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[PATCH v2 02/10] upload-pack: adapt keepalives based on buffering

From
Patrick Steinhardt <ps@pks.im>
Date
Mar 3, 2026, 15:00 UTC
Message-ID
<20260303-pks-upload-pack-write-contention-v2-2-7321830f08fe@pks.im>
In-Reply-To
<20260303-pks-upload-pack-write-contention-v2-0-7321830f08fe@pks.im>

The function `create_pack_file()` is responsible for sending the packfile data to the client of git-upload-pack(1). As generating the bytes may take significant computing resources we also have a mechanism in place that optionally sends keepalive pktlines in case we haven't sent out any data.

The keepalive logic is purely based poll(3p): we pass a timeout to that syscall, and if the call times out we send out the keepalive pktline. While reasonable, this logic isn't entirely sufficient: even if the call to poll(3p) ends because we have received data on any of the file descriptors we may not necessarily send data to the client.

The most important edge case here happens in `relay_pack_data()`. When we haven't seen the initial "PACK" signature from git-pack-objects(1) yet we buffer incoming data. So in the worst case, if each of the bytes of that signature arrive shortly before the configured keepalive timeout, then we may not send out any data for a time period that is (almost) four times as long as the configured timeout.

This edge case is rather unlikely to matter in practice. But in a subsequent commit we're going to adapt our buffering mechanism to become more aggressive, which makes it more likely that we don't send any data for an extended amount of time.

Adapt the logic so that instead of using a fixed timeout on every call to poll(3p), we instead figure out how much time has passed since the last-sent data.

Signed-off-by: Patrick Steinhardt <ps@pks.im>
---
 upload-pack.c | 49 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++---------
 1 file changed, 40 insertions(+), 9 deletions(-)
diff --git a/upload-pack.c b/upload-pack.c
index c2643c0295..04521e57c9 100644
--- a/upload-pack.c
+++ b/upload-pack.c
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@
 #include "commit-graph.h"
 #include "commit-reach.h"
 #include "shallow.h"
+#include "trace.h"
 #include "write-or-die.h"
 #include "json-writer.h"
 #include "strmap.h"
@@ -218,7 +219,8 @@ struct output_state {
 };
 
 static int relay_pack_data(int pack_objects_out, struct output_state *os,
-			   int use_sideband, int write_packfile_line)
+			   int use_sideband, int write_packfile_line,
+			   bool *did_send_data)
 {
 	/*
 	 * We keep the last byte to ourselves
@@ -232,6 +234,8 @@ static int relay_pack_data(int pack_objects_out, struct output_state *os,
 	 */
 	ssize_t readsz;
 
+	*did_send_data = false;
+
 	readsz = xread(pack_objects_out, os->buffer + os->used,
 		       sizeof(os->buffer) - os->used);
 	if (readsz < 0) {
@@ -247,6 +251,7 @@ static int relay_pack_data(int pack_objects_out, struct output_state *os,
 				if (os->packfile_uris_started)
 					packet_delim(1);
 				packet_write_fmt(1, "\1packfile\n");
+				*did_send_data = true;
 			}
 			break;
 		}
@@ -259,6 +264,7 @@ static int relay_pack_data(int pack_objects_out, struct output_state *os,
 			}
 			*p = '\0';
 			packet_write_fmt(1, "\1%s\n", os->buffer);
+			*did_send_data = true;
 
 			os->used -= p - os->buffer + 1;
 			memmove(os->buffer, p + 1, os->used);
@@ -279,6 +285,7 @@ static int relay_pack_data(int pack_objects_out, struct output_state *os,
 		os->used = 0;
 	}
 
+	*did_send_data = true;
 	return readsz;
 }
 
@@ -290,6 +297,7 @@ static void create_pack_file(struct upload_pack_data *pack_data,
 	char progress[128];
 	char abort_msg[] = "aborting due to possible repository "
 		"corruption on the remote side.";
+	uint64_t last_sent_ms = 0;
 	ssize_t sz;
 	int i;
 	FILE *pipe_fd;
@@ -365,10 +373,14 @@ static void create_pack_file(struct upload_pack_data *pack_data,
 	 */
 
 	while (1) {
+		uint64_t now_ms = getnanotime() / 1000000;
 		struct pollfd pfd[2];
-		int pe, pu, pollsize, polltimeout;
+		int pe, pu, pollsize, polltimeout_ms;
 		int ret;
 
+		if (!last_sent_ms)
+			last_sent_ms = now_ms;
+
 		reset_timeout(pack_data->timeout);
 
 		pollsize = 0;
@@ -390,11 +402,21 @@ static void create_pack_file(struct upload_pack_data *pack_data,
 		if (!pollsize)
 			break;
 
-		polltimeout = pack_data->keepalive < 0
-			? -1
-			: 1000 * pack_data->keepalive;
+		if (pack_data->keepalive < 0) {
+			polltimeout_ms = -1;
+		} else {
+			/*
+			 * The polling timeout needs to be adjusted based on
+			 * the time we have sent our last package. The longer
+			 * it's been in the past, the shorter the timeout
+			 * becomes until we eventually don't block at all.
+			 */
+			polltimeout_ms = 1000 * pack_data->keepalive - (now_ms - last_sent_ms);
+			if (polltimeout_ms < 0)
+				polltimeout_ms = 0;
+		}
 
-		ret = poll(pfd, pollsize, polltimeout);
+		ret = poll(pfd, pollsize, polltimeout_ms);
 
 		if (ret < 0) {
 			if (errno != EINTR) {
@@ -403,16 +425,18 @@ static void create_pack_file(struct upload_pack_data *pack_data,
 			}
 			continue;
 		}
+
 		if (0 <= pe && (pfd[pe].revents & (POLLIN|POLLHUP))) {
 			/* Status ready; we ship that in the side-band
 			 * or dump to the standard error.
 			 */
 			sz = xread(pack_objects.err, progress,
 				  sizeof(progress));
-			if (0 < sz)
+			if (0 < sz) {
 				send_client_data(2, progress, sz,
 						 pack_data->use_sideband);
-			else if (sz == 0) {
+				last_sent_ms = now_ms;
+			} else if (sz == 0) {
 				close(pack_objects.err);
 				pack_objects.err = -1;
 			}
@@ -421,11 +445,14 @@ static void create_pack_file(struct upload_pack_data *pack_data,
 			/* give priority to status messages */
 			continue;
 		}
+
 		if (0 <= pu && (pfd[pu].revents & (POLLIN|POLLHUP))) {
+			bool did_send_data;
 			int result = relay_pack_data(pack_objects.out,
 						     output_state,
 						     pack_data->use_sideband,
-						     !!uri_protocols);
+						     !!uri_protocols,
+						     &did_send_data);
 
 			if (result == 0) {
 				close(pack_objects.out);
@@ -433,6 +460,9 @@ static void create_pack_file(struct upload_pack_data *pack_data,
 			} else if (result < 0) {
 				goto fail;
 			}
+
+			if (did_send_data)
+				last_sent_ms = now_ms;
 		}
 
 		/*
@@ -448,6 +478,7 @@ static void create_pack_file(struct upload_pack_data *pack_data,
 		if (!ret && pack_data->use_sideband) {
 			static const char buf[] = "0005\1";
 			write_or_die(1, buf, 5);
+			last_sent_ms = now_ms;
 		}
 	}
 
-- 
2.53.0.697.g625c4fb2da.dirty
Previous: Patrick SteinhardtNext: Jeff King
Message 15 of 53 in “upload-pack: reduce lock contention when writing packfile data”
  1. 0/2 upload-pack: reduce lock contention when writing packfile dataPatrick Steinhardt, Feb 27, 2026
  2. 1/2 upload-pack: fix debug statement when flushing packfile dataPatrick Steinhardt, Feb 27, 2026
  3. 2/2 upload-pack: reduce lock contention when writing packfile dataPatrick Steinhardt, Feb 27, 2026
  4. brian m. carlsonFeb 27, 2026
  5. Patrick SteinhardtFeb 27, 2026
  6. Junio C HamanoFeb 27, 2026
  7. Jeff KingFeb 27, 2026
  8. Patrick SteinhardtMar 2, 2026
  9. Jeff KingMar 2, 2026
  10. Patrick SteinhardtMar 3, 2026
  11. Jeff KingMar 3, 2026
  12. Patrick SteinhardtMar 3, 2026
  13. 00/10 upload-pack: reduce lock contention when writing packfile dataPatrick Steinhardt, Mar 3, 2026
  14. 01/10 upload-pack: fix debug statement when flushing packfile dataPatrick Steinhardt, Mar 3, 2026
  15. 02/10 upload-pack: adapt keepalives based on bufferingPatrick Steinhardt, Mar 3, 2026
  16. Jeff KingMar 5, 2026
  17. Patrick SteinhardtMar 10, 2026
  18. 03/10 upload-pack: reduce lock contention when writing packfile dataPatrick Steinhardt, Mar 3, 2026
  19. Jeff KingMar 5, 2026
  20. Patrick SteinhardtMar 10, 2026
  21. 04/10 git-compat-util: introduce `cast_size_t_to_ssize_t()`Patrick Steinhardt, Mar 3, 2026
  22. 05/10 compat/posix: introduce writev(3p) wrapperPatrick Steinhardt, Mar 3, 2026
  23. Junio C HamanoMar 4, 2026
  24. Jeff KingMar 5, 2026
  25. brian m. carlsonMar 5, 2026
  26. Johannes SixtMar 5, 2026
  27. brian m. carlsonMar 5, 2026
  28. Patrick SteinhardtMar 10, 2026
  29. 06/10 wrapper: introduce writev(3p) wrappersPatrick Steinhardt, Mar 3, 2026
  30. 07/10 sideband: use writev(3p) to send pktlinesPatrick Steinhardt, Mar 3, 2026
  31. Junio C HamanoMar 4, 2026
  32. 08/10 csum-file: introduce `hashfd_ext()`Patrick Steinhardt, Mar 3, 2026
  33. Junio C HamanoMar 4, 2026
  34. Patrick SteinhardtMar 10, 2026
  35. 09/10 csum-file: drop `hashfd_throughput()`Patrick Steinhardt, Mar 3, 2026
  36. 10/10 builtin/pack-objects: reduce lock contention when writing packfile dataPatrick Steinhardt, Mar 3, 2026
  37. 00/10 upload-pack: reduce lock contention when writing packfile dataPatrick Steinhardt, Mar 10, 2026
  38. 01/10 upload-pack: fix debug statement when flushing packfile dataPatrick Steinhardt, Mar 10, 2026
  39. 02/10 upload-pack: adapt keepalives based on bufferingPatrick Steinhardt, Mar 10, 2026
  40. 03/10 upload-pack: prefer flushing data over sending keepalivePatrick Steinhardt, Mar 10, 2026
  41. Junio C HamanoMar 10, 2026
  42. Patrick SteinhardtMar 10, 2026
  43. 04/10 upload-pack: reduce lock contention when writing packfile dataPatrick Steinhardt, Mar 10, 2026
  44. 05/10 compat/posix: introduce writev(3p) wrapperPatrick Steinhardt, Mar 10, 2026
  45. Junio C HamanoMar 10, 2026
  46. 06/10 wrapper: introduce writev(3p) wrappersPatrick Steinhardt, Mar 10, 2026
  47. 07/10 sideband: use writev(3p) to send pktlinesPatrick Steinhardt, Mar 10, 2026
  48. 08/10 csum-file: introduce `hashfd_ext()`Patrick Steinhardt, Mar 10, 2026
  49. 09/10 csum-file: drop `hashfd_throughput()`Patrick Steinhardt, Mar 10, 2026
  50. 10/10 builtin/pack-objects: reduce lock contention when writing packfile dataPatrick Steinhardt, Mar 10, 2026
  51. Junio C HamanoMar 10, 2026
  52. Johannes SixtMar 10, 2026
  53. Patrick SteinhardtMar 11, 2026

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