Re: Reviewing freeze map code

On Wed, Jun 15, 2016 at 9:43 AM, Amit Kapila <amit.kapila16@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Wed, Jun 15, 2016 at 6:26 PM, Robert Haas <robertmhaas@gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Wed, Jun 15, 2016 at 2:41 AM, Thomas Munro
>> <thomas.munro@enterprisedb.com> wrote:
>> > I spent some time chasing down the exact circumstances.  I suspect
>> > that there may be an interlocking problem in heap_update.  Using the
>> > line numbers from cae1c788 [1], I see the following interaction
>> > between the VACUUM, UPDATE and SELECT (pg_check_visible) backends, all
>> > in reference to the same block number:
>> >
>> >   [VACUUM] sets all visible bit
>> >
>> >   [UPDATE] heapam.c:3931 HeapTupleHeaderSetXmax(oldtup.t_data,
>> > xmax_old_tuple);
>> >   [UPDATE] heapam.c:3938 LockBuffer(buffer, BUFFER_LOCK_UNLOCK);
>> >
>> >   [SELECT] LockBuffer(buffer, BUFFER_LOCK_SHARE);
>> >   [SELECT] observes VM_ALL_VISIBLE as true
>> >   [SELECT] observes tuple in HEAPTUPLE_DELETE_IN_PROGRESS state
>> >   [SELECT] barfs
>> >
>> >   [UPDATE] heapam.c:4116 visibilitymap_clear(...)
>>
>> Yikes: heap_update() sets the tuple's XMAX, CMAX, infomask, infomask2,
>> and CTID without logging anything or clearing the all-visible flag and
>> then releases the lock on the heap page to go do some more work that
>> might even ERROR out.
>
> Can't we clear the all-visible flag before releasing the lock?  We can use
> logic of already_marked as it is currently used in code to clear it just
> once.

That just kicks the can down the road.  Then you have PD_ALL_VISIBLE
clear but the VM bit is still set.  And you still haven't WAL-logged
anything.

-- 
Robert Haas
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