[PATCH v3 3/3] t/lib-httpd: document writing concurrency-safe CGI helpers

From: Michael Montalbo <[email protected]>

The apply-one-time-script.sh and http-429.sh fixes share a root cause: a
CGI helper assumed it had a file to itself, when Apache can run the
helper for several requests at once. Document the atomic idioms that
avoid this next to where lib-httpd.sh installs the CGI scripts, so the
advice is in front of anyone adding another one.

The note describes the anti-pattern, a "test -f" check followed by a
separate action, and the two atomic alternatives these helpers now use:

 - "mkdir", which fails if the directory exists, to elect the first
   request (http-429.sh); and
 - "rm" without "-f", which fails once the file is gone, to consume a
   one-shot marker (apply-one-time-script.sh).

Signed-off-by: Michael Montalbo <[email protected]>
---
 t/lib-httpd.sh | 13 +++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 13 insertions(+)

diff --git a/t/lib-httpd.sh b/t/lib-httpd.sh
index fc646447d5..f26e1594ab 100644
--- a/t/lib-httpd.sh
+++ b/t/lib-httpd.sh
@@ -159,6 +159,19 @@ prepare_httpd() {
 	mkdir -p "$HTTPD_DOCUMENT_ROOT_PATH"
 	cp "$TEST_PATH"/passwd "$HTTPD_ROOT_PATH"
 	cp "$TEST_PATH"/proxy-passwd "$HTTPD_ROOT_PATH"
+	# Apache runs each of these CGI scripts once per request. Apache can run one
+	# script for several requests at the same time. A helper that keeps state
+	# between requests must update that state with one atomic operation. A check
+	# and then a separate action is not safe: two requests can both pass the
+	# check before either one acts. Test the exit status of one atomic operation
+	# instead:
+	#   - "mkdir dir" fails if the directory exists, so only one request
+	#     succeeds. http-429.sh selects the first request this way.
+	#   - "rm marker" (without "-f") fails if the marker is gone, so only one
+	#     request consumes it. apply-one-time-script.sh claims its one-shot
+	#     marker this way.
+	# A scratch file name includes the process ID ($$), so concurrent requests
+	# do not overwrite each other's files.
 	install_script incomplete-length-upload-pack-v2-http.sh
 	install_script incomplete-body-upload-pack-v2-http.sh
 	install_script error-no-report.sh
-- 
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