Make webhook-based scale race-free (#1477)

* Make webhook-based scale operation asynchronous

This prevents race condition in the webhook-based autoscaler when it received another webhook event while processing another webhook event and both ended up
scaling up the same horizontal runner autoscaler.

Ref #1321

* Fix typos

* Update rather than Patch HRA to avoid race among webhook-based autoscaler servers

* Batch capacity reservation updates for efficient use of apiserver

* Fix potential never-ending HRA update conflicts in batch update

* Extract batchScaler out of webhook-based autoscaler for testability

* Fix log levels and batch scaler hang on start

* Correlate webhook event with scale trigger amount in logs

* Fix log message

cmd/githubwebhookserver/main.go

@@ -72,6 +72,7 @@ func main() {
 		enableLeaderElection bool
 		syncPeriod           time.Duration
 		logLevel             string
+		queueLimit           int
 
 		ghClient *github.Client
 	)
@@ -92,6 +93,7 @@ func main() {
 		"Enable leader election for controller manager. Enabling this will ensure there is only one active controller manager.")
 	flag.DurationVar(&syncPeriod, "sync-period", 10*time.Minute, "Determines the minimum frequency at which K8s resources managed by this controller are reconciled. When you use autoscaling, set to a lower value like 10 minute, because this corresponds to the minimum time to react on demand change")
 	flag.StringVar(&logLevel, "log-level", logging.LogLevelDebug, `The verbosity of the logging. Valid values are "debug", "info", "warn", "error". Defaults to "debug".`)
+	flag.IntVar(&queueLimit, "queue-limit", controllers.DefaultQueueLimit, `The maximum length of the scale operation queue. The scale opration is enqueued per every matching webhook event, and the server returns a 500 HTTP status when the queue was already full on enqueue attempt.`)
 	flag.StringVar(&webhookSecretToken, "github-webhook-secret-token", "", "The personal access token of GitHub.")
 	flag.StringVar(&c.Token, "github-token", c.Token, "The personal access token of GitHub.")
 	flag.Int64Var(&c.AppID, "github-app-id", c.AppID, "The application ID of GitHub App.")
@@ -164,6 +166,7 @@ func main() {
 		SecretKeyBytes: []byte(webhookSecretToken),
 		Namespace:      watchNamespace,
 		GitHubClient:   ghClient,
+		QueueLimit:     queueLimit,
 	}
 
 	if err = hraGitHubWebhook.SetupWithManager(mgr); err != nil {

controllers/horizontal_runner_autoscaler_batch_scale.go

@@ -0,0 +1,207 @@
+package controllers
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"fmt"
+	"sync"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/actions-runner-controller/actions-runner-controller/api/v1alpha1"
+	"github.com/go-logr/logr"
+	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/types"
+	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/client"
+)
+
+type batchScaler struct {
+	Ctx      context.Context
+	Client   client.Client
+	Log      logr.Logger
+	interval time.Duration
+
+	queue       chan *ScaleTarget
+	workerStart sync.Once
+}
+
+func newBatchScaler(ctx context.Context, client client.Client, log logr.Logger) *batchScaler {
+	return &batchScaler{
+		Ctx:      ctx,
+		Client:   client,
+		Log:      log,
+		interval: 3 * time.Second,
+	}
+}
+
+type batchScaleOperation struct {
+	namespacedName types.NamespacedName
+	scaleOps       []scaleOperation
+}
+
+type scaleOperation struct {
+	trigger v1alpha1.ScaleUpTrigger
+	log     logr.Logger
+}
+
+// Add the scale target to the unbounded queue, blocking until the target is successfully added to the queue.
+// All the targets in the queue are dequeued every 3 seconds, grouped by the HRA, and applied.
+// In a happy path, batchScaler update each HRA only once, even though the HRA had two or more associated webhook events in the 3 seconds interval,
+// which results in less K8s API calls and less HRA update conflicts in case your ARC installation receives a lot of webhook events
+func (s *batchScaler) Add(st *ScaleTarget) {
+	if st == nil {
+		return
+	}
+
+	s.workerStart.Do(func() {
+		var expBackoff = []time.Duration{time.Second, 2 * time.Second, 4 * time.Second, 8 * time.Second, 16 * time.Second}
+
+		s.queue = make(chan *ScaleTarget)
+
+		log := s.Log
+
+		go func() {
+			log.Info("Starting batch worker")
+			defer log.Info("Stopped batch worker")
+
+			for {
+				select {
+				case <-s.Ctx.Done():
+					return
+				default:
+				}
+
+				log.V(2).Info("Batch worker is dequeueing operations")
+
+				batches := map[types.NamespacedName]batchScaleOperation{}
+				after := time.After(s.interval)
+				var ops uint
+
+			batch:
+				for {
+					select {
+					case <-after:
+						after = nil
+						break batch
+					case st := <-s.queue:
+						nsName := types.NamespacedName{
+							Namespace: st.HorizontalRunnerAutoscaler.Namespace,
+							Name:      st.HorizontalRunnerAutoscaler.Name,
+						}
+						b, ok := batches[nsName]
+						if !ok {
+							b = batchScaleOperation{
+								namespacedName: nsName,
+							}
+						}
+						b.scaleOps = append(b.scaleOps, scaleOperation{
+							log:     *st.log,
+							trigger: st.ScaleUpTrigger,
+						})
+						batches[nsName] = b
+						ops++
+					}
+				}
+
+				log.V(2).Info("Batch worker dequeued operations", "ops", ops, "batches", len(batches))
+
+			retry:
+				for i := 0; ; i++ {
+					failed := map[types.NamespacedName]batchScaleOperation{}
+
+					for nsName, b := range batches {
+						b := b
+						if err := s.batchScale(context.Background(), b); err != nil {
+							log.V(2).Info("Failed to scale due to error", "error", err)
+							failed[nsName] = b
+						} else {
+							log.V(2).Info("Successfully ran batch scale", "hra", b.namespacedName)
+						}
+					}
+
+					if len(failed) == 0 {
+						break retry
+					}
+
+					batches = failed
+
+					delay := 16 * time.Second
+					if i < len(expBackoff) {
+						delay = expBackoff[i]
+					}
+					time.Sleep(delay)
+				}
+			}
+		}()
+	})
+
+	s.queue <- st
+}
+
+func (s *batchScaler) batchScale(ctx context.Context, batch batchScaleOperation) error {
+	var hra v1alpha1.HorizontalRunnerAutoscaler
+
+	if err := s.Client.Get(ctx, batch.namespacedName, &hra); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	copy := hra.DeepCopy()
+
+	copy.Spec.CapacityReservations = getValidCapacityReservations(copy)
+
+	var added, completed int
+
+	for _, scale := range batch.scaleOps {
+		amount := 1
+
+		if scale.trigger.Amount != 0 {
+			amount = scale.trigger.Amount
+		}
+
+		scale.log.V(2).Info("Adding capacity reservation", "amount", amount)
+
+		if amount > 0 {
+			now := time.Now()
+			copy.Spec.CapacityReservations = append(copy.Spec.CapacityReservations, v1alpha1.CapacityReservation{
+				EffectiveTime:  metav1.Time{Time: now},
+				ExpirationTime: metav1.Time{Time: now.Add(scale.trigger.Duration.Duration)},
+				Replicas:       amount,
+			})
+
+			added += amount
+		} else if amount < 0 {
+			var reservations []v1alpha1.CapacityReservation
+
+			var found bool
+
+			for _, r := range copy.Spec.CapacityReservations {
+				if !found && r.Replicas+amount == 0 {
+					found = true
+				} else {
+					reservations = append(reservations, r)
+				}
+			}
+
+			copy.Spec.CapacityReservations = reservations
+
+			completed += amount
+		}
+	}
+
+	before := len(hra.Spec.CapacityReservations)
+	expired := before - len(copy.Spec.CapacityReservations)
+	after := len(copy.Spec.CapacityReservations)
+
+	s.Log.V(1).Info(
+		fmt.Sprintf("Updating hra %s for capacityReservations update", hra.Name),
+		"before", before,
+		"expired", expired,
+		"added", added,
+		"completed", completed,
+		"after", after,
+	)
+
+	if err := s.Client.Update(ctx, copy); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("updating horizontalrunnerautoscaler to add capacity reservation: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}

controllers/horizontal_runner_autoscaler_webhook.go

@@ -23,9 +23,9 @@ import (
 	"io/ioutil"
 	"net/http"
 	"strings"
+	"sync"
 	"time"
 
-	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/types"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/reconcile"
 
@@ -46,6 +46,8 @@ const (
 
 	keyPrefixEnterprise = "enterprises/"
 	keyRunnerGroup      = "/group/"
+
+	DefaultQueueLimit = 100
 )
 
 // HorizontalRunnerAutoscalerGitHubWebhook autoscales a HorizontalRunnerAutoscaler and the RunnerDeployment on each
@@ -68,6 +70,15 @@ type HorizontalRunnerAutoscalerGitHubWebhook struct {
 	// Set to empty for letting it watch for all namespaces.
 	Namespace string
 	Name      string
+
+	// QueueLimit is the maximum length of the bounded queue of scale targets and their associated operations
+	// A scale target is enqueued on each retrieval of each eligible webhook event, so that it is processed asynchronously.
+	QueueLimit int
+
+	worker      *worker
+	workerInit  sync.Once
+	workerStart sync.Once
+	batchCh     chan *ScaleTarget
 }
 
 func (autoscaler *HorizontalRunnerAutoscalerGitHubWebhook) Reconcile(_ context.Context, request reconcile.Request) (reconcile.Result, error) {
@@ -312,9 +323,19 @@ func (autoscaler *HorizontalRunnerAutoscalerGitHubWebhook) Handle(w http.Respons
 		return
 	}
 
-	if err := autoscaler.tryScale(context.TODO(), target); err != nil {
+	autoscaler.workerInit.Do(func() {
-		log.Error(err, "could not scale up")
+		batchScaler := newBatchScaler(context.Background(), autoscaler.Client, autoscaler.Log)
 
+		queueLimit := autoscaler.QueueLimit
+		if queueLimit == 0 {
+			queueLimit = DefaultQueueLimit
+		}
+		autoscaler.worker = newWorker(context.Background(), queueLimit, batchScaler.Add)
+	})
+
+	target.log = &log
+	if ok := autoscaler.worker.Add(target); !ok {
+		log.Error(err, "Could not scale up due to queue full")
 		return
 	}
 
@@ -383,6 +404,8 @@ func matchTriggerConditionAgainstEvent(types []string, eventAction *string) bool
 type ScaleTarget struct {
 	v1alpha1.HorizontalRunnerAutoscaler
 	v1alpha1.ScaleUpTrigger
+
+	log *logr.Logger
 }
 
 func (autoscaler *HorizontalRunnerAutoscalerGitHubWebhook) searchScaleTargets(hras []v1alpha1.HorizontalRunnerAutoscaler, f func(v1alpha1.ScaleUpTrigger) bool) []ScaleTarget {
@@ -770,63 +793,6 @@ HRA:
 	return nil, nil
 }
 
-func (autoscaler *HorizontalRunnerAutoscalerGitHubWebhook) tryScale(ctx context.Context, target *ScaleTarget) error {
-	if target == nil {
-		return nil
-	}
-
-	copy := target.HorizontalRunnerAutoscaler.DeepCopy()
-
-	amount := 1
-
-	if target.ScaleUpTrigger.Amount != 0 {
-		amount = target.ScaleUpTrigger.Amount
-	}
-
-	capacityReservations := getValidCapacityReservations(copy)
-
-	if amount > 0 {
-		now := time.Now()
-		copy.Spec.CapacityReservations = append(capacityReservations, v1alpha1.CapacityReservation{
-			EffectiveTime:  metav1.Time{Time: now},
-			ExpirationTime: metav1.Time{Time: now.Add(target.ScaleUpTrigger.Duration.Duration)},
-			Replicas:       amount,
-		})
-	} else if amount < 0 {
-		var reservations []v1alpha1.CapacityReservation
-
-		var found bool
-
-		for _, r := range capacityReservations {
-			if !found && r.Replicas+amount == 0 {
-				found = true
-			} else {
-				reservations = append(reservations, r)
-			}
-		}
-
-		copy.Spec.CapacityReservations = reservations
-	}
-
-	before := len(target.HorizontalRunnerAutoscaler.Spec.CapacityReservations)
-	expired := before - len(capacityReservations)
-	after := len(copy.Spec.CapacityReservations)
-
-	autoscaler.Log.V(1).Info(
-		fmt.Sprintf("Patching hra %s for capacityReservations update", target.HorizontalRunnerAutoscaler.Name),
-		"before", before,
-		"expired", expired,
-		"amount", amount,
-		"after", after,
-	)
-
-	if err := autoscaler.Client.Patch(ctx, copy, client.MergeFrom(&target.HorizontalRunnerAutoscaler)); err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("patching horizontalrunnerautoscaler to add capacity reservation: %w", err)
-	}
-
-	return nil
-}
-
 func getValidCapacityReservations(autoscaler *v1alpha1.HorizontalRunnerAutoscaler) []v1alpha1.CapacityReservation {
 	var capacityReservations []v1alpha1.CapacityReservation
 

controllers/horizontal_runner_autoscaler_webhook_worker.go

@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+package controllers
+
+import (
+	"context"
+)
+
+// worker is a worker that has a non-blocking bounded queue of scale targets, dequeues scale target and executes the scale operation one by one.
+type worker struct {
+	scaleTargetQueue chan *ScaleTarget
+	work             func(*ScaleTarget)
+	done             chan struct{}
+}
+
+func newWorker(ctx context.Context, queueLimit int, work func(*ScaleTarget)) *worker {
+	w := &worker{
+		scaleTargetQueue: make(chan *ScaleTarget, queueLimit),
+		work:             work,
+		done:             make(chan struct{}),
+	}
+
+	go func() {
+		defer close(w.done)
+
+		for {
+			select {
+			case <-ctx.Done():
+				return
+			case t := <-w.scaleTargetQueue:
+				work(t)
+			}
+		}
+	}()
+
+	return w
+}
+
+// Add the scale target to the bounded queue, returning the result as a bool value. It returns true on successful enqueue, and returns false otherwise.
+// When returned false, the queue is already full so the enqueue operation must be retried later.
+// If the enqueue was triggered by an external source and there's no intermediate queue that we can use,
+// you must instruct the source to resend the original request later.
+// In case you're building a webhook server around this worker, this means that you must return a http error to the webhook server,
+// so that (hopefully) the sender can resend the webhook event later, or at least the human operator can notice or be notified about the
+// webhook develiery failure so that a manual retry can be done later.
+func (w *worker) Add(st *ScaleTarget) bool {
+	select {
+	case w.scaleTargetQueue <- st:
+		return true
+	default:
+		return false
+	}
+}
+
+func (w *worker) Done() chan struct{} {
+	return w.done
+}

controllers/horizontal_runner_autoscaler_webhook_worker_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+package controllers
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+)
+
+func TestWorker_Add(t *testing.T) {
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
+	defer cancel()
+
+	w := newWorker(ctx, 2, func(st *ScaleTarget) {})
+	require.True(t, w.Add(&ScaleTarget{}))
+	require.True(t, w.Add(&ScaleTarget{}))
+	require.False(t, w.Add(&ScaleTarget{}))
+}
+
+func TestWorker_Work(t *testing.T) {
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
+	defer cancel()
+
+	var count int
+
+	w := newWorker(ctx, 1, func(st *ScaleTarget) {
+		count++
+		cancel()
+	})
+	require.True(t, w.Add(&ScaleTarget{}))
+	require.False(t, w.Add(&ScaleTarget{}))
+
+	<-w.Done()
+
+	require.Equal(t, count, 1)
+}

controllers/integration_test.go

@@ -1367,7 +1367,7 @@ func (env *testEnvironment) ExpectRegisteredNumberCountEventuallyEquals(want int
 
 			return len(rs)
 		},
-		time.Second*5, time.Millisecond*500).Should(Equal(want), optionalDescriptions...)
+		time.Second*10, time.Millisecond*500).Should(Equal(want), optionalDescriptions...)
 }
 
 func (env *testEnvironment) SendOrgPullRequestEvent(org, repo, branch, action string) {