# Install flintrock with Homebrew Tool for launching Apache Spark clusters. Version 2.1.0 via Homebrew; verified 2026-04-21. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:flintrock ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install flintrock ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:flintrock - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Package manager page:** - **Version:** 2.1.0 - **Source summary:** Tool for launching Apache Spark clusters - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Upstream docs:** - **License:** Apache-2.0 - **Source archive:** - **Last updated:** 2026-04-21T12:09:21-07:00 - **Generated:** 2026-07-08T07:18:31+00:00 ## Executables - flintrock (cli) - flintrock (alias) ## Dependencies - cryptography - libsodium - libyaml - python@3.14 ## Build dependencies - pkgconf - rust ## Install behavior - Post-install hook: not defined - Bottle: available on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux ## Freshness - Page generated: 2026-07-08 - Package-manager version: 2.1.0 - Package-manager updated: 2026-04-21 - Local data: ok - Upstream repository: https://github.com/nchammas/flintrock - info: No cached GitHub release or tag data was available. ## Project history and usage Flintrock is a command-line tool for launching Apache Spark clusters, especially short-lived EC2 clusters for experimentation, performance testing, and automated pipelines. ### Project history The README explicitly positions Flintrock as a faster, better alternative to spark-ec2. Its motivation section says spark-ec2 made Spark accessible but had pain points around launch speed, missing config files, non-resizable clusters, and custom machine images. Flintrock developed into a Python CLI with YAML configuration, subcommands for launch, destroy, login, describe, add-slaves, remove-slaves, run-command, and copy-file, and support for current Spark and Hadoop/HDFS defaults. ### Adoption history The project README lists external talks, guides, and papers that used or discussed Flintrock, including a Spark Summit talk titled 'Flintrock: A faster, better spark-ec2'. Official install guidance centers on pipx/PyPI and GitHub releases, while the README notes Homebrew as a community-supported distribution that may be out of date. ### How it is used A typical workflow is to run flintrock configure, save EC2 and Spark defaults into config.yaml, launch a cluster, work on Spark, and destroy the cluster afterward. The README recommends IAM roles for S3 access rather than copying AWS credentials to clusters, and describes Flintrock as unsuitable for permanent infrastructure or non-Spark Hadoop services. ### Why package nerds care Flintrock is notable in package history as a CLI that wrapped a complicated cloud data workflow into a user-level package instead of a long-lived infrastructure framework. Its packaging story also shows the boundary between official Python application distribution and community package-manager formulas: the project points users to pipx for current releases and marks Homebrew as community supported. ### Timeline - 2016: Release v0.7.0 was published. - 2017: Release v0.9.0 was published. - 2020: Release v1.0.0 was published. - 2021: Release v2.0.0 was published. - 2023: Release v2.1.0 was published and standalone builds stopped after this line according to the README. ### Related projects - Flintrock is directly related to Apache Spark, Hadoop/HDFS, Amazon EC2, spark-ec2, and S3A access through Hadoop. - The README contrasts Flintrock with permanent-infrastructure tools such as Terraform, Ansible, Ubuntu Juju, Databricks, Amazon EMR, and Apache Bigtop. ### Sources - - ## Security Notes infrastructure mutation or orchestration signal. - **Geiger risk:** orange / medium - infrastructure mutation or orchestration signal ## Configuration and credential file locations These source-backed paths show where this package keeps local settings or durable credentials. Automic Vault can use them as review targets for secret scanning, migration, and command approval. ## Configuration files - Linux: $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/Flintrock/config.yaml, ~/.config/Flintrock/config.yaml - macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Flintrock/config.yaml ## Source Database Details - **Source Database:** Homebrew formula API - **Tap:** homebrew/core - **Full Name:** flintrock - **Version Scheme:** 0 - **Revision:** 1 - **Bottle Stable Root URL:** - **Deprecated:** no - **Disabled:** no - **Keg Only:** no - **URL Keys:** stable ## Related links - [Cloud CLI packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/cloud-clis/) - Belongs to a cloud or infrastructure command family. - [Source-control packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/source-control-tools/) - Belongs to a source-control command family. - [Secret-risk packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/secret-risk-packages/) - Has protected-tool coverage, approval-gate, or non-low Geiger security signals. - [Terminal utility packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/terminal-utilities/) - Matched terminal and command-line workflow metadata. - [python@3.14](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/python-3-14/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [pkgconf](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/pkgconf/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew. - [rust](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/rust/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew. - [ocm](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/ocm/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, cloud-infrastructure, cluster-management. - [clusterctl](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/clusterctl/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, cloud-infrastructure, cluster-management. - [etcd](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/etcd/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, cloud-infrastructure, cluster-management. - [k9s](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/k9s/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, cloud-infrastructure, cluster-management. - [kops](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/kops/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, cloud-infrastructure, cluster-management. - [mcp-server-kubernetes](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/mcp-server-kubernetes/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, cloud-infrastructure, cluster-management. - [opentofu](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/opentofu/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, cloud-infrastructure, provisioning. - [osdctl](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/osdctl/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, cloud-infrastructure, cluster-management. - [ansible-cmdb](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/ansible-cmdb/) - Both packages touch the same language runtime or ecosystem. Shared terms: cli, cloud, cloud-infrastructure, infrastructure, libyaml. - [aws-shell](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/aws-shell/) - Both packages touch the same language runtime or ecosystem. Shared terms: cli, cloud, cloud-infrastructure, infrastructure, libyaml. ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/flintrock.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/flintrock.yml) ## Sources - Nucleus package database - Geiger risk classifier - package-page enrichment - curated configuration and credential file locations - curated package history - package version freshness - av.db category and tag curation - package relationship graph - cross-ecosystem install command graph