[jira] [Created] (KAFKA-5896) Kafka Connect task threads never interrupted

["Nick Pillitteri (JIRA)" <ji...@apache.org>]

Nick Pillitteri created KAFKA-5896:
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             Summary: Kafka Connect task threads never interrupted
                 Key: KAFKA-5896
                 URL: https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/KAFKA-5896
             Project: Kafka
          Issue Type: Bug
          Components: KafkaConnect
            Reporter: Nick Pillitteri
            Priority: Minor


h2. Problem

Kafka Connect tasks associated with connectors are run in their own threads. When tasks are stopped or restarted, a flag is set - {{stopping}} - to indicate the task should stop processing records. However, if the thread the task is running in is blocked (waiting for a lock or performing I/O) it's possible the task will never stop.

I've created a connector specifically to demonstrate this issue (along with some more detailed instructions for reproducing the issue): https://github.com/smarter-travel-media/hang-connector

I believe this is an issue because it means that a single badly behaved connector (any connector that does I/O without timeouts) can cause the Kafka Connect worker to get into a state where the only solution is to restart the JVM.

I think, but couldn't reproduce, that this is the cause of this problem on Stack Overflow: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/43802156/inconsistent-connector-state-connectexception-task-already-exists-in-this-work

h2. Expected Result

I would expect the Worker to eventually interrupt the thread that the task is running in. In the past across various other libraries, this is what I've seen done when a thread needs to be forcibly stopped.

h2. Actual Result

In actuality, the Worker sets a {{stopping}} flag and lets the thread run indefinitely. It uses a timeout while waiting for the task to stop but after this timeout has expired it simply sets a {{cancelled}} flag. This means that every time a task is restarted, a new thread running the task will be created. Thus a task may end up with multiple instances all running in their own threads when there's only supposed to be a single thread.

h2. Steps to Reproduce

The problem can be replicated by using the connector available here: https://github.com/smarter-travel-media/hang-connector

Apologies for how involved the steps are.

I've created a patch that forcibly interrupts threads after they fail to gracefully shutdown here: https://github.com/smarter-travel-media/kafka/commit/295c747a9fd82ee8b30556c89c31e0bfcce5a2c5

I've confirmed that this fixes the issue. I can add some unit tests and submit a PR if people agree that this is a bug and interrupting threads is the right fix.

Thanks!



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