Patroni

Author: Ludovic HENRY ludovic.henry@qti.qualcomm.com
Date: 2026-06-17
Scope: RISC-V (riscv64/linux) support status for Patroni
Audience: Technical leadership, resource allocation strategy
Verification policy: Every claim is cross-referenced to a primary upstream source. Items that could not be verified against a second source are marked [NEEDS VERIFICATION].

1. Project Overview

Patroni is a Python-based high-availability cluster manager for PostgreSQL. It handles automatic failover and replica promotion by coordinating through a distributed configuration store (DCS) – etcd, Consul, ZooKeeper, or a Kubernetes-native backend. It originated as a fork of the Governor project (originally by Compose), was publicly introduced by Zalando in February 2016, and has since migrated to its own GitHub organization at github.com/patroni/patroni, indicating progressive community independence from Zalando.

License: MIT. Copyright names Compose, Zalando SE, and Patroni Contributors.

Governance: Informal. No steering committee, no written governance policy, no voting process. The MAINTAINERS file lists two named maintainers:

Alexander Kukushkin (CyberDem0n), Microsoft, Berlin – primary maintainer, akukushkin@microsoft.com
Polina Bungina (hughcapet), Zalando, Berlin – polina.bungina@zalando.de

These two dominate the commit log. External contributions follow a fork-and-PR workflow with lint and test requirements but no formal reviewer SLA.

Foundation/Umbrella: None. Patroni is not a CNCF project, not a PostgreSQL Foundation project, and is not a member of the RISE Project.

Community stance on new platforms: Not documented. Given that Patroni is pure Python with no compiled code, there is no platform porting effort to have a stance on. New architecture support is implicit wherever Python 3.6+ and PostgreSQL run.

2. Port History and Upstreaming Timeline

Date	Event	Source
–	No riscv64-specific commits, issues, or PRs exist in patroni/patroni	GitHub API search: total_count 0 for “riscv” and “riscv64” across issues, PRs, and commits

No port effort exists or is needed. Patroni is pure Python. The PyPI wheel is tagged py3-none-any. No compilation step exists, so no explicit porting work was ever required or performed.

3. Upstream Support Tier

No formal platform tier policy exists. There is no PLATFORMS.md or equivalent document. As a pure-Python application with no compiled extensions, Patroni implicitly supports any architecture where Python and PostgreSQL are available.

Dimension	amd64	arm64	riscv64
CI coverage	Yes (ubuntu-22.04, windows-latest, macos-15)	Partial (macos-14/macos-15 are Apple Silicon)	None
Official binary release	py3-none-any wheel (no arch binary)	py3-none-any wheel (no arch binary)	py3-none-any wheel (no arch binary)
Distro package	Ubuntu, Debian, Arch (AUR)	Ubuntu, Debian	Ubuntu 24.04 (arch: all), Debian sid (arch: all)
Functionally supported	Yes	Yes	Yes (implicit, no testing)

4. Technical Architecture and RISC-V-Specific Subsystems

Patroni has no architecture-specific subsystems. A full recursive scan of all 333 files in the repository (121 .py files, 48 .pyi type stubs) confirmed:

Zero .c, .h, .cpp, .s, .S, or .asm files
Zero architecture-specific directories (arch/, platform/, etc.)
Zero #ifdef __riscv, #ifdef __x86_64__, or #ifdef __aarch64__ guards
No JIT compiler, no SIMD dispatch, no cryptographic assembly, no GC barriers

Component	amd64	arm64	riscv64
Core HA logic	Python	Python	Python
DCS connectors (etcd, consul, zookeeper)	Python	Python	Python
PostgreSQL control wrappers	Python	Python	Python
SIMD / native code	None	None	None
Assembly	None	None	None

No riscv64 implementation gaps exist at the Patroni layer.

5. Build System, Cross-Compilation, and Toolchain

Build system: setuptools via setup.py. Installation: pip install patroni[etcd3,consul,zookeeper,kubernetes,aws].

No cross-compilation infrastructure exists. There are no CMake files, configure scripts, or toolchain pinning. No QEMU usage is present in CI.

Dockerfile caveat: The repository Dockerfile uses dpkg --print-architecture to conditionally build confd from Go source for arm64 (no prebuilt binary) or download a prebuilt binary otherwise. For riscv64, the else branch would attempt to download a prebuilt confd binary from GitHub Releases, which does not exist for riscv64. Similarly, the Dockerfile downloads etcd 3.3.13 using the detected architecture, and no official riscv64 etcd binary exists at that version. This affects the development/testing container only, not Patroni itself.

Install path for riscv64:

# Distro path (Debian/Ubuntu riscv64 -- recommended)
sudo apt-get install python3-patroni python3-psycopg2

# pip path (requires psycopg2 source build)
sudo apt-get install python3-dev libpq-dev gcc
pip install patroni[etcd3,consul,zookeeper,kubernetes,aws]

No known build failures for the Python package itself on riscv64.

6. Feature Coverage and Gap Analysis vs arm64 and amd64

Feature	amd64	arm64	riscv64
Automatic failover and promotion	Full	Full	Full (implicit)
etcd DCS backend	Full	Full	Requires `ETCD_UNSUPPORTED_ARCH=riscv64` env var
Consul DCS backend	Full	Full	Full (pure Python client)
ZooKeeper DCS backend	Full	Full	Full (pure Python client)
Kubernetes DCS backend	Full	Full	Full (pure Python client)
Raft (pysyncobj) DCS backend	Full	Full	Full (pure Python; inherits cryptography wheel gap)
TLS support (cryptography)	Full	Full	Functional from source build; no official wheel
REST API	Full	Full	Full
AWS S3 WAL archiving	Full	Full	Full (boto3 is pure Python)

No functional gaps exist in Patroni itself on riscv64. The etcd backend requires an environment variable override flag. The cryptography dependency has no official riscv64 wheel but builds from source.

No floating-point, NaN, or numerical correctness issues apply – Patroni performs no numerical computation.

7. CI/CD Infrastructure

No riscv64 CI exists for Patroni. This was confirmed by direct inspection of all workflow files.

.github/workflows/tests.yaml: unit and behave jobs run on ubuntu-22.04, windows-latest, macos-14, macos-15. No architecture matrix, no QEMU, no riscv64 runner.

.github/workflows/jepsen.yaml: Manual dispatch only (workflow_dispatch). Runs on ubuntu-latest. No architecture matrix.

.github/workflows/release.yaml: Triggered on version tags. Runs on ubuntu-latest. Builds a py3-none-any universal wheel. No riscv64 target.

The string “riscv” does not appear in any workflow file.

CI dimension	amd64	arm64	riscv64
Unit tests	Yes (ubuntu-22.04)	Partial (macos-14/15)	No
Integration tests (behave)	Yes (ubuntu-22.04)	Partial (macos-14/15)	No
Jepsen fault injection	Yes (manual trigger)	No	No
Release wheel build	Yes	Yes (py3-none-any, same artifact)	Yes (py3-none-any, same artifact)
RISE CI runners	No	No	No

8. Distribution and Release Status

Patroni is a pure-Python package. No architecture-specific binary is published or needed anywhere.

PyPI: All releases from v0.2 through v4.1.5 use exclusively py3-none-any wheels and .tar.gz source distributions. No riscv64 wheel has ever been published and none is required. Latest version: 4.1.5, released 2026-08-12.

GitHub Releases: Confirmed via GitHub API: releases v4.1.5, v4.0.11, v4.1.4 each return "assets": [] – zero attached binary files. No architecture-specific release asset exists.

Ubuntu 24.04 Noble: patroni v3.2.2-2 is in the universe component as arch: all. Installs on riscv64 without issue. Also available: check-patroni (v1.0.0-1) and patroni-doc (v3.2.2-2).

Debian sid: patroni v4.1.5-1 is packaged as arch: all, built once on x86-csail-02. The buildd riscv64 row returns “No entry in riscv64 database,” which is expected for arch: all packages – they are not architecture-compiled. The package installs on riscv64 via the standard arch: all mechanism. Maintained by the Debian PostgreSQL Maintainers team (Michael Banck, Christoph Berg).

Arch Linux RISC-V (archriscv.felixc.at): No confirmed entry found. [NEEDS VERIFICATION]

RISE wheel builder: Patroni is not listed among packages built for riscv64. The RISE PyPI mirror for patroni redirects to upstream PyPI. This is expected – no compiled extension means no RISE wheel-building effort is needed.

User action required: pip install patroni or apt install python3-patroni. No architecture-specific steps needed for Patroni itself. Friction points lie in dependencies (see Section 9).

9. Dependencies

Dependency	Role	riscv64 Build	riscv64 Test	riscv64 Release (wheel)	Blocking Issues
PostgreSQL	Managed database (runtime dep, not Python wheel)	Builds and runs	Passes	n/a (OS package)	See `project-reports/postgresql.md`
psycopg2 / psycopg3	PostgreSQL wire driver; C extension wrapping libpq	Builds from source	psycopg3: 5 timing/signal test failures on Fedora riscv64 (closed as non-blocking)	No official wheel; source build required	psycopg/psycopg#883 (closed), psycopg/psycopg#1058 (closed)
cryptography	TLS/x509 for Raft mode; Rust + C extension	Builds from source (~8 min on SpacemiT K1)	Passes smoke tests	No official wheel – issue closed “no action until faster builders available”	pyca/cryptography#14460 (closed, no ETA); pyca/cryptography#8640 (closed, OOM on slow HW)
psutil	Process/OS metrics; C extension	Builds from source; RISE CI run succeeded (6m39s)	1 test failure (`test_page_faults_minor_increase` – minor race, not arch-specific)	No official wheel; PR rejected by maintainer	giampaolo/psutil#2714 (closed, rejected); giampaolo/psutil#2557 (open, flaky tests on uncommon arches)
PyYAML	Config file parsing; optional C extension (libyaml)	Builds from source	Passes	No official wheel; issue open	yaml/pyyaml#924 (open)
etcd (binary)	DCS backend; external binary, not a Python wheel	Builds on riscv64	Runs with env override	No official binary or Docker image	etcd-io/etcd#21509 (closed – blocked on Kubernetes Prow gaining RISC-V runners)
kazoo	ZooKeeper DCS client; pure Python	No arch issues	No arch issues	py3-none-any	None
python-etcd	etcd v2 DCS client; pure Python	No arch issues	No arch issues	py3-none-any	None
py-consul	Consul DCS client; pure Python	No arch issues	No arch issues	py3-none-any	None
pysyncobj	Raft DCS backend; pure Python	No arch binary issues	No arch test issues	py3-none-any; inherits cryptography wheel gap	Inherits cryptography#14460
boto3	AWS S3 WAL archiving; pure Python	No arch issues	No arch issues	py3-none-any	None
urllib3 / click / prettytable / python-dateutil / python-json-logger / ydiff	CLI, formatting, logging; all pure Python	No arch issues	No arch issues	py3-none-any	None

Dependency severity summary:

Severity	Dependency	Issue
Medium	cryptography	No official riscv64 wheel; closed without ETA. Source build works but takes ~8 min.
Medium	psutil	No official riscv64 wheel; maintainer declined RISE runner offer. Source build works but takes ~7 min. 1 minor test flake.
Medium	etcd	Must set `ETCD_UNSUPPORTED_ARCH=riscv64`; no official binary. Blocked on Kubernetes Prow adding RISC-V runners.
Low	PyYAML	No riscv64 wheel (issue open); source build works; libyaml C extension is optional.
Low	psycopg3	Timing-related test failures on slow riscv64 hardware; not a functionality blocker.

In-scope projects with existing reports: PostgreSQL (project-reports/postgresql.md), etcd (project-reports/etcd.md), OpenSSL (transitive dep of cryptography, project-reports/openssl.md).

11. Known Bugs and Active Issues

ID	Title	Status	Severity	Notes
–	No riscv64-specific issues exist	–	–	Confirmed by GitHub API and gh CLI searches returning total_count 0 for “riscv” and “riscv64” across all issues
#3153	Static slots make performance degradation	Closed	Low	Architecture-agnostic; resolved in a later Patroni version. No riscv64 component.

No correctness bugs, no NaN or floating-point issues, no riscv64-specific crash reports exist.

12. Objections and Upstream Blockers

No riscv64 objections or blockers exist at the Patroni layer. The project has no compiled code and no architecture-specific logic, so there is nothing for maintainers to object to or block. Patroni runs on riscv64 wherever Python 3.6+ and a working PostgreSQL binary are available.

The three residual friction points are in dependencies, not Patroni itself:

cryptography: No official riscv64 wheel. Maintainers closed the tracking issue with “no action until faster builders are available.” Source build works. No maintainer objection to riscv64 as a platform – only a build infrastructure capacity constraint.
psutil: No official riscv64 wheel. Maintainer explicitly declined the RISE offer of CI runners, citing insufficient download volume for riscv64. Source build works. This is a stated maintainer decision, not a technical blocker.
etcd: Requires ETCD_UNSUPPORTED_ARCH=riscv64 at runtime. Official riscv64 support is blocked on the Kubernetes Prow CI infrastructure gaining RISC-V runners per sig-k8s-infra policy (dedicated donated hardware required). No technical objection to riscv64.

13. Investment Analysis

RISE has no existing involvement with Patroni. The RISE wheel builder does not build Patroni and has no reason to – it is architecture-neutral. RISE efforts on cryptography and psutil are in scope but those are tracked separately.

13.1 Functional Enablement

No work required. Patroni is fully functional on riscv64 today via pip install or distro packages. The etcd backend requires a one-line environment variable override (ETCD_UNSUPPORTED_ARCH=riscv64).

13.2 Performance Optimization

Not applicable. Patroni contains no numerical, SIMD, or compute-intensive code. It is a control-plane orchestration tool. Any performance characteristics are determined entirely by PostgreSQL and the DCS backend, not by Patroni.

13.3 CI/CD Infrastructure

Adding riscv64 CI for Patroni is low-effort but delivers minimal value. Because Patroni has no native code, riscv64 CI would only exercise Python interpreter compatibility, which is already guaranteed by the py3-none-any packaging. The primary value would be integration testing Patroni against PostgreSQL and etcd on riscv64 hardware.

13.4 Ecosystem Enablement

The meaningful ecosystem work is in the dependencies: cryptography and psutil wheels, and etcd official riscv64 binaries. Those are tracked in their respective reports.

13.5 Summary Table

Area	Work Item	Effort (person-weeks)	Owner	Priority
Functional	Document `ETCD_UNSUPPORTED_ARCH=riscv64` workaround in Patroni docs	0.1	Patroni maintainers	Low
CI/CD	Add riscv64 integration test job (QEMU or hardware runner) against PostgreSQL + etcd	1-2	Patroni maintainers / RISE	Low
Functional	cryptography: publish official riscv64 wheel (tracked in cryptography report)	See cryptography report	PyCA maintainers	Medium
Functional	psutil: publish official riscv64 wheel (tracked in psutil)	See psutil report	giampaolo/psutil	Medium
Functional	etcd: add riscv64 to official release matrix (tracked in etcd report)	See etcd report	etcd maintainers / CNCF	Medium

14. Updates

No updates yet – initial report dated 2026-06-17.