rsyslog work log 43

Yesterday’s rsyslog work log:
2008-01-30
– renamed Msg object to usual all-lowercase object name (else we ran into
troubles with the framework, also it was somewhat ugly…)
– fixed a memory leak in object destruction (was recently introduced by
object naming, not present in any released version)
– finally implemented infinite action retries via -1 retry count
– fixed a bug that caused $MainMsgQueueCheckpointInterval to work incorrectly
– fixed bug in output module interface, see
http://sourceforge.net/tracker/index.php?func=detail&aid=1881008&group_id=123448&atid=696552
– changed the ommysql output plugin so that the (lengthy) connection
initialization now takes place in message processing. This works much
better with the new queued action mode (fast startup)
– fixed a newly introduced bug that caused output module’s doAction entry
point to be called on more than one thread under some circumstances
– fixed a bug that could cause invalid string handling via strerror_r
varmojfekoj provided the patch – many thanks!
– adopted varmojfekoj’s patch to v3, some more sterror_r’s ;)
– bugfix: MsgDup() did not work with new base object data structure
– implemented simple output rate limiting
– addded $ActionQueueDequeueSlowdown config directive
– addded $MainMsgQueueDequeueSlowdown config directive
– implemented limiting disk space allocated to queues
– addded $MainMsgQueueMaxDiskSpace config directive
– addded $ActionQueueMaxDiskSpace config directive

Yesterday’s rsyslog work log

Yesterday’s rsyslog work log:
2008-01-29
– improved debug support a bit (assertions)
– restructured code, moved some part out of syslogd.c to action.c, where
they belong (still some more to do in that regard ;))
– moved correct retry logic into action processing queue
– removed debugging support from sync class, debug class now provides
much more
– implemented naming for all objects (mostly as a debug aid, but you never
know what else it will be good for)
– converted queue.c to use dbgoprint() instead of dbgprintf()
– fine tuning on queue naming
– action queues are now also named (otherwise you can’t read the debug log ;))
– bugfix: added forgotten docs to package
– bugfixing newly added action code
– action queue params are reset to default for each action
– added ability to re-enqueue objects into the queue when a worker thread is
cancelled

rsyslog work log 44

Yesterday’s rsyslog work log:
2008-01-28
– added capability to record last known exec location in debug stack dump
– added some doc on how to handle massive amounts of database inserts
with rsyslog
– some more testing and cleanup with the queue class (pretty stable now)
– cleanup to prepare for release
– PID file is now also written in debug mode
– fixed a segfault issue with the rsyslog shutdown exit debug message when
in release build
– added “runtime instrumentation” feature to ./configure
– some more cleanup
– add Michael Biebl’s autoconf patch for netsnmp – thks!
– released 3.10.3 – finally ;)
– implemented the $ActionResumeRetryCount config directive
– added queue between main queue and action executor (currently
works in “direct” mode only, else crashes)
– added $ActionQueueFilename config directive
– added $ActionQueueSize config directive
– added $ActionQueueHighWaterMark config directive
– added $ActionQueueLowWaterMark config directive
– added $ActionQueueDiscardMark config directive
– added $ActionQueueDiscardSeverity config directive
– added $ActionQueueCheckpointInterval config directive
– added $ActionQueueType config directive
– added $ActionQueueWorkerThreads config directive
– added $ActionQueueTimeoutshutdown config directive
– added $ActionQueueTimeoutActionCompletion config directive
– added $ActionQueueTimeoutenQueue config directive
– added $ActionQueueTimeoutworkerThreadShutdown config directive
– added $ActionQueueWorkerThreadMinimumMessages config directive
– added $ActionQueueMaxFileSize config directive
– added $ActionQueueSaveonShutdown config directive

weekend rsyslog work log

Past two day’s rsyslog work log:
2008-01-26
– improved SIGSEGV handler a bit (now we get a core dump)
– partially fixed bug that caused rsyslogd to stall processing enqueued messages
after turning off DA mode and before any new message were arrived (if a new
message arrived, everything went back to normal, so it was a temporary halt)
2008-01-27
– fixed the situation where message processing could be stalled for some period
after DA mode turn off
– reduced number of unnecessary wakeups of DA worker thread when high water mark
is not yet reached
– fixed a cosmetic issue in timeoutValue calculation (just used for displaying)
– fixed a bug when shutting down DA queue
– some more fixing and cleanup on the queue shutdown sequence
– fixed queue termination in case bSaveOnShutdown is 0
– implemented the $MainMsgQueueSaveOnShutdown config directive
– implemented the $MainMsgQueueWorkerThreadMinimumMessages config directive
– implemented the $MainMsgQueueTimeoutWorkerThreadShutdown config directive

rsyslog work log 45

Yesterday’s rsyslog work log:
2008-01-25
– restructured queue shutdown so that the queue timeout is properly applied before
terminatiing the queue
– disk-assisted queue mode finally begins to look good ;)
– added debug-support environment variable RSYSLOG_DEBUGLOG
– fixed worker timeout which was accidently not set (and thus 0)

rsyslog work log … finally

Long time no rsyslog work log post. But this time its a rather long one:

2008-01-14
– removed no longer needed “Initialized” logic and variable
– worker shutdown sequence enhanced to try different ways to shut
down and terminate workers if none helps (this protects against
badly written output plugins which hold the queue for too long)
– implemented $MainMsgQueueTimeoutActionCompletion config directive
– implemented $MainMsgQueueTimeoutEnqueue config directive
– implemented $MainMsgQueueTimeoutShutdown config directive
– some cleanup
– removed $MainMsgQueueImmediateShutdown config directive and handling,
this has been superseeded by the Timeout params. Backward compatibility
is no concern, no version with that directive was ever released.
– released 3.10.2
– fixed a bug with standard template definitions – thanks to
varmojfekoj for spotting it
– implemented config file handlers for
* $MainMsgQueueHighWaterMark
* $MainMsgQueueLowWaterMark
* $MainMsgQueueDiscardMark
* $MainMsgQueueDiscardSeverity
but did NOT yet implement the functionality behind these directives!
– implemented $MainMsgQueueDiscardMark and $MainMsgQueueDiscardSeverity
(but serverity needs to be specified numerically for the time being)
– also implemented $MainMsgQueueDiscardMark logic on dequeue, changed
defaults
– implemented $MainMsgQueueDiscardMark == 0 –> disable Discard logic
– implemented $MainMsgQueueSize == 0 –> no limit on queue size
– begin disk assisted queue memory queue modes (not fully implemented
yet)
2008-01-15
– disk assisted queue works quite well, except for startup from disk queue
– changed startup of disk assisted mode to allow for higher concurrency,
most importantly allow the input to continue enqueue msgs while the
disk queue is initialized. This may help somewhat with UDP and other
lossy sources
– improved shutdown processing – in-memory queue is now drained to disk
– first shot at queue restore on startup, but could not finish before
I need to leave ;)
2008-01-16
– fixed a compile-time bug in release mode spotted by Michael Biebl
– queue is now able to restore persisted state on startup (but still some
fine tuning to be done)
– re-released 3.10.2 due to bug reported by Michael Biebl
– cleaned up queue disk startup
– implemented dynamic startup and shutdown of worker threads based on
current activity
– some cleanup and fixes
– some more cleanup and flagged places where we need to implement
DA-input-only mode
2008-01-17
– changed obj_t destructor interface
– worked on threading
– fixed sync issue on shutdown process if need to persist pure memory
queue to disk
– adapted DA logic to the ability to shut down all workers for inactivity
2008-01-18
– created an in-depth description of DA assisted queue mode
– snapshot of new thread coding – DA mode still does not work, but need
to save
2008-01-19
– seperated mutex for queue size management from those for queue thread
management
– some further cleanup on the mutexes
2008-01-20
– begun object model redesign for clearer design of queue class, causes
creation of wti and wtp classes
– initial creation of wti class (worker implementation missing)
2008-01-21
– continued implementing wti class
– added some mutex-support to srUtils
– initial creation of wti class (still under development)
2008-01-22
– continued to work on queue
– implemented debug interface
2008-01-23
– added mutex debug instrumentation
2008-01-24
– improved debugging support (faster, less memory used, function invocation
count is maintened)
– redesigned queue to utilize helper classes for threading support. This is finally
in a running state for regular (non disk-assisted) queues, with a minor nit
at shutdown. So I can finally commit the work again to CVS…

rsyslog status

I’ve not posted anything the past days – not because I don’t do anything but because I am terrible busy with new features. The new massively multithreading engine is giving me a somewhat harder time than I expected (and I have to admit a design flaw which I am recovering from). Everything else is currently being pushed away by my desire to finish store-and-forward enabled actions by the end of the month. I am no longer sure I’ll meet that deadline, but at least I’ll try.

Updates to the blog will hopefully resume soon, as will new releases. I’ll post work logs soon.

So you now know at least what’s going on… BTW: I am looking for some test environments where store-and-forward and/or high performance (running on as many cores as possible) is in high demand.

Atlantis now set to launch February, 7th

NASA has announced that Atlantis launch date will be no earlier than February, 7th. Unfortunately, I am currently extremely busy with my rsyslog project and don’t have the usual time to report on launch progress. I hope to be able to resume the usual coverage soon. In the mean time, please let me quote NASA’s shuttle home page:

Technicians at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida have completed the installation of the replacement feed-through connector in the engine cutoff sensor system to the internal connector. The feed-through connector passes the wires from the inside of the tank to the outside.

The pins in the replacement connector have been skillfully soldered to create a connection that allows sensors inside the tank to send signals to the computers onboard Atlantis.

The work is being done on Launch Pad 39A in anticipation of a launch date for mission STS-122 now targeted for Feb. 7 at 2:47 p.m. EST.

Atlantis’ main objective during its STS-122 mission to the Internaltional Space Station is to install and activate the European Space Agency’s Columbus laboratory, which will provide scientists around the world the ability to conduct a variety of experiments in life, physical, and materials science, Earth observation and solar physics.

Shuttle Endeavour’s STS-123 mission will deliver Kibo, the first section of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s laboratory module, and Dextre, Canada’s new robotics system to the space station. The launch of Endeavour is targeted for mid-March.

NASA managers will meet in the coming weeks to address the schedule of remaining shuttle flights beyond STS-123.

rsyslog work log

The past day’s rsyslog work log:
2008-01-11
– undid part of yesterdays stage work – q worker 0 does not have management
chores, will use another solution (not needed yet)
– begun to permit queue to terminate without being drained
– fixed a starvation condition in queueWorker (pthread_yield() was needed)
could not be seen with any previously released code, came up during
new development
– added $MainMsgQueueImmediateShutdown config directive
– some name cleanup
– added non-circular file stream mode
– added some debug instrumentation to obj_t type, so that invalidly passed
objects can be detected (else we use the jump table and do not know why
everything messes up)
– file stream objects are now persistent on immediate queue shutdown (queue itself
is not yet fully persisted)
– support for object property bags added
– queue can now persist disk queue information on immediate shutdown
– added function to de-serialize a property bag (untested as other code is yet
missing)
– support for de-serializing strm objects added
– partial ability to read a disk queue back in (not completed, but would like
to save source for the weekend)
2008-01-13
– support for reading back persisted queue information completed
– added $MainMsgQueuePersistUpdateCount config file directive
– renamed $MainMsgQueuePersistUpdateCount config file directive to
$MainMsgQueueCheckpointInterval
– changed queue shutdown procedure a bit – stage work for queue shutdown
timeout setting

rsyslog work log update

rsyslog work log for Jan, 9th and 10th (sorry, forgot to post yesterday):

2008-01-09
– implemented new GetSize() handler for config files
– implemented $MainMsgQueueMaxFileSize configuration directive
– implemented queue object method to set the file name prefix
– implemented $MainMsgQueueFilePrefix configuration directive
– created a generic stream class (for file access)
– changed queue class to use stream class
– some cleanup on object model
2008-01-10
– changed queue file name generation (to be more generic)
– made queue file names better readable
– added buffered output to stream class
– data record support added to stream output writer
– added write functions for several types to stream class
– changed objSerialize methods to work directly on the stream class
– prepared for 3.10.1 release
– changed some config parameters and some cleanup
– released 3.10.1
– fixed a bug that caused a segfault on startup when no $WorkDir directive
was specified in rsyslog.conf
– fixed a bug that caused a segfault on queues with types other than “disk”
– removed the no longer needed thread TermSyncTool
– re-released 3.10.1
– implemented strm object serializer (untested as the code required for test
is not yet present – hen/egg problem…)
– some cleanup
– implemented management function for worker thread 0 in order to change
queue workers dynamically — stage work