.. image:: images/ansible/cell_division.png :align: right Mitogen for Ansible =================== An extension to `Ansible`_ is included that implements connections over Mitogen, replacing embedded shell invocations with pure-Python equivalents invoked via highly efficient remote procedure calls to persistent interpreters tunnelled over SSH. No changes are required to target hosts. The extension is approaching stability and real-world usage is encouraged. `Bug reports`_ are welcome: Ansible is huge, and only wide testing will ensure soundness. .. _Ansible: https://www.ansible.com/ .. _Bug reports: https://goo.gl/yLKZiJ Overview -------- **Expect a 1.25x - 7x speedup** and a **CPU usage reduction of at least 2x**, depending on network conditions, modules executed, and time already spent by targets on useful work. Mitogen cannot improve a module once it is executing, it can only ensure the module executes as quickly as possible. * **One connection is used per target**, in addition to one sudo invocation per user account. This is much better than SSH multiplexing combined with pipelining, as significant state can be maintained in RAM between steps, and system logs aren't spammed with repeat authentication events. * **A single network roundtrip is used** to execute a step whose code already exists in RAM on the target. Eliminating multiplexed SSH channel creation saves 4 ms runtime per 1 ms of network latency for every playbook step. * **Processes are aggressively reused**, avoiding the cost of invoking Python and recompiling imports, saving 300-800 ms for every playbook step. * Code is ephemerally cached in RAM, **reducing bandwidth usage by an order of magnitude** compared to SSH pipelining, with around 5x fewer frames traversing the network in a typical run. * **Fewer writes to the target filesystem occur**. In typical configurations, Ansible repeatedly rewrites and extracts ZIP files to multiple temporary directories on the target. Security issues relating to temporary files in cross-account scenarios are entirely avoided. The effect is most potent on playbooks that execute many **short-lived actions**, where Ansible's overhead dominates the cost of the operation, for example when executing large ``with_items`` loops to run simple commands or write files. Installation ------------ 1. Thoroughly review the :ref:`noteworthy_differences` and :ref:`changelog`. 2. Verify Ansible 2.3-2.5 and Python 2.6, 2.7 or 3.6 are listed in ``ansible --version`` output. 3. Download and extract |mitogen_url| from PyPI. 4. Modify ``ansible.cfg``: .. parsed-literal:: [defaults] strategy_plugins = /path/to/mitogen-|mitogen_version|/ansible_mitogen/plugins/strategy strategy = mitogen_linear The ``strategy`` key is optional. If omitted, the ``ANSIBLE_STRATEGY=mitogen_linear`` environment variable can be set on a per-run basis. Like ``mitogen_linear``, the ``mitogen_free`` strategy exists to mimic the ``free`` strategy. 5. If targets have a restrictive ``sudoers`` file, add a rule like: :: deploy = (ALL) NOPASSWD:/usr/bin/python -c* Demo ~~~~ This demonstrates Ansible running a subset of the Mitogen integration tests concurrent to an equivalent run using the extension. .. raw:: html Testimonials ~~~~~~~~~~~~ * "With mitogen **my playbook runtime went from 45 minutes to just under 3 minutes**. Awesome work!" * "The runtime was reduced from **1.5 hours on 4 servers to just under 3 minutes**. Thanks!" * "Oh, performance improvement using Mitogen is *huge*. As mentioned before, running with Mitogen enables takes 7m36 (give or take a few seconds). Without Mitogen, the same run takes 19m49! **I'm not even deploying without Mitogen anymore** :)" * "**Works like a charm**, thank you for your quick response" * "I tried it out. **He is not kidding about the speed increase**." * "I don't know what kind of dark magic @dmw_83 has done, but his Mitogen strategy took Clojars' Ansible runs from **14 minutes to 2 minutes**. I still can't quite believe it." .. _noteworthy_differences: Noteworthy Differences ---------------------- * The Ansible ``raw`` action executes as a regular Mitogen connection, precluding its use for installing Python on a target. This will be addressed soon. * The ``doas``, ``su`` and ``sudo`` become methods are available. File bugs to register interest in more. * The `docker `_, `jail `_, `local `_, `lxc `_, `lxd `_, and `ssh `_ built-in connection types are supported, along with Mitogen-specific :ref:`machinectl `, :ref:`mitogen_doas `, :ref:`mitogen_su `, :ref:`mitogen_sudo `, and :ref:`setns ` types. File bugs to register interest in others. * Local commands execute in a reuseable interpreter created identically to interpreters on targets. Presently one interpreter per ``become_user`` exists, and so only one local action may execute simultaneously. Ansible usually permits up to ``forks`` simultaneous local actions. Any long-running local actions that execute for every target will experience artificial serialization, causing slowdown equivalent to `task_duration * num_targets`. This will be fixed soon. * "Module Replacer" style modules are not supported. These rarely appear in practice, and light web searches failed to reveal many examples of them. * Ansible permits up to ``forks`` connections to be setup in parallel, whereas in Mitogen this is handled by a fixed-size thread pool. Up to 16 connections may be established in parallel by default, this can be modified by setting the ``MITOGEN_POOL_SIZE`` environment variable. * The ``ansible_python_interpreter`` variable is parsed using a restrictive :mod:`shell-like ` syntax, permitting values such as ``/usr/bin/env FOO=bar python``, which occur in practice. Ansible `documents this `_ as an absolute path, however the implementation passes it unquoted through the shell, permitting arbitrary code to be injected. * Performance does not scale linearly with target count. This will improve over time. * SSH and ``become`` are treated distinctly when applying timeouts, and timeouts apply up to the point when the new interpreter is ready to accept messages. Ansible has two timeouts: ``ConnectTimeout`` for SSH, applying up to when authentication completes, and a separate parallel timeout up to when ``become`` authentication completes. For busy targets, Ansible may successfully execute a module where Mitogen would fail without increasing the timeout. For sick targets, Ansible may hang indefinitely after authentication without executing a command, for example due to a stuck filesystem IO appearing in ``$HOME/.profile``. New Features & Notes -------------------- Connection Delegation ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ .. image:: images/jumpbox.png :align: right Included is a preview of **Connection Delegation**, a Mitogen-specific implementation of `stackable connection plug-ins`_. This enables connections via a bastion, or container connections delegated via their host machine, where reaching the host may entail further delegation. .. _Stackable connection plug-ins: https://github.com/ansible/proposals/issues/25 Unlike with SSH forwarding Ansible has complete visibility of the final topology, declarative configuration via static/dynamic inventory is possible, and data can be cached and re-served, and code executed on every intermediary. For example when targeting Docker containers on a remote machine, each module need only be uploaded once for the first task and container that requires it, then cached and served from the SSH account for every future task in any container. .. raw:: html
.. caution:: Connection delegation is a work in progress, bug reports are welcome. * Delegated connection setup is single-threaded; only one connection can be constructed in parallel per intermediary. * Inferring the configuration of intermediaries may be buggy, manifesting as duplicate connections between hops, due to not perfectly replicating the configuration Ansible would normally use for the intermediary. * Automatic tunnelling of SSH-dependent actions, such as the ``synchronize`` module, is not yet supported. This will be added in the 0.3 series. To enable connection delegation, set ``mitogen_via=`` on the command line, or as host and group variables. .. code-block:: ini # Docker container on web1.dc1 is reachable via web1.dc1. [app-containers.web1.dc1] app1.web1.dc1 ansible_host=app1 ansible_connection=docker mitogen_via=web1.dc1 # Web servers in DC1 are reachable via bastion.dc1 [dc1] web1.dc1 web2.dc1 web3.dc1 [dc1:vars] mitogen_via = bastion.dc1 # Web servers in DC2 are reachable via bastion.dc2 [dc2] web1.dc2 web2.dc2 web3.dc2 [dc2:vars] mitogen_via = bastion.dc2 # Prod bastions are reachable via a magic account on a # corporate network gateway. [bastions] bastion.dc1 mitogen_via=prod-ssh-access@corp-gateway.internal bastion.dc2 mitogen_via=prod-ssh-access@corp-gateway.internal [corp-gateway] corp-gateway.internal File Transfer ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Normally `sftp `_ or `scp `_ are used to copy files by the `assemble `_, `copy `_, `patch `_, `script `_, `template `_, and `unarchive `_ actions, or when uploading modules with pipelining disabled. With Mitogen copies are implemented natively using the same interpreters, connection tree, and routed message bus that carries RPCs. This permits direct streaming between endpoints regardless of execution environment, without necessitating temporary copies in intermediary accounts or machines, for example when ``become`` is active, or in the presence of connection delegation. It also avoids the need to securely share temporary files between accounts and machines. As the implementation is self-contained, it is simple to make improvements like prioritizing transfers, supporting resume, or displaying progress bars. Safety ^^^^^^ Transfers proceed to a hidden file in the destination directory, with content and metadata synced using `fsync(2) `_ prior to rename over any existing file. This ensures the file remains consistent at all times, in the event of a crash, or when overlapping `ansible-playbook` runs deploy differing file contents. The `sftp `_ and `scp `_ tools may cause undetected data corruption in the form of truncated files, or files containing intermingled data segments from overlapping runs. As part of normal operation, both tools expose a window where readers may observe inconsistent file contents. Performance ^^^^^^^^^^^ One roundtrip initiates a transfer larger than 32KiB, while smaller transfers are embedded in the initiating RPC. For tools operating via SSH multiplexing, 4 roundtrips are required to configure the IO channel, in addition to the time to start the local and remote processes. An invocation of ``scp`` with an empty ``.profile`` over a 30 ms link takes ~140 ms, wasting 110 ms per invocation, rising to ~2,000 ms over a 400 ms UK-India link, wasting 1,600 ms per invocation. Interpreter Reuse ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Python interpreters are aggressively reused to execute modules. While this works well, it violates an unwritten assumption, and so it is possible an earlier module execution could cause a subsequent module to fail, or for unrelated modules to interact poorly due to bad hygiene, such as monkey-patching that becomes stacked over repeat invocations. Before reporting a bug relating to a misbehaving module, please re-run with ``-e mitogen_task_isolation=fork`` to see if the problem abates. This may be set per-task, paying attention to the possibility an earlier task may be the true cause of a failure. .. code-block:: yaml - name: My task. broken_module: some_option: true vars: mitogen_task_isolation: fork If forking solves your problem, **please report a bug regardless**, as an internal list can be updated to prevent others bumping into the same problem. Interpreter Recycling ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There is a per-target limit on the number of interpreters. Once 20 exist, the youngest is terminated before starting any new interpreter, preventing situations like below from triggering memory exhaustion. .. code-block:: yaml - hosts: corp_boxes vars: user_directory: [ # 10,000 corporate user accounts ] tasks: - name: Create user bashrc become: true vars: ansible_become_user: "{{item}}" copy: src: bashrc dest: "~{{item}}/.bashrc" with_items: "{{user_directory}}" The youngest is chosen to preserve useful accounts like ``root`` and ``postgresql`` that often appear early in a run, however it is simple to construct a playbook that defeats this strategy. A future version will key interpreters on the identity of their creating task, avoiding useful account recycling in every scenario. To modify the limit, set the ``MITOGEN_MAX_INTERPRETERS`` environment variable. Standard IO ~~~~~~~~~~~ Ansible uses pseudo TTYs for most invocations to allow it to type interactive passwords, however pseudo TTYs are disabled where standard input is required or ``sudo`` is not in use. Additionally when SSH multiplexing is enabled, a string like ``Shared connection to localhost closed\r\n`` appears in ``stderr`` of every invocation. Mitogen does not naturally require either of these, as command output is always embedded within framed messages, and it can simply call :py:func:`pty.openpty` in any location an interactive password must be typed. A major downside to Ansible's behaviour is that ``stdout`` and ``stderr`` are merged together into a single ``stdout`` variable, with carriage returns inserted in the output by the TTY layer. However ugly, the extension emulates this precisely, to avoid breaking playbooks that expect text to appear in specific variables with a particular linefeed style. How Modules Execute ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ansible usually modifies, recompresses and reuploads modules every time they run on a target, work that must be repeated by the controller for every playbook step. With the extension any modifications are done on the target, allowing pristine copies of modules to be cached, reducing the necessity to re-transfer modules for each invocation. Unmodified modules are uploaded once on first use and cached in RAM for the remainder of the run. **Binary** Native executables detected using a complex heuristic. Arguments are supplied as a JSON file whose path is the sole script parameter. **Module Replacer** Python scripts detected by the presence of ``#<>`` appearing in their source. This type is not yet supported. **New-Style** Python scripts detected by the presence of ``from ansible.module_utils.`` appearing in their source. Arguments are supplied as JSON written to ``sys.stdin`` of the target interpreter. **JSON_ARGS** Detected by the presence of ``INCLUDE_ANSIBLE_MODULE_JSON_ARGS`` appearing in the script source. The interpreter directive (``#!interpreter``) is adjusted to match the corresponding value of ``{{ansible_*_interpreter}}`` if one is set. Arguments are supplied as JSON mixed into the script as a replacement for ``INCLUDE_ANSIBLE_MODULE_JSON_ARGS``. **WANT_JSON** Detected by the presence of ``WANT_JSON`` appearing in the script source. The interpreter directive is adjusted as above. Arguments are supplied as a JSON file whose path is the sole script parameter. **Old Style** Files not matching any of the above tests. The interpreter directive is adjusted as above. Arguments are supplied as a file whose path is the sole script parameter. The format of the file is ``"key=repr(value)[ key2=repr(value2)[ ..]] "``. Runtime Patches ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Three small runtime patches are employed in ``strategy.py`` to hook into desirable locations, in order to override uses of shell, the module executor, and the mechanism for selecting a connection plug-in. While it is hoped the patches can be avoided in future, for interesting versions of Ansible deployed today this simply is not possible, and so they continue to be required. The patches are concise and behave conservatively, including by disabling themselves when non-Mitogen connections are in use. Additional third party plug-ins are unlikely to attempt similar patches, so the risk to an established configuration should be minimal. Flag Emulation ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mitogen re-parses ``sudo_flags``, ``become_flags``, and ``ssh_flags`` using option parsers extracted from `sudo(1)` and `ssh(1)` in order to emulate their equivalent semantics. This allows: * robust support for common ``ansible.cfg`` tricks without reconfiguration, such as forwarding SSH agents across ``sudo`` invocations, * reporting on conflicting flag combinations, * reporting on unsupported flag combinations, * internally special-casing certain behaviour (like recursive agent forwarding) without boring the user with the details, * avoiding opening the extension up to untestable scenarios where users can insert arbitrary garbage between Mitogen and the components it integrates with, * precise emulation by an alternative implementation, for example if Mitogen grew support for Paramiko. Connection Types ---------------- Matching Ansible, connection variables are treated on a per-task basis, causing establishment of additional reuseable interpreters as necessary to match the configuration of each task. .. _doas: Doas ~~~~ ``doas`` can be used as a connection method that supports connection delegation, or as a become method. When used as a become method: * ``ansible_python_interpreter`` * ``ansible_become_exe``: path to ``doas`` binary. * ``ansible_become_user`` (default: ``root``) * ``ansible_become_pass`` (default: assume passwordless) * ansible.cfg: ``timeout`` When used as the ``mitogen_doas`` connection method: * The inventory hostname has no special meaning. * ``ansible_user``: username to use. * ``ansible_password``: password to use. * ``ansible_python_interpreter`` .. _method-docker: Docker ~~~~~~ Like `docker `_ except connection delegation is supported. * ``ansible_host``: Name of Docker container (default: inventory hostname). * ``ansible_user``: Name of user within the container to execute as. FreeBSD Jail ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Like `jail `_ except connection delegation is supported. * ``ansible_host``: Name of jail (default: inventory hostname). * ``ansible_user``: Name of user within the jail to execute as. Local ~~~~~ Like `local `_ except connection delegation is supported. * ``ansible_python_interpreter`` Process Model ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Ansible usually executes local connection commands as a transient subprocess of the forked worker executing a task. With the extension, the local connection exists as a persistent subprocess of the connection multiplexer. This means that global state mutations made to the top-level Ansible process that are normally visible to newly forked subprocesses, such as vars plug-ins that modify the environment, will not be reflected when executing local commands without additional effort. During execution the extension presently mimics the working directory and process environment inheritence of regular Ansible, however it is possible some additional differences exist that may break existing playbooks. .. _method-lxc: LXC ~~~ Like `lxc `_ and `lxd `_ except connection delegation is supported, and ``lxc-attach`` is always used rather than the LXC Python bindings, as is usual with ``lxc``. The ``lxc-attach`` command must be available on the host machine. * ``ansible_python_interpreter`` * ``ansible_host``: Name of LXC container (default: inventory hostname). .. _machinectl: Machinectl ~~~~~~~~~~ Like the `machinectl third party plugin `_ except connection delegation is supported. This is a light wrapper around the :ref:`setns ` method. * ``ansible_host``: Name of Docker container (default: inventory hostname). * ``ansible_user``: Name of user within the container to execute as. * ``mitogen_machinectl_path``: path to ``machinectl`` command if not available as ``/bin/machinectl``. .. _setns: Setns ~~~~~ The ``setns`` method connects to Linux containers via `setns(2) `_. Unlike :ref:`method-docker` and :ref:`method-lxc` the namespace transition is handled internally, ensuring optimal throughput to the child. This is necessary for :ref:`machinectl` where only PTY channels are supported. A utility program must be installed to discover the PID of the container's root process. * ``mitogen_kind``: one of ``docker``, ``lxc`` or ``machinectl``. * ``ansible_host``: Name of container as it is known to the corresponding tool (default: inventory hostname). * ``ansible_user``: Name of user within the container to execute as. * ``mitogen_docker_path``: path to Docker if not available on the system path. * ``mitogen_lxc_info_path``: path to ``lxc-info`` command if not available as ``/usr/bin/lxc-info``. * ``mitogen_machinectl_path``: path to ``machinectl`` command if not available as ``/bin/machinectl``. .. _su: Su ~~ Su can be used as a connection method that supports connection delegation, or as a become method. When used as a become method: * ``ansible_python_interpreter`` * ``ansible_su_exe``, ``ansible_become_exe`` * ``ansible_su_user``, ``ansible_become_user`` (default: ``root``) * ``ansible_su_pass``, ``ansible_become_pass`` (default: assume passwordless) * ``su_flags``, ``become_flags`` * ansible.cfg: ``timeout`` When used as the ``mitogen_su`` connection method: * The inventory hostname has no special meaning. * ``ansible_user``: username to su as. * ``ansible_password``: password to su as. * ``ansible_python_interpreter`` .. _sudo: Sudo ~~~~ Sudo can be used as a connection method that supports connection delegation, or as a become method. When used as a become method: * ``ansible_python_interpreter`` * ``ansible_sudo_exe``, ``ansible_become_exe`` * ``ansible_sudo_user``, ``ansible_become_user`` (default: ``root``) * ``ansible_sudo_pass``, ``ansible_become_pass`` (default: assume passwordless) * ``sudo_flags``, ``become_flags`` * ansible.cfg: ``timeout`` When used as the ``mitogen_sudo`` connection method: * The inventory hostname has no special meaning. * ``ansible_user``: username to sudo as. * ``ansible_password``: password to sudo as. * ``sudo_flags``, ``become_flags`` * ``ansible_python_interpreter`` SSH ~~~ Like `ssh `_ except connection delegation is supported. * ``ansible_ssh_timeout`` * ``ansible_host``, ``ansible_ssh_host`` * ``ansible_user``, ``ansible_ssh_user`` * ``ansible_port``, ``ssh_port`` * ``ansible_ssh_executable``, ``ssh_executable`` * ``ansible_ssh_private_key_file`` * ``ansible_ssh_pass``, ``ansible_password`` (default: assume passwordless) * ``ssh_args``, ``ssh_common_args``, ``ssh_extra_args`` * ``mitogen_ssh_debug_level``: integer between `0..3` indicating the SSH client debug level. Ansible must also be run with '-vvv' to view the output. Debugging --------- Diagnostics and use of the :py:mod:`logging` package output on the target machine are usually discarded. With Mitogen, all of this is captured and returned to the controller, where it can be viewed as desired with ``-vvv``. Basic high level logs are produced with ``-vvv``, with logging of all IO on the controller with ``-vvvv`` or higher. Although use of standard IO and the logging package on the target is forwarded to the controller, it is not possible to receive IO activity logs, as the processs of receiving those logs would would itself generate IO activity. To receive a complete trace of every process on every machine, file-based logging is necessary. File-based logging can be enabled by setting ``MITOGEN_ROUTER_DEBUG=1`` in your environment. When file-based logging is enabled, one file per context will be created on the local machine and every target machine, as ``/tmp/mitogen..log``. If you are experiencing a hang, ``MITOGEN_DUMP_THREAD_STACKS=1`` causes every process to dump every thread stack into the logging framework every 5 seconds. Getting Help ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Some users and developers hang out on the `#mitogen `_ channel on the FreeNode IRC network. Sample Profiles --------------- Local VM connection ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This demonstrates Mitogen vs. connection pipelining to a local VM, executing the 100 simple repeated steps of ``run_hostname_100_times.yml`` from the examples directory. Mitogen requires **43x less bandwidth and 4.25x less time**. .. image:: images/ansible/run_hostname_100_times.png Kathmandu to Paris ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is a full Django application playbook over a ~180ms link between Kathmandu and Paris. Aside from large pauses where the host performs useful work, the high latency of this link means Mitogen only manages a 1.7x speedup. Many early roundtrips are due to inefficiencies in Mitogen's importer that will be fixed over time, however the majority, comprising at least 10 seconds, are due to idling while the host's previous result and next command are in-flight on the network. The initial extension lays groundwork for exciting structural changes to the execution model: a future version will tackle latency head-on by delegating some control flow to the target host, melding the performance and scalability benefits of pull-based operation with the management simplicity of push-based operation. .. image:: images/ansible/costapp.png