#32769: Fix for sporadically crashing parallel test runner
---------------------------------------------+------------------------
Reporter: quinox | Owner: nobody
Type: Bug | Status: new
Component: Testing framework | Version: 2.2
Severity: Normal | Keywords:
Triage Stage: Unreviewed | Has patch: 0
Needs documentation: 0 | Needs tests: 0
Patch needs improvement: 0 | Easy pickings: 0
UI/UX: 0 |
---------------------------------------------+------------------------
G'day,
I'd like to report a fix for a bug I found with the parallel test runner.
I'm filing it against 2.2 since that's what I use myself, but looking at
the sourcecode 3.2 also has this bug.
Tickets that sound related but also not entirely the same: #27734
I have about 25 active Django projects, all in CI with testcases, some
going back 10 years. About 6 months ago I started using `--parallel` to
speed up testing. The speedup is great, obviously I had to fix some tests
that were not compatible but that has been sorted out by now.
Since using `--parallel` I've also encountered crashes that really can't
be blamed on my own code. They happen quite infrequent, so up to now I've
been ignoring them. Today I ran into it again and decided to do some
digging.
== The crash
They always look like this:
{{{
#!python
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/mnt/drive/projects/ytec-my_awesome_project/virtual/lib/python3.6
/site-packages/django/db/backends/base/base.py", line 218, in
ensure_connection
self.connect()
File "/mnt/drive/projects/ytec-my_awesome_project/virtual/lib/python3.6
/site-packages/django/db/backends/base/base.py", line 196, in connect
self.connection = self.get_new_connection(conn_params)
File "/mnt/drive/projects/ytec-my_awesome_project/virtual/lib/python3.6
/site-packages/django/db/backends/postgresql/base.py", line 182, in
get_new_connection
connection = Database.connect(**conn_params)
File "/mnt/drive/projects/ytec-my_awesome_project/virtual/lib/python3.6
/site-packages/psycopg2/__init__.py", line 127, in connect
conn = _connect(dsn, connection_factory=connection_factory, **kwasync)
psycopg2.OperationalError: FATAL: database "test_3" does not exist
The above exception was the direct cause of the following exception:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/usr/lib/python3.6/unittest/suite.py", line 163, in
_handleClassSetUp
setUpClass()
File "/mnt/drive/projects/ytec-my_awesome_project/virtual/lib/python3.6
/site-packages/django/test/testcases.py", line 1126, in setUpClass
cls.cls_atomics = cls._enter_atomics()
File "/mnt/drive/projects/ytec-my_awesome_project/virtual/lib/python3.6
/site-packages/django/test/testcases.py", line 1107, in _enter_atomics
atomics[db_name].__enter__()
File "/mnt/drive/projects/ytec-my_awesome_project/virtual/lib/python3.6
/site-packages/django/db/transaction.py", line 175, in __enter__
if not connection.get_autocommit():
File "/mnt/drive/projects/ytec-my_awesome_project/virtual/lib/python3.6
/site-packages/django/db/backends/base/base.py", line 380, in
get_autocommit
self.ensure_connection()
File "/mnt/drive/projects/ytec-my_awesome_project/virtual/lib/python3.6
/site-packages/django/db/backends/base/base.py", line 218, in
ensure_connection
self.connect()
File "/mnt/drive/projects/ytec-my_awesome_project/virtual/lib/python3.6
/site-packages/django/db/utils.py", line 89, in __exit__
raise dj_exc_value.with_traceback(traceback) from exc_value
File "/mnt/drive/projects/ytec-my_awesome_project/virtual/lib/python3.6
/site-packages/django/db/backends/base/base.py", line 218, in
ensure_connection
self.connect()
File "/mnt/drive/projects/ytec-my_awesome_project/virtual/lib/python3.6
/site-packages/django/db/backends/base/base.py", line 196, in connect
self.connection = self.get_new_connection(conn_params)
File "/mnt/drive/projects/ytec-my_awesome_project/virtual/lib/python3.6
/site-packages/django/db/backends/postgresql/base.py", line 182, in
get_new_connection
connection = Database.connect(**conn_params)
File "/mnt/drive/projects/ytec-my_awesome_project/virtual/lib/python3.6
/site-packages/psycopg2/__init__.py", line 127, in connect
conn = _connect(dsn, connection_factory=connection_factory, **kwasync)
django.db.utils.OperationalError: FATAL: database "test_3" does not exist
}}}
== My observations
It has been happening across projects. Today I zoomed in on 1 specific
project. The facts summarized:
* My CPU has 4 cores (this is important for the story)
* When I only test 2 separate classes at once I can trigger it once every
30 times
* The crashes always mention the DBs `test_3` or `test_4`, never `test_1`
* The precise command line: `python test my_app_with_two_testcase_classes
--parallel`
* I haven't set `DJANGO_TEST_PROCESSES`
I hacked the Django code with additional `print()` statements. Things I
noticed:
* Django starts out with assuming it can do 4 parallel processess, which
is correct for my CPU
* When checking the Postgresql DB log 3 DBs are made:
{{{
$ grep 'CREATE DATABASE' postgres.log
2021-05-19 14:29:11.473 CEST [23952] LOG: duration: 216.274 ms
statement: CREATE DATABASE test ENCODING 'UNICODE';
2021-05-19 14:29:12.918 CEST [24024] LOG: duration: 226.477 ms
statement: CREATE DATABASE "test_1" WITH TEMPLATE "test"
2021-05-19 14:29:13.147 CEST [24025] LOG: duration: 225.881 ms
statement: CREATE DATABASE "test_2" WITH TEMPLATE "test"
}}}
* `db.backends.base.creation`
`BaseDatabaseCreation.get_test_db_clone_settings` is called four times,
with suffix `1`, `2`, `3` and `4`
* `test.runner` `_init_worker` is called four times, with `_worker_id`
`1`, `2`, `3` and `4`.
* `db.backends.postgresql.creation` `DatabaseCreation._clone_test_db` is
called twice, always with `test_1` and `test_2` as DBs
* `db.backends.postgresql.creation`
`DatabaseWrapper.get_connection_params` is called twice:
* most of time time with `test_1` and `test_2`. In these cases the
testcases do not crash
* once in a while with fe. `test_1` and `test_3`. In this case Django
will crash
== My fix
Based on the prints I'm assuming Django creates 4 processes, then only
initializes 2 because it only needs 2, and as long as the first 2
processes get used everything works out but if, by randomness, either the
3rd or 4th process is activated things break?
Because it happens so infrequently I can't 100% guarantee my fix works,
but it appears to: after applying my fix `_init_worker` is called only
twice, `get_test_db_clone_settings` is called only twice, and I haven't
seen it crash after 200 consecutive runs.
{{{
--- old_runner.py 2021-05-19 15:01:32.756268287 +0200
+++ new_runner.py 2021-05-19 15:01:18.844150140 +0200
@@ -541,6 +541,7 @@
# basis, there's no need for more processes than TestCases.
parallel_units = len(parallel_suite.subsuites)
self.parallel = min(self.parallel, parallel_units)
+ parallel_suite.processes = self.parallel
# If there's only one TestCase, parallelization isn't needed.
if self.parallel > 1:
}}}
I can make a PR in Github if you want (against the main branch then?)
--
Ticket URL: <https://code.djangoproject.com/ticket/32769>
Django <https://code.djangoproject.com/>
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