use-s3-rustfs

Use S3 — RustFS in a Slicer VM

RustFS is a high-performance, S3-compatible object storage server written in Rust. Use it when you need a local S3 endpoint for:

• Development and CI against S3 APIs without touching AWS
• Integration tests for tools that speak S3 (boto3, aws-cli, mc, Terraform, etc.)
• Air-gapped or sandboxed object storage
• A throwaway S3 target for benchmarks

Upstream: https://rustfs.com — docs: https://docs.rustfs.com

This skill assumes you also have use-slicer — RustFS runs inside a Slicer microVM so it's isolated and disposable.

---

TL;DR

# 1. Persistent sandbox VM, tagged so you can find it again
VM_NAME=$(slicer vm add sbox --persistent \
  --tag "workflow=rustfs" --tag "app=s3" \
  | awk '/Hostname:/ {print $2; exit}')
slicer vm ready "$VM_NAME"

# 2. Install prereqs + RustFS (non-interactive)
slicer vm exec "$VM_NAME" --uid 1000 -- \
  "sudo apt-get update -qq && sudo apt-get install -y -qq unzip curl"
slicer vm exec "$VM_NAME" --uid 1000 -- \
  "curl -sSL -o /tmp/install_rustfs.sh https://rustfs.com/install_rustfs.sh && \
   printf '1\n9000\n\n\n\n\n\n\n' | sudo bash /tmp/install_rustfs.sh"

# 3. Forward the S3 API to the host (optional — only if you want host access)
slicer vm forward "$VM_NAME" -L 9000:127.0.0.1:9000 &
slicer vm forward "$VM_NAME" -L 9001:127.0.0.1:9001 &  # web console

Service is now listening on port 9000 (S3 API) and 9001 (web console) inside the VM, with default credentials rustfsadmin / rustfsadmin and data at /data/rustfs0.

---

Why a VM?

RustFS wants to bind privileged directories (/data/rustfs0, /var/logs/rustfs) and install a systemd unit. Running it inside a disposable Slicer VM keeps your host clean, lets you snapshot/reset the storage instantly, and matches production-like deployment.

Always launch with --persistent + descriptive --tags so the VM survives daemon restarts and can be rediscovered:

slicer vm list --json | jq -r '.[] | select(.tags.workflow=="rustfs") | .hostname'

On slicer-mac use the sbox host group explicitly. On Slicer for Linux, list groups first (slicer vm group) or omit the positional to use the default.

---

Installation details

The official installer is interactive. Feed it default answers with a printf pipe:

printf '1\n9000\n\n\n\n\n\n\n' | sudo bash /tmp/install_rustfs.sh

The 1 picks "Install"; the remaining blank lines accept defaults for port, console port, data dir, access key, secret key, etc.

After install, config lives at /etc/default/rustfs:

RUSTFS_ACCESS_KEY=rustfsadmin
RUSTFS_SECRET_KEY=rustfsadmin
RUSTFS_VOLUMES="/data/rustfs0"
RUSTFS_ADDRESS=":9000"
RUSTFS_CONSOLE_ADDRESS=":9001"
RUSTFS_CONSOLE_ENABLE=true

Change keys before anything touches real data:

slicer vm exec "$VM_NAME" --uid 1000 -- \
  "sudo sed -i 's/=rustfsadmin/=$(openssl rand -hex 16)/' /etc/default/rustfs && \
   sudo systemctl restart rustfs"

Service management:

slicer vm exec "$VM_NAME" --uid 1000 -- "sudo systemctl status rustfs --no-pager"
slicer vm exec "$VM_NAME" --uid 1000 -- "sudo journalctl -u rustfs -n 50 --no-pager"

An unauthenticated GET on / returns HTTP 403 when the server is healthy — that's the AWS-compatible "no anonymous access" response, not a failure.

---

Talking to it with boto3

Endpoint http://127.0.0.1:9000 (inside the VM, or via port-forward from the host):

import boto3

s3 = boto3.client(
    "s3",
    endpoint_url="http://127.0.0.1:9000",
    aws_access_key_id="rustfsadmin",
    aws_secret_access_key="rustfsadmin",
    region_name="us-east-1",
)

s3.create_bucket(Bucket="demo")
s3.put_object(Bucket="demo", Key="hello.txt", Body=b"hello\n")
print(s3.get_object(Bucket="demo", Key="hello.txt")["Body"].read())

Notes for S3 clients:

• Always pass endpoint_url — without it boto3 hits real AWS.
• region_name is required by the SigV4 signer, but RustFS ignores the value.
• Use path-style addressing for CLI tools (--endpoint-url ... --addressing-style path) — virtual-host style requires DNS for every bucket.
• No HTTPS by default. For TLS, terminate in front (nginx/caddy) or configure RustFS's TLS options.

aws-cli

aws --endpoint-url http://127.0.0.1:9000 \
    --no-verify-ssl s3 mb s3://demo
aws --endpoint-url http://127.0.0.1:9000 \
    s3 cp ./file.txt s3://demo/

Credentials via env: AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=rustfsadmin AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=rustfsadmin.

MinIO client (mc)

mc alias set rustfs http://127.0.0.1:9000 rustfsadmin rustfsadmin
mc mb rustfs/demo
mc cp ./file.txt rustfs/demo/

---

Web console

The console at port 9001 is a browser UI for browsing buckets, users, and policies. Forward it:

slicer vm forward "$VM_NAME" -L 9001:127.0.0.1:9001 &
open http://127.0.0.1:9001    # macOS

Log in with the same access/secret key.

---

Testing from inside the VM

Prefer running tests in-VM — zero network hops and no port-forward juggling:

slicer vm exec "$VM_NAME" --uid 1000 -- \
  "pip3 install --quiet --break-system-packages boto3"
slicer vm cp ./rustfs_test.py "$VM_NAME":/tmp/rustfs_test.py --uid 1000
slicer vm exec "$VM_NAME" --uid 1000 -- "python3 /tmp/rustfs_test.py"

---

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Cause / fix
curl http://127.0.0.1:9000/ returns 403	Healthy — S3 requires auth; not a failure
Installer hangs on "Please choose an option"	Script is interactive. Pipe printf '1\n9000\n\n\n\n\n\n\n' in.
boto3: InvalidAccessKeyId	Keys in /etc/default/rustfs were changed; restart service after edit
boto3: Could not connect to endpoint	Port forward not running, or daemon down (systemctl status rustfs)
CreateBucket fails with signature error	Virtual-host addressing against 127.0.0.1; switch to path-style
Data appears lost after VM delete	You deleted the persistent VM. Snapshot via slicer vm suspend or export disk first.

---

Reset / teardown

# Wipe just the data, keep the VM
slicer vm exec "$VM_NAME" --uid 1000 -- \
  "sudo systemctl stop rustfs && sudo rm -rf /data/rustfs0/* && sudo systemctl start rustfs"

# Uninstall RustFS, keep the VM
slicer vm exec "$VM_NAME" --uid 1000 -- "printf '2\n' | sudo bash /tmp/install_rustfs.sh"

# Nuke the whole VM
slicer vm delete "$VM_NAME"