Josh Siviour
bfacca7789
* feat(eks): 6c AccessEntry CRUD + access-policy association
Replace the nine notImpl() AccessEntry/AccessPolicy stubs with real
KV-backed handlers (Q9, API auth mode):
- AccessEntry CRUD persisted at clusters/{name}/access-entries/{hash};
the principal ARN is hashed into the key (ARNs carry ':', illegal in
NATS KV keys) while the record keeps the plaintext ARN.
- AssociateAccessPolicy/Disassociate/ListAssociated against the four
supported AWS-managed policies; unsupported policy ARN or bad access
scope -> InvalidParameterValue.
- ListAccessPolicies returns the static supported catalogue.
- Cluster-existence gate -> ResourceNotFoundException; duplicate create
-> ResourceInUseException; node-type entries rejected until 6d.
Updates the daemon routing test for the now-implemented handlers.
* feat(eks): plumb caller principal ARN + bootstrap-creator-admin
Thread the caller's resolved IAM principal ARN from the gateway to the
EKS control plane via a new X-Principal-ARN NATS header, so CreateCluster
can mint the bootstrapClusterCreatorAdminPermissions AccessEntry (Q9):
- utils.NATSRequest takes optional extra headers; PrincipalARNHeader +
PrincipalARNFromMsg added.
- Gateway resolves the caller ARN best-effort (buildCallerARN) and passes
it down the EKS route table; only CreateCluster consumes it.
- CreateCluster signature gains callerPrincipalARN; default-true bootstrap
flag mints a system:masters entry keyed by the caller's exact ARN (the
token webhook resolves the same ARN from STS). '' degrades gracefully.
- Dedicated daemon handler reads both headers.
* feat(eks): IAM token webhook + STS verify-over-NATS + apiserver wiring
The eks-token-webhook (baked into the eks-server AMI) authenticates kubectl
requests that present an `aws eks get-token` bearer token: decode the presigned
STS GetCallerIdentity URL, verify it, resolve the principal ARN to its cluster
AccessEntry, and answer the apiserver TokenReview with the mapped username +
groups.
STS is hosted in-process in the awsgw service and is not otherwise on the bus,
so awsgw now serves an `eks.VerifyToken` NATS subject that wraps
VerifyPresignedGetCallerIdentity (the cluster name is forwarded so STS enforces
the x-k8s-aws-id anti-replay pin). The webhook reads the AccessEntry KV directly
over its own NATS connection.
Apiserver wiring: the k3s config skeleton sets
authentication-token-webhook-config-file; the webhook writes its own self-signed
serving cert + the apiserver kubeconfig at startup (ordered `before k3s`, with a
bounded wait in the k3s start_pre so the apiserver never loads a missing file).
* fix(eks): omit empty spec from token webhook TokenReview response
* fix(sts): presigned GetCallerIdentity must hash empty body, not UNSIGNED-PAYLOAD
VerifyPresignedGetCallerIdentity built the SigV4 canonical request with
"UNSIGNED-PAYLOAD" as the payload hash. That is an S3-only convention; botocore
and the aws-sdk presign non-S3 requests (sts:GetCallerIdentity, the shape `aws
eks get-token` produces) with the SHA256 of the empty string. Every real
get-token therefore failed signature verification with InvalidIdentityToken,
breaking the entire EKS IAM token-auth flow end to end.
Use the empty-string SHA256. The existing hand-rolled presign tests masked the
bug by signing with the same wrong constant; they now sign correctly, and a new
test presigns with the real aws-sdk-go v4 signer (the same canonicalisation the
CLI uses) so this can't regress silently.
Verified live: a real `aws eks get-token --cluster-name dev1` now resolves to
the caller principal over the awsgw eks.VerifyToken surface; an otherwise-valid
token presented for a different cluster is still rejected (anti-replay intact).
* fix(eks): match access-entry routes on escaped path so slashed principal ARNs resolve
IAM principal ARNs (user/admin, role/foo) embed a '/' that the AWS CLI
percent-encodes in the request path. The dispatcher matched r.URL.Path
(decoded), so %2F became a literal '/' and split the ARN across the
([^/]+) capture, dropping every describe/update/delete-access-entry and
associate/disassociate/list-access-policy call to InvalidActionException.
Match r.URL.EscapedPath() so the encoded ARN stays one segment, then
url.PathUnescape each captured param before it reaches the handler.
* test(eks): unit-cover access-entry scope validation, AWS converters, store guards
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.