[systemd-devel] Timeout for 'Activating (start)' status

[Michael Chapman]

On Fri, 7 Jul 2017, Mikhail Kasimov wrote:
> 06.07.2017 17:18, Michael Chapman пишет:
>> On Thu, 6 Jul 2017, Mikhail Kasimov wrote:
>>> Hello!
>>>
>>> 've got an interesting trouble on timer-activated service -- 'systemctl
>>> status' returns a log with 'Activating (start)' status:
>>>
>>> [1]
>>> ==========
>>> k_mikhail at linux-mk500:~> systemctl status vba32update.service
>>> ● vba32update.service - VBA32 Anti-Virus Update Service
>>>   Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/vba32update.service; disabled;
>>> vendor preset: disabled)
>>>   Active: activating (start) since Чтв 2017-07-06 15:32:35 EEST;
>>> 35min ago
>>> Main PID: 6214 (vbaupdx)
>>>    Tasks: 1 (limit: 512)
>>>   CGroup: /system.slice/vba32update.service
>>>           └─6214 ./vbaupdx http://anti-virus.by/beta/update
>>>
>>> Июл 06 15:32:35 linux-mk500 systemd[1]: Starting VBA32 Anti-Virus Update
>>> Service...
>>> Июл 06 15:32:35 linux-mk500 vbacl[6214]: Vba32 console scanner update
>>> process started
>>> Июл 06 15:32:35 linux-mk500 vbacl[6214]: Reading configuration options
>>> from ./vbacl.ini
>>> Июл 06 15:32:35 linux-mk500 vbacl[6214]: Using direct connection for
>>> update
>>> k_mikhail at linux-mk500:~>
>>> ==========
>>>
>>>
>>> Simultaneously:
>>> [2]
>>> ==========
>>> k_mikhail at linux-mk500:~> systemctl list-units -t timer
>>> UNIT                         LOAD   ACTIVE SUB     DESCRIPTION
>>> vba32update.timer            loaded active running Runs VBA32 Update
>>> Hourly
>>> ==========
>>>
>>> And that is normal. But 35 minutes for activating service is too long,
>>> as for me.
>>
>> Is this a Type=oneshot service?
>>
>> It's a bit weird, but Type=oneshot services are not considered to be
>> fully started until the ExecStart= command has exited. Until that time
>> they're still "activating".
>>
>> You may be better off making the service Type=simple instead. A
>> Type=simple service is fully started as soon as it has spawned the
>> ExecStart= command.
>
> Yes, Type=oneshot, because, if Type=simple, service will be active
> permanently in case of its start. But this is not what is needed here --
> service should be started, then to check the updates of anti-virus
> software and then be successfully closed. Nothing more. Only one thing
> can impact here -- remote anti-virus server connection timeout. And if
> server connection timeout is set in wrong way, having a native systemd
> forced timeout for oneshot-services may be useful.

I still think you want Type=simple there. A Type=simple service can exit 
when it's finished doing whatever it needs to do. The service will then 
transition back to its inactive state.

Really, I think the only time Type=oneshot should be used is when you have 
a _sequence_ of units, where one unit shouldn't be started until the 
previous one has finished. You don't have that here.

>>> And, by default, there is no way for user\admin to get message, that
>>> there is a problem with activating of some service, except periodical
>>> 'systemctl list-units -t timer' command output (in current described
>>> case). And systemd logs contain no interesting info, which can be useful
>>> to investigate the problem and its reasons, because there are no
>>> explicit error-messages for such case.
>>>
>>> So, my questions are:
>>> =================
>>> 1) What is the correct systemd's behavior in such case?
>>
>> If this is a Type=oneshot service, systemd is working as intended here.
>
> Ok, got that.
>
>
>>
>>> 2) What is systemd's timeout by default for service activation
>>> (timer-activated, socket-activated)? If it is documentened, please, give
>>> me a hint.
>>
>> By default, Type=oneshot services don't have a start timeout.
>
>>> 3) If systemd's timeout from 2) is present, how can it be managed by
>>> user\admin? E.g. after 10 minutes of 'Activating (start)', service gets
>>> FAILED state with putting this info to systemd log, of course (something
>>> like "systemd[1] fails to start foobar.service[PID] by timeout.
>>> ExitCode:<number>").
>>
>> If you do add a TimeoutStartSec= to a Type=oneshot unit, this will
>> force the unit to be stopped (by killing the process) after that time.
>> That's probably not what you want.
>
> In general way -- why not?

Well, it acts as a hard-limit for the service lifetime.

If that's actually what you wanted, a more natural way to do it would 
be to use RuntimeMaxSec= on a Type=simple service.

>   For more twisted cases I can use OnFailure=
> directive here, I suppose. So, will try to play with TimeoutStartSec=
> directive.
>
>>
>> For a Type=simple service, the default TimeoutStartSec= is set in
>> /etc/systemd/system.conf. It will be 90 seconds unless you've changed it.
>
>
> Ok, thanks for clarifying and help!

No problem!