had no GPU wiring, so nvml.Init crash-looped and nvidia.com/gpu was never advertised. Run the DS under the k3s-auto-configured nvidia runtimeClass with NVIDIA_VISIBLE_DEVICES/CAPABILITIES=all, the host root mounted read-only at /driver-root so it can locate the driver libs + ld.so.cache, and /var/run/cdi mounted writable so the generated spec is visible to containerd. No enable_cdi drop-in is needed on k3s v1.32.5 / containerd 2.0.5. GPU workload pods still need only resources.limits nvidia.com/gpu. Live-validated end-to-end on the single-GPU host (RTX A1000): baked control-plane AMI, GPU nodegroup, nvidia.com/gpu allocatable, nvidia-smi pod, zero manual intervention. * test(ec2): drop obsolete restoreSlogDefault test Rebased onto dev, which dropped the restoreSlogDefault workaround in #506 (viperblock no longer mutates the global slog). The test referenced the now-deleted helper and no longer compiles. Real GPU/registration diff is independently covered (diff coverage 95.3%).
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.