Re: [PATCH] Fix orphaned backend processes on Windows using Job Objects

Hi,

On 2025-11-03 09:12:03 -0600, Bryan Green wrote:
> We just need to call CreateJobObject() in PostmasterMain(), configure
> with JOB_OBJECT_LIMIT_KILL_ON_JOB_CLOSE, and assign the postmaster.
> Children inherit membership automatically. When the job handle closes on
> postmaster exit, the kernel terminates all children atomically. This is
> kernel-enforced with no polling and no race conditions.

What happens if a postmaster child exits irregularly? Is postmaster terminated
as well?

> The patch has been tested on Windows 10/11 with both MSVC and MinGW
> builds. Nested jobs fail gracefully as expected. Clean shutdown is
> unaffected. Crash tests with taskkill /F, debugger abort, and access
> violations all correctly terminate children immediately with zero orphans.
> 
> This patch does not include automated tests because the core
> functionality (orphan prevention on crash) requires simulating process
> termination, which is difficult to test reliably in CI.

Why is it difficult to test in CI? We do some related tests in
013_crash_restart.pl, it doesn't seem like it ought to be hard to also add
tests for postmaster?

Greetings,

Andres Freund