# Extra Sidekiq processes **(STARTER ONLY)**

NOTE: **Note:**
The information in this page applies only to Omnibus GitLab.

GitLab Starter allows one to start an extra set of Sidekiq processes
besides the default one. These processes can be used to consume a dedicated set
of queues. This can be used to ensure certain queues always have dedicated
workers, no matter the number of jobs that need to be processed.

## Available Sidekiq queues

For a list of the existing Sidekiq queues, check the following files:

- [Queues for both GitLab Community and Enterprise Editions](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/blob/master/app/workers/all_queues.yml)
- [Queues for GitLab Enterprise Editions only](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/blob/master/ee/app/workers/all_queues.yml)

Each entry in the above files represents a queue on which extra Sidekiq processes
can be started.

## Starting extra processes

To start extra Sidekiq processes, you must enable `sidekiq-cluster`:

1. Edit `/etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb` and add:

   ```ruby
   sidekiq_cluster['enable'] = true
   ```

1. You will then need to specify how many additional processes to create via `sidekiq-cluster`
   and which queue they should handle via the `sidekiq_cluster['queue_groups']`
   array setting. Each item in the array equates to one additional Sidekiq
   process, and values in each item determine the queues it works on.

   For example, the following setting adds additional Sidekiq processes to two
   queues, one to `elastic_indexer` and one to `mailers`:

   ```ruby
   sidekiq_cluster['queue_groups'] = [
     "elastic_indexer",
     "mailers"
   ]
   ```

   To have an additional Sidekiq process handle multiple queues, add multiple
   queue names to its item delimited by commas. For example:

   ```ruby
   sidekiq_cluster['queue_groups'] = [
     "elastic_indexer, elastic_commit_indexer",
     "mailers"
   ]
   ```

   [In GitLab 12.9](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/26594) and
   later, the special queue name `*` means all queues. This starts two
   processes, each handling all queues:

   ```ruby
   sidekiq_cluster['queue_groups'] = [
     "*",
     "*"
   ]
   ```

   `*` cannot be combined with concrete queue names - `*, mailers` will
   just handle the `mailers` queue.

1. Save the file and reconfigure GitLab for the changes to take effect:

   ```shell
   sudo gitlab-ctl reconfigure
   ```

Once the extra Sidekiq processes are added, you can visit the
**Admin Area > Monitoring > Background Jobs** (`/admin/background_jobs`) in GitLab.

![Extra Sidekiq processes](img/sidekiq-cluster.png)

## Negating settings

To have the additional Sidekiq processes work on every queue **except** the ones
you list:

1. After you follow the steps for [starting extra processes](#starting-extra-processes),
   edit `/etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb` and add:

   ```ruby
   sidekiq_cluster['negate'] = true
   ```

1. Save the file and reconfigure GitLab for the changes to take effect:

   ```shell
   sudo gitlab-ctl reconfigure
   ```

## Queue selector (experimental)

> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/gl-infra/scalability/issues/45) in [GitLab Starter](https://about.gitlab.com/pricing/) 12.8.

CAUTION: **Caution:**
As this is marked as **experimental**, it is subject to change at any
time, including **breaking backwards compatibility**. This is so that we
can react to changes we need for our GitLab.com deployment. We have a
tracking issue open to [remove the experimental
designation](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/gl-infra/scalability/issues/147)
from this feature; please comment there if you are interested in using
this in your own deployment.

In addition to selecting queues by name, as above, the
`experimental_queue_selector` option allows queue groups to be selected
in a more general way using the following components:

- Attributes that can be selected.
- Operators used to construct a query.

### Available attributes

From the [list of all available
attributes](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/blob/master/app/workers/all_queues.yml),
`experimental_queue_selector` allows selecting of queues by the
following attributes:

- `feature_category` - the [GitLab feature
  category](https://about.gitlab.com/direction/maturity/#category-maturity) the
  queue belongs to. For example, the `merge` queue belongs to the
  `source_code_management` category.
- `has_external_dependencies` - whether or not the queue connects to external
  services. For example, all importers have this set to `true`.
- `urgency` - how important it is that this queue's jobs run
  quickly. Can be `high`, `low`, or `throttled`. For example, the
  `authorized_projects` queue is used to refresh user permissions, and
  is high urgency.
- `name` - the queue name. The other attributes are typically more useful as
  they are more general, but this is available in case a particular queue needs
  to be selected.
- `resource_boundary` - if the worker is bound by `cpu`, `memory`, or
  `unknown`. For example, the `project_export` queue is memory bound as it has
  to load data in memory before saving it for export.

`has_external_dependencies` is a boolean attribute: only the exact
string `true` is considered true, and everything else is considered
false.

### Available operators

`experimental_queue_selector` supports the following operators, listed
from highest to lowest precedence:

- `|` - the logical OR operator. For example, `query_a|query_b` (where `query_a`
  and `query_b` are queries made up of the other operators here) will include
  queues that match either query.
- `&` - the logical AND operator. For example, `query_a&query_b` (where
  `query_a` and `query_b` are queries made up of the other operators here) will
  only include queues that match both queries.
- `!=` - the NOT IN operator. For example, `feature_category!=issue_tracking`
  excludes all queues from the `issue_tracking` feature category.
- `=` - the IN operator. For example, `resource_boundary=cpu` includes all
  queues that are CPU bound.
- `,` - the concatenate set operator. For example,
  `feature_category=continuous_integration,pages` includes all queues from
  either the `continuous_integration` category or the `pages` category. This
  example is also possible using the OR operator, but allows greater brevity, as
  well as being lower precedence.

The operator precedence for this syntax is fixed: it's not possible to make AND
have higher precedence than OR.

[In GitLab 12.9](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/26594) and
later, as with the standard queue group syntax above, a single `*` as the
entire queue group selects all queues.

### Example queries

In `/etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb`:

```ruby
sidekiq_cluster['enable'] = true
sidekiq_cluster['experimental_queue_selector'] = true
sidekiq_cluster['queue_groups'] = [
  # Run all non-CPU-bound queues that are high urgency
  'resource_boundary!=cpu&urgency=high',
  # Run all continuous integration and pages queues that are not high urgency
  'feature_category=continuous_integration,pages&urgency!=high',
  # Run all queues
  '*'
]
```

## Ignore all GitHub import queues

When [importing from GitHub](../../user/project/import/github.md), Sidekiq might
use all of its resources to perform those operations. To set up a separate
`sidekiq-cluster` process to ignore all GitHub import-related queues:

1. Edit `/etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb` and add:

   ```ruby
   sidekiq_cluster['enable'] = true
   sidekiq_cluster['negate'] = true
   sidekiq_cluster['queue_groups'] = [
     "github_import_advance_stage",
     "github_importer:github_import_import_diff_note",
     "github_importer:github_import_import_issue",
     "github_importer:github_import_import_note",
     "github_importer:github_import_import_lfs_object",
     "github_importer:github_import_import_pull_request",
     "github_importer:github_import_refresh_import_jid",
     "github_importer:github_import_stage_finish_import",
     "github_importer:github_import_stage_import_base_data",
     "github_importer:github_import_stage_import_issues_and_diff_notes",
     "github_importer:github_import_stage_import_notes",
     "github_importer:github_import_stage_import_lfs_objects",
     "github_importer:github_import_stage_import_pull_requests",
     "github_importer:github_import_stage_import_repository"
   ]
   ```

1. Save the file and reconfigure GitLab for the changes to take effect:

   ```shell
   sudo gitlab-ctl reconfigure
   ```

## Number of threads

Each process defined under `sidekiq_cluster` starts with a
number of threads that equals the number of queues, plus one spare thread.
For example, a process that handles the `process_commit` and `post_receive`
queues will use three threads in total.

## Managing concurrency

When setting the maximum concurrency, keep in mind this normally should
not exceed the number of CPU cores available. The values in the examples
below are arbitrary and not particular recommendations.

Each thread requires a Redis connection, so adding threads may increase Redis
latency and potentially cause client timeouts. See the [Sidekiq documentation
about Redis](https://github.com/mperham/sidekiq/wiki/Using-Redis) for more
details.

### When running a single Sidekiq process (default)

1. Edit `/etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb` and add:

   ```ruby
   sidekiq['concurrency'] = 25
   ```

1. Save the file and reconfigure GitLab for the changes to take effect:

   ```shell
   sudo gitlab-ctl reconfigure
   ```

This will set the concurrency (number of threads) for the Sidekiq process.

### When running Sidekiq cluster

1. Edit `/etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb` and add:

   ```ruby
   sidekiq_cluster['min_concurrency'] = 15
   sidekiq_cluster['max_concurrency'] = 25
   ```

1. Save the file and reconfigure GitLab for the changes to take effect:

   ```shell
   sudo gitlab-ctl reconfigure
   ```

`min_concurrency` and `max_concurrency` are independent; one can be set without
the other. Setting `min_concurrency` to 0 will disable the limit.

For each queue group, let N be one more than the number of queues. The
concurrency factor will be set to:

1. `N`, if it's between `min_concurrency` and `max_concurrency`.
1. `max_concurrency`, if `N` exceeds this value.
1. `min_concurrency`, if `N` is less than this value.

If `min_concurrency` is equal to `max_concurrency`, then this value will be used
regardless of the number of queues.

When `min_concurrency` is greater than `max_concurrency`, it is treated as
being equal to `max_concurrency`.

## Modifying the check interval

To modify the check interval for the additional Sidekiq processes:

1. Edit `/etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb` and add:

   ```ruby
   sidekiq_cluster['interval'] = 5
   ```

1. Save the file and [reconfigure GitLab](../restart_gitlab.md#omnibus-gitlab-reconfigure) for the changes to take effect.

This tells the additional processes how often to check for enqueued jobs.

## Troubleshooting using the CLI

CAUTION: **Warning:**
It's recommended to use `/etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb` to configure the Sidekiq processes.
If you experience a problem, you should contact GitLab support. Use the command
line at your own risk.

For debugging purposes, you can start extra Sidekiq processes by using the command
`/opt/gitlab/embedded/service/gitlab-rails/bin/sidekiq-cluster`. This command
takes arguments using the following syntax:

```shell
/opt/gitlab/embedded/service/gitlab-rails/bin/sidekiq-cluster [QUEUE,QUEUE,...] [QUEUE, ...]
```

Each separate argument denotes a group of queues that have to be processed by a
Sidekiq process. Multiple queues can be processed by the same process by
separating them with a comma instead of a space.

Instead of a queue, a queue namespace can also be provided, to have the process
automatically listen on all queues in that namespace without needing to
explicitly list all the queue names. For more information about queue namespaces,
see the relevant section in the
[Sidekiq style guide](../../development/sidekiq_style_guide.md#queue-namespaces).

For example, say you want to start 2 extra processes: one to process the
`process_commit` queue, and one to process the `post_receive` queue. This can be
done as follows:

```shell
/opt/gitlab/embedded/service/gitlab-rails/bin/sidekiq-cluster process_commit post_receive
```

If you instead want to start one process processing both queues, you'd use the
following syntax:

```shell
/opt/gitlab/embedded/service/gitlab-rails/bin/sidekiq-cluster process_commit,post_receive
```

If you want to have one Sidekiq process dealing with the `process_commit` and
`post_receive` queues, and one process to process the `gitlab_shell` queue,
you'd use the following:

```shell
/opt/gitlab/embedded/service/gitlab-rails/bin/sidekiq-cluster process_commit,post_receive gitlab_shell
```

### Monitoring the `sidekiq-cluster` command

The `sidekiq-cluster` command will not terminate once it has started the desired
amount of Sidekiq processes. Instead, the process will continue running and
forward any signals to the child processes. This makes it easy to stop all
Sidekiq processes as you simply send a signal to the `sidekiq-cluster` process,
instead of having to send it to the individual processes.

If the `sidekiq-cluster` process crashes or receives a `SIGKILL`, the child
processes will terminate themselves after a few seconds. This ensures you don't
end up with zombie Sidekiq processes.

All of this makes monitoring the processes fairly easy. Simply hook up
`sidekiq-cluster` to your supervisor of choice (e.g. runit) and you're good to
go.

If a child process died the `sidekiq-cluster` command will signal all remaining
process to terminate, then terminate itself. This removes the need for
`sidekiq-cluster` to re-implement complex process monitoring/restarting code.
Instead you should make sure your supervisor restarts the `sidekiq-cluster`
process whenever necessary.

### PID files

The `sidekiq-cluster` command can store its PID in a file. By default no PID
file is written, but this can be changed by passing the `--pidfile` option to
`sidekiq-cluster`. For example:

```shell
/opt/gitlab/embedded/service/gitlab-rails/bin/sidekiq-cluster --pidfile /var/run/gitlab/sidekiq_cluster.pid process_commit
```

Keep in mind that the PID file will contain the PID of the `sidekiq-cluster`
command and not the PID(s) of the started Sidekiq processes.

### Environment

The Rails environment can be set by passing the `--environment` flag to the
`sidekiq-cluster` command, or by setting `RAILS_ENV` to a non-empty value. The
default value can be found in `/opt/gitlab/etc/gitlab-rails/env/RAILS_ENV`.
