OpenStack Qinling
OpenStack Qinling is a Function-as-a-Service (FaaS) framework for OpenStack that manages and executes functions on different container orchestration backends.
- Serverless function execution framework integrated with OpenStack (FaaS / cloud infrastructure).
- Abstracts underlying container orchestration platforms for function execution (container orchestration).
- Provides APIs to create, update, and invoke functions and manage runtime environments (developer platform).
- Integrates with other OpenStack services for authentication and multi-tenant isolation (identity and access, multi-tenancy).
- Enables event-driven workloads and on-demand function scaling within OpenStack clouds (event-driven computing).
More About OpenStack Qinling
OpenStack Qinling is a FaaS framework designed for OpenStack clouds that enables users to run functions without managing servers or full application lifecycles (serverless computing). It addresses the need for event-driven, on-demand execution of code within private or hosted OpenStack environments, aligning with patterns common in public cloud serverless platforms while remaining integrated with OpenStack identity, networking, and multi-tenancy models.
Qinling focuses on managing functions and their runtime environments and delegating actual execution to pluggable backends (container orchestration). It introduces abstractions for functions, runtimes, executions, and jobs. A runtime defines the execution environment, such as a container image, that hosts the function code. Users can upload or reference function artifacts, associate them with a runtime, and then invoke these functions via Qinling APIs or configured triggers. Qinling schedules the execution on an underlying container platform through drivers, which allows operators to choose or implement backends suited to their infrastructure.
The service exposes RESTful APIs for function lifecycle management, including create, read, update, delete, and invoke operations (developer platform). It also includes mechanisms for managing versions of functions and configuring execution parameters. Multi-tenant isolation is enforced through integration with OpenStack Keystone (identity and access), enabling authenticated, role-based access to Qinling resources and alignment with existing OpenStack projects and domains.
In enterprise and institutional environments, Qinling can support event-driven workloads, background processing, and microservice-style components that are better represented as short-lived functions rather than long-running services (application architecture). Typical use cases include data processing pipelines, asynchronous task execution, scheduled jobs, and lightweight APIs that respond to events originating from other OpenStack services or external systems, when integrated through orchestration or messaging layers.
From an architectural perspective, Qinling is positioned as an application-layer service within the OpenStack ecosystem (cloud platform services). It interacts with container orchestration platforms through pluggable drivers and relies on core OpenStack services for authentication and resource scoping. This approach allows operators to integrate Qinling into existing OpenStack-based private clouds while leveraging their chosen container engine or orchestration system. For directories and taxonomies, Qinling fits into categories such as FaaS, serverless execution framework, and OpenStack application services, with cross-linkages to identity and container orchestration domains.