MiniStack - A Free and Open-Source Local AWS Emulator

MiniStack is a comprehensive, fully open-source local AWS emulator designed to replace LocalStack, which has transitioned to a paid model. This tool provides a convenient, cost-free alternative for developers needing a local environment to test AWS-compatible applications.

Key Features

• Support for 20 AWS Services: MiniStack emulates a wide range of AWS services all accessible through a single port (4566).
• Drop-in Compatibility: Seamlessly integrates with popular tools including boto3, AWS CLI, Terraform, CDK, and Pulumi.
• Realistic Infrastructure: Launches genuine database containers for RDS, actual Redis for ElastiCache, and executes real SQL queries via Athena using DuckDB, alongside functioning Docker containers for ECS.
• Minimal Footprint: The Docker image is approximately 150MB, consuming only about 30MB of RAM when idle, significantly smaller than the LocalStack's requirements.
• Rapid Startup: Get started in under 2 seconds, enhancing productivity during development.

MiniStack is MIT licensed, permitting unrestricted use, forking, and contribution.

Quick Start Guide

To run MiniStack using Docker, execute:

# Preferred method: Pull from Docker Hub
docker run -p 4566:4566 nahuelnucera/ministack

# Alternatively, clone and build from source
git clone https://github.com/Nahuel990/ministack
cd ministack

# Initialize using Docker Compose (with Redis sidecar)
docker compose up -d

# Health check
curl http://localhost:4566/_localstack/health

Using MiniStack with AWS CLI

Configure a local AWS CLI profile and specify the endpoint:

# One-time configuration
aws configure --profile local
# Set up with credentials
# AWS Access Key ID: test
# AWS Secret Access Key: test
# Default region: us-east-1

# Commands with endpoint URL
aws --endpoint-url=http://localhost:4566 s3 mb s3://my-bucket
aws --endpoint-url=http://localhost:4566 s3 cp ./file.txt s3://my-bucket/
aws --endpoint-url=http://localhost:4566 sqs create-queue --queue-name my-queue

Boto3 Integration Example

Integrate MiniStack with the boto3 library in Python:

import boto3

def client(service):
    return boto3.client(
        service,
        endpoint_url="http://localhost:4566",
        aws_access_key_id="test",
        aws_secret_access_key="test",
        region_name="us-east-1",
    )

# Example of S3 operations
s3 = client("s3")
s3.create_bucket(Bucket="my-bucket")
s3.put_object(Bucket="my-bucket", Key="hello.txt", Body=b"Hello, MiniStack!")

MiniStack supports a variety of core and extended AWS services, allowing for comprehensive testing and development workflows without incurring costs associated with cloud services.

Conclusion

MiniStack is geared towards developers requiring a local AWS-compatible environment that is free, efficient, and easy to integrate into existing workflows. With its small image size and extensive service compatibility, it stands out as a leading choice for local AWS emulation.