Wait for boot-time apt locks in self-hosted CI jobs - #925
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A self-hosted runner is a freshly booted instance, and its boot-time apt can still hold a lock when the first job starts. On 2026-09-13 Host-arm64 on #921 (run 34766944283) was assigned 74 s after runner i-09d787d5b03c94b13 launched and failed in "Install dependencies": E: Could not get lock /var/lib/dpkg/lock-frontend. It is held by process 3180 (apt) scripts/ci-apt-get.sh runs apt-get with -o DPkg::Lock::Timeout and retries a failure that reports a held lock until APT_LOCK_WAIT (600 s). Any other failure, or a lock still held at the deadline, returns apt-get's own status. The timeout alone is not enough: measured on an arm64 host with each lock held by another process, install rc=100 in 0.0 s install -o DPkg::Lock::Timeout=30 waited, rc=0 in 11.4 s update rc=100 in 0.8 s update -o DPkg::Lock::Timeout=30 rc=100 in 0.8 s Every apt-get call in a self-hosted job (ci.yml host and host-root, kernels.yml, teardown-evidence.yml, weekly.yml; 24 calls) now goes through the script. Hosted ubuntu-latest jobs are unchanged. Tests (tests/test_ci_workflow_coverage.rs): - self_hosted_apt_calls_wait_for_apt_locks: every apt-get line in a self-hosted job uses ./fcvm/scripts/ci-apt-get.sh from the workspace root, and the walk inspected at least one call. - ci_apt_get_retries_a_held_lock_and_nothing_else: a fake apt-get that reports a held lock twice then succeeds ends in rc 0 after 3 calls, each passing DPkg::Lock::Timeout; another error returns 100 after 1 call; a lock still held at the deadline returns 100. Red without the script and workflow edits: 2 tests run: 0 passed, 2 failed Green with both: 2 tests run: 2 passed Red again, workflow edits reverted: 2 tests run: 1 passed, 1 failed (self_hosted_apt_calls_wait_for_apt_locks) test_ci_workflow_coverage, whole binary: 25 tests run: 25 passed
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No actionable comments were generated in the recent review. 🎉 ℹ️ Recent review info⚙️ Run configurationConfiguration used: defaults Review profile: CHILL Plan: Advanced Run ID: 📒 Files selected for processing (6)
Included review availability: Your plan provides up to 1 included review per hour; 0 remain after this review. 📝 WalkthroughWalkthroughThe change adds an ChangesAPT lock handling in CI
Priority: ⬇️ Low Estimated code review effort: 2 (Simple) | ~15 minutes Change: Bug fix Merge Risk: ⚪ Minimal · up to The migrated self-hosted jobs can invoke the wrapper and retain their apt installation behavior while waiting for boot-time locks. No actionable merge-blocking risk remains. 🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 5✅ Passed checks (5 passed)
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Inline comments:
In `@scripts/ci-apt-get.sh`:
- Line 44: Update the retry loop around sleep to recheck the deadline
immediately after sleep; if it has expired, stop retrying and return the most
recent apt-get status instead of starting another attempt.
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📒 Files selected for processing (6)
.github/workflows/ci.yml.github/workflows/kernels.yml.github/workflows/teardown-evidence.yml.github/workflows/weekly.ymlscripts/ci-apt-get.shtests/test_ci_workflow_coverage.rs
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ci-apt-get.sh checked the deadline before each retry sleep, so a sleep that crossed it was followed by one more apt-get attempt, run with DPkg::Lock::Timeout forced to 1 (CodeRabbit on #925). The loop now checks the deadline again after the sleep and returns the last apt-get status. ci_apt_get_retries_a_held_lock_and_nothing_else covers it with APT_LOCK_WAIT=1 and APT_LOCK_RETRY_S=2 against a lock that stays held: one apt-get call, exit 100. Red on the unfixed script: 2 calls ("-o DPkg::Lock::Timeout=1 update" twice) Green with the fix: 1 test run: 1 passed Red again, fix reverted: 1 test run: 0 passed, 1 failed test_ci_workflow_coverage: 25 tests run: 25 passed make lint: exit 0
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RED-VERIFIED: ci_apt_get_retries_a_held_lock_and_nothing_else. CodeRabbit's review of f60ed3f9 carried one actionable comment, the scripts/ci-apt-get.sh:44 thread: a retry sleep that crossed the deadline was followed by one more apt-get attempt. Fixed in 6be81942 and closed in that thread with the same test, observed red on the unfixed script, green with the fix, and red again with the fix reverted.
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NOT-A-DEFECT: CodeRabbit's walkthrough is the summary of its review of 6be81942, which generated no actionable comments, so it carries no finding to answer. Its pre-merge check notes, such as docstring coverage, are documentation thresholds, not defect claims.
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Self-hosted CI jobs now wait for a boot-time apt lock instead of failing on it.
The failure
A self-hosted runner is a freshly booted instance, and its boot-time apt can still hold a lock when the first job starts. On 2026-09-13, Host-arm64 on #921 (run 34766944283, runner
i-09d787d5b03c94b13) was assigned 74 s after the runner launched and failed in "Install dependencies" before any build step:The change
scripts/ci-apt-get.shrunsapt-get -o DPkg::Lock::Timeout=<seconds left>and retries a failure that reports a held lock untilAPT_LOCK_WAIT(600 s). Any other failure, or a lock still held at the deadline, returns apt-get's own exit status. Each attempt is a whole apt-get run, so there is no gap between checking a lock and taking it.The timeout flag alone does not cover
apt-get update. Measured on an arm64 host, each lock held by another process throughfcntl:apt-get installapt-get -o DPkg::Lock::Timeout=30 installapt-get updateapt-get -o DPkg::Lock::Timeout=30 updateAll 24 apt-get calls in self-hosted jobs go through the script:
ci.ymlhost and host-root,kernels.yml,teardown-evidence.yml,weekly.yml. Hostedubuntu-latestjobs, includingclaude.yml, are unchanged.Tests
In
tests/test_ci_workflow_coverage.rs:self_hosted_apt_calls_wait_for_apt_locks: every apt-get line in a self-hosted job uses./fcvm/scripts/ci-apt-get.shfrom the workspace root, and the walk inspected at least one call.ci_apt_get_retries_a_held_lock_and_nothing_else: with a fake apt-get, a lock held for two attempts ends in rc 0 after 3 calls, each passingDPkg::Lock::Timeout; another error returns 100 after 1 call; a lock still held at the deadline returns 100.Downstream impact: CI infrastructure only. A job that used to fail at once on a held lock now waits up to 600 s for it.
Summary by CodeRabbit
Bug Fixes
Tests