[pgpool-hackers: 3893] Re: Problem with detach_false_primary/follow_primary_command

Tatsuo Ishii ishii at sraoss.co.jp
Tue May 4 13:09:23 JST 2021


In the previous mail I have explained the problem and proposed a patch
for the issue.

However the original reporter also said the problem will occur in more
complex way if watchdog is enabled.

https://www.pgpool.net/pipermail/pgpool-general/2021-April/007590.html

In summary it seems multiple pgpool nodes perform detach_false_primary
concurrently and this is the cause of the problem. I think there's no
reason to perform detach_false_primary in multiple pgpool nodes
concurrently. Rather we should perform detach_false_primary only on
the leader node. If this is correct, we also should not perform
detach_false_primary if the quorum is absent because there's no leader
if the quorum is absent. Attached is the patch to introduce the check
in addition to the v2 patch.

I would like to hear opinion from other pgpool developers on that
whether we should apply the v3 patch to existing branches. I am asking
because currently we perform detach_false_primary even if the quorum
is absent and the change may be "change of user visible behavior"
which we usually avoid on stable branches. However the current
detach_false_primary apparently does not work on the environment where
watchdog is enabled, I think patching to back branches are exceptionally
reasonable choice.

Also I have added the regression test patch.

> In the posting:
> 
> [pgpool-general: 7525] Strange behavior on switchover with detach_false_primary enabled
> 
> it is reported that detach_false_primary and follow_primary_command
> could conflict each other and pgpool goes into unwanted state. We can
> reproduce the issue by using pgpool_setup to create 3 node
> configuration.
> 
> $ pgpool_setup -n 3
> 
> echo "detach_false_primary" >> etc/pgpool.conf
> echo "sr_check_period = 1" >> etc/pgpool.conf
> 
> The latter may not be mandatory but making the streaming replication
> check frequently will reliably reproduce the problem because
> detach_false_primary is executed in the streaming replication check
> process.
> 
> The initial state is as follows:
> 
> psql -p 11000 -c "show pool_nodes" test
>  node_id | hostname | port  | status | pg_status | lb_weight |  role   | pg_role | select_cnt | load_balance_node | replication_delay | replication_state | replication_sync_state | last_status_change  
> ---------+----------+-------+--------+-----------+-----------+---------+---------+------------+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+------------------------+---------------------
>  0       | /tmp     | 11002 | up     | up        | 0.333333  | primary | primary | 0          | true              | 0                 |                   |                        | 2021-05-04 11:12:01
>  1       | /tmp     | 11003 | up     | up        | 0.333333  | standby | standby | 0          | false             | 0                 | streaming         | async                  | 2021-05-04 11:12:01
>  2       | /tmp     | 11004 | up     | up        | 0.333333  | standby | standby | 0          | false             | 0                 | streaming         | async                  | 2021-05-04 11:12:01
> (3 rows)
> 
> Execute pcp_detatch_node against node 0.
> 
> $ pcp_detach_node -w -p 11001 0
> 
> This will let the primary be in down status and this will promote node 1.
> 
> 2021-05-04 12:12:14: pcp_child pid 31449: LOG:  received degenerate backend request for node_id: 0 from pid [31449]
> 2021-05-04 12:12:14: main pid 31221: LOG:  Pgpool-II parent process has received failover request
> 2021-05-04 12:12:14: main pid 31221: LOG:  starting degeneration. shutdown host /tmp(11002)
> 2021-05-04 12:12:14: pcp_main pid 31260: LOG:  PCP process with pid: 31449 exit with SUCCESS.
> 2021-05-04 12:12:14: pcp_main pid 31260: LOG:  PCP process with pid: 31449 exits with status 0
> 2021-05-04 12:12:14: main pid 31221: LOG:  Restart all children
> 2021-05-04 12:12:14: main pid 31221: LOG:  execute command: /home/t-ishii/work/Pgpool-II/current/x/etc/failover.sh 0 /tmp 11002 /home/t-ishii/work/Pgpool-II/current/x/data0 1 0 /tmp 0 11003 /home/t-ishii/work/Pgpool-II/current/x/data1
> 
> However detach_false_primary found that the just promoted node 1 is
> not good because it does not have any follower standby node because
> follow_primary_command did not completed yet.
> 
> 2021-05-04 12:12:14: sr_check_worker pid 31261: LOG:  verify_backend_node_status: primary 1 does not connect to standby 2
> 2021-05-04 12:12:14: sr_check_worker pid 31261: LOG:  verify_backend_node_status: primary 1 owns only 0 standbys out of 1
> 2021-05-04 12:12:14: sr_check_worker pid 31261: LOG:  pgpool_worker_child: invalid node found 1
> 
> And detach_false_primary sent failover request for node 1.
> 
> 2021-05-04 12:12:14: sr_check_worker pid 31261: LOG:  received degenerate backend request for node_id: 1 from pid [31261]
> 
> Moreover every 1 second detach_false_primary tries to detach node 1.
> 
> 2021-05-04 12:12:15: sr_check_worker pid 31261: LOG:  verify_backend_node_status: primary 1 does not connect to standby 2
> 2021-05-04 12:12:15: sr_check_worker pid 31261: LOG:  verify_backend_node_status: primary 1 owns only 0 standbys out of 1
> 2021-05-04 12:12:15: sr_check_worker pid 31261: LOG:  pgpool_worker_child: invalid node found 1
> 2021-05-04 12:12:15: sr_check_worker pid 31261: LOG:  received degenerate backend request for node_id: 1 from pid [31261]
> 
> The confuses the whole follow_primary_command and in the end we have:
> 
> psql -p 11000 -c "show pool_nodes" test
>  node_id | hostname | port  | status | pg_status | lb_weight |  role   | pg_role | select_cnt | load_balance_node | replication_delay | replication_state | replication_sync_state | last_status_change  
> ---------+----------+-------+--------+-----------+-----------+---------+---------+------------+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+------------------------+---------------------
>  0       | /tmp     | 11002 | down   | down      | 0.333333  | standby | unknown | 0          | false             | 0                 |                   |                        | 2021-05-04 12:12:16
>  1       | /tmp     | 11003 | up     | up        | 0.333333  | standby | standby | 0          | false             | 0                 |                   |                        | 2021-05-04 12:22:28
>  2       | /tmp     | 11004 | up     | up        | 0.333333  | standby | standby | 0          | true              | 0                 |                   |                        | 2021-05-04 12:22:28
> (3 rows)
> 
> Of course this is totally unwanted result.
> 
> I think the root cause of the problem is, detach_false_primary and
> follow_primary_command are allowed to run concurrently. To solve the
> problem we need to have a lock so that if detach_false_primary already
> runs, follow_primary_command should wait for it's completion or vice
> versa.
> 
> For this purpose I propose attached patch
> detach_false_primary_v2.diff. In the patch new function
> pool_acquire_follow_primary_lock(bool block) and
> pool_release_follow_primary_lock(void) are introduced. They are
> responsible for acquiring or releasing the lock. There are 3 places
> where those functions are used:
> 
> 1) find_primary_node
> 
> This function is called upon startup and failover in the main pgpool
> process to find new primary node.
> 
> 2) failover
> 
> This function is called in the follow_primary_command subprocess
> forked off by pgpool main process to execute follow_primary_command
> script. The lock should be help until all follow_primary_command are
> completed.
> 
> 3) streaming replication check
> 
> Before starting verify_backend_node, which is the work horse of
> detach_false_primary, the lock must be acquired. If it fails, just
> skip the streaming replication check cycle.
> 
> 
> I and the user who made the initial report confirmed that tha patch
> works well.
> 
> Unfortunately the story is not the all. However the mail is already
> too long. I will continue to the next mail.
> 
> Best regards,
> --
> Tatsuo Ishii
> SRA OSS, Inc. Japan
> English: http://www.sraoss.co.jp/index_en.php
> Japanese:http://www.sraoss.co.jp
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