Bug 659459

Summary: In ksh scripts, files may be created but then fail to be immediately opened.
Product: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Reporter: Mike Belangia <mbelangia>
Component: kshAssignee: Michal Hlavinka <mhlavink>
Status: CLOSED ERRATA QA Contact: qe-baseos-tools-bugs
Severity: medium Docs Contact:
Priority: medium    
Version: 5.5CC: james.brown, jwest, kvolny, mfranc, ovasik
Target Milestone: rcKeywords: ZStream
Target Release: ---   
Hardware: x86_64   
OS: Linux   
Whiteboard:
Fixed In Version: Doc Type: Bug Fix
Doc Text:
When a ksh script created a file and immediately opened it after the creation, the operation failed. This happened because the created file, in some cases, did not exist yet. With this update, this race condition has been fixed and once a file is created, it is immediately available for any following commands.
Story Points: ---
Clone Of:
: 660319 (view as bug list) Environment:
Last Closed: 2012-02-21 05:50:29 UTC Type: ---
Regression: --- Mount Type: ---
Documentation: --- CRM:
Verified Versions: Category: ---
oVirt Team: --- RHEL 7.3 requirements from Atomic Host:
Cloudforms Team: --- Target Upstream Version:
Embargoed:
Bug Depends On:    
Bug Blocks: 660319, 684831    
Attachments:
Description Flags
Reproduction script
none
Annotated strace
none
patch to fix this none

Description Mike Belangia 2010-12-02 20:39:11 UTC
Created attachment 464363 [details]
Reproduction script

Description of problem:

When creating a file inside a ksh script and then immediately attempting to open the new file the file does not exist.  This occurs even when the file creation is inside parentheses and the access occurs outside the parentheses and the filesystem is on a local disk.

Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable):

Client is reporting against 20100202-1.el5 (RHEL5) but I have also reproduced on 20100202-1.el5_5.1 (RHEL5).  This is also reproducable on 20100621-1.fc13 (Fedora 13) but seems to require more iterations.

How reproducible:

Attached are two files.  The first, ksh.bug, is a script which will reproduce the error.  The second, ksh.strace.out, is an strace of a failed run.  Search for "###" in the strace to find annotations displaying the failure

Steps to Reproduce:
1. Run ksh.bug

  
Actual results:
It seems that commands are being evaluated in an incorrect order.


Expected results:
As I understand it, the commands inside the parentheses should always be completed before the following commands are executed.

Comment 1 Mike Belangia 2010-12-02 20:39:44 UTC
Created attachment 464364 [details]
Annotated strace

Comment 2 Michal Hlavinka 2010-12-06 15:29:27 UTC
Created attachment 465002 [details]
patch to fix this

Comment 3 RHEL Program Management 2011-01-11 21:09:13 UTC
This request was evaluated by Red Hat Product Management for
inclusion in the current release of Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
Because the affected component is not scheduled to be updated in the
current release, Red Hat is unfortunately unable to address this
request at this time. Red Hat invites you to ask your support
representative to propose this request, if appropriate and relevant,
in the next release of Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

Comment 4 RHEL Program Management 2011-01-11 22:45:30 UTC
This request was erroneously denied for the current release of
Red Hat Enterprise Linux.  The error has been fixed and this
request has been re-proposed for the current release.

Comment 11 Martin Prpič 2011-03-16 15:59:38 UTC
    Technical note added. If any revisions are required, please edit the "Technical Notes" field
    accordingly. All revisions will be proofread by the Engineering Content Services team.
    
    New Contents:
When a ksh script created a file and immediately opened it after the creation, the operation failed. This happened because the created file, in some cases, did not exist yet. With this update, this race condition has been fixed and once a file is created, it is immediately available for any following commands.

Comment 14 errata-xmlrpc 2012-02-21 05:50:29 UTC
Since the problem described in this bug report should be
resolved in a recent advisory, it has been closed with a
resolution of ERRATA.

For information on the advisory, and where to find the updated
files, follow the link below.

If the solution does not work for you, open a new bug report.

http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHBA-2012-0159.html