[ISSUE] `sysstat` blocks `fcron` running `cron.hourly`

[ISSUE] `sysstat` blocks `fcron` running `cron.hourly`

[Clos3y]

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New issue by Clos3y on void-packages repository

https://github.com/void-linux/void-packages/issues/49553

Description:
### Is this a new report?

Yes

### System Info

Void 6.6.22_1 x86_64 AuthenticAMD notuptodate rrrmFFFF

### Package(s) Affected

sysstat-12.7.2_1, fcron-3.3.1_2

### Does a report exist for this bug with the project's home (upstream) and/or another distro?

No, not that I can see

### Expected behaviour

`fcron` runs all scripts in `/etc/cron.hourly`

### Actual behaviour

`fcron` runs all scripts alphabetically up to `sysstat`. This process does not terminate, locking `fcron` and preventing the execution of files starting with letters after 's' in `/etc/cron.hourly`.

### Steps to reproduce

0. Install `sysstat`, `fcron`, and setup the `fcron` service and systab crontab.
1. Create a script in `/etc/cron.hourly` starting with a letter later in the alphabet than 's'.

Re: `sysstat` blocks `fcron` running cron.hourly

[classabbyamp]

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New comment by classabbyamp on void-packages repository

https://github.com/void-linux/void-packages/issues/49553#issuecomment-2021671344

Comment:
probably caused by https://github.com/sysstat/sysstat/commit/e6592328c3d676a0727d5410ea505282f396bd5e, where an assumption is probably made that the cron daemon runs things in `cron.hourly` asynchronously

Re: `sysstat` blocks `fcron` running cron.hourly

[Clos3y]

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New comment by Clos3y on void-packages repository

https://github.com/void-linux/void-packages/issues/49553#issuecomment-2021704997

Comment:
Hmm, adding `&` back in (and running `# fcrontab -z -u systab` followed by a reboot) doesn't fix the issue for me: it's still locked. `fcron` doesn't seem to care if you use `&`, it'll still lock. For example, I just tested 

    while true; do sleep 5; done &

in a test file in `/etc/cron.monthly`, reloaded the system crontab, and then forced `/etc/cron.monthly` to run with `fcrondyn`. `fcron` is still executing and is locked:

    2024-03-27T00:20:08.44950 cron.notice: Mar 27 00:20:08 fcron[3843]: Job '/usr/bin/run-parts /etc/cron.monthly' started for user systab (pid 3844)
    2024-03-27T00:20:46.30541 cron.warn: Mar 27 00:20:46 fcron[1022]:     process already running: systab's '/usr/bin/run-parts /etc/cron.monthly'

Perhaps this is an `fcron` issue specifically?

Re: `sysstat` blocks `fcron` running cron.hourly

[classabbyamp]

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New comment by classabbyamp on void-packages repository

https://github.com/void-linux/void-packages/issues/49553#issuecomment-2021715782

Comment:
then yeah it's probably fcron. might be interesting to check how another cron daemon reacts to this

Re: `sysstat` blocks `fcron` running cron.hourly

[Clos3y]

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New comment by Clos3y on void-packages repository

https://github.com/void-linux/void-packages/issues/49553#issuecomment-2022557998

Comment:
I've tested with `cronie`: if you add the `&` to the script, `cronie` has no problem and will execute the rest. But in its current state without the `&`, the script will lock `cronie` too.

So I think a solution might be to patch `/etc/cron.hourly/sysstat` to reinclude the `&`, but I appreciate the Void ethos is to have upstream fix these things.

Re: `sysstat` blocks `fcron` running cron.hourly

[Clos3y]

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New comment by Clos3y on void-packages repository

https://github.com/void-linux/void-packages/issues/49553#issuecomment-2022557998

Comment:
I've tested with `cronie`: if you add the `&` to the script, `cronie` has no problem and will execute the rest. But in its current state without the `&`, the script will lock `cronie` too.

So I think a solution might be to patch `/etc/cron.hourly/sysstat` to reinclude the `&` and just accept that `fcron` misbehaves, but I appreciate the Void ethos is to have upstream fix these things.

Re: `sysstat` blocks `fcron` running cron.hourly

[leahneukirchen]

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New comment by leahneukirchen on void-packages repository

https://github.com/void-linux/void-packages/issues/49553#issuecomment-2022900365

Comment:
Surely cronie runs all jobs in parallel?

Re: `sysstat` blocks `fcron` running cron.hourly

[leahneukirchen]

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New comment by leahneukirchen on void-packages repository

https://github.com/void-linux/void-packages/issues/49553#issuecomment-2022902892

Comment:
But perhaps sysstat should use a /etc/cron.d file, as run-parts from 0hourly will run in sequence (by design).

So sysstat shouldn't be run from cron.hourly.

Re: `sysstat` blocks `fcron` running cron.hourly

[Clos3y]

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New comment by Clos3y on void-packages repository

https://github.com/void-linux/void-packages/issues/49553#issuecomment-2022965125

Comment:
> Surely cronie runs all jobs in parallel?

Seemingly not. `cronie` and `fcron` call `run-parts` which, if you execute it on `/etc/cron.hourly`, will take 50 mins to finish due to `sysstat`'s current form.

> But perhaps sysstat should use a /etc/cron.d file, as run-parts from 0hourly will run in sequence (by design).
> 
> So sysstat shouldn't be run from cron.hourly.

Yeah that sounds sensible, so just change these to `etc/cron.d`?
https://github.com/void-linux/void-packages/blob/fc3f3c3707cc096e854dba26d80df1ac390bc411/srcpkgs/sysstat/template#L25-L26

Re: `sysstat` blocks `fcron` running cron.hourly

[leahneukirchen]

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New comment by leahneukirchen on void-packages repository

https://github.com/void-linux/void-packages/issues/49553#issuecomment-2022967095

Comment:
I'm at it, let me test it locally.

Re: [ISSUE] [CLOSED] `sysstat` blocks `fcron` running cron.hourly

[leahneukirchen]

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Closed issue by Clos3y on void-packages repository

https://github.com/void-linux/void-packages/issues/49553

Description:
### Is this a new report?

Yes

### System Info

Void 6.6.22_1 x86_64 AuthenticAMD notuptodate rrrmFFFF

### Package(s) Affected

sysstat-12.7.2_1, fcron-3.3.1_2

### Does a report exist for this bug with the project's home (upstream) and/or another distro?

No, not that I can see

### Expected behaviour

`fcron` runs all scripts in `/etc/cron.hourly`

### Actual behaviour

`fcron` runs all scripts alphabetically up to `sysstat`. This process does not terminate, locking `fcron` and preventing the execution of files starting with letters after 's' in `/etc/cron.hourly`.

### Steps to reproduce

0. Install `sysstat`, `fcron`, and setup the `fcron` service and systab crontab.
1. Create a script in `/etc/cron.hourly`.
2. If it comes before 'sysstat' alphabetically, it will be executed when the systab is set to run hourly. If it comes after, it will not execute until around fifty minutes after due to `sysstat` locking.