0a3dceabf1
In our CI systems we can observe that t0610 fails rather frequently.
This testcase races a bunch of git-update-ref(1) processes with one
another which are all trying to update a unique reference, where we
expect that all processes succeed and end up updating the reftable
stack. The error message in this case looks like the following:
fatal: update_ref failed for ref 'refs/heads/branch-88': reftable: transaction prepare: I/O error
Instrumenting the code with a couple of calls to `BUG()` in relevant
sites where we return `REFTABLE_IO_ERROR` quickly leads one to discover
that this error is caused when calling `flock_acquire()`, which is a
thin wrapper around our lockfile API. Curiously, the error code we get
in such cases is `EACCESS`, indicating that we are not allowed to access
the file.
The root cause of this is an oddity of `CreateFileW()`, which is what
`_wopen()` uses internally. Quoting its documentation [1]:
If you call CreateFile on a file that is pending deletion as a
result of a previous call to DeleteFile, the function fails. The
operating system delays file deletion until all handles to the file
are closed. GetLastError returns ERROR_ACCESS_DENIED.
This behaviour is triggered quite often in the above testcase because
all the processes race with one another trying to acquire the lock for
the "tables.list" file. This is due to how locking works in the reftable
library when compacting a stack:
1. Lock the "tables.list" file and reads its contents.
2. Decide which tables to compact.
3. Lock each of the individual tables that we are about to compact.
4. Unlock the "tables.list" file.
5. Compact the individual tables into one large table.
6. Re-lock the "tables.list" file.
7. Write the new list of tables into it.
8. Commit the "tables.list" file.
The important step is (4): we don't commit the file directly by renaming
it into place, but instead we delete the lockfile so that concurrent
processes can continue to append to the reftable stack while we compact
the tables. And because we use `DeleteFileW()` to do so, we may now race
with another process that wants to acquire that lockfile. So if we are
unlucky, we would now see `ERROR_ACCESS_DENIED` instead of the expected
`ERROR_FILE_EXISTS`, which the lockfile subsystem isn't prepared to
handle and thus it will bail out without retrying to acquire the lock.
In theory, the issue is not limited to the reftable library and can be
triggered by every other user of the lockfile subsystem, as well. My gut
feeling tells me it's rather unlikely to surface elsewhere though.
Fix the issue by translating the error to `EEXIST`. This makes the
lockfile subsystem handle the error correctly: in case a timeout is set
it will now retry acquiring the lockfile until the timeout has expired.
With this, t0610 is now always passing on my machine whereas it was
previously failing in around 20-30% of all test runs.
[1]: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/api/fileapi/nf-fileapi-createfilew
Signed-off-by: Patrick Steinhardt <ps@pks.im>
Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Git - fast, scalable, distributed revision control system
Git is a fast, scalable, distributed revision control system with an unusually rich command set that provides both high-level operations and full access to internals.
Git is an Open Source project covered by the GNU General Public License version 2 (some parts of it are under different licenses, compatible with the GPLv2). It was originally written by Linus Torvalds with help of a group of hackers around the net.
Please read the file INSTALL for installation instructions.
Many Git online resources are accessible from https://git-scm.com/ including full documentation and Git related tools.
See Documentation/gittutorial.adoc to get started, then see
Documentation/giteveryday.adoc for a useful minimum set of commands, and
Documentation/git-<commandname>.adoc for documentation of each command.
If git has been correctly installed, then the tutorial can also be
read with man gittutorial or git help tutorial, and the
documentation of each command with man git-<commandname> or git help <commandname>.
CVS users may also want to read Documentation/gitcvs-migration.adoc
(man gitcvs-migration or git help cvs-migration if git is
installed).
The user discussion and development of Git take place on the Git mailing list -- everyone is welcome to post bug reports, feature requests, comments and patches to git@vger.kernel.org (read Documentation/SubmittingPatches for instructions on patch submission and Documentation/CodingGuidelines).
Those wishing to help with error message, usage and informational message
string translations (localization l10) should see po/README.md
(a po file is a Portable Object file that holds the translations).
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Issues which are security relevant should be disclosed privately to the Git Security mailing list git-security@googlegroups.com.
The maintainer frequently sends the "What's cooking" reports that list the current status of various development topics to the mailing list. The discussion following them give a good reference for project status, development direction and remaining tasks.
The name "git" was given by Linus Torvalds when he wrote the very first version. He described the tool as "the stupid content tracker" and the name as (depending on your mood):
- random three-letter combination that is pronounceable, and not actually used by any common UNIX command. The fact that it is a mispronunciation of "get" may or may not be relevant.
- stupid. contemptible and despicable. simple. Take your pick from the dictionary of slang.
- "global information tracker": you're in a good mood, and it actually works for you. Angels sing, and a light suddenly fills the room.
- "goddamn idiotic truckload of sh*t": when it breaks