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* Re: Feature Recommendations for Logical Subscriptions
@ 2025-04-09 10:44 Amit Kapila <[email protected]>
0 siblings, 1 reply; 20+ messages in thread
From: Amit Kapila @ 2025-04-09 10:44 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: YeXiu <[email protected]>; +Cc: pgsql-hackers <[email protected]>
On Tue, Apr 8, 2025 at 2:48 PM YeXiu <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> Business Scenario:
> The BI department requires real-time data from the operational database. In our current approach (on platform 14), we create a separate database within our department's real-time backup instance, set up a logical replication account, replicate required tables to this isolated database via logical replication, and then create a dedicated account with column-level permissions on specific tables for the BI department.
>
> Recommendations:
>
> 1、Column Filtering Functionality: During implementation, some tables may contain sensitive data or long fields (e.g., text columns), while other fields in these tables still need to be replicated to another database or instance. Manually specifying individual columns becomes cumbersome, especially for tables with many fields, and complicates future field additions. We recommend adding a column filtering feature to logical replication to streamline this process.
>
It would have been better if you could provide some examples. Let me
try to describe by example. We have a feature where users can specify
columns they want to replicate. For example: Create a publication that
publishes all changes for table users, but replicates only columns
user_id and firstname:
CREATE PUBLICATION users_filtered FOR TABLE users (user_id, firstname);
As per my understanding, you are expecting a feature where we can
specify columns that won't be replicated. For example say a table t1
has columns c1, c2, c3, ..., c10. Now, the user would like to
replicate all columns except c9 and c10, so he should be allowed to do
so by something like CREATE PUBLICATION users_filtered FOR TABLE t1
Except (c9, c10). Is that correct or you have something else in mind?
>
> 2、Logical Replication Account Permissions:
> Logical replication permissions should be decoupled from general database access permissions.
> Proposed workflow:
> Create a dedicated account with logical replication privileges only.
> Create a logical replication slot and grant this account access only to the authorized replication slot.
> This account would have no direct access to the database itself but could subscribe to and consume data from the permitted replication slot.
> This approach allows securely providing the account to the BI department. They can subscribe to the replication slot and perform downstream processing independently, without risking exposure of unauthorized data.
>
We need to access catalog tables in the database while decoding
changes, so won't some interaction with database privileges still be
required?
BTW, are you planning to work on a patch on these proposals or you
expect someone else in the community to work on these proposals?
--
With Regards,
Amit Kapila.
^ permalink raw reply [nested|flat] 20+ messages in thread
* Re: Feature Recommendations for Logical Subscriptions
@ 2025-04-10 04:42 =?utf-8?B?WWVYaXU=?= <[email protected]>
parent: Amit Kapila <[email protected]>
0 siblings, 2 replies; 20+ messages in thread
From: =?utf-8?B?WWVYaXU=?= @ 2025-04-10 04:42 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: =?utf-8?B?QW1pdCBLYXBpbGE=?= <[email protected]>; +Cc: =?utf-8?B?cGdzcWwtaGFja2Vycw==?= <[email protected]>
For example:
Assume database db1 has a user table with columns c1, c2, c3, ..., c10, telphone, and content (where telphone is a sensitive data field, and content is of type text).
1.We need to synchronize the user table to the BI department, but they should not have access to the telphone column due to sensitivity. The content column is also unnecessary for BI as it is too long and lacks analytical value.
During synchronization, we need to exclude both telphone and content columns. However, the user table may continue to add new columns (e.g., c11, c12) in the future.
The current approach is:
CREATE PUBLICATION pub FOR TABLE public.user (c1, c2, c3, ..., c10);
When new columns like c11 or c12 are added, we must manually update the publication:
ALTER PUBLICATION pub SET TABLE public.user (c1, c2, c3, ..., c10, c11, c12);
This repetitive work is inefficient. I suggest using the EXCEPT syntax as you mentioned earlier:
CREATE PUBLICATION pub FOR TABLE public.user EXCEPT (telphone, content);
This would automatically exclude sensitive or unnecessary columns, even as new columns are added. Additionally, we need a method to modify the exclusion list dynamically, such as:
ALTER PUBLICATION pub SET TABLE public.user EXCEPT (telphone);
-- or --
ALTER PUBLICATION pub SET TABLE public.user EXCEPT (telphone, content, c11);
2. Second Issue:
This extends the scenario above. I’m unsure how permissions are currently handled.
You mentioned creating a dedicated account u1 with only logical replication privileges, setting up a replication slot, and granting access to this slot.
My question: If the telphone column is excluded from the publication, does the subscriber still receive or parse data for telphone? Or is the column entirely absent from the replication slot?
If the replication slot does NOT include telphone data, this is a non-issue and can be ignored.
3. I hope others in the community can address these suggestions, as I am not a C developer and cannot implement them myself.
YeXiu
[email protected]
原始邮件
发件人：Amit Kapila <[email protected]>
发件时间：2025年4月9日 18:44
收件人：YeXiu <[email protected]>
抄送：pgsql-hackers <[email protected]>
主题：Re: Feature Recommendations for Logical Subscriptions
On Tue, Apr 8, 2025 at 2:48 PM YeXiu <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> Business Scenario:
> The BI department requires real-time data from the operational database. In our current approach (on platform 14), we create a separate database within our department's real-time backup instance, set up a logical replication account, replicate required tables to this isolated database via logical replication, and then create a dedicated account with column-level permissions on specific tables for the BI department.
>
> Recommendations:
>
> 1、Column Filtering Functionality: During implementation, some tables may contain sensitive data or long fields (e.g., text columns), while other fields in these tables still need to be replicated to another database or instance. Manually specifying individual columns becomes cumbersome, especially for tables with many fields, and complicates future field additions. We recommend adding a column filtering feature to logical replication to streamline this process.
>
It would have been better if you could provide some examples. Let me
try to describe by example. We have a feature where users can specify
columns they want to replicate. For example: Create a publication that
publishes all changes for table users, but replicates only columns
user_id and firstname:
CREATE PUBLICATION users_filtered FOR TABLE users (user_id, firstname);
As per my understanding, you are expecting a feature where we can
specify columns that won't be replicated. For example say a table t1
has columns c1, c2, c3, ..., c10. Now, the user would like to
replicate all columns except c9 and c10, so he should be allowed to do
so by something like CREATE PUBLICATION users_filtered FOR TABLE t1
Except (c9, c10). Is that correct or you have something else in mind?
>
> 2、Logical Replication Account Permissions:
> Logical replication permissions should be decoupled from general database access permissions.
> Proposed workflow:
> Create a dedicated account with logical replication privileges only.
> Create a logical replication slot and grant this account access only to the authorized replication slot.
> This account would have no direct access to the database itself but could subscribe to and consume data from the permitted replication slot.
> This approach allows securely providing the account to the BI department. They can subscribe to the replication slot and perform downstream processing independently, without risking exposure of unauthorized data.
>
We need to access catalog tables in the database while decoding
changes, so won't some interaction with database privileges still be
required?
BTW, are you planning to work on a patch on these proposals or you
expect someone else in the community to work on these proposals?
--
With Regards,
Amit Kapila.
^ permalink raw reply [nested|flat] 20+ messages in thread
* Re: Feature Recommendations for Logical Subscriptions
@ 2025-04-10 11:29 Amit Kapila <[email protected]>
parent: =?utf-8?B?WWVYaXU=?= <[email protected]>
1 sibling, 0 replies; 20+ messages in thread
From: Amit Kapila @ 2025-04-10 11:29 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: YeXiu <[email protected]>; +Cc: pgsql-hackers <[email protected]>
On Thu, Apr 10, 2025 at 10:12 AM YeXiu <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> For example:
> Assume database db1 has a user table with columns c1, c2, c3, ..., c10,
> telphone, and content (where telphone is a sensitive data field, and
> content is of type text).
>
> 1.We need to synchronize the user table to the BI department, but they
> should not have access to the telphone column due to sensitivity. The
> content column is also unnecessary for BI as it is too long and lacks
> analytical value.
> During synchronization, we need to exclude both telphone and content
> columns. However, the user table may continue to add new columns (e.g.,
> c11, c12) in the future.
> The current approach is:
>
> CREATE PUBLICATION pub FOR TABLE public.user (c1, c2, c3, ..., c10);
>
> When new columns like c11 or c12 are added, we must manually update the
> publication:
>
> ALTER PUBLICATION pub SET TABLE public.user (c1, c2, c3, ..., c10, c11,
> c12);
>
> This repetitive work is inefficient. I suggest using the EXCEPT syntax as
> you mentioned earlier:
>
> CREATE PUBLICATION pub FOR TABLE public.user EXCEPT (telphone, content);
>
> This would automatically exclude sensitive or unnecessary columns, even as
> new columns are added. Additionally, we need a method to modify the
> exclusion list dynamically, such as:
>
> ALTER PUBLICATION pub SET TABLE public.user EXCEPT (telphone);
> -- or --
> ALTER PUBLICATION pub SET TABLE public.user EXCEPT (telphone, content,
> c11);
>
>
> 2. Second Issue:
> This extends the scenario above. I’m unsure how permissions are currently
> handled.
>
> You mentioned creating a dedicated account u1 with only logical
> replication privileges, setting up a replication slot, and granting access
> to this slot.
> My question: If the telphone column is excluded from the publication, does
> the subscriber still receive or parse data for telphone? Or is the column
> entirely absent from the replication slot?
> If the replication slot does NOT include telphone data, this is a
> non-issue and can be ignored.
>
>
We don't send the telephone data to the subscriber. So the subscriber would
never need to parse it.
> 3. I hope others in the community can address these suggestions, as I am
> not a C developer and cannot implement them myself.
>
>
Okay, we previously discussed this feature, but due to a lack of interest,
it has been dropped. You can join that thread [1] and help with testing and
feature specifications.
[1] -
https://www.postgresql.org/message-id/[email protected]...
--
With Regards,
Amit Kapila.
^ permalink raw reply [nested|flat] 20+ messages in thread
* Re: Feature Recommendations for Logical Subscriptions
@ 2025-04-10 22:10 Peter Smith <[email protected]>
parent: =?utf-8?B?WWVYaXU=?= <[email protected]>
1 sibling, 0 replies; 20+ messages in thread
From: Peter Smith @ 2025-04-10 22:10 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: YeXiu <[email protected]>; +Cc: Amit Kapila <[email protected]>; pgsql-hackers <[email protected]>
Hi,
FYI, the Column List documentation [1] says
------
However, do not rely on this feature for security: a malicious
subscriber is able to obtain data from columns that are not
specifically published. If security is a consideration, protections
can be applied at the publisher side.
------
IIRC, this was something to do with how the COPY done by the initial
table sync might be manipulated by a malicious subscriber. I think you
can find more details about this in the original thread when Column
Lists were introduced. e.g. try searching this [2] thread for the word
"security".
======
[1] https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/logical-replication-col-lists.html
[2] https://www.postgresql.org/message-id/flat/CAH2L28vddB_NFdRVpuyRBJEBWjz4BSyTB%3D_ektNRH8NJ1jf95g%40m...
Kind Regards,
Peter Smith.
Fujitsu Australia
^ permalink raw reply [nested|flat] 20+ messages in thread
* [PATCH v4] Use open file description locks for lockfiles
@ 2025-12-18 17:21 Dmitrii Dolgov <[email protected]>
0 siblings, 0 replies; 20+ messages in thread
From: Dmitrii Dolgov @ 2025-12-18 17:21 UTC (permalink / raw)
When starting up, postmaster checks for an existing data directory lockfile. If
this file contains current process PID, it's assumed to be stale. Turns out
there is another possibility: we might be running in a PID namespace, and there
is another postgres running inside another PID namespace using the same data
directory. The result is that we don't see another process due to namespace
isolation and start concurrently with the other.
To prevent such situations, at startup use fcntl to get an exclusive open file
description lock for data directory lockfile. Since such locks are associated
with open file descriptors, meaning they're not affected by PID namespace
isolation. It's a "best effort" locking, intended to work with already existing
mechanism, not replace it.
This approach was discussed multiple times in the past, and usually was
rejected as the main work horse for the data directory lockfile due to:
* Portability issues. Open file description lock was a non-POSIX extension in
Linux and similar flock is from BSD standard. But looks like everybody agrees
that such locks make more sense than a typical advisory locks, and
F_OFD_SETLK made its way into POSIX.1 2024 [1].
* Issues with NFS. The current state of things here looks like this:
- NFSv3 doesn't implement open file description locks, they're converted to
advisory locks instead. Advisory locks are subject to namespace isolation,
meaning that processes in different PID namespaces will not see each other
advisory lock, and it's still possible to run multiple postgres
instances on the same data directory.
- NFSv4 uses a lease system for locking, I haven't found any mention of
conversion to advisory locks neither in the man page nor in RFC [2].
To summarize, the approach is now considered POSIX and should fix the described
problem everywhere, except NFSv3.
Use open file description lock for both data directory and socker
lockfiles, since both are affected in the same way.
[1]: https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9799919799/functions/fcntl.html
[2]: https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7530
Reviewed-by: Ilmar Yunusov <[email protected]>
---
configure | 14 +++
configure.ac | 3 +
meson.build | 1 +
src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c | 136 ++++++++++++++++++++++++------
src/include/pg_config.h.in | 4 +
src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list | 1 +
6 files changed, 134 insertions(+), 25 deletions(-)
diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 35b0b72f0a7..25ebcd3cc47 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -16444,6 +16444,20 @@ cat >>confdefs.h <<_ACEOF
_ACEOF
+# Linux open file descriptor locks
+ac_fn_c_check_decl "$LINENO" "F_OFD_SETLK" "ac_cv_have_decl_F_OFD_SETLK" "#include <fcntl.h>
+"
+if test "x$ac_cv_have_decl_F_OFD_SETLK" = xyes; then :
+ ac_have_decl=1
+else
+ ac_have_decl=0
+fi
+
+cat >>confdefs.h <<_ACEOF
+#define HAVE_DECL_F_OFD_SETLK $ac_have_decl
+_ACEOF
+
+
ac_fn_c_check_func "$LINENO" "explicit_bzero" "ac_cv_func_explicit_bzero"
if test "x$ac_cv_func_explicit_bzero" = xyes; then :
$as_echo "#define HAVE_EXPLICIT_BZERO 1" >>confdefs.h
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 0e624fe36b9..677137207e7 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -1913,6 +1913,9 @@ AC_CHECK_DECLS([memset_s], [], [], [#define __STDC_WANT_LIB_EXT1__ 1
# This is probably only present on macOS, but may as well check always
AC_CHECK_DECLS(F_FULLFSYNC, [], [], [#include <fcntl.h>])
+# Linux open file descriptor locks
+AC_CHECK_DECLS([F_OFD_SETLK], [], [], [#include <fcntl.h>])
+
AC_REPLACE_FUNCS(m4_normalize([
explicit_bzero
getopt
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index d88a7a70308..153fbb477bb 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -2901,6 +2901,7 @@ decl_checks = [
['strlcpy', 'string.h'],
['strsep', 'string.h'],
['timingsafe_bcmp', 'string.h'],
+ ['F_OFD_SETLK', 'fcntl.h'],
]
# Need to check for function declarations for these functions, because
diff --git a/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c b/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c
index 7ffc808073a..d4c2f80eb46 100644
--- a/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c
+++ b/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c
@@ -69,6 +69,15 @@ static List *lock_files = NIL;
static Latch LocalLatchData;
+typedef struct
+{
+ /* LockFile name. */
+ const char *filename;
+
+ /* File descriptor for open file description lock. */
+ int fd;
+} PGLockFile;
+
/* ----------------------------------------------------------------
* ignoring system indexes support stuff
*
@@ -1119,6 +1128,48 @@ RestoreClientConnectionInfo(char *conninfo)
*-------------------------------------------------------------------------
*/
+/*
+ * OFD lock the specified lockfile.
+ *
+ * Lock the lockfile with an open file description lock. If the lock is already
+ * taken, it's a hard stop. It's only a best effort test, and any other errors
+ * are ignored. On succes the file descriptor is duplicated, to make sure there
+ * will be at least one open copy of it to keep the lock.
+ *
+ * filename argument is used only for reporting purposes.
+ */
+static int
+OFDLockFile(int fd, const char *filename)
+{
+#if HAVE_DECL_F_OFD_SETLK
+ struct flock lock;
+
+ lock.l_type = F_WRLCK;
+ lock.l_whence = SEEK_SET;
+ lock.l_start = 0;
+ lock.l_len = 0;
+ lock.l_pid = 0;
+
+ if (fcntl(fd, F_OFD_SETLK, &lock) == -1)
+ {
+ if (errno == EAGAIN)
+ ereport(FATAL,
+ (errcode(ERRCODE_LOCK_FILE_EXISTS),
+ errmsg("cannot lock the lock file \"%s\"", filename),
+ errhint("Another server is starting.")));
+ else
+ {
+ elog(WARNING, "Failed locking file \"%s\", %m", filename);
+ return -1;
+ }
+ }
+ else
+ return dup(fd);
+#else
+ return -1;
+#endif
+}
+
/*
* proc_exit callback to remove lockfiles.
*/
@@ -1129,9 +1180,16 @@ UnlinkLockFiles(int status, Datum arg)
foreach(l, lock_files)
{
- char *curfile = (char *) lfirst(l);
+ PGLockFile *lock_file = (PGLockFile *) lfirst(l);
- unlink(curfile);
+ /*
+ * Close the file descriptor, which keeps the open file description
+ * lock.
+ */
+ if (lock_file->fd > 0)
+ close(lock_file->fd);
+
+ unlink(lock_file->filename);
/* Should we complain if the unlink fails? */
}
/* Since we're about to exit, no need to reclaim storage */
@@ -1161,7 +1219,9 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
const char *socketDir,
bool isDDLock, const char *refName)
{
- int fd;
+ int fd,
+ flock_fd = -1;
+ PGLockFile *lock_file;
char buffer[MAXPGPATH * 2 + 256];
int ntries;
int len;
@@ -1173,22 +1233,32 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
const char *envvar;
/*
- * If the PID in the lockfile is our own PID or our parent's or
- * grandparent's PID, then the file must be stale (probably left over from
- * a previous system boot cycle). We need to check this because of the
- * likelihood that a reboot will assign exactly the same PID as we had in
- * the previous reboot, or one that's only one or two counts larger and
- * hence the lockfile's PID now refers to an ancestor shell process. We
- * allow pg_ctl to pass down its parent shell PID (our grandparent PID)
- * via the environment variable PG_GRANDPARENT_PID; this is so that
- * launching the postmaster via pg_ctl can be just as reliable as
- * launching it directly. There is no provision for detecting
- * further-removed ancestor processes, but if the init script is written
- * carefully then all but the immediate parent shell will be root-owned
- * processes and so the kill test will fail with EPERM. Note that we
- * cannot get a false negative this way, because an existing postmaster
- * would surely never launch a competing postmaster or pg_ctl process
- * directly.
+ * If we find an already existing lockfile containing our own PID, there
+ * are few options:
+ *
+ * - There is another process, that we don't see due to PID namespace
+ * isolation, which is already running in this data directory.
+ *
+ * To prevent two concurrent processes working with the same data
+ * directory, we first try to lock the lockfile exclusively.
+ *
+ * - The file must be stale, probably left over from a previous system
+ * boot cycle. The same if the lockfile contains our parent's or
+ * grandparent's PID.
+ *
+ * We need to check this because of the likelihood that a reboot will
+ * assign exactly the same PID as we had in the previous reboot, or one
+ * that's only one or two counts larger and hence the lockfile's PID now
+ * refers to an ancestor shell process. We allow pg_ctl to pass down its
+ * parent shell PID (our grandparent PID) via the environment variable
+ * PG_GRANDPARENT_PID; this is so that launching the postmaster via pg_ctl
+ * can be just as reliable as launching it directly. There is no
+ * provision for detecting further-removed ancestor processes, but if the
+ * init script is written carefully then all but the immediate parent
+ * shell will be root-owned processes and so the kill test will fail with
+ * EPERM. Note that we cannot get a false negative this way, because an
+ * existing postmaster would surely never launch a competing postmaster or
+ * pg_ctl process directly.
*/
my_pid = getpid();
@@ -1224,7 +1294,11 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
*/
fd = open(filename, O_RDWR | O_CREAT | O_EXCL, pg_file_create_mode);
if (fd >= 0)
- break; /* Success; exit the retry loop */
+ {
+ /* Success; lock and exit the retry loop */
+ flock_fd = OFDLockFile(fd, filename);
+ break;
+ }
/*
* Couldn't create the pid file. Probably it already exists.
@@ -1238,8 +1312,12 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
/*
* Read the file to get the old owner's PID. Note race condition
* here: file might have been deleted since we tried to create it.
+ *
+ * We're going to use the same fd for flock, and want to create a
+ * write lock for the latter one. Since both fd and the lock have to
+ * be of the same type, open the file for read and write.
*/
- fd = open(filename, O_RDONLY, pg_file_create_mode);
+ fd = open(filename, O_RDWR, pg_file_create_mode);
if (fd < 0)
{
if (errno == ENOENT)
@@ -1249,6 +1327,10 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
errmsg("could not open lock file \"%s\": %m",
filename)));
}
+
+ /* Try to lock the file. We stop here, if it's already locked. */
+ flock_fd = OFDLockFile(fd, filename);
+
pgstat_report_wait_start(WAIT_EVENT_LOCK_FILE_CREATE_READ);
if ((len = read(fd, buffer, sizeof(buffer) - 1)) < 0)
ereport(FATAL,
@@ -1448,7 +1530,11 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
* Use lcons so that the lock files are unlinked in reverse order of
* creation; this is critical!
*/
- lock_files = lcons(pstrdup(filename), lock_files);
+ lock_file = palloc0_object(PGLockFile);
+ lock_file->filename = pstrdup(filename);
+ lock_file->fd = flock_fd;
+
+ lock_files = lcons(lock_file, lock_files);
}
/*
@@ -1495,14 +1581,14 @@ TouchSocketLockFiles(void)
foreach(l, lock_files)
{
- char *socketLockFile = (char *) lfirst(l);
+ PGLockFile *lock_file = (PGLockFile *) lfirst(l);
/* No need to touch the data directory lock file, we trust */
- if (strcmp(socketLockFile, DIRECTORY_LOCK_FILE) == 0)
+ if (strcmp(lock_file->filename, DIRECTORY_LOCK_FILE) == 0)
continue;
/* we just ignore any error here */
- (void) utime(socketLockFile, NULL);
+ (void) utime(lock_file->filename, NULL);
}
}
diff --git a/src/include/pg_config.h.in b/src/include/pg_config.h.in
index 4f8113c144b..cc38c06dc13 100644
--- a/src/include/pg_config.h.in
+++ b/src/include/pg_config.h.in
@@ -85,6 +85,10 @@
don't. */
#undef HAVE_DECL_F_FULLFSYNC
+/* Define to 1 if you have the declaration of `F_OFD_SETLK', and to 0 if you
+ don't. */
+#undef HAVE_DECL_F_OFD_SETLK
+
/* Define to 1 if you have the declaration of `memset_s', and to 0 if you
don't. */
#undef HAVE_DECL_MEMSET_S
diff --git a/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list b/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list
index ffb413ab612..ad34142e7d6 100644
--- a/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list
+++ b/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list
@@ -1956,6 +1956,7 @@ PGIOAlignedBlock
PGLZ_HistEntry
PGLZ_Strategy
PGLoadBalanceType
+PGLockFile
PGMessageField
PGModuleMagicFunction
PGNoticeHooks
base-commit: 73dfe79fd6034b1e7e41e83d9c82c166dba8eb67
--
2.52.0
--tks2nr37zts5e6h7--
^ permalink raw reply [nested|flat] 20+ messages in thread
* [PATCH v3] Use open file description locks for lockfiles
@ 2025-12-18 17:21 Dmitrii Dolgov <[email protected]>
0 siblings, 0 replies; 20+ messages in thread
From: Dmitrii Dolgov @ 2025-12-18 17:21 UTC (permalink / raw)
When starting up, postmaster checks for an existing data directory lockfile. If
this file contains current process PID, it's assumed to be stale. Turns out
there is another possibility: we might be running in a PID namespace, and there
is another postgres running inside another PID namespace using the same data
directory. The result is that we don't see another process due to namespace
isolation and start concurrently with the other.
To prevent such situations, at startup use fcntl to get an exclusive open file
description lock for data directory lockfile. Since such locks are associated
with open file descriptors, meaning they're not affected by PID namespace
isolation. It's a "best effort" locking, intended to work with already existing
mechanism, not replace it.
This approach was discussed multiple times in the past, and usually was
rejected as the main work horse for the data directory lockfile due to:
* Portability issues. Open file description lock was a non-POSIX extension in
Linux and similar flock is from BSD standard. But looks like everybody agrees
that such locks make more sense than a typical advisory locks, and
F_OFD_SETLK made its way into POSIX.1 2024 [1].
* Issues with NFS. The current state of things here looks like this:
- NFSv3 doesn't implement open file description locks, they're converted to
advisory locks instead. Advisory locks are subject to namespace isolation,
meaning that processes in different PID namespaces will not see each other
advisory lock, and it's still possible to run multiple postgres
instances on the same data directory.
- NFSv4 uses a lease system for locking, I haven't found any mention of
conversion to advisory locks neither in the man page nor in RFC [2].
To summarize, the approach is now considered POSIX and should fix the described
problem everywhere, except NFSv3.
Use open file description lock for both data directory and socker
lockfiles, since both are affected in the same way.
[1]: https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9799919799/functions/fcntl.html
[2]: https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7530
Reviewed-by: Ilmar Yunusov <[email protected]>
---
configure | 14 +++
configure.ac | 3 +
meson.build | 1 +
src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c | 136 ++++++++++++++++++++++++------
src/include/pg_config.h.in | 4 +
src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list | 1 +
6 files changed, 134 insertions(+), 25 deletions(-)
diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 5f77f3cac29..15bda6c6413 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -16444,6 +16444,20 @@ cat >>confdefs.h <<_ACEOF
_ACEOF
+# Linux open file descriptor locks
+ac_fn_c_check_decl "$LINENO" "F_OFD_SETLK" "ac_cv_have_decl_F_OFD_SETLK" "#include <fcntl.h>
+"
+if test "x$ac_cv_have_decl_F_OFD_SETLK" = xyes; then :
+ ac_have_decl=1
+else
+ ac_have_decl=0
+fi
+
+cat >>confdefs.h <<_ACEOF
+#define HAVE_DECL_F_OFD_SETLK $ac_have_decl
+_ACEOF
+
+
ac_fn_c_check_func "$LINENO" "explicit_bzero" "ac_cv_func_explicit_bzero"
if test "x$ac_cv_func_explicit_bzero" = xyes; then :
$as_echo "#define HAVE_EXPLICIT_BZERO 1" >>confdefs.h
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 61cee42daa7..e24cb7a6f01 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -1913,6 +1913,9 @@ AC_CHECK_DECLS([memset_s], [], [], [#define __STDC_WANT_LIB_EXT1__ 1
# This is probably only present on macOS, but may as well check always
AC_CHECK_DECLS(F_FULLFSYNC, [], [], [#include <fcntl.h>])
+# Linux open file descriptor locks
+AC_CHECK_DECLS([F_OFD_SETLK], [], [], [#include <fcntl.h>])
+
AC_REPLACE_FUNCS(m4_normalize([
explicit_bzero
getopt
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 568e0e150bf..3d641dc0403 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -2901,6 +2901,7 @@ decl_checks = [
['strlcpy', 'string.h'],
['strsep', 'string.h'],
['timingsafe_bcmp', 'string.h'],
+ ['F_OFD_SETLK', 'fcntl.h'],
]
# Need to check for function declarations for these functions, because
diff --git a/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c b/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c
index 7ffc808073a..26c3324542c 100644
--- a/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c
+++ b/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c
@@ -69,6 +69,15 @@ static List *lock_files = NIL;
static Latch LocalLatchData;
+typedef struct
+{
+ /* LockFile name. */
+ const char *filename;
+
+ /* File descriptor for open file description lock. */
+ int fd;
+} LockFile;
+
/* ----------------------------------------------------------------
* ignoring system indexes support stuff
*
@@ -1119,6 +1128,48 @@ RestoreClientConnectionInfo(char *conninfo)
*-------------------------------------------------------------------------
*/
+/*
+ * OFD lock the specified lockfile.
+ *
+ * Lock the lockfile with an open file description lock. If the lock is already
+ * taken, it's a hard stop. It's only a best effort test, and any other errors
+ * are ignored. On succes the file descriptor is duplicated, to make sure there
+ * will be at least one open copy of it to keep the lock.
+ *
+ * filename argument is used only for reporting purposes.
+ */
+static int
+OFDLockFile(int fd, const char *filename)
+{
+#if HAVE_DECL_F_OFD_SETLK
+ struct flock lock;
+
+ lock.l_type = F_WRLCK;
+ lock.l_whence = SEEK_SET;
+ lock.l_start = 0;
+ lock.l_len = 0;
+ lock.l_pid = 0;
+
+ if (fcntl(fd, F_OFD_SETLK, &lock) == -1)
+ {
+ if (errno == EAGAIN)
+ ereport(FATAL,
+ (errcode(ERRCODE_LOCK_FILE_EXISTS),
+ errmsg("cannot lock the lock file \"%s\"", filename),
+ errhint("Another server is starting.")));
+ else
+ {
+ elog(WARNING, "Failed locking file \"%s\", %m", filename);
+ return -1;
+ }
+ }
+ else
+ return dup(fd);
+#else
+ return -1
+#endif
+}
+
/*
* proc_exit callback to remove lockfiles.
*/
@@ -1129,9 +1180,16 @@ UnlinkLockFiles(int status, Datum arg)
foreach(l, lock_files)
{
- char *curfile = (char *) lfirst(l);
+ LockFile *lock_file = (LockFile *) lfirst(l);
- unlink(curfile);
+ /*
+ * Close the file descriptor, which keeps the open file description
+ * lock.
+ */
+ if (lock_file->fd > 0)
+ close(lock_file->fd);
+
+ unlink(lock_file->filename);
/* Should we complain if the unlink fails? */
}
/* Since we're about to exit, no need to reclaim storage */
@@ -1161,7 +1219,9 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
const char *socketDir,
bool isDDLock, const char *refName)
{
- int fd;
+ int fd,
+ flock_fd = -1;
+ LockFile *lock_file;
char buffer[MAXPGPATH * 2 + 256];
int ntries;
int len;
@@ -1173,22 +1233,32 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
const char *envvar;
/*
- * If the PID in the lockfile is our own PID or our parent's or
- * grandparent's PID, then the file must be stale (probably left over from
- * a previous system boot cycle). We need to check this because of the
- * likelihood that a reboot will assign exactly the same PID as we had in
- * the previous reboot, or one that's only one or two counts larger and
- * hence the lockfile's PID now refers to an ancestor shell process. We
- * allow pg_ctl to pass down its parent shell PID (our grandparent PID)
- * via the environment variable PG_GRANDPARENT_PID; this is so that
- * launching the postmaster via pg_ctl can be just as reliable as
- * launching it directly. There is no provision for detecting
- * further-removed ancestor processes, but if the init script is written
- * carefully then all but the immediate parent shell will be root-owned
- * processes and so the kill test will fail with EPERM. Note that we
- * cannot get a false negative this way, because an existing postmaster
- * would surely never launch a competing postmaster or pg_ctl process
- * directly.
+ * If we find an already existing lockfile containing our own PID, there
+ * are few options:
+ *
+ * - There is another process, that we don't see due to PID namespace
+ * isolation, which is already running in this data directory.
+ *
+ * To prevent two concurrent processes working with the same data
+ * directory, we first try to lock the lockfile exclusively.
+ *
+ * - The file must be stale, probably left over from a previous system
+ * boot cycle. The same if the lockfile contains our parent's or
+ * grandparent's PID.
+ *
+ * We need to check this because of the likelihood that a reboot will
+ * assign exactly the same PID as we had in the previous reboot, or one
+ * that's only one or two counts larger and hence the lockfile's PID now
+ * refers to an ancestor shell process. We allow pg_ctl to pass down its
+ * parent shell PID (our grandparent PID) via the environment variable
+ * PG_GRANDPARENT_PID; this is so that launching the postmaster via pg_ctl
+ * can be just as reliable as launching it directly. There is no
+ * provision for detecting further-removed ancestor processes, but if the
+ * init script is written carefully then all but the immediate parent
+ * shell will be root-owned processes and so the kill test will fail with
+ * EPERM. Note that we cannot get a false negative this way, because an
+ * existing postmaster would surely never launch a competing postmaster or
+ * pg_ctl process directly.
*/
my_pid = getpid();
@@ -1224,7 +1294,11 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
*/
fd = open(filename, O_RDWR | O_CREAT | O_EXCL, pg_file_create_mode);
if (fd >= 0)
- break; /* Success; exit the retry loop */
+ {
+ /* Success; lock and exit the retry loop */
+ flock_fd = OFDLockFile(fd, filename);
+ break;
+ }
/*
* Couldn't create the pid file. Probably it already exists.
@@ -1238,8 +1312,12 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
/*
* Read the file to get the old owner's PID. Note race condition
* here: file might have been deleted since we tried to create it.
+ *
+ * We're going to use the same fd for flock, and want to create a
+ * write lock for the latter one. Since both fd and the lock have to
+ * be of the same type, open the file for read and write.
*/
- fd = open(filename, O_RDONLY, pg_file_create_mode);
+ fd = open(filename, O_RDWR, pg_file_create_mode);
if (fd < 0)
{
if (errno == ENOENT)
@@ -1249,6 +1327,10 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
errmsg("could not open lock file \"%s\": %m",
filename)));
}
+
+ /* Try to lock the file. We stop here, if it's already locked. */
+ flock_fd = OFDLockFile(fd, filename);
+
pgstat_report_wait_start(WAIT_EVENT_LOCK_FILE_CREATE_READ);
if ((len = read(fd, buffer, sizeof(buffer) - 1)) < 0)
ereport(FATAL,
@@ -1448,7 +1530,11 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
* Use lcons so that the lock files are unlinked in reverse order of
* creation; this is critical!
*/
- lock_files = lcons(pstrdup(filename), lock_files);
+ lock_file = palloc0_object(LockFile);
+ lock_file->filename = pstrdup(filename);
+ lock_file->fd = flock_fd;
+
+ lock_files = lcons(lock_file, lock_files);
}
/*
@@ -1495,14 +1581,14 @@ TouchSocketLockFiles(void)
foreach(l, lock_files)
{
- char *socketLockFile = (char *) lfirst(l);
+ LockFile *lock_file = (LockFile *) lfirst(l);
/* No need to touch the data directory lock file, we trust */
- if (strcmp(socketLockFile, DIRECTORY_LOCK_FILE) == 0)
+ if (strcmp(lock_file->filename, DIRECTORY_LOCK_FILE) == 0)
continue;
/* we just ignore any error here */
- (void) utime(socketLockFile, NULL);
+ (void) utime(lock_file->filename, NULL);
}
}
diff --git a/src/include/pg_config.h.in b/src/include/pg_config.h.in
index 4f8113c144b..cc38c06dc13 100644
--- a/src/include/pg_config.h.in
+++ b/src/include/pg_config.h.in
@@ -85,6 +85,10 @@
don't. */
#undef HAVE_DECL_F_FULLFSYNC
+/* Define to 1 if you have the declaration of `F_OFD_SETLK', and to 0 if you
+ don't. */
+#undef HAVE_DECL_F_OFD_SETLK
+
/* Define to 1 if you have the declaration of `memset_s', and to 0 if you
don't. */
#undef HAVE_DECL_MEMSET_S
diff --git a/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list b/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list
index 1969d467c1d..185d69b5520 100644
--- a/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list
+++ b/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list
@@ -1653,6 +1653,7 @@ LocationLen
LockAcquireResult
LockClauseStrength
LockData
+LockFile
LockInfoData
LockInstanceData
LockMethod
base-commit: 031904048aa22e7c70dc8e9c170e2743f9b0f090
--
2.52.0
--zdel3ow7bygx53fm--
^ permalink raw reply [nested|flat] 20+ messages in thread
* [PATCH v4] Use open file description locks for lockfiles
@ 2025-12-18 17:21 Dmitrii Dolgov <[email protected]>
0 siblings, 0 replies; 20+ messages in thread
From: Dmitrii Dolgov @ 2025-12-18 17:21 UTC (permalink / raw)
When starting up, postmaster checks for an existing data directory lockfile. If
this file contains current process PID, it's assumed to be stale. Turns out
there is another possibility: we might be running in a PID namespace, and there
is another postgres running inside another PID namespace using the same data
directory. The result is that we don't see another process due to namespace
isolation and start concurrently with the other.
To prevent such situations, at startup use fcntl to get an exclusive open file
description lock for data directory lockfile. Since such locks are associated
with open file descriptors, meaning they're not affected by PID namespace
isolation. It's a "best effort" locking, intended to work with already existing
mechanism, not replace it.
This approach was discussed multiple times in the past, and usually was
rejected as the main work horse for the data directory lockfile due to:
* Portability issues. Open file description lock was a non-POSIX extension in
Linux and similar flock is from BSD standard. But looks like everybody agrees
that such locks make more sense than a typical advisory locks, and
F_OFD_SETLK made its way into POSIX.1 2024 [1].
* Issues with NFS. The current state of things here looks like this:
- NFSv3 doesn't implement open file description locks, they're converted to
advisory locks instead. Advisory locks are subject to namespace isolation,
meaning that processes in different PID namespaces will not see each other
advisory lock, and it's still possible to run multiple postgres
instances on the same data directory.
- NFSv4 uses a lease system for locking, I haven't found any mention of
conversion to advisory locks neither in the man page nor in RFC [2].
To summarize, the approach is now considered POSIX and should fix the described
problem everywhere, except NFSv3.
Use open file description lock for both data directory and socker
lockfiles, since both are affected in the same way.
[1]: https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9799919799/functions/fcntl.html
[2]: https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7530
Reviewed-by: Ilmar Yunusov <[email protected]>
---
configure | 14 +++
configure.ac | 3 +
meson.build | 1 +
src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c | 136 ++++++++++++++++++++++++------
src/include/pg_config.h.in | 4 +
src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list | 1 +
6 files changed, 134 insertions(+), 25 deletions(-)
diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 35b0b72f0a7..25ebcd3cc47 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -16444,6 +16444,20 @@ cat >>confdefs.h <<_ACEOF
_ACEOF
+# Linux open file descriptor locks
+ac_fn_c_check_decl "$LINENO" "F_OFD_SETLK" "ac_cv_have_decl_F_OFD_SETLK" "#include <fcntl.h>
+"
+if test "x$ac_cv_have_decl_F_OFD_SETLK" = xyes; then :
+ ac_have_decl=1
+else
+ ac_have_decl=0
+fi
+
+cat >>confdefs.h <<_ACEOF
+#define HAVE_DECL_F_OFD_SETLK $ac_have_decl
+_ACEOF
+
+
ac_fn_c_check_func "$LINENO" "explicit_bzero" "ac_cv_func_explicit_bzero"
if test "x$ac_cv_func_explicit_bzero" = xyes; then :
$as_echo "#define HAVE_EXPLICIT_BZERO 1" >>confdefs.h
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 0e624fe36b9..677137207e7 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -1913,6 +1913,9 @@ AC_CHECK_DECLS([memset_s], [], [], [#define __STDC_WANT_LIB_EXT1__ 1
# This is probably only present on macOS, but may as well check always
AC_CHECK_DECLS(F_FULLFSYNC, [], [], [#include <fcntl.h>])
+# Linux open file descriptor locks
+AC_CHECK_DECLS([F_OFD_SETLK], [], [], [#include <fcntl.h>])
+
AC_REPLACE_FUNCS(m4_normalize([
explicit_bzero
getopt
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index d88a7a70308..153fbb477bb 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -2901,6 +2901,7 @@ decl_checks = [
['strlcpy', 'string.h'],
['strsep', 'string.h'],
['timingsafe_bcmp', 'string.h'],
+ ['F_OFD_SETLK', 'fcntl.h'],
]
# Need to check for function declarations for these functions, because
diff --git a/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c b/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c
index 7ffc808073a..d4c2f80eb46 100644
--- a/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c
+++ b/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c
@@ -69,6 +69,15 @@ static List *lock_files = NIL;
static Latch LocalLatchData;
+typedef struct
+{
+ /* LockFile name. */
+ const char *filename;
+
+ /* File descriptor for open file description lock. */
+ int fd;
+} PGLockFile;
+
/* ----------------------------------------------------------------
* ignoring system indexes support stuff
*
@@ -1119,6 +1128,48 @@ RestoreClientConnectionInfo(char *conninfo)
*-------------------------------------------------------------------------
*/
+/*
+ * OFD lock the specified lockfile.
+ *
+ * Lock the lockfile with an open file description lock. If the lock is already
+ * taken, it's a hard stop. It's only a best effort test, and any other errors
+ * are ignored. On succes the file descriptor is duplicated, to make sure there
+ * will be at least one open copy of it to keep the lock.
+ *
+ * filename argument is used only for reporting purposes.
+ */
+static int
+OFDLockFile(int fd, const char *filename)
+{
+#if HAVE_DECL_F_OFD_SETLK
+ struct flock lock;
+
+ lock.l_type = F_WRLCK;
+ lock.l_whence = SEEK_SET;
+ lock.l_start = 0;
+ lock.l_len = 0;
+ lock.l_pid = 0;
+
+ if (fcntl(fd, F_OFD_SETLK, &lock) == -1)
+ {
+ if (errno == EAGAIN)
+ ereport(FATAL,
+ (errcode(ERRCODE_LOCK_FILE_EXISTS),
+ errmsg("cannot lock the lock file \"%s\"", filename),
+ errhint("Another server is starting.")));
+ else
+ {
+ elog(WARNING, "Failed locking file \"%s\", %m", filename);
+ return -1;
+ }
+ }
+ else
+ return dup(fd);
+#else
+ return -1;
+#endif
+}
+
/*
* proc_exit callback to remove lockfiles.
*/
@@ -1129,9 +1180,16 @@ UnlinkLockFiles(int status, Datum arg)
foreach(l, lock_files)
{
- char *curfile = (char *) lfirst(l);
+ PGLockFile *lock_file = (PGLockFile *) lfirst(l);
- unlink(curfile);
+ /*
+ * Close the file descriptor, which keeps the open file description
+ * lock.
+ */
+ if (lock_file->fd > 0)
+ close(lock_file->fd);
+
+ unlink(lock_file->filename);
/* Should we complain if the unlink fails? */
}
/* Since we're about to exit, no need to reclaim storage */
@@ -1161,7 +1219,9 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
const char *socketDir,
bool isDDLock, const char *refName)
{
- int fd;
+ int fd,
+ flock_fd = -1;
+ PGLockFile *lock_file;
char buffer[MAXPGPATH * 2 + 256];
int ntries;
int len;
@@ -1173,22 +1233,32 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
const char *envvar;
/*
- * If the PID in the lockfile is our own PID or our parent's or
- * grandparent's PID, then the file must be stale (probably left over from
- * a previous system boot cycle). We need to check this because of the
- * likelihood that a reboot will assign exactly the same PID as we had in
- * the previous reboot, or one that's only one or two counts larger and
- * hence the lockfile's PID now refers to an ancestor shell process. We
- * allow pg_ctl to pass down its parent shell PID (our grandparent PID)
- * via the environment variable PG_GRANDPARENT_PID; this is so that
- * launching the postmaster via pg_ctl can be just as reliable as
- * launching it directly. There is no provision for detecting
- * further-removed ancestor processes, but if the init script is written
- * carefully then all but the immediate parent shell will be root-owned
- * processes and so the kill test will fail with EPERM. Note that we
- * cannot get a false negative this way, because an existing postmaster
- * would surely never launch a competing postmaster or pg_ctl process
- * directly.
+ * If we find an already existing lockfile containing our own PID, there
+ * are few options:
+ *
+ * - There is another process, that we don't see due to PID namespace
+ * isolation, which is already running in this data directory.
+ *
+ * To prevent two concurrent processes working with the same data
+ * directory, we first try to lock the lockfile exclusively.
+ *
+ * - The file must be stale, probably left over from a previous system
+ * boot cycle. The same if the lockfile contains our parent's or
+ * grandparent's PID.
+ *
+ * We need to check this because of the likelihood that a reboot will
+ * assign exactly the same PID as we had in the previous reboot, or one
+ * that's only one or two counts larger and hence the lockfile's PID now
+ * refers to an ancestor shell process. We allow pg_ctl to pass down its
+ * parent shell PID (our grandparent PID) via the environment variable
+ * PG_GRANDPARENT_PID; this is so that launching the postmaster via pg_ctl
+ * can be just as reliable as launching it directly. There is no
+ * provision for detecting further-removed ancestor processes, but if the
+ * init script is written carefully then all but the immediate parent
+ * shell will be root-owned processes and so the kill test will fail with
+ * EPERM. Note that we cannot get a false negative this way, because an
+ * existing postmaster would surely never launch a competing postmaster or
+ * pg_ctl process directly.
*/
my_pid = getpid();
@@ -1224,7 +1294,11 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
*/
fd = open(filename, O_RDWR | O_CREAT | O_EXCL, pg_file_create_mode);
if (fd >= 0)
- break; /* Success; exit the retry loop */
+ {
+ /* Success; lock and exit the retry loop */
+ flock_fd = OFDLockFile(fd, filename);
+ break;
+ }
/*
* Couldn't create the pid file. Probably it already exists.
@@ -1238,8 +1312,12 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
/*
* Read the file to get the old owner's PID. Note race condition
* here: file might have been deleted since we tried to create it.
+ *
+ * We're going to use the same fd for flock, and want to create a
+ * write lock for the latter one. Since both fd and the lock have to
+ * be of the same type, open the file for read and write.
*/
- fd = open(filename, O_RDONLY, pg_file_create_mode);
+ fd = open(filename, O_RDWR, pg_file_create_mode);
if (fd < 0)
{
if (errno == ENOENT)
@@ -1249,6 +1327,10 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
errmsg("could not open lock file \"%s\": %m",
filename)));
}
+
+ /* Try to lock the file. We stop here, if it's already locked. */
+ flock_fd = OFDLockFile(fd, filename);
+
pgstat_report_wait_start(WAIT_EVENT_LOCK_FILE_CREATE_READ);
if ((len = read(fd, buffer, sizeof(buffer) - 1)) < 0)
ereport(FATAL,
@@ -1448,7 +1530,11 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
* Use lcons so that the lock files are unlinked in reverse order of
* creation; this is critical!
*/
- lock_files = lcons(pstrdup(filename), lock_files);
+ lock_file = palloc0_object(PGLockFile);
+ lock_file->filename = pstrdup(filename);
+ lock_file->fd = flock_fd;
+
+ lock_files = lcons(lock_file, lock_files);
}
/*
@@ -1495,14 +1581,14 @@ TouchSocketLockFiles(void)
foreach(l, lock_files)
{
- char *socketLockFile = (char *) lfirst(l);
+ PGLockFile *lock_file = (PGLockFile *) lfirst(l);
/* No need to touch the data directory lock file, we trust */
- if (strcmp(socketLockFile, DIRECTORY_LOCK_FILE) == 0)
+ if (strcmp(lock_file->filename, DIRECTORY_LOCK_FILE) == 0)
continue;
/* we just ignore any error here */
- (void) utime(socketLockFile, NULL);
+ (void) utime(lock_file->filename, NULL);
}
}
diff --git a/src/include/pg_config.h.in b/src/include/pg_config.h.in
index 4f8113c144b..cc38c06dc13 100644
--- a/src/include/pg_config.h.in
+++ b/src/include/pg_config.h.in
@@ -85,6 +85,10 @@
don't. */
#undef HAVE_DECL_F_FULLFSYNC
+/* Define to 1 if you have the declaration of `F_OFD_SETLK', and to 0 if you
+ don't. */
+#undef HAVE_DECL_F_OFD_SETLK
+
/* Define to 1 if you have the declaration of `memset_s', and to 0 if you
don't. */
#undef HAVE_DECL_MEMSET_S
diff --git a/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list b/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list
index ffb413ab612..ad34142e7d6 100644
--- a/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list
+++ b/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list
@@ -1956,6 +1956,7 @@ PGIOAlignedBlock
PGLZ_HistEntry
PGLZ_Strategy
PGLoadBalanceType
+PGLockFile
PGMessageField
PGModuleMagicFunction
PGNoticeHooks
base-commit: 73dfe79fd6034b1e7e41e83d9c82c166dba8eb67
--
2.52.0
--tks2nr37zts5e6h7--
^ permalink raw reply [nested|flat] 20+ messages in thread
* [PATCH v3] Use open file description locks for lockfiles
@ 2025-12-18 17:21 Dmitrii Dolgov <[email protected]>
0 siblings, 0 replies; 20+ messages in thread
From: Dmitrii Dolgov @ 2025-12-18 17:21 UTC (permalink / raw)
When starting up, postmaster checks for an existing data directory lockfile. If
this file contains current process PID, it's assumed to be stale. Turns out
there is another possibility: we might be running in a PID namespace, and there
is another postgres running inside another PID namespace using the same data
directory. The result is that we don't see another process due to namespace
isolation and start concurrently with the other.
To prevent such situations, at startup use fcntl to get an exclusive open file
description lock for data directory lockfile. Since such locks are associated
with open file descriptors, meaning they're not affected by PID namespace
isolation. It's a "best effort" locking, intended to work with already existing
mechanism, not replace it.
This approach was discussed multiple times in the past, and usually was
rejected as the main work horse for the data directory lockfile due to:
* Portability issues. Open file description lock was a non-POSIX extension in
Linux and similar flock is from BSD standard. But looks like everybody agrees
that such locks make more sense than a typical advisory locks, and
F_OFD_SETLK made its way into POSIX.1 2024 [1].
* Issues with NFS. The current state of things here looks like this:
- NFSv3 doesn't implement open file description locks, they're converted to
advisory locks instead. Advisory locks are subject to namespace isolation,
meaning that processes in different PID namespaces will not see each other
advisory lock, and it's still possible to run multiple postgres
instances on the same data directory.
- NFSv4 uses a lease system for locking, I haven't found any mention of
conversion to advisory locks neither in the man page nor in RFC [2].
To summarize, the approach is now considered POSIX and should fix the described
problem everywhere, except NFSv3.
Use open file description lock for both data directory and socker
lockfiles, since both are affected in the same way.
[1]: https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9799919799/functions/fcntl.html
[2]: https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7530
Reviewed-by: Ilmar Yunusov <[email protected]>
---
configure | 14 +++
configure.ac | 3 +
meson.build | 1 +
src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c | 136 ++++++++++++++++++++++++------
src/include/pg_config.h.in | 4 +
src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list | 1 +
6 files changed, 134 insertions(+), 25 deletions(-)
diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 5f77f3cac29..15bda6c6413 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -16444,6 +16444,20 @@ cat >>confdefs.h <<_ACEOF
_ACEOF
+# Linux open file descriptor locks
+ac_fn_c_check_decl "$LINENO" "F_OFD_SETLK" "ac_cv_have_decl_F_OFD_SETLK" "#include <fcntl.h>
+"
+if test "x$ac_cv_have_decl_F_OFD_SETLK" = xyes; then :
+ ac_have_decl=1
+else
+ ac_have_decl=0
+fi
+
+cat >>confdefs.h <<_ACEOF
+#define HAVE_DECL_F_OFD_SETLK $ac_have_decl
+_ACEOF
+
+
ac_fn_c_check_func "$LINENO" "explicit_bzero" "ac_cv_func_explicit_bzero"
if test "x$ac_cv_func_explicit_bzero" = xyes; then :
$as_echo "#define HAVE_EXPLICIT_BZERO 1" >>confdefs.h
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 61cee42daa7..e24cb7a6f01 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -1913,6 +1913,9 @@ AC_CHECK_DECLS([memset_s], [], [], [#define __STDC_WANT_LIB_EXT1__ 1
# This is probably only present on macOS, but may as well check always
AC_CHECK_DECLS(F_FULLFSYNC, [], [], [#include <fcntl.h>])
+# Linux open file descriptor locks
+AC_CHECK_DECLS([F_OFD_SETLK], [], [], [#include <fcntl.h>])
+
AC_REPLACE_FUNCS(m4_normalize([
explicit_bzero
getopt
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 568e0e150bf..3d641dc0403 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -2901,6 +2901,7 @@ decl_checks = [
['strlcpy', 'string.h'],
['strsep', 'string.h'],
['timingsafe_bcmp', 'string.h'],
+ ['F_OFD_SETLK', 'fcntl.h'],
]
# Need to check for function declarations for these functions, because
diff --git a/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c b/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c
index 7ffc808073a..26c3324542c 100644
--- a/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c
+++ b/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c
@@ -69,6 +69,15 @@ static List *lock_files = NIL;
static Latch LocalLatchData;
+typedef struct
+{
+ /* LockFile name. */
+ const char *filename;
+
+ /* File descriptor for open file description lock. */
+ int fd;
+} LockFile;
+
/* ----------------------------------------------------------------
* ignoring system indexes support stuff
*
@@ -1119,6 +1128,48 @@ RestoreClientConnectionInfo(char *conninfo)
*-------------------------------------------------------------------------
*/
+/*
+ * OFD lock the specified lockfile.
+ *
+ * Lock the lockfile with an open file description lock. If the lock is already
+ * taken, it's a hard stop. It's only a best effort test, and any other errors
+ * are ignored. On succes the file descriptor is duplicated, to make sure there
+ * will be at least one open copy of it to keep the lock.
+ *
+ * filename argument is used only for reporting purposes.
+ */
+static int
+OFDLockFile(int fd, const char *filename)
+{
+#if HAVE_DECL_F_OFD_SETLK
+ struct flock lock;
+
+ lock.l_type = F_WRLCK;
+ lock.l_whence = SEEK_SET;
+ lock.l_start = 0;
+ lock.l_len = 0;
+ lock.l_pid = 0;
+
+ if (fcntl(fd, F_OFD_SETLK, &lock) == -1)
+ {
+ if (errno == EAGAIN)
+ ereport(FATAL,
+ (errcode(ERRCODE_LOCK_FILE_EXISTS),
+ errmsg("cannot lock the lock file \"%s\"", filename),
+ errhint("Another server is starting.")));
+ else
+ {
+ elog(WARNING, "Failed locking file \"%s\", %m", filename);
+ return -1;
+ }
+ }
+ else
+ return dup(fd);
+#else
+ return -1
+#endif
+}
+
/*
* proc_exit callback to remove lockfiles.
*/
@@ -1129,9 +1180,16 @@ UnlinkLockFiles(int status, Datum arg)
foreach(l, lock_files)
{
- char *curfile = (char *) lfirst(l);
+ LockFile *lock_file = (LockFile *) lfirst(l);
- unlink(curfile);
+ /*
+ * Close the file descriptor, which keeps the open file description
+ * lock.
+ */
+ if (lock_file->fd > 0)
+ close(lock_file->fd);
+
+ unlink(lock_file->filename);
/* Should we complain if the unlink fails? */
}
/* Since we're about to exit, no need to reclaim storage */
@@ -1161,7 +1219,9 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
const char *socketDir,
bool isDDLock, const char *refName)
{
- int fd;
+ int fd,
+ flock_fd = -1;
+ LockFile *lock_file;
char buffer[MAXPGPATH * 2 + 256];
int ntries;
int len;
@@ -1173,22 +1233,32 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
const char *envvar;
/*
- * If the PID in the lockfile is our own PID or our parent's or
- * grandparent's PID, then the file must be stale (probably left over from
- * a previous system boot cycle). We need to check this because of the
- * likelihood that a reboot will assign exactly the same PID as we had in
- * the previous reboot, or one that's only one or two counts larger and
- * hence the lockfile's PID now refers to an ancestor shell process. We
- * allow pg_ctl to pass down its parent shell PID (our grandparent PID)
- * via the environment variable PG_GRANDPARENT_PID; this is so that
- * launching the postmaster via pg_ctl can be just as reliable as
- * launching it directly. There is no provision for detecting
- * further-removed ancestor processes, but if the init script is written
- * carefully then all but the immediate parent shell will be root-owned
- * processes and so the kill test will fail with EPERM. Note that we
- * cannot get a false negative this way, because an existing postmaster
- * would surely never launch a competing postmaster or pg_ctl process
- * directly.
+ * If we find an already existing lockfile containing our own PID, there
+ * are few options:
+ *
+ * - There is another process, that we don't see due to PID namespace
+ * isolation, which is already running in this data directory.
+ *
+ * To prevent two concurrent processes working with the same data
+ * directory, we first try to lock the lockfile exclusively.
+ *
+ * - The file must be stale, probably left over from a previous system
+ * boot cycle. The same if the lockfile contains our parent's or
+ * grandparent's PID.
+ *
+ * We need to check this because of the likelihood that a reboot will
+ * assign exactly the same PID as we had in the previous reboot, or one
+ * that's only one or two counts larger and hence the lockfile's PID now
+ * refers to an ancestor shell process. We allow pg_ctl to pass down its
+ * parent shell PID (our grandparent PID) via the environment variable
+ * PG_GRANDPARENT_PID; this is so that launching the postmaster via pg_ctl
+ * can be just as reliable as launching it directly. There is no
+ * provision for detecting further-removed ancestor processes, but if the
+ * init script is written carefully then all but the immediate parent
+ * shell will be root-owned processes and so the kill test will fail with
+ * EPERM. Note that we cannot get a false negative this way, because an
+ * existing postmaster would surely never launch a competing postmaster or
+ * pg_ctl process directly.
*/
my_pid = getpid();
@@ -1224,7 +1294,11 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
*/
fd = open(filename, O_RDWR | O_CREAT | O_EXCL, pg_file_create_mode);
if (fd >= 0)
- break; /* Success; exit the retry loop */
+ {
+ /* Success; lock and exit the retry loop */
+ flock_fd = OFDLockFile(fd, filename);
+ break;
+ }
/*
* Couldn't create the pid file. Probably it already exists.
@@ -1238,8 +1312,12 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
/*
* Read the file to get the old owner's PID. Note race condition
* here: file might have been deleted since we tried to create it.
+ *
+ * We're going to use the same fd for flock, and want to create a
+ * write lock for the latter one. Since both fd and the lock have to
+ * be of the same type, open the file for read and write.
*/
- fd = open(filename, O_RDONLY, pg_file_create_mode);
+ fd = open(filename, O_RDWR, pg_file_create_mode);
if (fd < 0)
{
if (errno == ENOENT)
@@ -1249,6 +1327,10 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
errmsg("could not open lock file \"%s\": %m",
filename)));
}
+
+ /* Try to lock the file. We stop here, if it's already locked. */
+ flock_fd = OFDLockFile(fd, filename);
+
pgstat_report_wait_start(WAIT_EVENT_LOCK_FILE_CREATE_READ);
if ((len = read(fd, buffer, sizeof(buffer) - 1)) < 0)
ereport(FATAL,
@@ -1448,7 +1530,11 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
* Use lcons so that the lock files are unlinked in reverse order of
* creation; this is critical!
*/
- lock_files = lcons(pstrdup(filename), lock_files);
+ lock_file = palloc0_object(LockFile);
+ lock_file->filename = pstrdup(filename);
+ lock_file->fd = flock_fd;
+
+ lock_files = lcons(lock_file, lock_files);
}
/*
@@ -1495,14 +1581,14 @@ TouchSocketLockFiles(void)
foreach(l, lock_files)
{
- char *socketLockFile = (char *) lfirst(l);
+ LockFile *lock_file = (LockFile *) lfirst(l);
/* No need to touch the data directory lock file, we trust */
- if (strcmp(socketLockFile, DIRECTORY_LOCK_FILE) == 0)
+ if (strcmp(lock_file->filename, DIRECTORY_LOCK_FILE) == 0)
continue;
/* we just ignore any error here */
- (void) utime(socketLockFile, NULL);
+ (void) utime(lock_file->filename, NULL);
}
}
diff --git a/src/include/pg_config.h.in b/src/include/pg_config.h.in
index 4f8113c144b..cc38c06dc13 100644
--- a/src/include/pg_config.h.in
+++ b/src/include/pg_config.h.in
@@ -85,6 +85,10 @@
don't. */
#undef HAVE_DECL_F_FULLFSYNC
+/* Define to 1 if you have the declaration of `F_OFD_SETLK', and to 0 if you
+ don't. */
+#undef HAVE_DECL_F_OFD_SETLK
+
/* Define to 1 if you have the declaration of `memset_s', and to 0 if you
don't. */
#undef HAVE_DECL_MEMSET_S
diff --git a/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list b/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list
index 1969d467c1d..185d69b5520 100644
--- a/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list
+++ b/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list
@@ -1653,6 +1653,7 @@ LocationLen
LockAcquireResult
LockClauseStrength
LockData
+LockFile
LockInfoData
LockInstanceData
LockMethod
base-commit: 031904048aa22e7c70dc8e9c170e2743f9b0f090
--
2.52.0
--zdel3ow7bygx53fm--
^ permalink raw reply [nested|flat] 20+ messages in thread
* [PATCH v4] Use open file description locks for lockfiles
@ 2025-12-18 17:21 Dmitrii Dolgov <[email protected]>
0 siblings, 0 replies; 20+ messages in thread
From: Dmitrii Dolgov @ 2025-12-18 17:21 UTC (permalink / raw)
When starting up, postmaster checks for an existing data directory lockfile. If
this file contains current process PID, it's assumed to be stale. Turns out
there is another possibility: we might be running in a PID namespace, and there
is another postgres running inside another PID namespace using the same data
directory. The result is that we don't see another process due to namespace
isolation and start concurrently with the other.
To prevent such situations, at startup use fcntl to get an exclusive open file
description lock for data directory lockfile. Since such locks are associated
with open file descriptors, meaning they're not affected by PID namespace
isolation. It's a "best effort" locking, intended to work with already existing
mechanism, not replace it.
This approach was discussed multiple times in the past, and usually was
rejected as the main work horse for the data directory lockfile due to:
* Portability issues. Open file description lock was a non-POSIX extension in
Linux and similar flock is from BSD standard. But looks like everybody agrees
that such locks make more sense than a typical advisory locks, and
F_OFD_SETLK made its way into POSIX.1 2024 [1].
* Issues with NFS. The current state of things here looks like this:
- NFSv3 doesn't implement open file description locks, they're converted to
advisory locks instead. Advisory locks are subject to namespace isolation,
meaning that processes in different PID namespaces will not see each other
advisory lock, and it's still possible to run multiple postgres
instances on the same data directory.
- NFSv4 uses a lease system for locking, I haven't found any mention of
conversion to advisory locks neither in the man page nor in RFC [2].
To summarize, the approach is now considered POSIX and should fix the described
problem everywhere, except NFSv3.
Use open file description lock for both data directory and socker
lockfiles, since both are affected in the same way.
[1]: https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9799919799/functions/fcntl.html
[2]: https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7530
Reviewed-by: Ilmar Yunusov <[email protected]>
---
configure | 14 +++
configure.ac | 3 +
meson.build | 1 +
src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c | 136 ++++++++++++++++++++++++------
src/include/pg_config.h.in | 4 +
src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list | 1 +
6 files changed, 134 insertions(+), 25 deletions(-)
diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 35b0b72f0a7..25ebcd3cc47 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -16444,6 +16444,20 @@ cat >>confdefs.h <<_ACEOF
_ACEOF
+# Linux open file descriptor locks
+ac_fn_c_check_decl "$LINENO" "F_OFD_SETLK" "ac_cv_have_decl_F_OFD_SETLK" "#include <fcntl.h>
+"
+if test "x$ac_cv_have_decl_F_OFD_SETLK" = xyes; then :
+ ac_have_decl=1
+else
+ ac_have_decl=0
+fi
+
+cat >>confdefs.h <<_ACEOF
+#define HAVE_DECL_F_OFD_SETLK $ac_have_decl
+_ACEOF
+
+
ac_fn_c_check_func "$LINENO" "explicit_bzero" "ac_cv_func_explicit_bzero"
if test "x$ac_cv_func_explicit_bzero" = xyes; then :
$as_echo "#define HAVE_EXPLICIT_BZERO 1" >>confdefs.h
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 0e624fe36b9..677137207e7 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -1913,6 +1913,9 @@ AC_CHECK_DECLS([memset_s], [], [], [#define __STDC_WANT_LIB_EXT1__ 1
# This is probably only present on macOS, but may as well check always
AC_CHECK_DECLS(F_FULLFSYNC, [], [], [#include <fcntl.h>])
+# Linux open file descriptor locks
+AC_CHECK_DECLS([F_OFD_SETLK], [], [], [#include <fcntl.h>])
+
AC_REPLACE_FUNCS(m4_normalize([
explicit_bzero
getopt
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index d88a7a70308..153fbb477bb 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -2901,6 +2901,7 @@ decl_checks = [
['strlcpy', 'string.h'],
['strsep', 'string.h'],
['timingsafe_bcmp', 'string.h'],
+ ['F_OFD_SETLK', 'fcntl.h'],
]
# Need to check for function declarations for these functions, because
diff --git a/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c b/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c
index 7ffc808073a..d4c2f80eb46 100644
--- a/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c
+++ b/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c
@@ -69,6 +69,15 @@ static List *lock_files = NIL;
static Latch LocalLatchData;
+typedef struct
+{
+ /* LockFile name. */
+ const char *filename;
+
+ /* File descriptor for open file description lock. */
+ int fd;
+} PGLockFile;
+
/* ----------------------------------------------------------------
* ignoring system indexes support stuff
*
@@ -1119,6 +1128,48 @@ RestoreClientConnectionInfo(char *conninfo)
*-------------------------------------------------------------------------
*/
+/*
+ * OFD lock the specified lockfile.
+ *
+ * Lock the lockfile with an open file description lock. If the lock is already
+ * taken, it's a hard stop. It's only a best effort test, and any other errors
+ * are ignored. On succes the file descriptor is duplicated, to make sure there
+ * will be at least one open copy of it to keep the lock.
+ *
+ * filename argument is used only for reporting purposes.
+ */
+static int
+OFDLockFile(int fd, const char *filename)
+{
+#if HAVE_DECL_F_OFD_SETLK
+ struct flock lock;
+
+ lock.l_type = F_WRLCK;
+ lock.l_whence = SEEK_SET;
+ lock.l_start = 0;
+ lock.l_len = 0;
+ lock.l_pid = 0;
+
+ if (fcntl(fd, F_OFD_SETLK, &lock) == -1)
+ {
+ if (errno == EAGAIN)
+ ereport(FATAL,
+ (errcode(ERRCODE_LOCK_FILE_EXISTS),
+ errmsg("cannot lock the lock file \"%s\"", filename),
+ errhint("Another server is starting.")));
+ else
+ {
+ elog(WARNING, "Failed locking file \"%s\", %m", filename);
+ return -1;
+ }
+ }
+ else
+ return dup(fd);
+#else
+ return -1;
+#endif
+}
+
/*
* proc_exit callback to remove lockfiles.
*/
@@ -1129,9 +1180,16 @@ UnlinkLockFiles(int status, Datum arg)
foreach(l, lock_files)
{
- char *curfile = (char *) lfirst(l);
+ PGLockFile *lock_file = (PGLockFile *) lfirst(l);
- unlink(curfile);
+ /*
+ * Close the file descriptor, which keeps the open file description
+ * lock.
+ */
+ if (lock_file->fd > 0)
+ close(lock_file->fd);
+
+ unlink(lock_file->filename);
/* Should we complain if the unlink fails? */
}
/* Since we're about to exit, no need to reclaim storage */
@@ -1161,7 +1219,9 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
const char *socketDir,
bool isDDLock, const char *refName)
{
- int fd;
+ int fd,
+ flock_fd = -1;
+ PGLockFile *lock_file;
char buffer[MAXPGPATH * 2 + 256];
int ntries;
int len;
@@ -1173,22 +1233,32 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
const char *envvar;
/*
- * If the PID in the lockfile is our own PID or our parent's or
- * grandparent's PID, then the file must be stale (probably left over from
- * a previous system boot cycle). We need to check this because of the
- * likelihood that a reboot will assign exactly the same PID as we had in
- * the previous reboot, or one that's only one or two counts larger and
- * hence the lockfile's PID now refers to an ancestor shell process. We
- * allow pg_ctl to pass down its parent shell PID (our grandparent PID)
- * via the environment variable PG_GRANDPARENT_PID; this is so that
- * launching the postmaster via pg_ctl can be just as reliable as
- * launching it directly. There is no provision for detecting
- * further-removed ancestor processes, but if the init script is written
- * carefully then all but the immediate parent shell will be root-owned
- * processes and so the kill test will fail with EPERM. Note that we
- * cannot get a false negative this way, because an existing postmaster
- * would surely never launch a competing postmaster or pg_ctl process
- * directly.
+ * If we find an already existing lockfile containing our own PID, there
+ * are few options:
+ *
+ * - There is another process, that we don't see due to PID namespace
+ * isolation, which is already running in this data directory.
+ *
+ * To prevent two concurrent processes working with the same data
+ * directory, we first try to lock the lockfile exclusively.
+ *
+ * - The file must be stale, probably left over from a previous system
+ * boot cycle. The same if the lockfile contains our parent's or
+ * grandparent's PID.
+ *
+ * We need to check this because of the likelihood that a reboot will
+ * assign exactly the same PID as we had in the previous reboot, or one
+ * that's only one or two counts larger and hence the lockfile's PID now
+ * refers to an ancestor shell process. We allow pg_ctl to pass down its
+ * parent shell PID (our grandparent PID) via the environment variable
+ * PG_GRANDPARENT_PID; this is so that launching the postmaster via pg_ctl
+ * can be just as reliable as launching it directly. There is no
+ * provision for detecting further-removed ancestor processes, but if the
+ * init script is written carefully then all but the immediate parent
+ * shell will be root-owned processes and so the kill test will fail with
+ * EPERM. Note that we cannot get a false negative this way, because an
+ * existing postmaster would surely never launch a competing postmaster or
+ * pg_ctl process directly.
*/
my_pid = getpid();
@@ -1224,7 +1294,11 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
*/
fd = open(filename, O_RDWR | O_CREAT | O_EXCL, pg_file_create_mode);
if (fd >= 0)
- break; /* Success; exit the retry loop */
+ {
+ /* Success; lock and exit the retry loop */
+ flock_fd = OFDLockFile(fd, filename);
+ break;
+ }
/*
* Couldn't create the pid file. Probably it already exists.
@@ -1238,8 +1312,12 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
/*
* Read the file to get the old owner's PID. Note race condition
* here: file might have been deleted since we tried to create it.
+ *
+ * We're going to use the same fd for flock, and want to create a
+ * write lock for the latter one. Since both fd and the lock have to
+ * be of the same type, open the file for read and write.
*/
- fd = open(filename, O_RDONLY, pg_file_create_mode);
+ fd = open(filename, O_RDWR, pg_file_create_mode);
if (fd < 0)
{
if (errno == ENOENT)
@@ -1249,6 +1327,10 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
errmsg("could not open lock file \"%s\": %m",
filename)));
}
+
+ /* Try to lock the file. We stop here, if it's already locked. */
+ flock_fd = OFDLockFile(fd, filename);
+
pgstat_report_wait_start(WAIT_EVENT_LOCK_FILE_CREATE_READ);
if ((len = read(fd, buffer, sizeof(buffer) - 1)) < 0)
ereport(FATAL,
@@ -1448,7 +1530,11 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
* Use lcons so that the lock files are unlinked in reverse order of
* creation; this is critical!
*/
- lock_files = lcons(pstrdup(filename), lock_files);
+ lock_file = palloc0_object(PGLockFile);
+ lock_file->filename = pstrdup(filename);
+ lock_file->fd = flock_fd;
+
+ lock_files = lcons(lock_file, lock_files);
}
/*
@@ -1495,14 +1581,14 @@ TouchSocketLockFiles(void)
foreach(l, lock_files)
{
- char *socketLockFile = (char *) lfirst(l);
+ PGLockFile *lock_file = (PGLockFile *) lfirst(l);
/* No need to touch the data directory lock file, we trust */
- if (strcmp(socketLockFile, DIRECTORY_LOCK_FILE) == 0)
+ if (strcmp(lock_file->filename, DIRECTORY_LOCK_FILE) == 0)
continue;
/* we just ignore any error here */
- (void) utime(socketLockFile, NULL);
+ (void) utime(lock_file->filename, NULL);
}
}
diff --git a/src/include/pg_config.h.in b/src/include/pg_config.h.in
index 4f8113c144b..cc38c06dc13 100644
--- a/src/include/pg_config.h.in
+++ b/src/include/pg_config.h.in
@@ -85,6 +85,10 @@
don't. */
#undef HAVE_DECL_F_FULLFSYNC
+/* Define to 1 if you have the declaration of `F_OFD_SETLK', and to 0 if you
+ don't. */
+#undef HAVE_DECL_F_OFD_SETLK
+
/* Define to 1 if you have the declaration of `memset_s', and to 0 if you
don't. */
#undef HAVE_DECL_MEMSET_S
diff --git a/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list b/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list
index ffb413ab612..ad34142e7d6 100644
--- a/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list
+++ b/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list
@@ -1956,6 +1956,7 @@ PGIOAlignedBlock
PGLZ_HistEntry
PGLZ_Strategy
PGLoadBalanceType
+PGLockFile
PGMessageField
PGModuleMagicFunction
PGNoticeHooks
base-commit: 73dfe79fd6034b1e7e41e83d9c82c166dba8eb67
--
2.52.0
--tks2nr37zts5e6h7--
^ permalink raw reply [nested|flat] 20+ messages in thread
* [PATCH v3] Use open file description locks for lockfiles
@ 2025-12-18 17:21 Dmitrii Dolgov <[email protected]>
0 siblings, 0 replies; 20+ messages in thread
From: Dmitrii Dolgov @ 2025-12-18 17:21 UTC (permalink / raw)
When starting up, postmaster checks for an existing data directory lockfile. If
this file contains current process PID, it's assumed to be stale. Turns out
there is another possibility: we might be running in a PID namespace, and there
is another postgres running inside another PID namespace using the same data
directory. The result is that we don't see another process due to namespace
isolation and start concurrently with the other.
To prevent such situations, at startup use fcntl to get an exclusive open file
description lock for data directory lockfile. Since such locks are associated
with open file descriptors, meaning they're not affected by PID namespace
isolation. It's a "best effort" locking, intended to work with already existing
mechanism, not replace it.
This approach was discussed multiple times in the past, and usually was
rejected as the main work horse for the data directory lockfile due to:
* Portability issues. Open file description lock was a non-POSIX extension in
Linux and similar flock is from BSD standard. But looks like everybody agrees
that such locks make more sense than a typical advisory locks, and
F_OFD_SETLK made its way into POSIX.1 2024 [1].
* Issues with NFS. The current state of things here looks like this:
- NFSv3 doesn't implement open file description locks, they're converted to
advisory locks instead. Advisory locks are subject to namespace isolation,
meaning that processes in different PID namespaces will not see each other
advisory lock, and it's still possible to run multiple postgres
instances on the same data directory.
- NFSv4 uses a lease system for locking, I haven't found any mention of
conversion to advisory locks neither in the man page nor in RFC [2].
To summarize, the approach is now considered POSIX and should fix the described
problem everywhere, except NFSv3.
Use open file description lock for both data directory and socker
lockfiles, since both are affected in the same way.
[1]: https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9799919799/functions/fcntl.html
[2]: https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7530
Reviewed-by: Ilmar Yunusov <[email protected]>
---
configure | 14 +++
configure.ac | 3 +
meson.build | 1 +
src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c | 136 ++++++++++++++++++++++++------
src/include/pg_config.h.in | 4 +
src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list | 1 +
6 files changed, 134 insertions(+), 25 deletions(-)
diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 5f77f3cac29..15bda6c6413 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -16444,6 +16444,20 @@ cat >>confdefs.h <<_ACEOF
_ACEOF
+# Linux open file descriptor locks
+ac_fn_c_check_decl "$LINENO" "F_OFD_SETLK" "ac_cv_have_decl_F_OFD_SETLK" "#include <fcntl.h>
+"
+if test "x$ac_cv_have_decl_F_OFD_SETLK" = xyes; then :
+ ac_have_decl=1
+else
+ ac_have_decl=0
+fi
+
+cat >>confdefs.h <<_ACEOF
+#define HAVE_DECL_F_OFD_SETLK $ac_have_decl
+_ACEOF
+
+
ac_fn_c_check_func "$LINENO" "explicit_bzero" "ac_cv_func_explicit_bzero"
if test "x$ac_cv_func_explicit_bzero" = xyes; then :
$as_echo "#define HAVE_EXPLICIT_BZERO 1" >>confdefs.h
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 61cee42daa7..e24cb7a6f01 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -1913,6 +1913,9 @@ AC_CHECK_DECLS([memset_s], [], [], [#define __STDC_WANT_LIB_EXT1__ 1
# This is probably only present on macOS, but may as well check always
AC_CHECK_DECLS(F_FULLFSYNC, [], [], [#include <fcntl.h>])
+# Linux open file descriptor locks
+AC_CHECK_DECLS([F_OFD_SETLK], [], [], [#include <fcntl.h>])
+
AC_REPLACE_FUNCS(m4_normalize([
explicit_bzero
getopt
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 568e0e150bf..3d641dc0403 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -2901,6 +2901,7 @@ decl_checks = [
['strlcpy', 'string.h'],
['strsep', 'string.h'],
['timingsafe_bcmp', 'string.h'],
+ ['F_OFD_SETLK', 'fcntl.h'],
]
# Need to check for function declarations for these functions, because
diff --git a/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c b/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c
index 7ffc808073a..26c3324542c 100644
--- a/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c
+++ b/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c
@@ -69,6 +69,15 @@ static List *lock_files = NIL;
static Latch LocalLatchData;
+typedef struct
+{
+ /* LockFile name. */
+ const char *filename;
+
+ /* File descriptor for open file description lock. */
+ int fd;
+} LockFile;
+
/* ----------------------------------------------------------------
* ignoring system indexes support stuff
*
@@ -1119,6 +1128,48 @@ RestoreClientConnectionInfo(char *conninfo)
*-------------------------------------------------------------------------
*/
+/*
+ * OFD lock the specified lockfile.
+ *
+ * Lock the lockfile with an open file description lock. If the lock is already
+ * taken, it's a hard stop. It's only a best effort test, and any other errors
+ * are ignored. On succes the file descriptor is duplicated, to make sure there
+ * will be at least one open copy of it to keep the lock.
+ *
+ * filename argument is used only for reporting purposes.
+ */
+static int
+OFDLockFile(int fd, const char *filename)
+{
+#if HAVE_DECL_F_OFD_SETLK
+ struct flock lock;
+
+ lock.l_type = F_WRLCK;
+ lock.l_whence = SEEK_SET;
+ lock.l_start = 0;
+ lock.l_len = 0;
+ lock.l_pid = 0;
+
+ if (fcntl(fd, F_OFD_SETLK, &lock) == -1)
+ {
+ if (errno == EAGAIN)
+ ereport(FATAL,
+ (errcode(ERRCODE_LOCK_FILE_EXISTS),
+ errmsg("cannot lock the lock file \"%s\"", filename),
+ errhint("Another server is starting.")));
+ else
+ {
+ elog(WARNING, "Failed locking file \"%s\", %m", filename);
+ return -1;
+ }
+ }
+ else
+ return dup(fd);
+#else
+ return -1
+#endif
+}
+
/*
* proc_exit callback to remove lockfiles.
*/
@@ -1129,9 +1180,16 @@ UnlinkLockFiles(int status, Datum arg)
foreach(l, lock_files)
{
- char *curfile = (char *) lfirst(l);
+ LockFile *lock_file = (LockFile *) lfirst(l);
- unlink(curfile);
+ /*
+ * Close the file descriptor, which keeps the open file description
+ * lock.
+ */
+ if (lock_file->fd > 0)
+ close(lock_file->fd);
+
+ unlink(lock_file->filename);
/* Should we complain if the unlink fails? */
}
/* Since we're about to exit, no need to reclaim storage */
@@ -1161,7 +1219,9 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
const char *socketDir,
bool isDDLock, const char *refName)
{
- int fd;
+ int fd,
+ flock_fd = -1;
+ LockFile *lock_file;
char buffer[MAXPGPATH * 2 + 256];
int ntries;
int len;
@@ -1173,22 +1233,32 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
const char *envvar;
/*
- * If the PID in the lockfile is our own PID or our parent's or
- * grandparent's PID, then the file must be stale (probably left over from
- * a previous system boot cycle). We need to check this because of the
- * likelihood that a reboot will assign exactly the same PID as we had in
- * the previous reboot, or one that's only one or two counts larger and
- * hence the lockfile's PID now refers to an ancestor shell process. We
- * allow pg_ctl to pass down its parent shell PID (our grandparent PID)
- * via the environment variable PG_GRANDPARENT_PID; this is so that
- * launching the postmaster via pg_ctl can be just as reliable as
- * launching it directly. There is no provision for detecting
- * further-removed ancestor processes, but if the init script is written
- * carefully then all but the immediate parent shell will be root-owned
- * processes and so the kill test will fail with EPERM. Note that we
- * cannot get a false negative this way, because an existing postmaster
- * would surely never launch a competing postmaster or pg_ctl process
- * directly.
+ * If we find an already existing lockfile containing our own PID, there
+ * are few options:
+ *
+ * - There is another process, that we don't see due to PID namespace
+ * isolation, which is already running in this data directory.
+ *
+ * To prevent two concurrent processes working with the same data
+ * directory, we first try to lock the lockfile exclusively.
+ *
+ * - The file must be stale, probably left over from a previous system
+ * boot cycle. The same if the lockfile contains our parent's or
+ * grandparent's PID.
+ *
+ * We need to check this because of the likelihood that a reboot will
+ * assign exactly the same PID as we had in the previous reboot, or one
+ * that's only one or two counts larger and hence the lockfile's PID now
+ * refers to an ancestor shell process. We allow pg_ctl to pass down its
+ * parent shell PID (our grandparent PID) via the environment variable
+ * PG_GRANDPARENT_PID; this is so that launching the postmaster via pg_ctl
+ * can be just as reliable as launching it directly. There is no
+ * provision for detecting further-removed ancestor processes, but if the
+ * init script is written carefully then all but the immediate parent
+ * shell will be root-owned processes and so the kill test will fail with
+ * EPERM. Note that we cannot get a false negative this way, because an
+ * existing postmaster would surely never launch a competing postmaster or
+ * pg_ctl process directly.
*/
my_pid = getpid();
@@ -1224,7 +1294,11 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
*/
fd = open(filename, O_RDWR | O_CREAT | O_EXCL, pg_file_create_mode);
if (fd >= 0)
- break; /* Success; exit the retry loop */
+ {
+ /* Success; lock and exit the retry loop */
+ flock_fd = OFDLockFile(fd, filename);
+ break;
+ }
/*
* Couldn't create the pid file. Probably it already exists.
@@ -1238,8 +1312,12 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
/*
* Read the file to get the old owner's PID. Note race condition
* here: file might have been deleted since we tried to create it.
+ *
+ * We're going to use the same fd for flock, and want to create a
+ * write lock for the latter one. Since both fd and the lock have to
+ * be of the same type, open the file for read and write.
*/
- fd = open(filename, O_RDONLY, pg_file_create_mode);
+ fd = open(filename, O_RDWR, pg_file_create_mode);
if (fd < 0)
{
if (errno == ENOENT)
@@ -1249,6 +1327,10 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
errmsg("could not open lock file \"%s\": %m",
filename)));
}
+
+ /* Try to lock the file. We stop here, if it's already locked. */
+ flock_fd = OFDLockFile(fd, filename);
+
pgstat_report_wait_start(WAIT_EVENT_LOCK_FILE_CREATE_READ);
if ((len = read(fd, buffer, sizeof(buffer) - 1)) < 0)
ereport(FATAL,
@@ -1448,7 +1530,11 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
* Use lcons so that the lock files are unlinked in reverse order of
* creation; this is critical!
*/
- lock_files = lcons(pstrdup(filename), lock_files);
+ lock_file = palloc0_object(LockFile);
+ lock_file->filename = pstrdup(filename);
+ lock_file->fd = flock_fd;
+
+ lock_files = lcons(lock_file, lock_files);
}
/*
@@ -1495,14 +1581,14 @@ TouchSocketLockFiles(void)
foreach(l, lock_files)
{
- char *socketLockFile = (char *) lfirst(l);
+ LockFile *lock_file = (LockFile *) lfirst(l);
/* No need to touch the data directory lock file, we trust */
- if (strcmp(socketLockFile, DIRECTORY_LOCK_FILE) == 0)
+ if (strcmp(lock_file->filename, DIRECTORY_LOCK_FILE) == 0)
continue;
/* we just ignore any error here */
- (void) utime(socketLockFile, NULL);
+ (void) utime(lock_file->filename, NULL);
}
}
diff --git a/src/include/pg_config.h.in b/src/include/pg_config.h.in
index 4f8113c144b..cc38c06dc13 100644
--- a/src/include/pg_config.h.in
+++ b/src/include/pg_config.h.in
@@ -85,6 +85,10 @@
don't. */
#undef HAVE_DECL_F_FULLFSYNC
+/* Define to 1 if you have the declaration of `F_OFD_SETLK', and to 0 if you
+ don't. */
+#undef HAVE_DECL_F_OFD_SETLK
+
/* Define to 1 if you have the declaration of `memset_s', and to 0 if you
don't. */
#undef HAVE_DECL_MEMSET_S
diff --git a/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list b/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list
index 1969d467c1d..185d69b5520 100644
--- a/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list
+++ b/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list
@@ -1653,6 +1653,7 @@ LocationLen
LockAcquireResult
LockClauseStrength
LockData
+LockFile
LockInfoData
LockInstanceData
LockMethod
base-commit: 031904048aa22e7c70dc8e9c170e2743f9b0f090
--
2.52.0
--zdel3ow7bygx53fm--
^ permalink raw reply [nested|flat] 20+ messages in thread
* [PATCH v4] Use open file description locks for lockfiles
@ 2025-12-18 17:21 Dmitrii Dolgov <[email protected]>
0 siblings, 0 replies; 20+ messages in thread
From: Dmitrii Dolgov @ 2025-12-18 17:21 UTC (permalink / raw)
When starting up, postmaster checks for an existing data directory lockfile. If
this file contains current process PID, it's assumed to be stale. Turns out
there is another possibility: we might be running in a PID namespace, and there
is another postgres running inside another PID namespace using the same data
directory. The result is that we don't see another process due to namespace
isolation and start concurrently with the other.
To prevent such situations, at startup use fcntl to get an exclusive open file
description lock for data directory lockfile. Since such locks are associated
with open file descriptors, meaning they're not affected by PID namespace
isolation. It's a "best effort" locking, intended to work with already existing
mechanism, not replace it.
This approach was discussed multiple times in the past, and usually was
rejected as the main work horse for the data directory lockfile due to:
* Portability issues. Open file description lock was a non-POSIX extension in
Linux and similar flock is from BSD standard. But looks like everybody agrees
that such locks make more sense than a typical advisory locks, and
F_OFD_SETLK made its way into POSIX.1 2024 [1].
* Issues with NFS. The current state of things here looks like this:
- NFSv3 doesn't implement open file description locks, they're converted to
advisory locks instead. Advisory locks are subject to namespace isolation,
meaning that processes in different PID namespaces will not see each other
advisory lock, and it's still possible to run multiple postgres
instances on the same data directory.
- NFSv4 uses a lease system for locking, I haven't found any mention of
conversion to advisory locks neither in the man page nor in RFC [2].
To summarize, the approach is now considered POSIX and should fix the described
problem everywhere, except NFSv3.
Use open file description lock for both data directory and socker
lockfiles, since both are affected in the same way.
[1]: https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9799919799/functions/fcntl.html
[2]: https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7530
Reviewed-by: Ilmar Yunusov <[email protected]>
---
configure | 14 +++
configure.ac | 3 +
meson.build | 1 +
src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c | 136 ++++++++++++++++++++++++------
src/include/pg_config.h.in | 4 +
src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list | 1 +
6 files changed, 134 insertions(+), 25 deletions(-)
diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 35b0b72f0a7..25ebcd3cc47 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -16444,6 +16444,20 @@ cat >>confdefs.h <<_ACEOF
_ACEOF
+# Linux open file descriptor locks
+ac_fn_c_check_decl "$LINENO" "F_OFD_SETLK" "ac_cv_have_decl_F_OFD_SETLK" "#include <fcntl.h>
+"
+if test "x$ac_cv_have_decl_F_OFD_SETLK" = xyes; then :
+ ac_have_decl=1
+else
+ ac_have_decl=0
+fi
+
+cat >>confdefs.h <<_ACEOF
+#define HAVE_DECL_F_OFD_SETLK $ac_have_decl
+_ACEOF
+
+
ac_fn_c_check_func "$LINENO" "explicit_bzero" "ac_cv_func_explicit_bzero"
if test "x$ac_cv_func_explicit_bzero" = xyes; then :
$as_echo "#define HAVE_EXPLICIT_BZERO 1" >>confdefs.h
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 0e624fe36b9..677137207e7 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -1913,6 +1913,9 @@ AC_CHECK_DECLS([memset_s], [], [], [#define __STDC_WANT_LIB_EXT1__ 1
# This is probably only present on macOS, but may as well check always
AC_CHECK_DECLS(F_FULLFSYNC, [], [], [#include <fcntl.h>])
+# Linux open file descriptor locks
+AC_CHECK_DECLS([F_OFD_SETLK], [], [], [#include <fcntl.h>])
+
AC_REPLACE_FUNCS(m4_normalize([
explicit_bzero
getopt
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index d88a7a70308..153fbb477bb 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -2901,6 +2901,7 @@ decl_checks = [
['strlcpy', 'string.h'],
['strsep', 'string.h'],
['timingsafe_bcmp', 'string.h'],
+ ['F_OFD_SETLK', 'fcntl.h'],
]
# Need to check for function declarations for these functions, because
diff --git a/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c b/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c
index 7ffc808073a..d4c2f80eb46 100644
--- a/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c
+++ b/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c
@@ -69,6 +69,15 @@ static List *lock_files = NIL;
static Latch LocalLatchData;
+typedef struct
+{
+ /* LockFile name. */
+ const char *filename;
+
+ /* File descriptor for open file description lock. */
+ int fd;
+} PGLockFile;
+
/* ----------------------------------------------------------------
* ignoring system indexes support stuff
*
@@ -1119,6 +1128,48 @@ RestoreClientConnectionInfo(char *conninfo)
*-------------------------------------------------------------------------
*/
+/*
+ * OFD lock the specified lockfile.
+ *
+ * Lock the lockfile with an open file description lock. If the lock is already
+ * taken, it's a hard stop. It's only a best effort test, and any other errors
+ * are ignored. On succes the file descriptor is duplicated, to make sure there
+ * will be at least one open copy of it to keep the lock.
+ *
+ * filename argument is used only for reporting purposes.
+ */
+static int
+OFDLockFile(int fd, const char *filename)
+{
+#if HAVE_DECL_F_OFD_SETLK
+ struct flock lock;
+
+ lock.l_type = F_WRLCK;
+ lock.l_whence = SEEK_SET;
+ lock.l_start = 0;
+ lock.l_len = 0;
+ lock.l_pid = 0;
+
+ if (fcntl(fd, F_OFD_SETLK, &lock) == -1)
+ {
+ if (errno == EAGAIN)
+ ereport(FATAL,
+ (errcode(ERRCODE_LOCK_FILE_EXISTS),
+ errmsg("cannot lock the lock file \"%s\"", filename),
+ errhint("Another server is starting.")));
+ else
+ {
+ elog(WARNING, "Failed locking file \"%s\", %m", filename);
+ return -1;
+ }
+ }
+ else
+ return dup(fd);
+#else
+ return -1;
+#endif
+}
+
/*
* proc_exit callback to remove lockfiles.
*/
@@ -1129,9 +1180,16 @@ UnlinkLockFiles(int status, Datum arg)
foreach(l, lock_files)
{
- char *curfile = (char *) lfirst(l);
+ PGLockFile *lock_file = (PGLockFile *) lfirst(l);
- unlink(curfile);
+ /*
+ * Close the file descriptor, which keeps the open file description
+ * lock.
+ */
+ if (lock_file->fd > 0)
+ close(lock_file->fd);
+
+ unlink(lock_file->filename);
/* Should we complain if the unlink fails? */
}
/* Since we're about to exit, no need to reclaim storage */
@@ -1161,7 +1219,9 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
const char *socketDir,
bool isDDLock, const char *refName)
{
- int fd;
+ int fd,
+ flock_fd = -1;
+ PGLockFile *lock_file;
char buffer[MAXPGPATH * 2 + 256];
int ntries;
int len;
@@ -1173,22 +1233,32 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
const char *envvar;
/*
- * If the PID in the lockfile is our own PID or our parent's or
- * grandparent's PID, then the file must be stale (probably left over from
- * a previous system boot cycle). We need to check this because of the
- * likelihood that a reboot will assign exactly the same PID as we had in
- * the previous reboot, or one that's only one or two counts larger and
- * hence the lockfile's PID now refers to an ancestor shell process. We
- * allow pg_ctl to pass down its parent shell PID (our grandparent PID)
- * via the environment variable PG_GRANDPARENT_PID; this is so that
- * launching the postmaster via pg_ctl can be just as reliable as
- * launching it directly. There is no provision for detecting
- * further-removed ancestor processes, but if the init script is written
- * carefully then all but the immediate parent shell will be root-owned
- * processes and so the kill test will fail with EPERM. Note that we
- * cannot get a false negative this way, because an existing postmaster
- * would surely never launch a competing postmaster or pg_ctl process
- * directly.
+ * If we find an already existing lockfile containing our own PID, there
+ * are few options:
+ *
+ * - There is another process, that we don't see due to PID namespace
+ * isolation, which is already running in this data directory.
+ *
+ * To prevent two concurrent processes working with the same data
+ * directory, we first try to lock the lockfile exclusively.
+ *
+ * - The file must be stale, probably left over from a previous system
+ * boot cycle. The same if the lockfile contains our parent's or
+ * grandparent's PID.
+ *
+ * We need to check this because of the likelihood that a reboot will
+ * assign exactly the same PID as we had in the previous reboot, or one
+ * that's only one or two counts larger and hence the lockfile's PID now
+ * refers to an ancestor shell process. We allow pg_ctl to pass down its
+ * parent shell PID (our grandparent PID) via the environment variable
+ * PG_GRANDPARENT_PID; this is so that launching the postmaster via pg_ctl
+ * can be just as reliable as launching it directly. There is no
+ * provision for detecting further-removed ancestor processes, but if the
+ * init script is written carefully then all but the immediate parent
+ * shell will be root-owned processes and so the kill test will fail with
+ * EPERM. Note that we cannot get a false negative this way, because an
+ * existing postmaster would surely never launch a competing postmaster or
+ * pg_ctl process directly.
*/
my_pid = getpid();
@@ -1224,7 +1294,11 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
*/
fd = open(filename, O_RDWR | O_CREAT | O_EXCL, pg_file_create_mode);
if (fd >= 0)
- break; /* Success; exit the retry loop */
+ {
+ /* Success; lock and exit the retry loop */
+ flock_fd = OFDLockFile(fd, filename);
+ break;
+ }
/*
* Couldn't create the pid file. Probably it already exists.
@@ -1238,8 +1312,12 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
/*
* Read the file to get the old owner's PID. Note race condition
* here: file might have been deleted since we tried to create it.
+ *
+ * We're going to use the same fd for flock, and want to create a
+ * write lock for the latter one. Since both fd and the lock have to
+ * be of the same type, open the file for read and write.
*/
- fd = open(filename, O_RDONLY, pg_file_create_mode);
+ fd = open(filename, O_RDWR, pg_file_create_mode);
if (fd < 0)
{
if (errno == ENOENT)
@@ -1249,6 +1327,10 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
errmsg("could not open lock file \"%s\": %m",
filename)));
}
+
+ /* Try to lock the file. We stop here, if it's already locked. */
+ flock_fd = OFDLockFile(fd, filename);
+
pgstat_report_wait_start(WAIT_EVENT_LOCK_FILE_CREATE_READ);
if ((len = read(fd, buffer, sizeof(buffer) - 1)) < 0)
ereport(FATAL,
@@ -1448,7 +1530,11 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
* Use lcons so that the lock files are unlinked in reverse order of
* creation; this is critical!
*/
- lock_files = lcons(pstrdup(filename), lock_files);
+ lock_file = palloc0_object(PGLockFile);
+ lock_file->filename = pstrdup(filename);
+ lock_file->fd = flock_fd;
+
+ lock_files = lcons(lock_file, lock_files);
}
/*
@@ -1495,14 +1581,14 @@ TouchSocketLockFiles(void)
foreach(l, lock_files)
{
- char *socketLockFile = (char *) lfirst(l);
+ PGLockFile *lock_file = (PGLockFile *) lfirst(l);
/* No need to touch the data directory lock file, we trust */
- if (strcmp(socketLockFile, DIRECTORY_LOCK_FILE) == 0)
+ if (strcmp(lock_file->filename, DIRECTORY_LOCK_FILE) == 0)
continue;
/* we just ignore any error here */
- (void) utime(socketLockFile, NULL);
+ (void) utime(lock_file->filename, NULL);
}
}
diff --git a/src/include/pg_config.h.in b/src/include/pg_config.h.in
index 4f8113c144b..cc38c06dc13 100644
--- a/src/include/pg_config.h.in
+++ b/src/include/pg_config.h.in
@@ -85,6 +85,10 @@
don't. */
#undef HAVE_DECL_F_FULLFSYNC
+/* Define to 1 if you have the declaration of `F_OFD_SETLK', and to 0 if you
+ don't. */
+#undef HAVE_DECL_F_OFD_SETLK
+
/* Define to 1 if you have the declaration of `memset_s', and to 0 if you
don't. */
#undef HAVE_DECL_MEMSET_S
diff --git a/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list b/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list
index ffb413ab612..ad34142e7d6 100644
--- a/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list
+++ b/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list
@@ -1956,6 +1956,7 @@ PGIOAlignedBlock
PGLZ_HistEntry
PGLZ_Strategy
PGLoadBalanceType
+PGLockFile
PGMessageField
PGModuleMagicFunction
PGNoticeHooks
base-commit: 73dfe79fd6034b1e7e41e83d9c82c166dba8eb67
--
2.52.0
--tks2nr37zts5e6h7--
^ permalink raw reply [nested|flat] 20+ messages in thread
* [PATCH v3] Use open file description locks for lockfiles
@ 2025-12-18 17:21 Dmitrii Dolgov <[email protected]>
0 siblings, 0 replies; 20+ messages in thread
From: Dmitrii Dolgov @ 2025-12-18 17:21 UTC (permalink / raw)
When starting up, postmaster checks for an existing data directory lockfile. If
this file contains current process PID, it's assumed to be stale. Turns out
there is another possibility: we might be running in a PID namespace, and there
is another postgres running inside another PID namespace using the same data
directory. The result is that we don't see another process due to namespace
isolation and start concurrently with the other.
To prevent such situations, at startup use fcntl to get an exclusive open file
description lock for data directory lockfile. Since such locks are associated
with open file descriptors, meaning they're not affected by PID namespace
isolation. It's a "best effort" locking, intended to work with already existing
mechanism, not replace it.
This approach was discussed multiple times in the past, and usually was
rejected as the main work horse for the data directory lockfile due to:
* Portability issues. Open file description lock was a non-POSIX extension in
Linux and similar flock is from BSD standard. But looks like everybody agrees
that such locks make more sense than a typical advisory locks, and
F_OFD_SETLK made its way into POSIX.1 2024 [1].
* Issues with NFS. The current state of things here looks like this:
- NFSv3 doesn't implement open file description locks, they're converted to
advisory locks instead. Advisory locks are subject to namespace isolation,
meaning that processes in different PID namespaces will not see each other
advisory lock, and it's still possible to run multiple postgres
instances on the same data directory.
- NFSv4 uses a lease system for locking, I haven't found any mention of
conversion to advisory locks neither in the man page nor in RFC [2].
To summarize, the approach is now considered POSIX and should fix the described
problem everywhere, except NFSv3.
Use open file description lock for both data directory and socker
lockfiles, since both are affected in the same way.
[1]: https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9799919799/functions/fcntl.html
[2]: https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7530
Reviewed-by: Ilmar Yunusov <[email protected]>
---
configure | 14 +++
configure.ac | 3 +
meson.build | 1 +
src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c | 136 ++++++++++++++++++++++++------
src/include/pg_config.h.in | 4 +
src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list | 1 +
6 files changed, 134 insertions(+), 25 deletions(-)
diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 5f77f3cac29..15bda6c6413 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -16444,6 +16444,20 @@ cat >>confdefs.h <<_ACEOF
_ACEOF
+# Linux open file descriptor locks
+ac_fn_c_check_decl "$LINENO" "F_OFD_SETLK" "ac_cv_have_decl_F_OFD_SETLK" "#include <fcntl.h>
+"
+if test "x$ac_cv_have_decl_F_OFD_SETLK" = xyes; then :
+ ac_have_decl=1
+else
+ ac_have_decl=0
+fi
+
+cat >>confdefs.h <<_ACEOF
+#define HAVE_DECL_F_OFD_SETLK $ac_have_decl
+_ACEOF
+
+
ac_fn_c_check_func "$LINENO" "explicit_bzero" "ac_cv_func_explicit_bzero"
if test "x$ac_cv_func_explicit_bzero" = xyes; then :
$as_echo "#define HAVE_EXPLICIT_BZERO 1" >>confdefs.h
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 61cee42daa7..e24cb7a6f01 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -1913,6 +1913,9 @@ AC_CHECK_DECLS([memset_s], [], [], [#define __STDC_WANT_LIB_EXT1__ 1
# This is probably only present on macOS, but may as well check always
AC_CHECK_DECLS(F_FULLFSYNC, [], [], [#include <fcntl.h>])
+# Linux open file descriptor locks
+AC_CHECK_DECLS([F_OFD_SETLK], [], [], [#include <fcntl.h>])
+
AC_REPLACE_FUNCS(m4_normalize([
explicit_bzero
getopt
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 568e0e150bf..3d641dc0403 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -2901,6 +2901,7 @@ decl_checks = [
['strlcpy', 'string.h'],
['strsep', 'string.h'],
['timingsafe_bcmp', 'string.h'],
+ ['F_OFD_SETLK', 'fcntl.h'],
]
# Need to check for function declarations for these functions, because
diff --git a/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c b/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c
index 7ffc808073a..26c3324542c 100644
--- a/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c
+++ b/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c
@@ -69,6 +69,15 @@ static List *lock_files = NIL;
static Latch LocalLatchData;
+typedef struct
+{
+ /* LockFile name. */
+ const char *filename;
+
+ /* File descriptor for open file description lock. */
+ int fd;
+} LockFile;
+
/* ----------------------------------------------------------------
* ignoring system indexes support stuff
*
@@ -1119,6 +1128,48 @@ RestoreClientConnectionInfo(char *conninfo)
*-------------------------------------------------------------------------
*/
+/*
+ * OFD lock the specified lockfile.
+ *
+ * Lock the lockfile with an open file description lock. If the lock is already
+ * taken, it's a hard stop. It's only a best effort test, and any other errors
+ * are ignored. On succes the file descriptor is duplicated, to make sure there
+ * will be at least one open copy of it to keep the lock.
+ *
+ * filename argument is used only for reporting purposes.
+ */
+static int
+OFDLockFile(int fd, const char *filename)
+{
+#if HAVE_DECL_F_OFD_SETLK
+ struct flock lock;
+
+ lock.l_type = F_WRLCK;
+ lock.l_whence = SEEK_SET;
+ lock.l_start = 0;
+ lock.l_len = 0;
+ lock.l_pid = 0;
+
+ if (fcntl(fd, F_OFD_SETLK, &lock) == -1)
+ {
+ if (errno == EAGAIN)
+ ereport(FATAL,
+ (errcode(ERRCODE_LOCK_FILE_EXISTS),
+ errmsg("cannot lock the lock file \"%s\"", filename),
+ errhint("Another server is starting.")));
+ else
+ {
+ elog(WARNING, "Failed locking file \"%s\", %m", filename);
+ return -1;
+ }
+ }
+ else
+ return dup(fd);
+#else
+ return -1
+#endif
+}
+
/*
* proc_exit callback to remove lockfiles.
*/
@@ -1129,9 +1180,16 @@ UnlinkLockFiles(int status, Datum arg)
foreach(l, lock_files)
{
- char *curfile = (char *) lfirst(l);
+ LockFile *lock_file = (LockFile *) lfirst(l);
- unlink(curfile);
+ /*
+ * Close the file descriptor, which keeps the open file description
+ * lock.
+ */
+ if (lock_file->fd > 0)
+ close(lock_file->fd);
+
+ unlink(lock_file->filename);
/* Should we complain if the unlink fails? */
}
/* Since we're about to exit, no need to reclaim storage */
@@ -1161,7 +1219,9 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
const char *socketDir,
bool isDDLock, const char *refName)
{
- int fd;
+ int fd,
+ flock_fd = -1;
+ LockFile *lock_file;
char buffer[MAXPGPATH * 2 + 256];
int ntries;
int len;
@@ -1173,22 +1233,32 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
const char *envvar;
/*
- * If the PID in the lockfile is our own PID or our parent's or
- * grandparent's PID, then the file must be stale (probably left over from
- * a previous system boot cycle). We need to check this because of the
- * likelihood that a reboot will assign exactly the same PID as we had in
- * the previous reboot, or one that's only one or two counts larger and
- * hence the lockfile's PID now refers to an ancestor shell process. We
- * allow pg_ctl to pass down its parent shell PID (our grandparent PID)
- * via the environment variable PG_GRANDPARENT_PID; this is so that
- * launching the postmaster via pg_ctl can be just as reliable as
- * launching it directly. There is no provision for detecting
- * further-removed ancestor processes, but if the init script is written
- * carefully then all but the immediate parent shell will be root-owned
- * processes and so the kill test will fail with EPERM. Note that we
- * cannot get a false negative this way, because an existing postmaster
- * would surely never launch a competing postmaster or pg_ctl process
- * directly.
+ * If we find an already existing lockfile containing our own PID, there
+ * are few options:
+ *
+ * - There is another process, that we don't see due to PID namespace
+ * isolation, which is already running in this data directory.
+ *
+ * To prevent two concurrent processes working with the same data
+ * directory, we first try to lock the lockfile exclusively.
+ *
+ * - The file must be stale, probably left over from a previous system
+ * boot cycle. The same if the lockfile contains our parent's or
+ * grandparent's PID.
+ *
+ * We need to check this because of the likelihood that a reboot will
+ * assign exactly the same PID as we had in the previous reboot, or one
+ * that's only one or two counts larger and hence the lockfile's PID now
+ * refers to an ancestor shell process. We allow pg_ctl to pass down its
+ * parent shell PID (our grandparent PID) via the environment variable
+ * PG_GRANDPARENT_PID; this is so that launching the postmaster via pg_ctl
+ * can be just as reliable as launching it directly. There is no
+ * provision for detecting further-removed ancestor processes, but if the
+ * init script is written carefully then all but the immediate parent
+ * shell will be root-owned processes and so the kill test will fail with
+ * EPERM. Note that we cannot get a false negative this way, because an
+ * existing postmaster would surely never launch a competing postmaster or
+ * pg_ctl process directly.
*/
my_pid = getpid();
@@ -1224,7 +1294,11 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
*/
fd = open(filename, O_RDWR | O_CREAT | O_EXCL, pg_file_create_mode);
if (fd >= 0)
- break; /* Success; exit the retry loop */
+ {
+ /* Success; lock and exit the retry loop */
+ flock_fd = OFDLockFile(fd, filename);
+ break;
+ }
/*
* Couldn't create the pid file. Probably it already exists.
@@ -1238,8 +1312,12 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
/*
* Read the file to get the old owner's PID. Note race condition
* here: file might have been deleted since we tried to create it.
+ *
+ * We're going to use the same fd for flock, and want to create a
+ * write lock for the latter one. Since both fd and the lock have to
+ * be of the same type, open the file for read and write.
*/
- fd = open(filename, O_RDONLY, pg_file_create_mode);
+ fd = open(filename, O_RDWR, pg_file_create_mode);
if (fd < 0)
{
if (errno == ENOENT)
@@ -1249,6 +1327,10 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
errmsg("could not open lock file \"%s\": %m",
filename)));
}
+
+ /* Try to lock the file. We stop here, if it's already locked. */
+ flock_fd = OFDLockFile(fd, filename);
+
pgstat_report_wait_start(WAIT_EVENT_LOCK_FILE_CREATE_READ);
if ((len = read(fd, buffer, sizeof(buffer) - 1)) < 0)
ereport(FATAL,
@@ -1448,7 +1530,11 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
* Use lcons so that the lock files are unlinked in reverse order of
* creation; this is critical!
*/
- lock_files = lcons(pstrdup(filename), lock_files);
+ lock_file = palloc0_object(LockFile);
+ lock_file->filename = pstrdup(filename);
+ lock_file->fd = flock_fd;
+
+ lock_files = lcons(lock_file, lock_files);
}
/*
@@ -1495,14 +1581,14 @@ TouchSocketLockFiles(void)
foreach(l, lock_files)
{
- char *socketLockFile = (char *) lfirst(l);
+ LockFile *lock_file = (LockFile *) lfirst(l);
/* No need to touch the data directory lock file, we trust */
- if (strcmp(socketLockFile, DIRECTORY_LOCK_FILE) == 0)
+ if (strcmp(lock_file->filename, DIRECTORY_LOCK_FILE) == 0)
continue;
/* we just ignore any error here */
- (void) utime(socketLockFile, NULL);
+ (void) utime(lock_file->filename, NULL);
}
}
diff --git a/src/include/pg_config.h.in b/src/include/pg_config.h.in
index 4f8113c144b..cc38c06dc13 100644
--- a/src/include/pg_config.h.in
+++ b/src/include/pg_config.h.in
@@ -85,6 +85,10 @@
don't. */
#undef HAVE_DECL_F_FULLFSYNC
+/* Define to 1 if you have the declaration of `F_OFD_SETLK', and to 0 if you
+ don't. */
+#undef HAVE_DECL_F_OFD_SETLK
+
/* Define to 1 if you have the declaration of `memset_s', and to 0 if you
don't. */
#undef HAVE_DECL_MEMSET_S
diff --git a/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list b/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list
index 1969d467c1d..185d69b5520 100644
--- a/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list
+++ b/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list
@@ -1653,6 +1653,7 @@ LocationLen
LockAcquireResult
LockClauseStrength
LockData
+LockFile
LockInfoData
LockInstanceData
LockMethod
base-commit: 031904048aa22e7c70dc8e9c170e2743f9b0f090
--
2.52.0
--zdel3ow7bygx53fm--
^ permalink raw reply [nested|flat] 20+ messages in thread
* [PATCH v4] Use open file description locks for lockfiles
@ 2025-12-18 17:21 Dmitrii Dolgov <[email protected]>
0 siblings, 0 replies; 20+ messages in thread
From: Dmitrii Dolgov @ 2025-12-18 17:21 UTC (permalink / raw)
When starting up, postmaster checks for an existing data directory lockfile. If
this file contains current process PID, it's assumed to be stale. Turns out
there is another possibility: we might be running in a PID namespace, and there
is another postgres running inside another PID namespace using the same data
directory. The result is that we don't see another process due to namespace
isolation and start concurrently with the other.
To prevent such situations, at startup use fcntl to get an exclusive open file
description lock for data directory lockfile. Since such locks are associated
with open file descriptors, meaning they're not affected by PID namespace
isolation. It's a "best effort" locking, intended to work with already existing
mechanism, not replace it.
This approach was discussed multiple times in the past, and usually was
rejected as the main work horse for the data directory lockfile due to:
* Portability issues. Open file description lock was a non-POSIX extension in
Linux and similar flock is from BSD standard. But looks like everybody agrees
that such locks make more sense than a typical advisory locks, and
F_OFD_SETLK made its way into POSIX.1 2024 [1].
* Issues with NFS. The current state of things here looks like this:
- NFSv3 doesn't implement open file description locks, they're converted to
advisory locks instead. Advisory locks are subject to namespace isolation,
meaning that processes in different PID namespaces will not see each other
advisory lock, and it's still possible to run multiple postgres
instances on the same data directory.
- NFSv4 uses a lease system for locking, I haven't found any mention of
conversion to advisory locks neither in the man page nor in RFC [2].
To summarize, the approach is now considered POSIX and should fix the described
problem everywhere, except NFSv3.
Use open file description lock for both data directory and socker
lockfiles, since both are affected in the same way.
[1]: https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9799919799/functions/fcntl.html
[2]: https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7530
Reviewed-by: Ilmar Yunusov <[email protected]>
---
configure | 14 +++
configure.ac | 3 +
meson.build | 1 +
src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c | 136 ++++++++++++++++++++++++------
src/include/pg_config.h.in | 4 +
src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list | 1 +
6 files changed, 134 insertions(+), 25 deletions(-)
diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 35b0b72f0a7..25ebcd3cc47 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -16444,6 +16444,20 @@ cat >>confdefs.h <<_ACEOF
_ACEOF
+# Linux open file descriptor locks
+ac_fn_c_check_decl "$LINENO" "F_OFD_SETLK" "ac_cv_have_decl_F_OFD_SETLK" "#include <fcntl.h>
+"
+if test "x$ac_cv_have_decl_F_OFD_SETLK" = xyes; then :
+ ac_have_decl=1
+else
+ ac_have_decl=0
+fi
+
+cat >>confdefs.h <<_ACEOF
+#define HAVE_DECL_F_OFD_SETLK $ac_have_decl
+_ACEOF
+
+
ac_fn_c_check_func "$LINENO" "explicit_bzero" "ac_cv_func_explicit_bzero"
if test "x$ac_cv_func_explicit_bzero" = xyes; then :
$as_echo "#define HAVE_EXPLICIT_BZERO 1" >>confdefs.h
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 0e624fe36b9..677137207e7 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -1913,6 +1913,9 @@ AC_CHECK_DECLS([memset_s], [], [], [#define __STDC_WANT_LIB_EXT1__ 1
# This is probably only present on macOS, but may as well check always
AC_CHECK_DECLS(F_FULLFSYNC, [], [], [#include <fcntl.h>])
+# Linux open file descriptor locks
+AC_CHECK_DECLS([F_OFD_SETLK], [], [], [#include <fcntl.h>])
+
AC_REPLACE_FUNCS(m4_normalize([
explicit_bzero
getopt
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index d88a7a70308..153fbb477bb 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -2901,6 +2901,7 @@ decl_checks = [
['strlcpy', 'string.h'],
['strsep', 'string.h'],
['timingsafe_bcmp', 'string.h'],
+ ['F_OFD_SETLK', 'fcntl.h'],
]
# Need to check for function declarations for these functions, because
diff --git a/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c b/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c
index 7ffc808073a..d4c2f80eb46 100644
--- a/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c
+++ b/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c
@@ -69,6 +69,15 @@ static List *lock_files = NIL;
static Latch LocalLatchData;
+typedef struct
+{
+ /* LockFile name. */
+ const char *filename;
+
+ /* File descriptor for open file description lock. */
+ int fd;
+} PGLockFile;
+
/* ----------------------------------------------------------------
* ignoring system indexes support stuff
*
@@ -1119,6 +1128,48 @@ RestoreClientConnectionInfo(char *conninfo)
*-------------------------------------------------------------------------
*/
+/*
+ * OFD lock the specified lockfile.
+ *
+ * Lock the lockfile with an open file description lock. If the lock is already
+ * taken, it's a hard stop. It's only a best effort test, and any other errors
+ * are ignored. On succes the file descriptor is duplicated, to make sure there
+ * will be at least one open copy of it to keep the lock.
+ *
+ * filename argument is used only for reporting purposes.
+ */
+static int
+OFDLockFile(int fd, const char *filename)
+{
+#if HAVE_DECL_F_OFD_SETLK
+ struct flock lock;
+
+ lock.l_type = F_WRLCK;
+ lock.l_whence = SEEK_SET;
+ lock.l_start = 0;
+ lock.l_len = 0;
+ lock.l_pid = 0;
+
+ if (fcntl(fd, F_OFD_SETLK, &lock) == -1)
+ {
+ if (errno == EAGAIN)
+ ereport(FATAL,
+ (errcode(ERRCODE_LOCK_FILE_EXISTS),
+ errmsg("cannot lock the lock file \"%s\"", filename),
+ errhint("Another server is starting.")));
+ else
+ {
+ elog(WARNING, "Failed locking file \"%s\", %m", filename);
+ return -1;
+ }
+ }
+ else
+ return dup(fd);
+#else
+ return -1;
+#endif
+}
+
/*
* proc_exit callback to remove lockfiles.
*/
@@ -1129,9 +1180,16 @@ UnlinkLockFiles(int status, Datum arg)
foreach(l, lock_files)
{
- char *curfile = (char *) lfirst(l);
+ PGLockFile *lock_file = (PGLockFile *) lfirst(l);
- unlink(curfile);
+ /*
+ * Close the file descriptor, which keeps the open file description
+ * lock.
+ */
+ if (lock_file->fd > 0)
+ close(lock_file->fd);
+
+ unlink(lock_file->filename);
/* Should we complain if the unlink fails? */
}
/* Since we're about to exit, no need to reclaim storage */
@@ -1161,7 +1219,9 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
const char *socketDir,
bool isDDLock, const char *refName)
{
- int fd;
+ int fd,
+ flock_fd = -1;
+ PGLockFile *lock_file;
char buffer[MAXPGPATH * 2 + 256];
int ntries;
int len;
@@ -1173,22 +1233,32 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
const char *envvar;
/*
- * If the PID in the lockfile is our own PID or our parent's or
- * grandparent's PID, then the file must be stale (probably left over from
- * a previous system boot cycle). We need to check this because of the
- * likelihood that a reboot will assign exactly the same PID as we had in
- * the previous reboot, or one that's only one or two counts larger and
- * hence the lockfile's PID now refers to an ancestor shell process. We
- * allow pg_ctl to pass down its parent shell PID (our grandparent PID)
- * via the environment variable PG_GRANDPARENT_PID; this is so that
- * launching the postmaster via pg_ctl can be just as reliable as
- * launching it directly. There is no provision for detecting
- * further-removed ancestor processes, but if the init script is written
- * carefully then all but the immediate parent shell will be root-owned
- * processes and so the kill test will fail with EPERM. Note that we
- * cannot get a false negative this way, because an existing postmaster
- * would surely never launch a competing postmaster or pg_ctl process
- * directly.
+ * If we find an already existing lockfile containing our own PID, there
+ * are few options:
+ *
+ * - There is another process, that we don't see due to PID namespace
+ * isolation, which is already running in this data directory.
+ *
+ * To prevent two concurrent processes working with the same data
+ * directory, we first try to lock the lockfile exclusively.
+ *
+ * - The file must be stale, probably left over from a previous system
+ * boot cycle. The same if the lockfile contains our parent's or
+ * grandparent's PID.
+ *
+ * We need to check this because of the likelihood that a reboot will
+ * assign exactly the same PID as we had in the previous reboot, or one
+ * that's only one or two counts larger and hence the lockfile's PID now
+ * refers to an ancestor shell process. We allow pg_ctl to pass down its
+ * parent shell PID (our grandparent PID) via the environment variable
+ * PG_GRANDPARENT_PID; this is so that launching the postmaster via pg_ctl
+ * can be just as reliable as launching it directly. There is no
+ * provision for detecting further-removed ancestor processes, but if the
+ * init script is written carefully then all but the immediate parent
+ * shell will be root-owned processes and so the kill test will fail with
+ * EPERM. Note that we cannot get a false negative this way, because an
+ * existing postmaster would surely never launch a competing postmaster or
+ * pg_ctl process directly.
*/
my_pid = getpid();
@@ -1224,7 +1294,11 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
*/
fd = open(filename, O_RDWR | O_CREAT | O_EXCL, pg_file_create_mode);
if (fd >= 0)
- break; /* Success; exit the retry loop */
+ {
+ /* Success; lock and exit the retry loop */
+ flock_fd = OFDLockFile(fd, filename);
+ break;
+ }
/*
* Couldn't create the pid file. Probably it already exists.
@@ -1238,8 +1312,12 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
/*
* Read the file to get the old owner's PID. Note race condition
* here: file might have been deleted since we tried to create it.
+ *
+ * We're going to use the same fd for flock, and want to create a
+ * write lock for the latter one. Since both fd and the lock have to
+ * be of the same type, open the file for read and write.
*/
- fd = open(filename, O_RDONLY, pg_file_create_mode);
+ fd = open(filename, O_RDWR, pg_file_create_mode);
if (fd < 0)
{
if (errno == ENOENT)
@@ -1249,6 +1327,10 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
errmsg("could not open lock file \"%s\": %m",
filename)));
}
+
+ /* Try to lock the file. We stop here, if it's already locked. */
+ flock_fd = OFDLockFile(fd, filename);
+
pgstat_report_wait_start(WAIT_EVENT_LOCK_FILE_CREATE_READ);
if ((len = read(fd, buffer, sizeof(buffer) - 1)) < 0)
ereport(FATAL,
@@ -1448,7 +1530,11 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
* Use lcons so that the lock files are unlinked in reverse order of
* creation; this is critical!
*/
- lock_files = lcons(pstrdup(filename), lock_files);
+ lock_file = palloc0_object(PGLockFile);
+ lock_file->filename = pstrdup(filename);
+ lock_file->fd = flock_fd;
+
+ lock_files = lcons(lock_file, lock_files);
}
/*
@@ -1495,14 +1581,14 @@ TouchSocketLockFiles(void)
foreach(l, lock_files)
{
- char *socketLockFile = (char *) lfirst(l);
+ PGLockFile *lock_file = (PGLockFile *) lfirst(l);
/* No need to touch the data directory lock file, we trust */
- if (strcmp(socketLockFile, DIRECTORY_LOCK_FILE) == 0)
+ if (strcmp(lock_file->filename, DIRECTORY_LOCK_FILE) == 0)
continue;
/* we just ignore any error here */
- (void) utime(socketLockFile, NULL);
+ (void) utime(lock_file->filename, NULL);
}
}
diff --git a/src/include/pg_config.h.in b/src/include/pg_config.h.in
index 4f8113c144b..cc38c06dc13 100644
--- a/src/include/pg_config.h.in
+++ b/src/include/pg_config.h.in
@@ -85,6 +85,10 @@
don't. */
#undef HAVE_DECL_F_FULLFSYNC
+/* Define to 1 if you have the declaration of `F_OFD_SETLK', and to 0 if you
+ don't. */
+#undef HAVE_DECL_F_OFD_SETLK
+
/* Define to 1 if you have the declaration of `memset_s', and to 0 if you
don't. */
#undef HAVE_DECL_MEMSET_S
diff --git a/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list b/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list
index ffb413ab612..ad34142e7d6 100644
--- a/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list
+++ b/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list
@@ -1956,6 +1956,7 @@ PGIOAlignedBlock
PGLZ_HistEntry
PGLZ_Strategy
PGLoadBalanceType
+PGLockFile
PGMessageField
PGModuleMagicFunction
PGNoticeHooks
base-commit: 73dfe79fd6034b1e7e41e83d9c82c166dba8eb67
--
2.52.0
--tks2nr37zts5e6h7--
^ permalink raw reply [nested|flat] 20+ messages in thread
* [PATCH v3] Use open file description locks for lockfiles
@ 2025-12-18 17:21 Dmitrii Dolgov <[email protected]>
0 siblings, 0 replies; 20+ messages in thread
From: Dmitrii Dolgov @ 2025-12-18 17:21 UTC (permalink / raw)
When starting up, postmaster checks for an existing data directory lockfile. If
this file contains current process PID, it's assumed to be stale. Turns out
there is another possibility: we might be running in a PID namespace, and there
is another postgres running inside another PID namespace using the same data
directory. The result is that we don't see another process due to namespace
isolation and start concurrently with the other.
To prevent such situations, at startup use fcntl to get an exclusive open file
description lock for data directory lockfile. Since such locks are associated
with open file descriptors, meaning they're not affected by PID namespace
isolation. It's a "best effort" locking, intended to work with already existing
mechanism, not replace it.
This approach was discussed multiple times in the past, and usually was
rejected as the main work horse for the data directory lockfile due to:
* Portability issues. Open file description lock was a non-POSIX extension in
Linux and similar flock is from BSD standard. But looks like everybody agrees
that such locks make more sense than a typical advisory locks, and
F_OFD_SETLK made its way into POSIX.1 2024 [1].
* Issues with NFS. The current state of things here looks like this:
- NFSv3 doesn't implement open file description locks, they're converted to
advisory locks instead. Advisory locks are subject to namespace isolation,
meaning that processes in different PID namespaces will not see each other
advisory lock, and it's still possible to run multiple postgres
instances on the same data directory.
- NFSv4 uses a lease system for locking, I haven't found any mention of
conversion to advisory locks neither in the man page nor in RFC [2].
To summarize, the approach is now considered POSIX and should fix the described
problem everywhere, except NFSv3.
Use open file description lock for both data directory and socker
lockfiles, since both are affected in the same way.
[1]: https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9799919799/functions/fcntl.html
[2]: https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7530
Reviewed-by: Ilmar Yunusov <[email protected]>
---
configure | 14 +++
configure.ac | 3 +
meson.build | 1 +
src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c | 136 ++++++++++++++++++++++++------
src/include/pg_config.h.in | 4 +
src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list | 1 +
6 files changed, 134 insertions(+), 25 deletions(-)
diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 5f77f3cac29..15bda6c6413 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -16444,6 +16444,20 @@ cat >>confdefs.h <<_ACEOF
_ACEOF
+# Linux open file descriptor locks
+ac_fn_c_check_decl "$LINENO" "F_OFD_SETLK" "ac_cv_have_decl_F_OFD_SETLK" "#include <fcntl.h>
+"
+if test "x$ac_cv_have_decl_F_OFD_SETLK" = xyes; then :
+ ac_have_decl=1
+else
+ ac_have_decl=0
+fi
+
+cat >>confdefs.h <<_ACEOF
+#define HAVE_DECL_F_OFD_SETLK $ac_have_decl
+_ACEOF
+
+
ac_fn_c_check_func "$LINENO" "explicit_bzero" "ac_cv_func_explicit_bzero"
if test "x$ac_cv_func_explicit_bzero" = xyes; then :
$as_echo "#define HAVE_EXPLICIT_BZERO 1" >>confdefs.h
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 61cee42daa7..e24cb7a6f01 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -1913,6 +1913,9 @@ AC_CHECK_DECLS([memset_s], [], [], [#define __STDC_WANT_LIB_EXT1__ 1
# This is probably only present on macOS, but may as well check always
AC_CHECK_DECLS(F_FULLFSYNC, [], [], [#include <fcntl.h>])
+# Linux open file descriptor locks
+AC_CHECK_DECLS([F_OFD_SETLK], [], [], [#include <fcntl.h>])
+
AC_REPLACE_FUNCS(m4_normalize([
explicit_bzero
getopt
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 568e0e150bf..3d641dc0403 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -2901,6 +2901,7 @@ decl_checks = [
['strlcpy', 'string.h'],
['strsep', 'string.h'],
['timingsafe_bcmp', 'string.h'],
+ ['F_OFD_SETLK', 'fcntl.h'],
]
# Need to check for function declarations for these functions, because
diff --git a/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c b/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c
index 7ffc808073a..26c3324542c 100644
--- a/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c
+++ b/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c
@@ -69,6 +69,15 @@ static List *lock_files = NIL;
static Latch LocalLatchData;
+typedef struct
+{
+ /* LockFile name. */
+ const char *filename;
+
+ /* File descriptor for open file description lock. */
+ int fd;
+} LockFile;
+
/* ----------------------------------------------------------------
* ignoring system indexes support stuff
*
@@ -1119,6 +1128,48 @@ RestoreClientConnectionInfo(char *conninfo)
*-------------------------------------------------------------------------
*/
+/*
+ * OFD lock the specified lockfile.
+ *
+ * Lock the lockfile with an open file description lock. If the lock is already
+ * taken, it's a hard stop. It's only a best effort test, and any other errors
+ * are ignored. On succes the file descriptor is duplicated, to make sure there
+ * will be at least one open copy of it to keep the lock.
+ *
+ * filename argument is used only for reporting purposes.
+ */
+static int
+OFDLockFile(int fd, const char *filename)
+{
+#if HAVE_DECL_F_OFD_SETLK
+ struct flock lock;
+
+ lock.l_type = F_WRLCK;
+ lock.l_whence = SEEK_SET;
+ lock.l_start = 0;
+ lock.l_len = 0;
+ lock.l_pid = 0;
+
+ if (fcntl(fd, F_OFD_SETLK, &lock) == -1)
+ {
+ if (errno == EAGAIN)
+ ereport(FATAL,
+ (errcode(ERRCODE_LOCK_FILE_EXISTS),
+ errmsg("cannot lock the lock file \"%s\"", filename),
+ errhint("Another server is starting.")));
+ else
+ {
+ elog(WARNING, "Failed locking file \"%s\", %m", filename);
+ return -1;
+ }
+ }
+ else
+ return dup(fd);
+#else
+ return -1
+#endif
+}
+
/*
* proc_exit callback to remove lockfiles.
*/
@@ -1129,9 +1180,16 @@ UnlinkLockFiles(int status, Datum arg)
foreach(l, lock_files)
{
- char *curfile = (char *) lfirst(l);
+ LockFile *lock_file = (LockFile *) lfirst(l);
- unlink(curfile);
+ /*
+ * Close the file descriptor, which keeps the open file description
+ * lock.
+ */
+ if (lock_file->fd > 0)
+ close(lock_file->fd);
+
+ unlink(lock_file->filename);
/* Should we complain if the unlink fails? */
}
/* Since we're about to exit, no need to reclaim storage */
@@ -1161,7 +1219,9 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
const char *socketDir,
bool isDDLock, const char *refName)
{
- int fd;
+ int fd,
+ flock_fd = -1;
+ LockFile *lock_file;
char buffer[MAXPGPATH * 2 + 256];
int ntries;
int len;
@@ -1173,22 +1233,32 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
const char *envvar;
/*
- * If the PID in the lockfile is our own PID or our parent's or
- * grandparent's PID, then the file must be stale (probably left over from
- * a previous system boot cycle). We need to check this because of the
- * likelihood that a reboot will assign exactly the same PID as we had in
- * the previous reboot, or one that's only one or two counts larger and
- * hence the lockfile's PID now refers to an ancestor shell process. We
- * allow pg_ctl to pass down its parent shell PID (our grandparent PID)
- * via the environment variable PG_GRANDPARENT_PID; this is so that
- * launching the postmaster via pg_ctl can be just as reliable as
- * launching it directly. There is no provision for detecting
- * further-removed ancestor processes, but if the init script is written
- * carefully then all but the immediate parent shell will be root-owned
- * processes and so the kill test will fail with EPERM. Note that we
- * cannot get a false negative this way, because an existing postmaster
- * would surely never launch a competing postmaster or pg_ctl process
- * directly.
+ * If we find an already existing lockfile containing our own PID, there
+ * are few options:
+ *
+ * - There is another process, that we don't see due to PID namespace
+ * isolation, which is already running in this data directory.
+ *
+ * To prevent two concurrent processes working with the same data
+ * directory, we first try to lock the lockfile exclusively.
+ *
+ * - The file must be stale, probably left over from a previous system
+ * boot cycle. The same if the lockfile contains our parent's or
+ * grandparent's PID.
+ *
+ * We need to check this because of the likelihood that a reboot will
+ * assign exactly the same PID as we had in the previous reboot, or one
+ * that's only one or two counts larger and hence the lockfile's PID now
+ * refers to an ancestor shell process. We allow pg_ctl to pass down its
+ * parent shell PID (our grandparent PID) via the environment variable
+ * PG_GRANDPARENT_PID; this is so that launching the postmaster via pg_ctl
+ * can be just as reliable as launching it directly. There is no
+ * provision for detecting further-removed ancestor processes, but if the
+ * init script is written carefully then all but the immediate parent
+ * shell will be root-owned processes and so the kill test will fail with
+ * EPERM. Note that we cannot get a false negative this way, because an
+ * existing postmaster would surely never launch a competing postmaster or
+ * pg_ctl process directly.
*/
my_pid = getpid();
@@ -1224,7 +1294,11 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
*/
fd = open(filename, O_RDWR | O_CREAT | O_EXCL, pg_file_create_mode);
if (fd >= 0)
- break; /* Success; exit the retry loop */
+ {
+ /* Success; lock and exit the retry loop */
+ flock_fd = OFDLockFile(fd, filename);
+ break;
+ }
/*
* Couldn't create the pid file. Probably it already exists.
@@ -1238,8 +1312,12 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
/*
* Read the file to get the old owner's PID. Note race condition
* here: file might have been deleted since we tried to create it.
+ *
+ * We're going to use the same fd for flock, and want to create a
+ * write lock for the latter one. Since both fd and the lock have to
+ * be of the same type, open the file for read and write.
*/
- fd = open(filename, O_RDONLY, pg_file_create_mode);
+ fd = open(filename, O_RDWR, pg_file_create_mode);
if (fd < 0)
{
if (errno == ENOENT)
@@ -1249,6 +1327,10 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
errmsg("could not open lock file \"%s\": %m",
filename)));
}
+
+ /* Try to lock the file. We stop here, if it's already locked. */
+ flock_fd = OFDLockFile(fd, filename);
+
pgstat_report_wait_start(WAIT_EVENT_LOCK_FILE_CREATE_READ);
if ((len = read(fd, buffer, sizeof(buffer) - 1)) < 0)
ereport(FATAL,
@@ -1448,7 +1530,11 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
* Use lcons so that the lock files are unlinked in reverse order of
* creation; this is critical!
*/
- lock_files = lcons(pstrdup(filename), lock_files);
+ lock_file = palloc0_object(LockFile);
+ lock_file->filename = pstrdup(filename);
+ lock_file->fd = flock_fd;
+
+ lock_files = lcons(lock_file, lock_files);
}
/*
@@ -1495,14 +1581,14 @@ TouchSocketLockFiles(void)
foreach(l, lock_files)
{
- char *socketLockFile = (char *) lfirst(l);
+ LockFile *lock_file = (LockFile *) lfirst(l);
/* No need to touch the data directory lock file, we trust */
- if (strcmp(socketLockFile, DIRECTORY_LOCK_FILE) == 0)
+ if (strcmp(lock_file->filename, DIRECTORY_LOCK_FILE) == 0)
continue;
/* we just ignore any error here */
- (void) utime(socketLockFile, NULL);
+ (void) utime(lock_file->filename, NULL);
}
}
diff --git a/src/include/pg_config.h.in b/src/include/pg_config.h.in
index 4f8113c144b..cc38c06dc13 100644
--- a/src/include/pg_config.h.in
+++ b/src/include/pg_config.h.in
@@ -85,6 +85,10 @@
don't. */
#undef HAVE_DECL_F_FULLFSYNC
+/* Define to 1 if you have the declaration of `F_OFD_SETLK', and to 0 if you
+ don't. */
+#undef HAVE_DECL_F_OFD_SETLK
+
/* Define to 1 if you have the declaration of `memset_s', and to 0 if you
don't. */
#undef HAVE_DECL_MEMSET_S
diff --git a/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list b/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list
index 1969d467c1d..185d69b5520 100644
--- a/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list
+++ b/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list
@@ -1653,6 +1653,7 @@ LocationLen
LockAcquireResult
LockClauseStrength
LockData
+LockFile
LockInfoData
LockInstanceData
LockMethod
base-commit: 031904048aa22e7c70dc8e9c170e2743f9b0f090
--
2.52.0
--zdel3ow7bygx53fm--
^ permalink raw reply [nested|flat] 20+ messages in thread
* [PATCH v4] Use open file description locks for lockfiles
@ 2025-12-18 17:21 Dmitrii Dolgov <[email protected]>
0 siblings, 0 replies; 20+ messages in thread
From: Dmitrii Dolgov @ 2025-12-18 17:21 UTC (permalink / raw)
When starting up, postmaster checks for an existing data directory lockfile. If
this file contains current process PID, it's assumed to be stale. Turns out
there is another possibility: we might be running in a PID namespace, and there
is another postgres running inside another PID namespace using the same data
directory. The result is that we don't see another process due to namespace
isolation and start concurrently with the other.
To prevent such situations, at startup use fcntl to get an exclusive open file
description lock for data directory lockfile. Since such locks are associated
with open file descriptors, meaning they're not affected by PID namespace
isolation. It's a "best effort" locking, intended to work with already existing
mechanism, not replace it.
This approach was discussed multiple times in the past, and usually was
rejected as the main work horse for the data directory lockfile due to:
* Portability issues. Open file description lock was a non-POSIX extension in
Linux and similar flock is from BSD standard. But looks like everybody agrees
that such locks make more sense than a typical advisory locks, and
F_OFD_SETLK made its way into POSIX.1 2024 [1].
* Issues with NFS. The current state of things here looks like this:
- NFSv3 doesn't implement open file description locks, they're converted to
advisory locks instead. Advisory locks are subject to namespace isolation,
meaning that processes in different PID namespaces will not see each other
advisory lock, and it's still possible to run multiple postgres
instances on the same data directory.
- NFSv4 uses a lease system for locking, I haven't found any mention of
conversion to advisory locks neither in the man page nor in RFC [2].
To summarize, the approach is now considered POSIX and should fix the described
problem everywhere, except NFSv3.
Use open file description lock for both data directory and socker
lockfiles, since both are affected in the same way.
[1]: https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9799919799/functions/fcntl.html
[2]: https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7530
Reviewed-by: Ilmar Yunusov <[email protected]>
---
configure | 14 +++
configure.ac | 3 +
meson.build | 1 +
src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c | 136 ++++++++++++++++++++++++------
src/include/pg_config.h.in | 4 +
src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list | 1 +
6 files changed, 134 insertions(+), 25 deletions(-)
diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 35b0b72f0a7..25ebcd3cc47 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -16444,6 +16444,20 @@ cat >>confdefs.h <<_ACEOF
_ACEOF
+# Linux open file descriptor locks
+ac_fn_c_check_decl "$LINENO" "F_OFD_SETLK" "ac_cv_have_decl_F_OFD_SETLK" "#include <fcntl.h>
+"
+if test "x$ac_cv_have_decl_F_OFD_SETLK" = xyes; then :
+ ac_have_decl=1
+else
+ ac_have_decl=0
+fi
+
+cat >>confdefs.h <<_ACEOF
+#define HAVE_DECL_F_OFD_SETLK $ac_have_decl
+_ACEOF
+
+
ac_fn_c_check_func "$LINENO" "explicit_bzero" "ac_cv_func_explicit_bzero"
if test "x$ac_cv_func_explicit_bzero" = xyes; then :
$as_echo "#define HAVE_EXPLICIT_BZERO 1" >>confdefs.h
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 0e624fe36b9..677137207e7 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -1913,6 +1913,9 @@ AC_CHECK_DECLS([memset_s], [], [], [#define __STDC_WANT_LIB_EXT1__ 1
# This is probably only present on macOS, but may as well check always
AC_CHECK_DECLS(F_FULLFSYNC, [], [], [#include <fcntl.h>])
+# Linux open file descriptor locks
+AC_CHECK_DECLS([F_OFD_SETLK], [], [], [#include <fcntl.h>])
+
AC_REPLACE_FUNCS(m4_normalize([
explicit_bzero
getopt
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index d88a7a70308..153fbb477bb 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -2901,6 +2901,7 @@ decl_checks = [
['strlcpy', 'string.h'],
['strsep', 'string.h'],
['timingsafe_bcmp', 'string.h'],
+ ['F_OFD_SETLK', 'fcntl.h'],
]
# Need to check for function declarations for these functions, because
diff --git a/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c b/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c
index 7ffc808073a..d4c2f80eb46 100644
--- a/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c
+++ b/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c
@@ -69,6 +69,15 @@ static List *lock_files = NIL;
static Latch LocalLatchData;
+typedef struct
+{
+ /* LockFile name. */
+ const char *filename;
+
+ /* File descriptor for open file description lock. */
+ int fd;
+} PGLockFile;
+
/* ----------------------------------------------------------------
* ignoring system indexes support stuff
*
@@ -1119,6 +1128,48 @@ RestoreClientConnectionInfo(char *conninfo)
*-------------------------------------------------------------------------
*/
+/*
+ * OFD lock the specified lockfile.
+ *
+ * Lock the lockfile with an open file description lock. If the lock is already
+ * taken, it's a hard stop. It's only a best effort test, and any other errors
+ * are ignored. On succes the file descriptor is duplicated, to make sure there
+ * will be at least one open copy of it to keep the lock.
+ *
+ * filename argument is used only for reporting purposes.
+ */
+static int
+OFDLockFile(int fd, const char *filename)
+{
+#if HAVE_DECL_F_OFD_SETLK
+ struct flock lock;
+
+ lock.l_type = F_WRLCK;
+ lock.l_whence = SEEK_SET;
+ lock.l_start = 0;
+ lock.l_len = 0;
+ lock.l_pid = 0;
+
+ if (fcntl(fd, F_OFD_SETLK, &lock) == -1)
+ {
+ if (errno == EAGAIN)
+ ereport(FATAL,
+ (errcode(ERRCODE_LOCK_FILE_EXISTS),
+ errmsg("cannot lock the lock file \"%s\"", filename),
+ errhint("Another server is starting.")));
+ else
+ {
+ elog(WARNING, "Failed locking file \"%s\", %m", filename);
+ return -1;
+ }
+ }
+ else
+ return dup(fd);
+#else
+ return -1;
+#endif
+}
+
/*
* proc_exit callback to remove lockfiles.
*/
@@ -1129,9 +1180,16 @@ UnlinkLockFiles(int status, Datum arg)
foreach(l, lock_files)
{
- char *curfile = (char *) lfirst(l);
+ PGLockFile *lock_file = (PGLockFile *) lfirst(l);
- unlink(curfile);
+ /*
+ * Close the file descriptor, which keeps the open file description
+ * lock.
+ */
+ if (lock_file->fd > 0)
+ close(lock_file->fd);
+
+ unlink(lock_file->filename);
/* Should we complain if the unlink fails? */
}
/* Since we're about to exit, no need to reclaim storage */
@@ -1161,7 +1219,9 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
const char *socketDir,
bool isDDLock, const char *refName)
{
- int fd;
+ int fd,
+ flock_fd = -1;
+ PGLockFile *lock_file;
char buffer[MAXPGPATH * 2 + 256];
int ntries;
int len;
@@ -1173,22 +1233,32 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
const char *envvar;
/*
- * If the PID in the lockfile is our own PID or our parent's or
- * grandparent's PID, then the file must be stale (probably left over from
- * a previous system boot cycle). We need to check this because of the
- * likelihood that a reboot will assign exactly the same PID as we had in
- * the previous reboot, or one that's only one or two counts larger and
- * hence the lockfile's PID now refers to an ancestor shell process. We
- * allow pg_ctl to pass down its parent shell PID (our grandparent PID)
- * via the environment variable PG_GRANDPARENT_PID; this is so that
- * launching the postmaster via pg_ctl can be just as reliable as
- * launching it directly. There is no provision for detecting
- * further-removed ancestor processes, but if the init script is written
- * carefully then all but the immediate parent shell will be root-owned
- * processes and so the kill test will fail with EPERM. Note that we
- * cannot get a false negative this way, because an existing postmaster
- * would surely never launch a competing postmaster or pg_ctl process
- * directly.
+ * If we find an already existing lockfile containing our own PID, there
+ * are few options:
+ *
+ * - There is another process, that we don't see due to PID namespace
+ * isolation, which is already running in this data directory.
+ *
+ * To prevent two concurrent processes working with the same data
+ * directory, we first try to lock the lockfile exclusively.
+ *
+ * - The file must be stale, probably left over from a previous system
+ * boot cycle. The same if the lockfile contains our parent's or
+ * grandparent's PID.
+ *
+ * We need to check this because of the likelihood that a reboot will
+ * assign exactly the same PID as we had in the previous reboot, or one
+ * that's only one or two counts larger and hence the lockfile's PID now
+ * refers to an ancestor shell process. We allow pg_ctl to pass down its
+ * parent shell PID (our grandparent PID) via the environment variable
+ * PG_GRANDPARENT_PID; this is so that launching the postmaster via pg_ctl
+ * can be just as reliable as launching it directly. There is no
+ * provision for detecting further-removed ancestor processes, but if the
+ * init script is written carefully then all but the immediate parent
+ * shell will be root-owned processes and so the kill test will fail with
+ * EPERM. Note that we cannot get a false negative this way, because an
+ * existing postmaster would surely never launch a competing postmaster or
+ * pg_ctl process directly.
*/
my_pid = getpid();
@@ -1224,7 +1294,11 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
*/
fd = open(filename, O_RDWR | O_CREAT | O_EXCL, pg_file_create_mode);
if (fd >= 0)
- break; /* Success; exit the retry loop */
+ {
+ /* Success; lock and exit the retry loop */
+ flock_fd = OFDLockFile(fd, filename);
+ break;
+ }
/*
* Couldn't create the pid file. Probably it already exists.
@@ -1238,8 +1312,12 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
/*
* Read the file to get the old owner's PID. Note race condition
* here: file might have been deleted since we tried to create it.
+ *
+ * We're going to use the same fd for flock, and want to create a
+ * write lock for the latter one. Since both fd and the lock have to
+ * be of the same type, open the file for read and write.
*/
- fd = open(filename, O_RDONLY, pg_file_create_mode);
+ fd = open(filename, O_RDWR, pg_file_create_mode);
if (fd < 0)
{
if (errno == ENOENT)
@@ -1249,6 +1327,10 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
errmsg("could not open lock file \"%s\": %m",
filename)));
}
+
+ /* Try to lock the file. We stop here, if it's already locked. */
+ flock_fd = OFDLockFile(fd, filename);
+
pgstat_report_wait_start(WAIT_EVENT_LOCK_FILE_CREATE_READ);
if ((len = read(fd, buffer, sizeof(buffer) - 1)) < 0)
ereport(FATAL,
@@ -1448,7 +1530,11 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
* Use lcons so that the lock files are unlinked in reverse order of
* creation; this is critical!
*/
- lock_files = lcons(pstrdup(filename), lock_files);
+ lock_file = palloc0_object(PGLockFile);
+ lock_file->filename = pstrdup(filename);
+ lock_file->fd = flock_fd;
+
+ lock_files = lcons(lock_file, lock_files);
}
/*
@@ -1495,14 +1581,14 @@ TouchSocketLockFiles(void)
foreach(l, lock_files)
{
- char *socketLockFile = (char *) lfirst(l);
+ PGLockFile *lock_file = (PGLockFile *) lfirst(l);
/* No need to touch the data directory lock file, we trust */
- if (strcmp(socketLockFile, DIRECTORY_LOCK_FILE) == 0)
+ if (strcmp(lock_file->filename, DIRECTORY_LOCK_FILE) == 0)
continue;
/* we just ignore any error here */
- (void) utime(socketLockFile, NULL);
+ (void) utime(lock_file->filename, NULL);
}
}
diff --git a/src/include/pg_config.h.in b/src/include/pg_config.h.in
index 4f8113c144b..cc38c06dc13 100644
--- a/src/include/pg_config.h.in
+++ b/src/include/pg_config.h.in
@@ -85,6 +85,10 @@
don't. */
#undef HAVE_DECL_F_FULLFSYNC
+/* Define to 1 if you have the declaration of `F_OFD_SETLK', and to 0 if you
+ don't. */
+#undef HAVE_DECL_F_OFD_SETLK
+
/* Define to 1 if you have the declaration of `memset_s', and to 0 if you
don't. */
#undef HAVE_DECL_MEMSET_S
diff --git a/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list b/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list
index ffb413ab612..ad34142e7d6 100644
--- a/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list
+++ b/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list
@@ -1956,6 +1956,7 @@ PGIOAlignedBlock
PGLZ_HistEntry
PGLZ_Strategy
PGLoadBalanceType
+PGLockFile
PGMessageField
PGModuleMagicFunction
PGNoticeHooks
base-commit: 73dfe79fd6034b1e7e41e83d9c82c166dba8eb67
--
2.52.0
--tks2nr37zts5e6h7--
^ permalink raw reply [nested|flat] 20+ messages in thread
* [PATCH v3] Use open file description locks for lockfiles
@ 2025-12-18 17:21 Dmitrii Dolgov <[email protected]>
0 siblings, 0 replies; 20+ messages in thread
From: Dmitrii Dolgov @ 2025-12-18 17:21 UTC (permalink / raw)
When starting up, postmaster checks for an existing data directory lockfile. If
this file contains current process PID, it's assumed to be stale. Turns out
there is another possibility: we might be running in a PID namespace, and there
is another postgres running inside another PID namespace using the same data
directory. The result is that we don't see another process due to namespace
isolation and start concurrently with the other.
To prevent such situations, at startup use fcntl to get an exclusive open file
description lock for data directory lockfile. Since such locks are associated
with open file descriptors, meaning they're not affected by PID namespace
isolation. It's a "best effort" locking, intended to work with already existing
mechanism, not replace it.
This approach was discussed multiple times in the past, and usually was
rejected as the main work horse for the data directory lockfile due to:
* Portability issues. Open file description lock was a non-POSIX extension in
Linux and similar flock is from BSD standard. But looks like everybody agrees
that such locks make more sense than a typical advisory locks, and
F_OFD_SETLK made its way into POSIX.1 2024 [1].
* Issues with NFS. The current state of things here looks like this:
- NFSv3 doesn't implement open file description locks, they're converted to
advisory locks instead. Advisory locks are subject to namespace isolation,
meaning that processes in different PID namespaces will not see each other
advisory lock, and it's still possible to run multiple postgres
instances on the same data directory.
- NFSv4 uses a lease system for locking, I haven't found any mention of
conversion to advisory locks neither in the man page nor in RFC [2].
To summarize, the approach is now considered POSIX and should fix the described
problem everywhere, except NFSv3.
Use open file description lock for both data directory and socker
lockfiles, since both are affected in the same way.
[1]: https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9799919799/functions/fcntl.html
[2]: https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7530
Reviewed-by: Ilmar Yunusov <[email protected]>
---
configure | 14 +++
configure.ac | 3 +
meson.build | 1 +
src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c | 136 ++++++++++++++++++++++++------
src/include/pg_config.h.in | 4 +
src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list | 1 +
6 files changed, 134 insertions(+), 25 deletions(-)
diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 5f77f3cac29..15bda6c6413 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -16444,6 +16444,20 @@ cat >>confdefs.h <<_ACEOF
_ACEOF
+# Linux open file descriptor locks
+ac_fn_c_check_decl "$LINENO" "F_OFD_SETLK" "ac_cv_have_decl_F_OFD_SETLK" "#include <fcntl.h>
+"
+if test "x$ac_cv_have_decl_F_OFD_SETLK" = xyes; then :
+ ac_have_decl=1
+else
+ ac_have_decl=0
+fi
+
+cat >>confdefs.h <<_ACEOF
+#define HAVE_DECL_F_OFD_SETLK $ac_have_decl
+_ACEOF
+
+
ac_fn_c_check_func "$LINENO" "explicit_bzero" "ac_cv_func_explicit_bzero"
if test "x$ac_cv_func_explicit_bzero" = xyes; then :
$as_echo "#define HAVE_EXPLICIT_BZERO 1" >>confdefs.h
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 61cee42daa7..e24cb7a6f01 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -1913,6 +1913,9 @@ AC_CHECK_DECLS([memset_s], [], [], [#define __STDC_WANT_LIB_EXT1__ 1
# This is probably only present on macOS, but may as well check always
AC_CHECK_DECLS(F_FULLFSYNC, [], [], [#include <fcntl.h>])
+# Linux open file descriptor locks
+AC_CHECK_DECLS([F_OFD_SETLK], [], [], [#include <fcntl.h>])
+
AC_REPLACE_FUNCS(m4_normalize([
explicit_bzero
getopt
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 568e0e150bf..3d641dc0403 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -2901,6 +2901,7 @@ decl_checks = [
['strlcpy', 'string.h'],
['strsep', 'string.h'],
['timingsafe_bcmp', 'string.h'],
+ ['F_OFD_SETLK', 'fcntl.h'],
]
# Need to check for function declarations for these functions, because
diff --git a/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c b/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c
index 7ffc808073a..26c3324542c 100644
--- a/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c
+++ b/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c
@@ -69,6 +69,15 @@ static List *lock_files = NIL;
static Latch LocalLatchData;
+typedef struct
+{
+ /* LockFile name. */
+ const char *filename;
+
+ /* File descriptor for open file description lock. */
+ int fd;
+} LockFile;
+
/* ----------------------------------------------------------------
* ignoring system indexes support stuff
*
@@ -1119,6 +1128,48 @@ RestoreClientConnectionInfo(char *conninfo)
*-------------------------------------------------------------------------
*/
+/*
+ * OFD lock the specified lockfile.
+ *
+ * Lock the lockfile with an open file description lock. If the lock is already
+ * taken, it's a hard stop. It's only a best effort test, and any other errors
+ * are ignored. On succes the file descriptor is duplicated, to make sure there
+ * will be at least one open copy of it to keep the lock.
+ *
+ * filename argument is used only for reporting purposes.
+ */
+static int
+OFDLockFile(int fd, const char *filename)
+{
+#if HAVE_DECL_F_OFD_SETLK
+ struct flock lock;
+
+ lock.l_type = F_WRLCK;
+ lock.l_whence = SEEK_SET;
+ lock.l_start = 0;
+ lock.l_len = 0;
+ lock.l_pid = 0;
+
+ if (fcntl(fd, F_OFD_SETLK, &lock) == -1)
+ {
+ if (errno == EAGAIN)
+ ereport(FATAL,
+ (errcode(ERRCODE_LOCK_FILE_EXISTS),
+ errmsg("cannot lock the lock file \"%s\"", filename),
+ errhint("Another server is starting.")));
+ else
+ {
+ elog(WARNING, "Failed locking file \"%s\", %m", filename);
+ return -1;
+ }
+ }
+ else
+ return dup(fd);
+#else
+ return -1
+#endif
+}
+
/*
* proc_exit callback to remove lockfiles.
*/
@@ -1129,9 +1180,16 @@ UnlinkLockFiles(int status, Datum arg)
foreach(l, lock_files)
{
- char *curfile = (char *) lfirst(l);
+ LockFile *lock_file = (LockFile *) lfirst(l);
- unlink(curfile);
+ /*
+ * Close the file descriptor, which keeps the open file description
+ * lock.
+ */
+ if (lock_file->fd > 0)
+ close(lock_file->fd);
+
+ unlink(lock_file->filename);
/* Should we complain if the unlink fails? */
}
/* Since we're about to exit, no need to reclaim storage */
@@ -1161,7 +1219,9 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
const char *socketDir,
bool isDDLock, const char *refName)
{
- int fd;
+ int fd,
+ flock_fd = -1;
+ LockFile *lock_file;
char buffer[MAXPGPATH * 2 + 256];
int ntries;
int len;
@@ -1173,22 +1233,32 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
const char *envvar;
/*
- * If the PID in the lockfile is our own PID or our parent's or
- * grandparent's PID, then the file must be stale (probably left over from
- * a previous system boot cycle). We need to check this because of the
- * likelihood that a reboot will assign exactly the same PID as we had in
- * the previous reboot, or one that's only one or two counts larger and
- * hence the lockfile's PID now refers to an ancestor shell process. We
- * allow pg_ctl to pass down its parent shell PID (our grandparent PID)
- * via the environment variable PG_GRANDPARENT_PID; this is so that
- * launching the postmaster via pg_ctl can be just as reliable as
- * launching it directly. There is no provision for detecting
- * further-removed ancestor processes, but if the init script is written
- * carefully then all but the immediate parent shell will be root-owned
- * processes and so the kill test will fail with EPERM. Note that we
- * cannot get a false negative this way, because an existing postmaster
- * would surely never launch a competing postmaster or pg_ctl process
- * directly.
+ * If we find an already existing lockfile containing our own PID, there
+ * are few options:
+ *
+ * - There is another process, that we don't see due to PID namespace
+ * isolation, which is already running in this data directory.
+ *
+ * To prevent two concurrent processes working with the same data
+ * directory, we first try to lock the lockfile exclusively.
+ *
+ * - The file must be stale, probably left over from a previous system
+ * boot cycle. The same if the lockfile contains our parent's or
+ * grandparent's PID.
+ *
+ * We need to check this because of the likelihood that a reboot will
+ * assign exactly the same PID as we had in the previous reboot, or one
+ * that's only one or two counts larger and hence the lockfile's PID now
+ * refers to an ancestor shell process. We allow pg_ctl to pass down its
+ * parent shell PID (our grandparent PID) via the environment variable
+ * PG_GRANDPARENT_PID; this is so that launching the postmaster via pg_ctl
+ * can be just as reliable as launching it directly. There is no
+ * provision for detecting further-removed ancestor processes, but if the
+ * init script is written carefully then all but the immediate parent
+ * shell will be root-owned processes and so the kill test will fail with
+ * EPERM. Note that we cannot get a false negative this way, because an
+ * existing postmaster would surely never launch a competing postmaster or
+ * pg_ctl process directly.
*/
my_pid = getpid();
@@ -1224,7 +1294,11 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
*/
fd = open(filename, O_RDWR | O_CREAT | O_EXCL, pg_file_create_mode);
if (fd >= 0)
- break; /* Success; exit the retry loop */
+ {
+ /* Success; lock and exit the retry loop */
+ flock_fd = OFDLockFile(fd, filename);
+ break;
+ }
/*
* Couldn't create the pid file. Probably it already exists.
@@ -1238,8 +1312,12 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
/*
* Read the file to get the old owner's PID. Note race condition
* here: file might have been deleted since we tried to create it.
+ *
+ * We're going to use the same fd for flock, and want to create a
+ * write lock for the latter one. Since both fd and the lock have to
+ * be of the same type, open the file for read and write.
*/
- fd = open(filename, O_RDONLY, pg_file_create_mode);
+ fd = open(filename, O_RDWR, pg_file_create_mode);
if (fd < 0)
{
if (errno == ENOENT)
@@ -1249,6 +1327,10 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
errmsg("could not open lock file \"%s\": %m",
filename)));
}
+
+ /* Try to lock the file. We stop here, if it's already locked. */
+ flock_fd = OFDLockFile(fd, filename);
+
pgstat_report_wait_start(WAIT_EVENT_LOCK_FILE_CREATE_READ);
if ((len = read(fd, buffer, sizeof(buffer) - 1)) < 0)
ereport(FATAL,
@@ -1448,7 +1530,11 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
* Use lcons so that the lock files are unlinked in reverse order of
* creation; this is critical!
*/
- lock_files = lcons(pstrdup(filename), lock_files);
+ lock_file = palloc0_object(LockFile);
+ lock_file->filename = pstrdup(filename);
+ lock_file->fd = flock_fd;
+
+ lock_files = lcons(lock_file, lock_files);
}
/*
@@ -1495,14 +1581,14 @@ TouchSocketLockFiles(void)
foreach(l, lock_files)
{
- char *socketLockFile = (char *) lfirst(l);
+ LockFile *lock_file = (LockFile *) lfirst(l);
/* No need to touch the data directory lock file, we trust */
- if (strcmp(socketLockFile, DIRECTORY_LOCK_FILE) == 0)
+ if (strcmp(lock_file->filename, DIRECTORY_LOCK_FILE) == 0)
continue;
/* we just ignore any error here */
- (void) utime(socketLockFile, NULL);
+ (void) utime(lock_file->filename, NULL);
}
}
diff --git a/src/include/pg_config.h.in b/src/include/pg_config.h.in
index 4f8113c144b..cc38c06dc13 100644
--- a/src/include/pg_config.h.in
+++ b/src/include/pg_config.h.in
@@ -85,6 +85,10 @@
don't. */
#undef HAVE_DECL_F_FULLFSYNC
+/* Define to 1 if you have the declaration of `F_OFD_SETLK', and to 0 if you
+ don't. */
+#undef HAVE_DECL_F_OFD_SETLK
+
/* Define to 1 if you have the declaration of `memset_s', and to 0 if you
don't. */
#undef HAVE_DECL_MEMSET_S
diff --git a/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list b/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list
index 1969d467c1d..185d69b5520 100644
--- a/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list
+++ b/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list
@@ -1653,6 +1653,7 @@ LocationLen
LockAcquireResult
LockClauseStrength
LockData
+LockFile
LockInfoData
LockInstanceData
LockMethod
base-commit: 031904048aa22e7c70dc8e9c170e2743f9b0f090
--
2.52.0
--zdel3ow7bygx53fm--
^ permalink raw reply [nested|flat] 20+ messages in thread
* [PATCH v4] Use open file description locks for lockfiles
@ 2025-12-18 17:21 Dmitrii Dolgov <[email protected]>
0 siblings, 0 replies; 20+ messages in thread
From: Dmitrii Dolgov @ 2025-12-18 17:21 UTC (permalink / raw)
When starting up, postmaster checks for an existing data directory lockfile. If
this file contains current process PID, it's assumed to be stale. Turns out
there is another possibility: we might be running in a PID namespace, and there
is another postgres running inside another PID namespace using the same data
directory. The result is that we don't see another process due to namespace
isolation and start concurrently with the other.
To prevent such situations, at startup use fcntl to get an exclusive open file
description lock for data directory lockfile. Since such locks are associated
with open file descriptors, meaning they're not affected by PID namespace
isolation. It's a "best effort" locking, intended to work with already existing
mechanism, not replace it.
This approach was discussed multiple times in the past, and usually was
rejected as the main work horse for the data directory lockfile due to:
* Portability issues. Open file description lock was a non-POSIX extension in
Linux and similar flock is from BSD standard. But looks like everybody agrees
that such locks make more sense than a typical advisory locks, and
F_OFD_SETLK made its way into POSIX.1 2024 [1].
* Issues with NFS. The current state of things here looks like this:
- NFSv3 doesn't implement open file description locks, they're converted to
advisory locks instead. Advisory locks are subject to namespace isolation,
meaning that processes in different PID namespaces will not see each other
advisory lock, and it's still possible to run multiple postgres
instances on the same data directory.
- NFSv4 uses a lease system for locking, I haven't found any mention of
conversion to advisory locks neither in the man page nor in RFC [2].
To summarize, the approach is now considered POSIX and should fix the described
problem everywhere, except NFSv3.
Use open file description lock for both data directory and socker
lockfiles, since both are affected in the same way.
[1]: https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9799919799/functions/fcntl.html
[2]: https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7530
Reviewed-by: Ilmar Yunusov <[email protected]>
---
configure | 14 +++
configure.ac | 3 +
meson.build | 1 +
src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c | 136 ++++++++++++++++++++++++------
src/include/pg_config.h.in | 4 +
src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list | 1 +
6 files changed, 134 insertions(+), 25 deletions(-)
diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 35b0b72f0a7..25ebcd3cc47 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -16444,6 +16444,20 @@ cat >>confdefs.h <<_ACEOF
_ACEOF
+# Linux open file descriptor locks
+ac_fn_c_check_decl "$LINENO" "F_OFD_SETLK" "ac_cv_have_decl_F_OFD_SETLK" "#include <fcntl.h>
+"
+if test "x$ac_cv_have_decl_F_OFD_SETLK" = xyes; then :
+ ac_have_decl=1
+else
+ ac_have_decl=0
+fi
+
+cat >>confdefs.h <<_ACEOF
+#define HAVE_DECL_F_OFD_SETLK $ac_have_decl
+_ACEOF
+
+
ac_fn_c_check_func "$LINENO" "explicit_bzero" "ac_cv_func_explicit_bzero"
if test "x$ac_cv_func_explicit_bzero" = xyes; then :
$as_echo "#define HAVE_EXPLICIT_BZERO 1" >>confdefs.h
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 0e624fe36b9..677137207e7 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -1913,6 +1913,9 @@ AC_CHECK_DECLS([memset_s], [], [], [#define __STDC_WANT_LIB_EXT1__ 1
# This is probably only present on macOS, but may as well check always
AC_CHECK_DECLS(F_FULLFSYNC, [], [], [#include <fcntl.h>])
+# Linux open file descriptor locks
+AC_CHECK_DECLS([F_OFD_SETLK], [], [], [#include <fcntl.h>])
+
AC_REPLACE_FUNCS(m4_normalize([
explicit_bzero
getopt
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index d88a7a70308..153fbb477bb 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -2901,6 +2901,7 @@ decl_checks = [
['strlcpy', 'string.h'],
['strsep', 'string.h'],
['timingsafe_bcmp', 'string.h'],
+ ['F_OFD_SETLK', 'fcntl.h'],
]
# Need to check for function declarations for these functions, because
diff --git a/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c b/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c
index 7ffc808073a..d4c2f80eb46 100644
--- a/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c
+++ b/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c
@@ -69,6 +69,15 @@ static List *lock_files = NIL;
static Latch LocalLatchData;
+typedef struct
+{
+ /* LockFile name. */
+ const char *filename;
+
+ /* File descriptor for open file description lock. */
+ int fd;
+} PGLockFile;
+
/* ----------------------------------------------------------------
* ignoring system indexes support stuff
*
@@ -1119,6 +1128,48 @@ RestoreClientConnectionInfo(char *conninfo)
*-------------------------------------------------------------------------
*/
+/*
+ * OFD lock the specified lockfile.
+ *
+ * Lock the lockfile with an open file description lock. If the lock is already
+ * taken, it's a hard stop. It's only a best effort test, and any other errors
+ * are ignored. On succes the file descriptor is duplicated, to make sure there
+ * will be at least one open copy of it to keep the lock.
+ *
+ * filename argument is used only for reporting purposes.
+ */
+static int
+OFDLockFile(int fd, const char *filename)
+{
+#if HAVE_DECL_F_OFD_SETLK
+ struct flock lock;
+
+ lock.l_type = F_WRLCK;
+ lock.l_whence = SEEK_SET;
+ lock.l_start = 0;
+ lock.l_len = 0;
+ lock.l_pid = 0;
+
+ if (fcntl(fd, F_OFD_SETLK, &lock) == -1)
+ {
+ if (errno == EAGAIN)
+ ereport(FATAL,
+ (errcode(ERRCODE_LOCK_FILE_EXISTS),
+ errmsg("cannot lock the lock file \"%s\"", filename),
+ errhint("Another server is starting.")));
+ else
+ {
+ elog(WARNING, "Failed locking file \"%s\", %m", filename);
+ return -1;
+ }
+ }
+ else
+ return dup(fd);
+#else
+ return -1;
+#endif
+}
+
/*
* proc_exit callback to remove lockfiles.
*/
@@ -1129,9 +1180,16 @@ UnlinkLockFiles(int status, Datum arg)
foreach(l, lock_files)
{
- char *curfile = (char *) lfirst(l);
+ PGLockFile *lock_file = (PGLockFile *) lfirst(l);
- unlink(curfile);
+ /*
+ * Close the file descriptor, which keeps the open file description
+ * lock.
+ */
+ if (lock_file->fd > 0)
+ close(lock_file->fd);
+
+ unlink(lock_file->filename);
/* Should we complain if the unlink fails? */
}
/* Since we're about to exit, no need to reclaim storage */
@@ -1161,7 +1219,9 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
const char *socketDir,
bool isDDLock, const char *refName)
{
- int fd;
+ int fd,
+ flock_fd = -1;
+ PGLockFile *lock_file;
char buffer[MAXPGPATH * 2 + 256];
int ntries;
int len;
@@ -1173,22 +1233,32 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
const char *envvar;
/*
- * If the PID in the lockfile is our own PID or our parent's or
- * grandparent's PID, then the file must be stale (probably left over from
- * a previous system boot cycle). We need to check this because of the
- * likelihood that a reboot will assign exactly the same PID as we had in
- * the previous reboot, or one that's only one or two counts larger and
- * hence the lockfile's PID now refers to an ancestor shell process. We
- * allow pg_ctl to pass down its parent shell PID (our grandparent PID)
- * via the environment variable PG_GRANDPARENT_PID; this is so that
- * launching the postmaster via pg_ctl can be just as reliable as
- * launching it directly. There is no provision for detecting
- * further-removed ancestor processes, but if the init script is written
- * carefully then all but the immediate parent shell will be root-owned
- * processes and so the kill test will fail with EPERM. Note that we
- * cannot get a false negative this way, because an existing postmaster
- * would surely never launch a competing postmaster or pg_ctl process
- * directly.
+ * If we find an already existing lockfile containing our own PID, there
+ * are few options:
+ *
+ * - There is another process, that we don't see due to PID namespace
+ * isolation, which is already running in this data directory.
+ *
+ * To prevent two concurrent processes working with the same data
+ * directory, we first try to lock the lockfile exclusively.
+ *
+ * - The file must be stale, probably left over from a previous system
+ * boot cycle. The same if the lockfile contains our parent's or
+ * grandparent's PID.
+ *
+ * We need to check this because of the likelihood that a reboot will
+ * assign exactly the same PID as we had in the previous reboot, or one
+ * that's only one or two counts larger and hence the lockfile's PID now
+ * refers to an ancestor shell process. We allow pg_ctl to pass down its
+ * parent shell PID (our grandparent PID) via the environment variable
+ * PG_GRANDPARENT_PID; this is so that launching the postmaster via pg_ctl
+ * can be just as reliable as launching it directly. There is no
+ * provision for detecting further-removed ancestor processes, but if the
+ * init script is written carefully then all but the immediate parent
+ * shell will be root-owned processes and so the kill test will fail with
+ * EPERM. Note that we cannot get a false negative this way, because an
+ * existing postmaster would surely never launch a competing postmaster or
+ * pg_ctl process directly.
*/
my_pid = getpid();
@@ -1224,7 +1294,11 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
*/
fd = open(filename, O_RDWR | O_CREAT | O_EXCL, pg_file_create_mode);
if (fd >= 0)
- break; /* Success; exit the retry loop */
+ {
+ /* Success; lock and exit the retry loop */
+ flock_fd = OFDLockFile(fd, filename);
+ break;
+ }
/*
* Couldn't create the pid file. Probably it already exists.
@@ -1238,8 +1312,12 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
/*
* Read the file to get the old owner's PID. Note race condition
* here: file might have been deleted since we tried to create it.
+ *
+ * We're going to use the same fd for flock, and want to create a
+ * write lock for the latter one. Since both fd and the lock have to
+ * be of the same type, open the file for read and write.
*/
- fd = open(filename, O_RDONLY, pg_file_create_mode);
+ fd = open(filename, O_RDWR, pg_file_create_mode);
if (fd < 0)
{
if (errno == ENOENT)
@@ -1249,6 +1327,10 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
errmsg("could not open lock file \"%s\": %m",
filename)));
}
+
+ /* Try to lock the file. We stop here, if it's already locked. */
+ flock_fd = OFDLockFile(fd, filename);
+
pgstat_report_wait_start(WAIT_EVENT_LOCK_FILE_CREATE_READ);
if ((len = read(fd, buffer, sizeof(buffer) - 1)) < 0)
ereport(FATAL,
@@ -1448,7 +1530,11 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
* Use lcons so that the lock files are unlinked in reverse order of
* creation; this is critical!
*/
- lock_files = lcons(pstrdup(filename), lock_files);
+ lock_file = palloc0_object(PGLockFile);
+ lock_file->filename = pstrdup(filename);
+ lock_file->fd = flock_fd;
+
+ lock_files = lcons(lock_file, lock_files);
}
/*
@@ -1495,14 +1581,14 @@ TouchSocketLockFiles(void)
foreach(l, lock_files)
{
- char *socketLockFile = (char *) lfirst(l);
+ PGLockFile *lock_file = (PGLockFile *) lfirst(l);
/* No need to touch the data directory lock file, we trust */
- if (strcmp(socketLockFile, DIRECTORY_LOCK_FILE) == 0)
+ if (strcmp(lock_file->filename, DIRECTORY_LOCK_FILE) == 0)
continue;
/* we just ignore any error here */
- (void) utime(socketLockFile, NULL);
+ (void) utime(lock_file->filename, NULL);
}
}
diff --git a/src/include/pg_config.h.in b/src/include/pg_config.h.in
index 4f8113c144b..cc38c06dc13 100644
--- a/src/include/pg_config.h.in
+++ b/src/include/pg_config.h.in
@@ -85,6 +85,10 @@
don't. */
#undef HAVE_DECL_F_FULLFSYNC
+/* Define to 1 if you have the declaration of `F_OFD_SETLK', and to 0 if you
+ don't. */
+#undef HAVE_DECL_F_OFD_SETLK
+
/* Define to 1 if you have the declaration of `memset_s', and to 0 if you
don't. */
#undef HAVE_DECL_MEMSET_S
diff --git a/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list b/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list
index ffb413ab612..ad34142e7d6 100644
--- a/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list
+++ b/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list
@@ -1956,6 +1956,7 @@ PGIOAlignedBlock
PGLZ_HistEntry
PGLZ_Strategy
PGLoadBalanceType
+PGLockFile
PGMessageField
PGModuleMagicFunction
PGNoticeHooks
base-commit: 73dfe79fd6034b1e7e41e83d9c82c166dba8eb67
--
2.52.0
--tks2nr37zts5e6h7--
^ permalink raw reply [nested|flat] 20+ messages in thread
* [PATCH v3] Use open file description locks for lockfiles
@ 2025-12-18 17:21 Dmitrii Dolgov <[email protected]>
0 siblings, 0 replies; 20+ messages in thread
From: Dmitrii Dolgov @ 2025-12-18 17:21 UTC (permalink / raw)
When starting up, postmaster checks for an existing data directory lockfile. If
this file contains current process PID, it's assumed to be stale. Turns out
there is another possibility: we might be running in a PID namespace, and there
is another postgres running inside another PID namespace using the same data
directory. The result is that we don't see another process due to namespace
isolation and start concurrently with the other.
To prevent such situations, at startup use fcntl to get an exclusive open file
description lock for data directory lockfile. Since such locks are associated
with open file descriptors, meaning they're not affected by PID namespace
isolation. It's a "best effort" locking, intended to work with already existing
mechanism, not replace it.
This approach was discussed multiple times in the past, and usually was
rejected as the main work horse for the data directory lockfile due to:
* Portability issues. Open file description lock was a non-POSIX extension in
Linux and similar flock is from BSD standard. But looks like everybody agrees
that such locks make more sense than a typical advisory locks, and
F_OFD_SETLK made its way into POSIX.1 2024 [1].
* Issues with NFS. The current state of things here looks like this:
- NFSv3 doesn't implement open file description locks, they're converted to
advisory locks instead. Advisory locks are subject to namespace isolation,
meaning that processes in different PID namespaces will not see each other
advisory lock, and it's still possible to run multiple postgres
instances on the same data directory.
- NFSv4 uses a lease system for locking, I haven't found any mention of
conversion to advisory locks neither in the man page nor in RFC [2].
To summarize, the approach is now considered POSIX and should fix the described
problem everywhere, except NFSv3.
Use open file description lock for both data directory and socker
lockfiles, since both are affected in the same way.
[1]: https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9799919799/functions/fcntl.html
[2]: https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7530
Reviewed-by: Ilmar Yunusov <[email protected]>
---
configure | 14 +++
configure.ac | 3 +
meson.build | 1 +
src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c | 136 ++++++++++++++++++++++++------
src/include/pg_config.h.in | 4 +
src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list | 1 +
6 files changed, 134 insertions(+), 25 deletions(-)
diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 5f77f3cac29..15bda6c6413 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -16444,6 +16444,20 @@ cat >>confdefs.h <<_ACEOF
_ACEOF
+# Linux open file descriptor locks
+ac_fn_c_check_decl "$LINENO" "F_OFD_SETLK" "ac_cv_have_decl_F_OFD_SETLK" "#include <fcntl.h>
+"
+if test "x$ac_cv_have_decl_F_OFD_SETLK" = xyes; then :
+ ac_have_decl=1
+else
+ ac_have_decl=0
+fi
+
+cat >>confdefs.h <<_ACEOF
+#define HAVE_DECL_F_OFD_SETLK $ac_have_decl
+_ACEOF
+
+
ac_fn_c_check_func "$LINENO" "explicit_bzero" "ac_cv_func_explicit_bzero"
if test "x$ac_cv_func_explicit_bzero" = xyes; then :
$as_echo "#define HAVE_EXPLICIT_BZERO 1" >>confdefs.h
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 61cee42daa7..e24cb7a6f01 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -1913,6 +1913,9 @@ AC_CHECK_DECLS([memset_s], [], [], [#define __STDC_WANT_LIB_EXT1__ 1
# This is probably only present on macOS, but may as well check always
AC_CHECK_DECLS(F_FULLFSYNC, [], [], [#include <fcntl.h>])
+# Linux open file descriptor locks
+AC_CHECK_DECLS([F_OFD_SETLK], [], [], [#include <fcntl.h>])
+
AC_REPLACE_FUNCS(m4_normalize([
explicit_bzero
getopt
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 568e0e150bf..3d641dc0403 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -2901,6 +2901,7 @@ decl_checks = [
['strlcpy', 'string.h'],
['strsep', 'string.h'],
['timingsafe_bcmp', 'string.h'],
+ ['F_OFD_SETLK', 'fcntl.h'],
]
# Need to check for function declarations for these functions, because
diff --git a/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c b/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c
index 7ffc808073a..26c3324542c 100644
--- a/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c
+++ b/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c
@@ -69,6 +69,15 @@ static List *lock_files = NIL;
static Latch LocalLatchData;
+typedef struct
+{
+ /* LockFile name. */
+ const char *filename;
+
+ /* File descriptor for open file description lock. */
+ int fd;
+} LockFile;
+
/* ----------------------------------------------------------------
* ignoring system indexes support stuff
*
@@ -1119,6 +1128,48 @@ RestoreClientConnectionInfo(char *conninfo)
*-------------------------------------------------------------------------
*/
+/*
+ * OFD lock the specified lockfile.
+ *
+ * Lock the lockfile with an open file description lock. If the lock is already
+ * taken, it's a hard stop. It's only a best effort test, and any other errors
+ * are ignored. On succes the file descriptor is duplicated, to make sure there
+ * will be at least one open copy of it to keep the lock.
+ *
+ * filename argument is used only for reporting purposes.
+ */
+static int
+OFDLockFile(int fd, const char *filename)
+{
+#if HAVE_DECL_F_OFD_SETLK
+ struct flock lock;
+
+ lock.l_type = F_WRLCK;
+ lock.l_whence = SEEK_SET;
+ lock.l_start = 0;
+ lock.l_len = 0;
+ lock.l_pid = 0;
+
+ if (fcntl(fd, F_OFD_SETLK, &lock) == -1)
+ {
+ if (errno == EAGAIN)
+ ereport(FATAL,
+ (errcode(ERRCODE_LOCK_FILE_EXISTS),
+ errmsg("cannot lock the lock file \"%s\"", filename),
+ errhint("Another server is starting.")));
+ else
+ {
+ elog(WARNING, "Failed locking file \"%s\", %m", filename);
+ return -1;
+ }
+ }
+ else
+ return dup(fd);
+#else
+ return -1
+#endif
+}
+
/*
* proc_exit callback to remove lockfiles.
*/
@@ -1129,9 +1180,16 @@ UnlinkLockFiles(int status, Datum arg)
foreach(l, lock_files)
{
- char *curfile = (char *) lfirst(l);
+ LockFile *lock_file = (LockFile *) lfirst(l);
- unlink(curfile);
+ /*
+ * Close the file descriptor, which keeps the open file description
+ * lock.
+ */
+ if (lock_file->fd > 0)
+ close(lock_file->fd);
+
+ unlink(lock_file->filename);
/* Should we complain if the unlink fails? */
}
/* Since we're about to exit, no need to reclaim storage */
@@ -1161,7 +1219,9 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
const char *socketDir,
bool isDDLock, const char *refName)
{
- int fd;
+ int fd,
+ flock_fd = -1;
+ LockFile *lock_file;
char buffer[MAXPGPATH * 2 + 256];
int ntries;
int len;
@@ -1173,22 +1233,32 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
const char *envvar;
/*
- * If the PID in the lockfile is our own PID or our parent's or
- * grandparent's PID, then the file must be stale (probably left over from
- * a previous system boot cycle). We need to check this because of the
- * likelihood that a reboot will assign exactly the same PID as we had in
- * the previous reboot, or one that's only one or two counts larger and
- * hence the lockfile's PID now refers to an ancestor shell process. We
- * allow pg_ctl to pass down its parent shell PID (our grandparent PID)
- * via the environment variable PG_GRANDPARENT_PID; this is so that
- * launching the postmaster via pg_ctl can be just as reliable as
- * launching it directly. There is no provision for detecting
- * further-removed ancestor processes, but if the init script is written
- * carefully then all but the immediate parent shell will be root-owned
- * processes and so the kill test will fail with EPERM. Note that we
- * cannot get a false negative this way, because an existing postmaster
- * would surely never launch a competing postmaster or pg_ctl process
- * directly.
+ * If we find an already existing lockfile containing our own PID, there
+ * are few options:
+ *
+ * - There is another process, that we don't see due to PID namespace
+ * isolation, which is already running in this data directory.
+ *
+ * To prevent two concurrent processes working with the same data
+ * directory, we first try to lock the lockfile exclusively.
+ *
+ * - The file must be stale, probably left over from a previous system
+ * boot cycle. The same if the lockfile contains our parent's or
+ * grandparent's PID.
+ *
+ * We need to check this because of the likelihood that a reboot will
+ * assign exactly the same PID as we had in the previous reboot, or one
+ * that's only one or two counts larger and hence the lockfile's PID now
+ * refers to an ancestor shell process. We allow pg_ctl to pass down its
+ * parent shell PID (our grandparent PID) via the environment variable
+ * PG_GRANDPARENT_PID; this is so that launching the postmaster via pg_ctl
+ * can be just as reliable as launching it directly. There is no
+ * provision for detecting further-removed ancestor processes, but if the
+ * init script is written carefully then all but the immediate parent
+ * shell will be root-owned processes and so the kill test will fail with
+ * EPERM. Note that we cannot get a false negative this way, because an
+ * existing postmaster would surely never launch a competing postmaster or
+ * pg_ctl process directly.
*/
my_pid = getpid();
@@ -1224,7 +1294,11 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
*/
fd = open(filename, O_RDWR | O_CREAT | O_EXCL, pg_file_create_mode);
if (fd >= 0)
- break; /* Success; exit the retry loop */
+ {
+ /* Success; lock and exit the retry loop */
+ flock_fd = OFDLockFile(fd, filename);
+ break;
+ }
/*
* Couldn't create the pid file. Probably it already exists.
@@ -1238,8 +1312,12 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
/*
* Read the file to get the old owner's PID. Note race condition
* here: file might have been deleted since we tried to create it.
+ *
+ * We're going to use the same fd for flock, and want to create a
+ * write lock for the latter one. Since both fd and the lock have to
+ * be of the same type, open the file for read and write.
*/
- fd = open(filename, O_RDONLY, pg_file_create_mode);
+ fd = open(filename, O_RDWR, pg_file_create_mode);
if (fd < 0)
{
if (errno == ENOENT)
@@ -1249,6 +1327,10 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
errmsg("could not open lock file \"%s\": %m",
filename)));
}
+
+ /* Try to lock the file. We stop here, if it's already locked. */
+ flock_fd = OFDLockFile(fd, filename);
+
pgstat_report_wait_start(WAIT_EVENT_LOCK_FILE_CREATE_READ);
if ((len = read(fd, buffer, sizeof(buffer) - 1)) < 0)
ereport(FATAL,
@@ -1448,7 +1530,11 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
* Use lcons so that the lock files are unlinked in reverse order of
* creation; this is critical!
*/
- lock_files = lcons(pstrdup(filename), lock_files);
+ lock_file = palloc0_object(LockFile);
+ lock_file->filename = pstrdup(filename);
+ lock_file->fd = flock_fd;
+
+ lock_files = lcons(lock_file, lock_files);
}
/*
@@ -1495,14 +1581,14 @@ TouchSocketLockFiles(void)
foreach(l, lock_files)
{
- char *socketLockFile = (char *) lfirst(l);
+ LockFile *lock_file = (LockFile *) lfirst(l);
/* No need to touch the data directory lock file, we trust */
- if (strcmp(socketLockFile, DIRECTORY_LOCK_FILE) == 0)
+ if (strcmp(lock_file->filename, DIRECTORY_LOCK_FILE) == 0)
continue;
/* we just ignore any error here */
- (void) utime(socketLockFile, NULL);
+ (void) utime(lock_file->filename, NULL);
}
}
diff --git a/src/include/pg_config.h.in b/src/include/pg_config.h.in
index 4f8113c144b..cc38c06dc13 100644
--- a/src/include/pg_config.h.in
+++ b/src/include/pg_config.h.in
@@ -85,6 +85,10 @@
don't. */
#undef HAVE_DECL_F_FULLFSYNC
+/* Define to 1 if you have the declaration of `F_OFD_SETLK', and to 0 if you
+ don't. */
+#undef HAVE_DECL_F_OFD_SETLK
+
/* Define to 1 if you have the declaration of `memset_s', and to 0 if you
don't. */
#undef HAVE_DECL_MEMSET_S
diff --git a/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list b/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list
index 1969d467c1d..185d69b5520 100644
--- a/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list
+++ b/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list
@@ -1653,6 +1653,7 @@ LocationLen
LockAcquireResult
LockClauseStrength
LockData
+LockFile
LockInfoData
LockInstanceData
LockMethod
base-commit: 031904048aa22e7c70dc8e9c170e2743f9b0f090
--
2.52.0
--zdel3ow7bygx53fm--
^ permalink raw reply [nested|flat] 20+ messages in thread
* [PATCH v4] Use open file description locks for lockfiles
@ 2025-12-18 17:21 Dmitrii Dolgov <[email protected]>
0 siblings, 0 replies; 20+ messages in thread
From: Dmitrii Dolgov @ 2025-12-18 17:21 UTC (permalink / raw)
When starting up, postmaster checks for an existing data directory lockfile. If
this file contains current process PID, it's assumed to be stale. Turns out
there is another possibility: we might be running in a PID namespace, and there
is another postgres running inside another PID namespace using the same data
directory. The result is that we don't see another process due to namespace
isolation and start concurrently with the other.
To prevent such situations, at startup use fcntl to get an exclusive open file
description lock for data directory lockfile. Since such locks are associated
with open file descriptors, meaning they're not affected by PID namespace
isolation. It's a "best effort" locking, intended to work with already existing
mechanism, not replace it.
This approach was discussed multiple times in the past, and usually was
rejected as the main work horse for the data directory lockfile due to:
* Portability issues. Open file description lock was a non-POSIX extension in
Linux and similar flock is from BSD standard. But looks like everybody agrees
that such locks make more sense than a typical advisory locks, and
F_OFD_SETLK made its way into POSIX.1 2024 [1].
* Issues with NFS. The current state of things here looks like this:
- NFSv3 doesn't implement open file description locks, they're converted to
advisory locks instead. Advisory locks are subject to namespace isolation,
meaning that processes in different PID namespaces will not see each other
advisory lock, and it's still possible to run multiple postgres
instances on the same data directory.
- NFSv4 uses a lease system for locking, I haven't found any mention of
conversion to advisory locks neither in the man page nor in RFC [2].
To summarize, the approach is now considered POSIX and should fix the described
problem everywhere, except NFSv3.
Use open file description lock for both data directory and socker
lockfiles, since both are affected in the same way.
[1]: https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9799919799/functions/fcntl.html
[2]: https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7530
Reviewed-by: Ilmar Yunusov <[email protected]>
---
configure | 14 +++
configure.ac | 3 +
meson.build | 1 +
src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c | 136 ++++++++++++++++++++++++------
src/include/pg_config.h.in | 4 +
src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list | 1 +
6 files changed, 134 insertions(+), 25 deletions(-)
diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 35b0b72f0a7..25ebcd3cc47 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -16444,6 +16444,20 @@ cat >>confdefs.h <<_ACEOF
_ACEOF
+# Linux open file descriptor locks
+ac_fn_c_check_decl "$LINENO" "F_OFD_SETLK" "ac_cv_have_decl_F_OFD_SETLK" "#include <fcntl.h>
+"
+if test "x$ac_cv_have_decl_F_OFD_SETLK" = xyes; then :
+ ac_have_decl=1
+else
+ ac_have_decl=0
+fi
+
+cat >>confdefs.h <<_ACEOF
+#define HAVE_DECL_F_OFD_SETLK $ac_have_decl
+_ACEOF
+
+
ac_fn_c_check_func "$LINENO" "explicit_bzero" "ac_cv_func_explicit_bzero"
if test "x$ac_cv_func_explicit_bzero" = xyes; then :
$as_echo "#define HAVE_EXPLICIT_BZERO 1" >>confdefs.h
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 0e624fe36b9..677137207e7 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -1913,6 +1913,9 @@ AC_CHECK_DECLS([memset_s], [], [], [#define __STDC_WANT_LIB_EXT1__ 1
# This is probably only present on macOS, but may as well check always
AC_CHECK_DECLS(F_FULLFSYNC, [], [], [#include <fcntl.h>])
+# Linux open file descriptor locks
+AC_CHECK_DECLS([F_OFD_SETLK], [], [], [#include <fcntl.h>])
+
AC_REPLACE_FUNCS(m4_normalize([
explicit_bzero
getopt
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index d88a7a70308..153fbb477bb 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -2901,6 +2901,7 @@ decl_checks = [
['strlcpy', 'string.h'],
['strsep', 'string.h'],
['timingsafe_bcmp', 'string.h'],
+ ['F_OFD_SETLK', 'fcntl.h'],
]
# Need to check for function declarations for these functions, because
diff --git a/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c b/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c
index 7ffc808073a..d4c2f80eb46 100644
--- a/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c
+++ b/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c
@@ -69,6 +69,15 @@ static List *lock_files = NIL;
static Latch LocalLatchData;
+typedef struct
+{
+ /* LockFile name. */
+ const char *filename;
+
+ /* File descriptor for open file description lock. */
+ int fd;
+} PGLockFile;
+
/* ----------------------------------------------------------------
* ignoring system indexes support stuff
*
@@ -1119,6 +1128,48 @@ RestoreClientConnectionInfo(char *conninfo)
*-------------------------------------------------------------------------
*/
+/*
+ * OFD lock the specified lockfile.
+ *
+ * Lock the lockfile with an open file description lock. If the lock is already
+ * taken, it's a hard stop. It's only a best effort test, and any other errors
+ * are ignored. On succes the file descriptor is duplicated, to make sure there
+ * will be at least one open copy of it to keep the lock.
+ *
+ * filename argument is used only for reporting purposes.
+ */
+static int
+OFDLockFile(int fd, const char *filename)
+{
+#if HAVE_DECL_F_OFD_SETLK
+ struct flock lock;
+
+ lock.l_type = F_WRLCK;
+ lock.l_whence = SEEK_SET;
+ lock.l_start = 0;
+ lock.l_len = 0;
+ lock.l_pid = 0;
+
+ if (fcntl(fd, F_OFD_SETLK, &lock) == -1)
+ {
+ if (errno == EAGAIN)
+ ereport(FATAL,
+ (errcode(ERRCODE_LOCK_FILE_EXISTS),
+ errmsg("cannot lock the lock file \"%s\"", filename),
+ errhint("Another server is starting.")));
+ else
+ {
+ elog(WARNING, "Failed locking file \"%s\", %m", filename);
+ return -1;
+ }
+ }
+ else
+ return dup(fd);
+#else
+ return -1;
+#endif
+}
+
/*
* proc_exit callback to remove lockfiles.
*/
@@ -1129,9 +1180,16 @@ UnlinkLockFiles(int status, Datum arg)
foreach(l, lock_files)
{
- char *curfile = (char *) lfirst(l);
+ PGLockFile *lock_file = (PGLockFile *) lfirst(l);
- unlink(curfile);
+ /*
+ * Close the file descriptor, which keeps the open file description
+ * lock.
+ */
+ if (lock_file->fd > 0)
+ close(lock_file->fd);
+
+ unlink(lock_file->filename);
/* Should we complain if the unlink fails? */
}
/* Since we're about to exit, no need to reclaim storage */
@@ -1161,7 +1219,9 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
const char *socketDir,
bool isDDLock, const char *refName)
{
- int fd;
+ int fd,
+ flock_fd = -1;
+ PGLockFile *lock_file;
char buffer[MAXPGPATH * 2 + 256];
int ntries;
int len;
@@ -1173,22 +1233,32 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
const char *envvar;
/*
- * If the PID in the lockfile is our own PID or our parent's or
- * grandparent's PID, then the file must be stale (probably left over from
- * a previous system boot cycle). We need to check this because of the
- * likelihood that a reboot will assign exactly the same PID as we had in
- * the previous reboot, or one that's only one or two counts larger and
- * hence the lockfile's PID now refers to an ancestor shell process. We
- * allow pg_ctl to pass down its parent shell PID (our grandparent PID)
- * via the environment variable PG_GRANDPARENT_PID; this is so that
- * launching the postmaster via pg_ctl can be just as reliable as
- * launching it directly. There is no provision for detecting
- * further-removed ancestor processes, but if the init script is written
- * carefully then all but the immediate parent shell will be root-owned
- * processes and so the kill test will fail with EPERM. Note that we
- * cannot get a false negative this way, because an existing postmaster
- * would surely never launch a competing postmaster or pg_ctl process
- * directly.
+ * If we find an already existing lockfile containing our own PID, there
+ * are few options:
+ *
+ * - There is another process, that we don't see due to PID namespace
+ * isolation, which is already running in this data directory.
+ *
+ * To prevent two concurrent processes working with the same data
+ * directory, we first try to lock the lockfile exclusively.
+ *
+ * - The file must be stale, probably left over from a previous system
+ * boot cycle. The same if the lockfile contains our parent's or
+ * grandparent's PID.
+ *
+ * We need to check this because of the likelihood that a reboot will
+ * assign exactly the same PID as we had in the previous reboot, or one
+ * that's only one or two counts larger and hence the lockfile's PID now
+ * refers to an ancestor shell process. We allow pg_ctl to pass down its
+ * parent shell PID (our grandparent PID) via the environment variable
+ * PG_GRANDPARENT_PID; this is so that launching the postmaster via pg_ctl
+ * can be just as reliable as launching it directly. There is no
+ * provision for detecting further-removed ancestor processes, but if the
+ * init script is written carefully then all but the immediate parent
+ * shell will be root-owned processes and so the kill test will fail with
+ * EPERM. Note that we cannot get a false negative this way, because an
+ * existing postmaster would surely never launch a competing postmaster or
+ * pg_ctl process directly.
*/
my_pid = getpid();
@@ -1224,7 +1294,11 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
*/
fd = open(filename, O_RDWR | O_CREAT | O_EXCL, pg_file_create_mode);
if (fd >= 0)
- break; /* Success; exit the retry loop */
+ {
+ /* Success; lock and exit the retry loop */
+ flock_fd = OFDLockFile(fd, filename);
+ break;
+ }
/*
* Couldn't create the pid file. Probably it already exists.
@@ -1238,8 +1312,12 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
/*
* Read the file to get the old owner's PID. Note race condition
* here: file might have been deleted since we tried to create it.
+ *
+ * We're going to use the same fd for flock, and want to create a
+ * write lock for the latter one. Since both fd and the lock have to
+ * be of the same type, open the file for read and write.
*/
- fd = open(filename, O_RDONLY, pg_file_create_mode);
+ fd = open(filename, O_RDWR, pg_file_create_mode);
if (fd < 0)
{
if (errno == ENOENT)
@@ -1249,6 +1327,10 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
errmsg("could not open lock file \"%s\": %m",
filename)));
}
+
+ /* Try to lock the file. We stop here, if it's already locked. */
+ flock_fd = OFDLockFile(fd, filename);
+
pgstat_report_wait_start(WAIT_EVENT_LOCK_FILE_CREATE_READ);
if ((len = read(fd, buffer, sizeof(buffer) - 1)) < 0)
ereport(FATAL,
@@ -1448,7 +1530,11 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
* Use lcons so that the lock files are unlinked in reverse order of
* creation; this is critical!
*/
- lock_files = lcons(pstrdup(filename), lock_files);
+ lock_file = palloc0_object(PGLockFile);
+ lock_file->filename = pstrdup(filename);
+ lock_file->fd = flock_fd;
+
+ lock_files = lcons(lock_file, lock_files);
}
/*
@@ -1495,14 +1581,14 @@ TouchSocketLockFiles(void)
foreach(l, lock_files)
{
- char *socketLockFile = (char *) lfirst(l);
+ PGLockFile *lock_file = (PGLockFile *) lfirst(l);
/* No need to touch the data directory lock file, we trust */
- if (strcmp(socketLockFile, DIRECTORY_LOCK_FILE) == 0)
+ if (strcmp(lock_file->filename, DIRECTORY_LOCK_FILE) == 0)
continue;
/* we just ignore any error here */
- (void) utime(socketLockFile, NULL);
+ (void) utime(lock_file->filename, NULL);
}
}
diff --git a/src/include/pg_config.h.in b/src/include/pg_config.h.in
index 4f8113c144b..cc38c06dc13 100644
--- a/src/include/pg_config.h.in
+++ b/src/include/pg_config.h.in
@@ -85,6 +85,10 @@
don't. */
#undef HAVE_DECL_F_FULLFSYNC
+/* Define to 1 if you have the declaration of `F_OFD_SETLK', and to 0 if you
+ don't. */
+#undef HAVE_DECL_F_OFD_SETLK
+
/* Define to 1 if you have the declaration of `memset_s', and to 0 if you
don't. */
#undef HAVE_DECL_MEMSET_S
diff --git a/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list b/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list
index ffb413ab612..ad34142e7d6 100644
--- a/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list
+++ b/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list
@@ -1956,6 +1956,7 @@ PGIOAlignedBlock
PGLZ_HistEntry
PGLZ_Strategy
PGLoadBalanceType
+PGLockFile
PGMessageField
PGModuleMagicFunction
PGNoticeHooks
base-commit: 73dfe79fd6034b1e7e41e83d9c82c166dba8eb67
--
2.52.0
--tks2nr37zts5e6h7--
^ permalink raw reply [nested|flat] 20+ messages in thread
* [PATCH v3] Use open file description locks for lockfiles
@ 2025-12-18 17:21 Dmitrii Dolgov <[email protected]>
0 siblings, 0 replies; 20+ messages in thread
From: Dmitrii Dolgov @ 2025-12-18 17:21 UTC (permalink / raw)
When starting up, postmaster checks for an existing data directory lockfile. If
this file contains current process PID, it's assumed to be stale. Turns out
there is another possibility: we might be running in a PID namespace, and there
is another postgres running inside another PID namespace using the same data
directory. The result is that we don't see another process due to namespace
isolation and start concurrently with the other.
To prevent such situations, at startup use fcntl to get an exclusive open file
description lock for data directory lockfile. Since such locks are associated
with open file descriptors, meaning they're not affected by PID namespace
isolation. It's a "best effort" locking, intended to work with already existing
mechanism, not replace it.
This approach was discussed multiple times in the past, and usually was
rejected as the main work horse for the data directory lockfile due to:
* Portability issues. Open file description lock was a non-POSIX extension in
Linux and similar flock is from BSD standard. But looks like everybody agrees
that such locks make more sense than a typical advisory locks, and
F_OFD_SETLK made its way into POSIX.1 2024 [1].
* Issues with NFS. The current state of things here looks like this:
- NFSv3 doesn't implement open file description locks, they're converted to
advisory locks instead. Advisory locks are subject to namespace isolation,
meaning that processes in different PID namespaces will not see each other
advisory lock, and it's still possible to run multiple postgres
instances on the same data directory.
- NFSv4 uses a lease system for locking, I haven't found any mention of
conversion to advisory locks neither in the man page nor in RFC [2].
To summarize, the approach is now considered POSIX and should fix the described
problem everywhere, except NFSv3.
Use open file description lock for both data directory and socker
lockfiles, since both are affected in the same way.
[1]: https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9799919799/functions/fcntl.html
[2]: https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7530
Reviewed-by: Ilmar Yunusov <[email protected]>
---
configure | 14 +++
configure.ac | 3 +
meson.build | 1 +
src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c | 136 ++++++++++++++++++++++++------
src/include/pg_config.h.in | 4 +
src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list | 1 +
6 files changed, 134 insertions(+), 25 deletions(-)
diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 5f77f3cac29..15bda6c6413 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -16444,6 +16444,20 @@ cat >>confdefs.h <<_ACEOF
_ACEOF
+# Linux open file descriptor locks
+ac_fn_c_check_decl "$LINENO" "F_OFD_SETLK" "ac_cv_have_decl_F_OFD_SETLK" "#include <fcntl.h>
+"
+if test "x$ac_cv_have_decl_F_OFD_SETLK" = xyes; then :
+ ac_have_decl=1
+else
+ ac_have_decl=0
+fi
+
+cat >>confdefs.h <<_ACEOF
+#define HAVE_DECL_F_OFD_SETLK $ac_have_decl
+_ACEOF
+
+
ac_fn_c_check_func "$LINENO" "explicit_bzero" "ac_cv_func_explicit_bzero"
if test "x$ac_cv_func_explicit_bzero" = xyes; then :
$as_echo "#define HAVE_EXPLICIT_BZERO 1" >>confdefs.h
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 61cee42daa7..e24cb7a6f01 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -1913,6 +1913,9 @@ AC_CHECK_DECLS([memset_s], [], [], [#define __STDC_WANT_LIB_EXT1__ 1
# This is probably only present on macOS, but may as well check always
AC_CHECK_DECLS(F_FULLFSYNC, [], [], [#include <fcntl.h>])
+# Linux open file descriptor locks
+AC_CHECK_DECLS([F_OFD_SETLK], [], [], [#include <fcntl.h>])
+
AC_REPLACE_FUNCS(m4_normalize([
explicit_bzero
getopt
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 568e0e150bf..3d641dc0403 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -2901,6 +2901,7 @@ decl_checks = [
['strlcpy', 'string.h'],
['strsep', 'string.h'],
['timingsafe_bcmp', 'string.h'],
+ ['F_OFD_SETLK', 'fcntl.h'],
]
# Need to check for function declarations for these functions, because
diff --git a/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c b/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c
index 7ffc808073a..26c3324542c 100644
--- a/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c
+++ b/src/backend/utils/init/miscinit.c
@@ -69,6 +69,15 @@ static List *lock_files = NIL;
static Latch LocalLatchData;
+typedef struct
+{
+ /* LockFile name. */
+ const char *filename;
+
+ /* File descriptor for open file description lock. */
+ int fd;
+} LockFile;
+
/* ----------------------------------------------------------------
* ignoring system indexes support stuff
*
@@ -1119,6 +1128,48 @@ RestoreClientConnectionInfo(char *conninfo)
*-------------------------------------------------------------------------
*/
+/*
+ * OFD lock the specified lockfile.
+ *
+ * Lock the lockfile with an open file description lock. If the lock is already
+ * taken, it's a hard stop. It's only a best effort test, and any other errors
+ * are ignored. On succes the file descriptor is duplicated, to make sure there
+ * will be at least one open copy of it to keep the lock.
+ *
+ * filename argument is used only for reporting purposes.
+ */
+static int
+OFDLockFile(int fd, const char *filename)
+{
+#if HAVE_DECL_F_OFD_SETLK
+ struct flock lock;
+
+ lock.l_type = F_WRLCK;
+ lock.l_whence = SEEK_SET;
+ lock.l_start = 0;
+ lock.l_len = 0;
+ lock.l_pid = 0;
+
+ if (fcntl(fd, F_OFD_SETLK, &lock) == -1)
+ {
+ if (errno == EAGAIN)
+ ereport(FATAL,
+ (errcode(ERRCODE_LOCK_FILE_EXISTS),
+ errmsg("cannot lock the lock file \"%s\"", filename),
+ errhint("Another server is starting.")));
+ else
+ {
+ elog(WARNING, "Failed locking file \"%s\", %m", filename);
+ return -1;
+ }
+ }
+ else
+ return dup(fd);
+#else
+ return -1
+#endif
+}
+
/*
* proc_exit callback to remove lockfiles.
*/
@@ -1129,9 +1180,16 @@ UnlinkLockFiles(int status, Datum arg)
foreach(l, lock_files)
{
- char *curfile = (char *) lfirst(l);
+ LockFile *lock_file = (LockFile *) lfirst(l);
- unlink(curfile);
+ /*
+ * Close the file descriptor, which keeps the open file description
+ * lock.
+ */
+ if (lock_file->fd > 0)
+ close(lock_file->fd);
+
+ unlink(lock_file->filename);
/* Should we complain if the unlink fails? */
}
/* Since we're about to exit, no need to reclaim storage */
@@ -1161,7 +1219,9 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
const char *socketDir,
bool isDDLock, const char *refName)
{
- int fd;
+ int fd,
+ flock_fd = -1;
+ LockFile *lock_file;
char buffer[MAXPGPATH * 2 + 256];
int ntries;
int len;
@@ -1173,22 +1233,32 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
const char *envvar;
/*
- * If the PID in the lockfile is our own PID or our parent's or
- * grandparent's PID, then the file must be stale (probably left over from
- * a previous system boot cycle). We need to check this because of the
- * likelihood that a reboot will assign exactly the same PID as we had in
- * the previous reboot, or one that's only one or two counts larger and
- * hence the lockfile's PID now refers to an ancestor shell process. We
- * allow pg_ctl to pass down its parent shell PID (our grandparent PID)
- * via the environment variable PG_GRANDPARENT_PID; this is so that
- * launching the postmaster via pg_ctl can be just as reliable as
- * launching it directly. There is no provision for detecting
- * further-removed ancestor processes, but if the init script is written
- * carefully then all but the immediate parent shell will be root-owned
- * processes and so the kill test will fail with EPERM. Note that we
- * cannot get a false negative this way, because an existing postmaster
- * would surely never launch a competing postmaster or pg_ctl process
- * directly.
+ * If we find an already existing lockfile containing our own PID, there
+ * are few options:
+ *
+ * - There is another process, that we don't see due to PID namespace
+ * isolation, which is already running in this data directory.
+ *
+ * To prevent two concurrent processes working with the same data
+ * directory, we first try to lock the lockfile exclusively.
+ *
+ * - The file must be stale, probably left over from a previous system
+ * boot cycle. The same if the lockfile contains our parent's or
+ * grandparent's PID.
+ *
+ * We need to check this because of the likelihood that a reboot will
+ * assign exactly the same PID as we had in the previous reboot, or one
+ * that's only one or two counts larger and hence the lockfile's PID now
+ * refers to an ancestor shell process. We allow pg_ctl to pass down its
+ * parent shell PID (our grandparent PID) via the environment variable
+ * PG_GRANDPARENT_PID; this is so that launching the postmaster via pg_ctl
+ * can be just as reliable as launching it directly. There is no
+ * provision for detecting further-removed ancestor processes, but if the
+ * init script is written carefully then all but the immediate parent
+ * shell will be root-owned processes and so the kill test will fail with
+ * EPERM. Note that we cannot get a false negative this way, because an
+ * existing postmaster would surely never launch a competing postmaster or
+ * pg_ctl process directly.
*/
my_pid = getpid();
@@ -1224,7 +1294,11 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
*/
fd = open(filename, O_RDWR | O_CREAT | O_EXCL, pg_file_create_mode);
if (fd >= 0)
- break; /* Success; exit the retry loop */
+ {
+ /* Success; lock and exit the retry loop */
+ flock_fd = OFDLockFile(fd, filename);
+ break;
+ }
/*
* Couldn't create the pid file. Probably it already exists.
@@ -1238,8 +1312,12 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
/*
* Read the file to get the old owner's PID. Note race condition
* here: file might have been deleted since we tried to create it.
+ *
+ * We're going to use the same fd for flock, and want to create a
+ * write lock for the latter one. Since both fd and the lock have to
+ * be of the same type, open the file for read and write.
*/
- fd = open(filename, O_RDONLY, pg_file_create_mode);
+ fd = open(filename, O_RDWR, pg_file_create_mode);
if (fd < 0)
{
if (errno == ENOENT)
@@ -1249,6 +1327,10 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
errmsg("could not open lock file \"%s\": %m",
filename)));
}
+
+ /* Try to lock the file. We stop here, if it's already locked. */
+ flock_fd = OFDLockFile(fd, filename);
+
pgstat_report_wait_start(WAIT_EVENT_LOCK_FILE_CREATE_READ);
if ((len = read(fd, buffer, sizeof(buffer) - 1)) < 0)
ereport(FATAL,
@@ -1448,7 +1530,11 @@ CreateLockFile(const char *filename, bool amPostmaster,
* Use lcons so that the lock files are unlinked in reverse order of
* creation; this is critical!
*/
- lock_files = lcons(pstrdup(filename), lock_files);
+ lock_file = palloc0_object(LockFile);
+ lock_file->filename = pstrdup(filename);
+ lock_file->fd = flock_fd;
+
+ lock_files = lcons(lock_file, lock_files);
}
/*
@@ -1495,14 +1581,14 @@ TouchSocketLockFiles(void)
foreach(l, lock_files)
{
- char *socketLockFile = (char *) lfirst(l);
+ LockFile *lock_file = (LockFile *) lfirst(l);
/* No need to touch the data directory lock file, we trust */
- if (strcmp(socketLockFile, DIRECTORY_LOCK_FILE) == 0)
+ if (strcmp(lock_file->filename, DIRECTORY_LOCK_FILE) == 0)
continue;
/* we just ignore any error here */
- (void) utime(socketLockFile, NULL);
+ (void) utime(lock_file->filename, NULL);
}
}
diff --git a/src/include/pg_config.h.in b/src/include/pg_config.h.in
index 4f8113c144b..cc38c06dc13 100644
--- a/src/include/pg_config.h.in
+++ b/src/include/pg_config.h.in
@@ -85,6 +85,10 @@
don't. */
#undef HAVE_DECL_F_FULLFSYNC
+/* Define to 1 if you have the declaration of `F_OFD_SETLK', and to 0 if you
+ don't. */
+#undef HAVE_DECL_F_OFD_SETLK
+
/* Define to 1 if you have the declaration of `memset_s', and to 0 if you
don't. */
#undef HAVE_DECL_MEMSET_S
diff --git a/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list b/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list
index 1969d467c1d..185d69b5520 100644
--- a/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list
+++ b/src/tools/pgindent/typedefs.list
@@ -1653,6 +1653,7 @@ LocationLen
LockAcquireResult
LockClauseStrength
LockData
+LockFile
LockInfoData
LockInstanceData
LockMethod
base-commit: 031904048aa22e7c70dc8e9c170e2743f9b0f090
--
2.52.0
--zdel3ow7bygx53fm--
^ permalink raw reply [nested|flat] 20+ messages in thread
end of thread, other threads:[~2025-12-18 17:21 UTC | newest]
Thread overview: 20+ messages (download: mbox mbox.gz follow: Atom feed)
-- links below jump to the message on this page --
2025-04-09 10:44 Re: Feature Recommendations for Logical Subscriptions Amit Kapila <[email protected]>
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2025-04-10 11:29 ` Amit Kapila <[email protected]>
2025-04-10 22:10 ` Peter Smith <[email protected]>
2025-12-18 17:21 [PATCH v4] Use open file description locks for lockfiles Dmitrii Dolgov <[email protected]>
2025-12-18 17:21 [PATCH v4] Use open file description locks for lockfiles Dmitrii Dolgov <[email protected]>
2025-12-18 17:21 [PATCH v4] Use open file description locks for lockfiles Dmitrii Dolgov <[email protected]>
2025-12-18 17:21 [PATCH v3] Use open file description locks for lockfiles Dmitrii Dolgov <[email protected]>
2025-12-18 17:21 [PATCH v3] Use open file description locks for lockfiles Dmitrii Dolgov <[email protected]>
2025-12-18 17:21 [PATCH v4] Use open file description locks for lockfiles Dmitrii Dolgov <[email protected]>
2025-12-18 17:21 [PATCH v3] Use open file description locks for lockfiles Dmitrii Dolgov <[email protected]>
2025-12-18 17:21 [PATCH v3] Use open file description locks for lockfiles Dmitrii Dolgov <[email protected]>
2025-12-18 17:21 [PATCH v4] Use open file description locks for lockfiles Dmitrii Dolgov <[email protected]>
2025-12-18 17:21 [PATCH v4] Use open file description locks for lockfiles Dmitrii Dolgov <[email protected]>
2025-12-18 17:21 [PATCH v3] Use open file description locks for lockfiles Dmitrii Dolgov <[email protected]>
2025-12-18 17:21 [PATCH v3] Use open file description locks for lockfiles Dmitrii Dolgov <[email protected]>
2025-12-18 17:21 [PATCH v4] Use open file description locks for lockfiles Dmitrii Dolgov <[email protected]>
2025-12-18 17:21 [PATCH v3] Use open file description locks for lockfiles Dmitrii Dolgov <[email protected]>
2025-12-18 17:21 [PATCH v3] Use open file description locks for lockfiles Dmitrii Dolgov <[email protected]>
2025-12-18 17:21 [PATCH v4] Use open file description locks for lockfiles Dmitrii Dolgov <[email protected]>
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