Reddwarf: Rust-Based Single-Binary Kubernetes Control Plane

Inspect the pilot's core resources with kubectl.

A Kubernetes-compatible control plane, native illumos node and OCI tools in Rust. Standard API resource versions use a durable ordered journal; DAG history stays internal.

The owner's architecture contract requires native Kubernetes/kubelet interoperability, OCI images and Rust production tools. The experimental external Talos bridge and raw zone-image pilot do not fulfill that contract. The direct integration and OpenIndiana-only OCI walkthrough are the current demonstration milestone for Saturday, October 10, 2026.

Project Status

The API, storage/versioning, scheduler, single-node agent, zone adapters, heartbeat, probes, service networking, DNS, TLS, scoped API identity and disabled SMF service definition are implemented, including separate control-plane/worker modes and supervised component health. RedDwarf is experimental: native image/process acceptance and native zone/network acceptance remain prerequisites for hosting real workloads.

Native build, API/TLS, two-worker transport and lifecycle smoke checks run on OpenIndiana. See the cluster foundation and acceptance sequence for the implementation backlog, deployment constraints, and exact native checks. The API smoke exercises a real server with temporary storage; mock zone tests do not establish real zone execution.

See the OpenIndiana OCI walkthrough for the Saturday, October 10 demonstration and official kubelet acceptance for interoperability. The earlier CI runner demonstration retains historical evidence.

The next native target is node03 replacing its stor02 VM. Worker resource reservations account for the VM and host services while they coexist during migration.

Architecture

reddwarf/
├── crates/
│   ├── reddwarf-core/          # ✅ Core K8s types & traits
│   ├── reddwarf-storage/       # ✅ redb storage backend
│   ├── reddwarf-versioning/    # ✅ DAG-based versioning
│   ├── reddwarf-apiserver/     # ✅ Axum REST API server
│   ├── reddwarf-scheduler/     # Pod scheduler
│   └── reddwarf/               # serve / agent / control-plane / worker CLI
└── tools/native-smoke.py        # Process-level API/TLS smoke

Building

# Build all crates
cargo build --workspace

# Run all tests
cargo test --workspace

# Run clippy
cargo clippy --workspace -- -D warnings

# Build release binary
cargo build --release

Next Cluster Milestones

1. Implemented: one authoritative control plane with independent workers (usage).
2. Implemented: supervised component lifecycle and live readiness (behavior).
3. Digest-pinned local native images and supervised processes (contract and acceptance).
4. Owned service networking and cross-node reachability.
5. Implemented: authenticated cluster API and worker enrollment.
6. Disabled SMF packaging and a real CI/runner pilot.

See cluster-foundation.md for dependencies and exit criteria. The remaining milestones and end-to-end deployment acceptance are pending.

Key Features

• Rust tools and daemons: Native execution uses a narrowly scoped illumos contract FFI helper
• Portable: Supports x86_64, ARM64, illumos
• redb Storage: Fast, ACID-compliant storage with MVCC
• DAG Versioning: Advanced resource versioning with conflict detection
• Type-Safe: Leverages Rust's type system for correctness
• Rich Errors: miette diagnostics for user-friendly error messages

License

MPL-2.0. See LICENSE.